Aural (oral?) submissions by parties with standing at the Cornwall Public Inquiry will be conducted started at 0900 hours (9am) Monday, 23 February 2009 through to Thursday 27 February 2009. Those hearings will be broadcast via webcam. Submission time will range from 15 minutes to two hours/party.
Keep Perry and his family in your prayers. Ditto all the “alleged”victims of Cornwall. That will be a rough week.
****
This business of no hearings to follow is taking a bit of re-adjusting 🙂 I thought it would be a piece of cake, but am finding it is unsettling. Much to think about and ponder. Seems to me things are worse now than when this inquiry was first commissioned four years ago this April. I am slowly picking my way through my thoughts and sifting through countless questions which pop into my mind.
****
Two letters to the Standard Freeholder which are as yet unpublished. These were in response to the Freeholder’s request for letters and calls:
(1) Carson Chisholm
Just so folks won’t think the Cornwall Public Inquiry was a waste of time and money, perhaps some of the players should be recognized.For instance some of the judges and lawyers could be elevated to the Supreme Court, to wit Mc Kinnon, Glaude ,Pelletier, Chadwick, Plantana, Cipriano, Neville, Henein, Manson, Daley, Adams, Mac Donald and Leduc, with Narozniak as the new chief justice. Perchance the poor priests, accused by many, but convicted by none could be made bishops and the former bishop a cardinal. The police should all get promotions or at least a substantial raise in pay. The school boards and C.A.S. must be feted and honored for their relentless pursuit of justice and truth. However, the quintessential troublemaker, and whistleblowing antihero Dunlop should be tarred and feathered and sued, with the proceeds of his estate used to fund an annual victory celebration of the local casuists and sodomites.
Carson Chisholm, St. Andrews W. 613-xxx-xxxx.————
P.S. Could you please print this complete and unabridged? Thanks.
(2) Paul Likoudis
As an observer from the States who watched much of the Inquiry on the Internet, it was more than obvious from the start that Justice Glaude’s mission was to cover-up the crimes of the Clan and destroy the reputation of Perry Dunlop.
I watched, aghast, at the treatment of Perry’s lawyer, Charles Bourgeois, by the attorneys, who destroyed his reputation and probably his profession. I was even more outraged at the treatment of Perry’s brother-in-law Carson Chisholm. What was inflicted on both of them was torture, plain and simple. It was like watching a Moscow Show Trial from the ’30s. Contrast that with the kid gloves treatment of Bishop Larocque, the Cornwall Police officials, et.al.
During the testimony of former judge and MP Garry Guzzo, I became convinced the Inquiry was devoted to destroying the reputations of anyone who asserted that, for decades, a pedophile clan operated freely in Cornwall. Despite Justice Glaude’s cover-up, almost everyone in Cornwall knows the cover-up continues, because there are so many politicians implicated in Ottawa. If the truth got out, the Ontario Government could easily collapse.
People of Cornwall, you get what you pay for!Paul Likoudis, 607-xxx-xxxx
****
Tor Neilson, an Australian victim of clerical sexual abuse, has launched a petition to Pope Benedict XVI asking that clerical molesters be evicted. Tor hopes to attain one million signatures.
I signed. I am generally not one to sign petitions, but in this instance I succumbed.
I must say here that while I understand why he says what he says I don’t agree with Tor’s views on the Roman Catholic Church as expressed on his website. That aside I fully endorse the intent of his petition – if he manages to reach that goal of 1,000,000 signatures it may just finally prompt the Vatican to take much needed action to purge the Church of all clerical predators. That day must come. Then and only then will the shattered faith of countless victims and their families be restored.
Consider adding your name. It can be added anonymously, as in you sign on but your name will not be visible on the net. Here is the link:
****
Enough for now,
Sylvia
Three weeks to prepare submissions is ridiculous. That’s not enough time for anyone to put together anything for the commissioner with any meaning.
How can party lawyers possibly provide Comm. Glaude with a thorough and thoughtful overview of three years of testimony in such a short time frame? I think back to the day this inquiry was called and I recall Glaude’s very first press conference. He said he wasn’t going to rush things. And we were all told this was a commission operating at arm’s length from the province. Nobody from the provincial government would even talk about the inquiry while it was ongoing because the inquiry was an entity onto itself with its own rules. The only role the province played was in paying the bills.
I suppose at the end of the day it’s all about money, which doesn’t surprise me. Cash rules. Abusers think they can walk away from allegations if they throw enough money on the floor. Victims sometimes believe money will help make the pain go away. Doctors, lawyers, psychologists, counsellors and other professionals sometimes see dollar signs when they look at a victim. This inquiry is over and the lawyers have made their money and some victims will complete or launch law suits and some victims will seek compensation and some people will finally learn money does not make problems go away.
It’s all about money. It was the $32,000 the church thought it could spend to shut David Silmser up that ultimately brought us to where we are today. It was the “blank cheque” from the province which allowed the commission to spend money as it did. It was successful lobbying by officials within the Cornwall police force and around the city council table which caused more money to flow from Queen’s Park to a law firm in Ottawa. At the end of the day, the taxpayer will foot the bill for every single cent spent on every single aspect of this inquiry, from the cost of utilities at the Weave Shed to the cost of postage incurred by lawyers for the Victims Group when sending out letters to all their clients telling them they might want to get other lawyers for some portions of the inquiry.
It’s money that forced the province to put an end to the inquiry way too soon. Despite claims the commission had dragged on for as long as it had, it made no sense to rush through the final 90 days as was the case.
It’s as if a bus rental company agreed to put a really slow driver behind the wheel of a bus carrying 50 people. The company told the driver his job was to get those folks from Cornwall to Vancouver as safely as possible. And so the driver decided to take back roads and continuously drive about 40 kilometres an hour below the speed limit. It might take a little longer to get there than if he’d steered the bus onto the Trans Canada Highway and clipped along at 100 kilometres an hour all the time. But he didn’t. He decided, with the help of some of the folks on the bus and some of the folks at the bus rental company, to go slow and steady and ensure safe arrival of the passengers at their destination.
And then it’s as if the bus got to Calgary and suddenly the company stepped in and said, “Hey. You’ve got to get those people to Vancouver now! Move it!”
And suddenly the bus driver was forced onto the highway and an official from the bus rental company put a brick on the gas pedal and forced the driver to get to Vancouver safely even though the bus was traveling at 50 kilometres over the speed limit. The safety of the passengers, the public and the driver himself be damned – just get to Vancouver while there’s still money in the bank to buy gas. Who cares if your ultimate was to get the people there safely? Just get there already and then go away.
Good points AbsentObserver. The only thing I’d say is that there are two bills which the taxpayer didn’t foot (1) Steve Parisien’s legal costs, and (2) The monies the Dunlop family are in the hole.
Okay let up people – what did I miss???
The Standard Freeholder has actually published Carson’s letter.
Did someone get canned or reassigned at the Freeholder? 🙂
Only you RealityChecker. Only you could come out with that. My smile for the day 🙂
There’s a family out in BC that needs to know how much their loved, admired and respected.
HANG IN EVERYONE!!! TRY AND GO WITH THE FLOW!!!
THIS ISN’T GOING TO BE EASY!!!