Father Roland Lanoie ( Ken Gigliotti Winnipeg Free Press Files)
Father Roland Lanoie (Christ the King RC Church website)
Roland Lanoie
Father Roland Lanoie
Priest, Archdiocese of St. Boniface, Manitoba. Ordained 1982
October 2018: Charges related to allegations of sex abuse of student at St. Boniface Minor Seminary between 1982 and 1988.
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For years Father Lanoie worked as a hospital chaplain at St. Boniface General Hospital – I have been told that initially he worked on call night shifts while he served as a parish priest in various parishes, then, around the year 2000, he began to work as a chaplain full time days.
Father Lanoie’s employ with the hospital was terminated in 2010 after a labour arbitrator ruled against Lanoie and two fellow chaplains who had complained to the labour board that they had been bulllied by their boss, the latter a priest at the hospital. (One of the two referenced fellow chaplains was a Roman Catholic Nun; the other was a non-denomination minister). Read the following series of articles outlining the nonsense of complaints:
25 August 2010: “Arbitrator tosses chaplains’ complaints about priest” & related articles
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15 October 2018: Archdiocese of Saint Boniface Press Release re charges laid against Father Roland Lanoie
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Archbishops of Archdiocese of Saint Boniface since Father Lanoie’s ordination: Antoine Hacault (Auxiliary Bishop 30 July 1964-1972; Coadjutor Archbishop 28 Oct 1972-1974; Archbishop: 07 September 1974-13 April 2000); Émilius Goulet, P.S.S.: ( 23 June 2001 to 03 July 2009); Albert LeGatt (03 July 2009 – )
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Unless otherwise stipulated the following information is drawn from media reports (M), Archdiocese of St. Boniface Press Release (Press Release), Canadian Catholic Church Directories which I have on hand (CCCD)
15 October 2018: Arrested – charged with four counts of sexual assault and one of indecent assault related to allegations 0f sex abuse of resident student St. Boniface Minor Seminary 1982 and 1988
Spring 2018: Winnipeg Police Service begin investigation (M)
2015-2017: St. Norbert Roman Catholic Church, (M) (St Norbert website October 2018 )
2017, 2016: Priest-Moderator at St. Norbert Roman Catholic Church, St. Norbert, Manitoba. In 2017 CCCD his address is listed is that of Villa Aulneau , an assisted living facility in Winnipeg, Manitoba . In the 2016 CCCD his address is listed as that of the Archdiocese of Saint Boniface (CCCD)
22 December 2017: Archbishop LeGatt issued a Decree of Permanent Suspension of Faculties of Priestly Ministry (PR)
October 2017: In response to Archbishop LeGatt’s request for guidance re Lanoie the Vatican Congregation “advised the Archbishop to impose measures that he deemed appropriate and that would also bring healing to the victim.” (Press Release)
30 June 2017: The Archdiocese completed its internal investigation. Archbishop LeGatt “then wrote Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to present the case and to request guidance as to the next canonical steps to be taken with Fr. Lanoie.” (Press Release)
Spring 2017: facilitator for HeartSong Retreat Father Lanoie facilitator for HeartSong Retreat for persons living with HIV/AIDS (Spring 2017 Benedictine Connection magazine of the Benedictine Sisters, Winnipeg Manitoba (Benedictine Connection, Spring 2017 – Sisters of St. Benedict, St. Benedict’s Monastery, Winnipeg, Manitoba)
20 March 2017: Father Lanoie was given a decree of Temporary Suspension and could no longer exercise public ministry (Press Release)
10 January 2017: after the archdiocese conducted a preliminary internal investigation Archbishop Legatt met Lanoie and accepted Lanoie’s resignation from all ministerial activity (M & Press Release)
December 2016: Archdiocese contacted by man alleging childhood sex abuse at the hands of Father Roland Lanoie (M)
2016, 2015: Priest Moderator, St. Norbert Roman Catholic Church, St. Norbert Manitoba. Father Lanoie’s address is listed as that of the Archdiocese of Saint Boniface (CCCD)
2014-2015: Priest-Moderator St. Norbert and St. Agathe Roman Catholic churches
December 2015: Saint Agathe Roman Catholic Church
June 2014: Appointed Priest-Moderator St. Norbert and St. Agathe Roman Catholic churches (St. Boniface Archdiocese Priest Assignments)
