In their own words:

Cornwall Standard Freeholder

07 March 2008

[theinquiry.ca note:  In its print edition yesterday the Freeholder invited readers to call between 1 and 3 pm to air their views on the sentencing of Perry Dunlop (six months now - sentencing of probably another 12 to 15 months to be issued after the six months is served. This is the feedback.]

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I think it's crazy that they're putting a man in jail for doing his job. They're using him as a scape-goat, that's all I have to say.

- Andrew Lalonde

He was wrongly punished for telling the truth. Maybe he should have come forward with some of the information, but there's a reason for everything. I've lost faith in the justice system, the inquiry, and I'm even struggling with my faith.

- Beatrice Filion

They're making him a martyr for doing what he's done to protect children.

- Annie Webber

He did what he though he had to do, and he did it well, and they've turned it all around because he wouldn't appear again. He had his appearance in court, he shouldn't have to do it again.

- Eva Dunlop (no relation)

I was abused for many years, and I wish someone could have come forward, no matter how they had to do it. I just think this is a shame.

- Sharon Bisaillon

It's unjust. Why is it that two men took their lives over what happened in Cornwall, and now it's all hushed up, and millions of dollars have been spent, and nothing is going to come out of it.

- Charmaine Quenneville

We're very disappointed that he's in jail and this is not healing for the community at all. This is an inquiry and I don't see why the victims have to testify, and the pedophiles are free. The only way people can heal is if those people come forward and admit what they did.

- Florence Houde

I'm not happy with the way Mr. Dunlop has been treated. I think if the people who are looking after this issue should sit down and read their Bibles, they will find that he has not been treated correctly. He did an honest, good thing to protect young people.

- Blanche Adams

I think that people aren't thinking of what happened to the children. They didn't pay enough attention to him, and that the inquiry could be over and done with now if they had just taken him seriously.

- Dorothy Secord

If they want to have him put in jail for a couple weeks to show him he's not above the law, then sure, six months I think is crazy. I don't think it's fair.

- Kathy McKee

I think the legal profession has gone completely haywire, they're supposed to go after the truth and the pursuit of justice, and in this case they've used it as a weapon against a person who was just trying to do the right thing.

- Peter Sarch

I support Perry 100 per cent. He was concerned about the children being sexually abused, and the powers that be - the church, law or government - didn't really care, and if they'd have listened when he first started we wouldn't be in the mess we're in today. They want him to get on the stand so they can twist the truth when he does tell it.

- Shirley Stokes

I cannot believe what they're doing to this man. He gave them everything, and now he's going to jail for it, it's unbelievable. The justice system in this town, quite frankly it really sucks.

- Carolyn Boyd

I think it's terrible what they've done to him. I believe that he was generally out there to help our children, and they've made him suffer for 13 years, and I think he's getting more punishment than the actual pedophiles. If he's not coming out to speak, then I believe he has a good reason to.

- Danielle Theoret

I think it's a farce. They're dragging this thing on and on and on, and I think they've done enough damage to this man, they should just let him go. He left this town, he's not bothering us. It's not doing the reputation of Cornwall any good, and who wants to come here and develop this community? No one. This is why.

- Elizabeth Hebert

In Canada, do you put honest people in jail, and leave the pedophiles to walk the Earth? This is a very serious problem for our government, for our area, and for our churches. All the wrong people are in the wrong places.

- Charles Pitcher

This is my home, and I just can't believe what I read in the paper. This is terrible. I'm a Catholic, and this is disgusting, it's just not right.

- Margaret Harps

He gave the justice system no recourse. They had to do what they had to do it, and he's basically the author of his own demise. If you want to be a whistleblower you have to report and inform, and he's refusing to inform. I feel bad all around, but really I just feel bad for the victims. They should have the headlines, and they're not getting that right now.

- Linda Bethune

I'm a victim, and what's going on in Cornwall right now is a coverup. I don't know why they've wasted the money. Putting Perry in jail, that's up to the courts, but there are people that should be in jail that aren't. This is the biggest farce to ever hit this city.

- Dwight St. Lewis

I'm a retired Montreal police officer and I believe Perry Dunlop should testify. There are many laws that I do not agree with, but I have to follow the law, and as much as I believe that his heart was in the right place, he did not do it right. The whole investigation was mishandled. It wouldn't have been done that way in Montreal. I feel for the guy, but he's got to testify. He started the ball rolling, and now he's got to testify.

- Richard Kake

I grew up here, knowing who some of the victims were, riding the bus with guys who ended up committing suicide. I've seen farms and families break up over this. Perry was the only one, as flawed as he was and as convoluted as he was, was the only one who stood up and said this was wrong. I just can't follow the logic that puts him in jail.

- Ian Cumming

When this judge was appointed, if you look back at the Red Flag Committee of statements on why he's not the right judge, well it's all there. The writing was on the wall that this is a persecution of Perry Dunlop. I think Perry has known from the beginning that this is a joke, and it's an expensive joke for the taxpayers.

- Barb Fenton

I'd like to know what the hell is wrong with our justice system, when a man can molest a kid and get 15 months, and the gentleman than brought it forward gets six months. Our court system has gone down the tubes. It's a disgrace to our country.

- Ray Fenton

I was shocked to learn this morning that he got that kind of sentence. He's an innocent man, he shouldn't be getting a sentence like that. Project Truth is not doing what it should do. It's a disgrace to society.

- Marland Murray

I think it's terrible that he was put in jail. It's a big coverup.

- Claudette Seguin

The inquiry was set up to investigate the institutions involved in this matter, and to see if the institutions responded appropriately, responsibly and in a timely fashion. In regards to Perry Dunlop, he's said what he has to say already. If the court doesn't already know what that man has said, then people were asleep.

- Rita Germain

He's a good man from Cornwall who was trying to do his job, and he goes to jail while the pedophiles go free.

- Reg J. Poirier

Here's a man that unselfishly gave of himself and his family, and he's devoted all his time for these victims, and he's in jail, and the people who should be in jail aren't.

- Beverly Poirier

Perry thought he was doing the right thing, but he's the one who started this, and if it was me I would have taken the stand a long time ago and had it done with. Sitting in jail, he's not doing anybody any good. If Perry was in this room right now I'd say "Perry, get up on the witness stand, get it off your chest, and clear this whole damn mess up because I'm tired of hearing about it."

- Raymond Perrette