Witness felt victimized by lawyer's questions

Cornwall Standard Freeholder
01 November 2006

Terri Saunders

Wednesday, November 01, 2006 - 10:00

Local News - A witness who testified earlier this month at the Cornwall Public Inquiry told a trusted confidante he felt victimized after being cross-examined by a lawyer from the Children's Aid Society.

Dawn Raymond, a retired Gladstone Public School teacher, was on the stand at the inquiry Tuesday when she reiterated something Scott Burgess had told her following his testimony Oct. 19.

"When the CAS (Children's Aid Society) lawyer (Peter Chisholm) talked to him," Raymond said, "(Scott) felt like he had done something wrong."

Burgess testified he was repeatedly sexually abused in the early 1980s by Jean-Luc Leblanc, a former employee of the Transport Canada Training Institute and a former bus driver who lived near Newington. Under cross-examination by Chisholm, Burgess was asked time and again to clarify dates and times related to the man's disclosure of abuse and his interaction with public institutions such as the

CAS. In speaking with Raymond Tuesday, Chisholm said it was not his intention to make Burgess feel uncomfortable during his testimony.

"Please pass on my words (to Burgess)," said Chisholm. "It was not my intention to make him feel (ill) at ease or a victim in any fashion."

Chisholm explained his role at the inquiry is to "bring some clarity" to the record of events which occurred decades ago.

"You're a very good lawyer," said Raymond. "Very precise."

"I won't argue with you today," said Chisholm.

Raymond said her life has been forever changed since the day Burgess, then in his very early teen years, came to her with stories of abuse.

"It changed my whole life, and the life of my husband," she said. "From that day on, my life would never be the same.

"I was a victim too, in some ways, but I've never had any help," she said. "I'm going to see a counselor for the first time today (Tuesday.)"

Raymond said the inquiry's work is important in helping the community heal.

"This inquiry is going to matter," she said. "If we can save one child, it will have been worth it."