2014, 2013, 2012; Pastor St. Eugene Roman Catholic Church and Immaculate Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Chapel, Winnipeg, Manitoba. Father Lanoie’s address listed in index that of Archdiocese of Saint Boniface (CCCD)
2011: Appointed Pastor at St. Eugene Roman Catholic Church and Immaculate Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Church (Father Lanoie to St Eugene and Immaculate Heart of Mary)
Father Lanoie’s address listed in index that of Archdiocese of Saint Boniface. I don’t see is name listed as pastor at any church in the archdiocese in the 2011 directory. He many have been assisting somewhere? (CCCD)
Approx. 2000 – 2010 : Chaplain at St. Boniface General Hospital (M)
August 2010: Labour arbitrator ruled against Father Lanoie and two fellow chaplains at the St. Boniface General Hospital. The trio had complained that they were bullied by the boss (Father Gerry Ward). (The other two chaplains were Sister Jeannine Corbeila [a nun] and Rev. Carlyle Murrell-Cole [a non-denominational minister) (M)
May 2009: Media reports Father Lanoie one of three hospital chaplains who took grievance of bullying by their boss (a priest) to the Manitoba Labour Board (M)
2006: listed as one of “Personal Members” of Catholic Health Association of Manitoba (page 16 – External link)
2006: Retreat Coordinator for HeartSong, a retreat for persons living with HIV/AIDS (Page 3 from Archdiocese of St. Boniface publication The New Wine Press May June 2006)
2002: Pastor, Notre Dame de l’Assumption Roman Catholic Church, Transcona, Manitoba (CCCD)
2000, 1999, 1998 : Pastor, Notre Dames de Lourdes Roman Catholic Church with mission at St. Monica in Rathwell, Manitoba (CCCD)
1997, 1996, 1995, 1994, 1993: Pastor, St. Joseph the Worker Roman Catholic Church, Transcona, Manitoba (CCCD)
1982-1994: Christ the King Roman Catholic Church, St. Vital, Manitoba (M)
1992, 1991: Pastor, St. Adolphe Roman Catholic Church, St, Adolphe. Manitoba (CCCD) (This assignment conflicts with info that he served at Christ the King from ’82-’94)
from Christ the King website October 2018
1985: assisting at Christ the King Roman Catholic Church. St. Vital, Manitoba (CCCD)
1982: ORDAINED (CCCD)
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Retired priest charged with sexually assaulting youth at St. Boniface seminary in ’80s
Winnipeg Free Pres
Posted: 10/15/2018 12:45 PM | Last Modified: 10/16/2018 10:18 AM
A retired Roman Catholic priest in the Archdiocese of St. Boniface has been charged with four counts of sexual assault and one of indecent assault, dating to more than three decades ago.
The alleged victim was a youth when the offences occurred, the Winnipeg Police Service said Monday, while announcing Roland Lanoie, 70, had been arrested Oct. 3.
Police said they began investigating earlier this year, after an adult male came forward to say he was the victim of a series of sexual assaults while he was a resident student at the St. Boniface Minor Seminary (now the St. Philip Minh Roman Catholic Church) between 1982 and 1988.
Police said they confirmed Lanoie was an ordained priest who was working in various positions with the Archdiocese of St. Boniface when the alleged offences occurred.
Lanoie was priest at St. Norbert Parish (2015-17), but also worked as pastor at Christ the King Parish (1982-94), as well as St. Eugene Parish, Ste. Agathe Parish and Paroisse Saints-Martyrs-Canadiens. He also served as a chaplain at St. Boniface Hospital.
“The archdiocese began working closely with the victim, the Winnipeg police, as well as Child and Family Services of Winnipeg as soon as the situation was made known to it in December of 2016,” when the man disclosed his account to the Church, the archdiocese said in a statement Monday.
“The archdiocese expresses its deep sorrow to the victim who has come forward, as well as to his family and to all those who have been affected by these matters.”
A WPS spokesman said it began an investigation in spring 2018, after the archdiocese contacted police.
The criminal investigation was delayed over a year until the alleged victim — after receiving counselling — was ready to make a formal complaint to police, archdiocese spokesman Richard Frechette said.
“The victim was not ready to go to police. He wanted us to know, and he wanted us to take action on this. When we found out about this in December 2016, we went to the went the police and to CFS… CFS followed up immediately, but the police could not until the victim came forward,” he said.
