Smacks of Third World Dictatorship

10 October 2007 email letter to Justice Normand Glaude

From: Ann Yelland

To: info@cornwallinquiry.ca

Sent: Wednesday, October 10, 2007 10:33 PM

Subject: The Inquiry and its Direction 

Dear Mr. Justice Glaude:

I am saddened and dismayed at the direction this Inquiry appears to be taking.  At the outset, I thought that perhaps some good would come of it; I am now shaking my head in absolute amazement.  Having worked for lawyers all my adult years, I can appreciate that you are following the mandate which frames the Inquiry and from this, certain questions at law or otherwise will be examined, answered or considered in an attempt to fulfill the mandate.

Having said this, as a member of the Canadian public watching these proceedings, I cannot see how anything whatsoever can be gained at law or otherwise, by sending Perry Dunlop to Divisional Court to face possible contempt charges.  For the average person in the street, the knowledge that children, for some 50 years, have been violated and abused in Cornwall cannot be reconciled by jailing Mr. Dunlop for contempt.  These two actions do not balance each other!   In my mind, something is completely out of kilter with this process and the direction in which it is heading. The overwhelming impression I am left with is that our children are not safe - particularly when our judicial system raises the specter of punishing the person who stood up and did the right thing.  I am repulsed by this and I am certain there are many out there who feel as I do. 

Who do the public turn to ensure the safety of children?  Who do the people of Cornwall turn to and put their trust in? The police, at the community and provincial levels, who appear to have looked the other way?  The "church" who appears to have enabled pedophiles by sending them on into other communities? The Children's Aid Society who seems to have shriveled and withdrawn from its responsibility?  The lawyers who know the system?  The Criminal Code of Canada through which pedophiles appear to pass, untouched?  The Government who has a very big hand in all of these institutions?  Yet, the only person who has consistently and unwaveringly, stood by his actions and convictions could be going to jail.  Its unbelievable that this is happening, right here, in Canada!  This smacks of some third world dictatorship and not an enlightened, western society ranked as one of the best countries in the world to live. 

After all the Dunlops have been through for 14 years, and in light of the fact that the Inquiry has at its disposal all the materials gathered by Mr. Dunlop, his "will state" and transcripts of cross-examinations of the trials he attended, do you not have enough material to assist you to complete your task?  What could possibly be gained other than to, yet again, place this family under further crushing and continuing stress and strain?  This family has already been through too much and paid a terrible price.  What sort of a message is the Inquiry and you, Mr. Justice Glaude, as commissioner, sending Canadians and to those who live beyond our boarders?

My analysis is but a simple view of a very complex issue.  At the end of the day, when this inquiry is committed to the annals of legal history, what will the head notes say?

There is nothing more precious in society than our children and it is important that you, Mr. Justice Glaude and the inquiry "get it right".  The average Canadian in the street is not terribly interested in, or understands, the legalise; they want the facts, pure and simple; they want to understand and not be baffled by the scores of counsel jockeying for position.  At this juncture, there seems to be loads of legal maneuvering and posturing taking place with the ever-present pretense of good being "seen to be done".  Is "justice" being served?  Only time will tell.  If this inquiry does not change its tack, in my humble opinion, it runs the risk of disappearing up its own "nether regions" in a tide of semantics and legal jargon - what a sad day for children and families everywhere that would be.

Respectfully,

Ann Yelland

Duncan, British Columbia

(Hometown:  Cornwall, Ontario)