Hearings resume at 0930 hours EST (9:30 am) this morning, Wednesday 28 November 2007. Doug Seguin returns to resume his cross-examination by Dallas Lee (Victims group).
Yes, Doug Seguin’s testimony continues! Difficult to listen to and difficult to watch. The man seems to have difficulty giving a straight answer to a straightforward question. As I said yesterday I find his testimony strangely reminiscent of that of Ron Leroux. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I found uncanny similarities in the rambling and often inconsistent nature of his testimony.
That aside I’d say Seguin has a knack for deducing that 2 + 2 = 5. Quite unbelievable really how this man managed to deduce what his brother Ken, or Father Charlie, or Perry Dunlop did or did not do.
And unbelievable the digging about he was doing to try to prove his point that Perry’s allegations and everything that flowed from them is a “scam” and Perry has been running around “collecting” people such as Albert Roy to come up with the sex abuse allegations. When Dallas Lee noted that Seguin seemed to be spending an inordinate time on this Seguin was miffed. But, it’s hard not to draw the conclusion that Segun did indeed spend an inordinate amount of time jotting down detailed and descriptive notes about trucks, and encounters with whomever when he was walking North bound on the sidewalk and whomever was perhaps walking South-East, and about who looked at who first, and who sat in this chair and then got up and moved to that chair behind whomever. And then he was busy busy dashing off compliant after complaint after complaint against this one, that one or the other one, and amidst it all he was off ‘interviewing’ this one that one and the other one, and finding probation officers ready to divulge personal and private information about their former probation officers, and finding a recently retired chief of police (Claude Shaver) whom he allegedly didn’t know from diddly ready to chat and apparently very ready to ‘imply’ – not outright say, just imply – that it was Perry who leaked David Silmser’s victim statement to a TV station. He was even back and forth to the Ottawa courthouse for Charlie’s preliminary and personally concluded that the three victims were discredited – and that despite the fact that the judge concluded there was sufficient evidence to go to trial, and that despite the puzzling reality that Seguin and his wife were subpoenaed as potential witnesses and not allowed IN the courtroom for the bulk of the hearings, and on top of that there was a publication ban on all testimony and frequent reminders to those in the courtroom that the testimony was NOT to be discussed.
The question of course is who from within the courtroom told Doug Seguin what which would lead him to conclude the victims? A mystery.
That latter scenario is akin to Seguin’s account of talking to Ron Wilson at Ken’s wake. According to Seguin Wilson – former policeman, owner of Wilson Funeral home and friend of Ken’s – was talking about the $32,000 pay-off and was upset that the deal with Charlie ahd compromised Ken. The thing is word of the illegal deal was not yet in the public domain. How did Wilson know about it? Who told him?
Equally bizarre is the fact that this was presumably the first Doug Seguin had heard of the deal – yet there was no indication whatever that he was upset with the news that his brother had been accused of sexual abusing anyone, and no indication that he probed to get more information from Wilson.
Just strange. A sort of disconnect.
I haven’t heard a word yet about Seguin tracking Ron Leroux down on 27 December 2004 and making Ron sign a note saying in part:
“I, Ron Leroux, never stated that K.S. said to me he was under investigation for sexual assault and that these tapes would clinch an investigation against him.
Being a friend and neighbour of Ken’s I never at any time witnessed any tapings or any young boys under the [age]of 16 (his home)”
According to Seguin Ron told him in 2001 that Perry Dunlop manipulated him and forced him to come up with all sorts of things. However despite such an apparently candid admission three years later Seguin found it necessary to make Ron sign this statement! Perhaps that’s because after that conversation with Seguin Ron was still telling any number of people the story as per the affidavit? I don’t recall anyone ever saying Ron said he had been forced by Perry. I do however recall Ron saying Doug Seguin was stalking him.
Jump from that to this year when Ron Leroux took the stand to testify. Who showed up at the Weave Shed to get that note entered into evidence but Doug Seguin!
All too too bizarre. Where does the truth lie in this mess? They should be digging in on this.
Anyway, all I can say is that sorting out Seguin’s testimony is a nightmare. I initially thought he was in denial and his impetus over the years was solely to defend his deceased brother’s reputation. As we waded along I realized that’s not the case. It goes well beyond that.
There certainly was an element of Doug Seguin defending Father Charlie, and he essentially admits to that and admits that Charlie is a friend. But, …. Seguin’s busyness seems to even transcend his friendship with Charlie.
All very very strange. I can’t begin to recap it and won’t even try. I’m going to refer you to the transcripts for both days of Seguin’s testimony to date, that of 26 November 2007, and that of 27 November 2007. They are quite a read.
Peter Sirrs was supposed to kick off the institutional phase of the hearings today . Sirrs is the first witness on the roster for Correctional Services. I don’t know if we’ll see him today. Perhaps in the afternoon?
Justice Glaude is supposed to kick off today with an accounting of costs and the way ahead to usher in the institutional phase of the inquiry. Whether that will wait until Doug Seguin’s cross-examination is finished and the new phase actually begins I don’t know.
I will start at media coverage now. Also have few Letters to the Editor to post…
Enough for now,
Sylvia
(cornwall@theinquiry.ca)