The archdiocese said it did a preliminary internal investigation of some of the sexual-abuse allegations. Archbishop Albert LeGatt then met with Lanoie on Jan. 10, 2017, and accepted his resignation from all ministerial activity.
An archdiocese advisory committee later recommended Lanoie receive a temporary suspension and could no longer minister to the public.
The archdiocese said LeGatt also wrote to the Vatican to ask what should be done, and was advised to “impose measures that he deemed appropriate, and that would also bring healing to the victim.”
Meanwhile, the church investigation continued and officials there took steps to ensure Lanoie “will never be able to work as a priest anywhere in the world… ever again,” Frechette said.
LeGatt issued a decree of permanent suspension of faculties of priestly ministry on Dec. 22, 2017.
“Each time the heinous crime of sexual abuse is reported, victims and their families are wounded again, the vast majority of faithful priests bow their heads in shame, and sincere Catholics, Christians and people of good will, experience shock, sorrow, anger and righteous indignation,” the archdiocese statement said.
“Every single abuse case involving a minor, no matter when it took place, is wrong, and we must listen attentively and respond compassionately to those who have been victimized and hurt, particularly if the abuser is connected in any way with our Church.”
Its actions earned praise Monday from U.S. advocacy group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
“We’re grateful that the Archdiocese of St. Boniface had worked so diligently with law enforcement officials to bring justice for the survivor in this case. We would hope that those same church officials will now aggressively reach out to other parishioners in their flock and encourage anyone who had seen, suspected or suffered abuse… to come forward and make a report to the police,” SNAP executive director Zach Hiner said in an email Monday.Frechette said the Church’s investigation did not turn up any other potential victims.
In 2014, the archdiocese suspended another priest, Ronald Leger, from ministerial duties when officials learned of allegations against him. Leger pleaded guilty in 2015 to sexual-assault charges involving three young men, and later faced additional charges after others stepped forward with historic accounts that spanned three decades.
Lanoie, who has been released from custody, was one of three chaplains at St. Boniface Hospital who complained almost a decade ago that their boss, a priest, had bullied them.
A later decision by a labour arbitrator ruled the complaints of harassment and abuse “were entirely without merit,” and the trio was asked to apologize to the hospital and to the priest.
kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca
with files from Alexandra Paul
Kevin Rollason
Reporter
Kevin Rollason is one of the more versatile reporters at the Winnipeg Free Press. Whether it is covering city hall, the law courts, or general reporting, Rollason can be counted on to not only answer the 5 Ws — Who, What, When, Where and Why — but to do it in an interesting and accessible way for readers.
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Winnipeg priest arrested for ’80s child sex assault
Roland Lanoie is charged with with four counts of sexual assault.
terredazur / YouTube
Police have charged a local priest with four counts of sexual assault and indecent assault for crimes that occurred between 1982 and 1988.
The victim was a resident student at the St. Boniface Minor Seminary at the time of the offences.
Roland Lanoie, 70, was arrested Oct. 3.
Police say he was working as an ordained priest working holding various positions within the Archdiocese of St. Boniface at the time of the offences.
The Archdiocese released a statement from spokesman Richard Frechette Monday, indicating that Lanoie was removed from his ministerial duties in early 2017 following an internal investigation.
The former St. Boniface Minor Seminary, seen here under renovations in 2017
Manitoba Historical Society
“Each time the heinous crime of sexual abuse is reported, victims and their families are wounded again, the vast majority of faithful priests bow their heads in shame,” said the statement.
Sincere Catholics, Christians and people of good will experience shock, sorrow, anger and righteous indignation.”
According to the statement, Lanoie was permanently suspended from the ministry in December 2017 after the issue was presented to the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
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Winnipeg priest charged with multiple sex assaults dating to the 1980s
Roland Lanoie was an ordained priest, holding various positions in the Archdiocese of St. Boniface
Roland Lanoie was working as an ordained priest, holding various positions within the Archdiocese of St. Boniface, at the time of the offences, police said. (terredazur/YouTube)
A retired Winnipeg priest has been charged in a historic sexual assault investigation.
Roland Lanoie, 70, was arrested earlier this month and charged with four counts of sexual assault and one count of indecent assault.
The police service’s child abuse unit launched an investigation in the spring after a man told them he was the victim of a series of sexual assaults between 1982 and 1988.
The man said the assaults occurred when he was a youth and resident student at the St. Boniface Minor Seminary.
Lanoie, who is retired now, was working as an ordained priest, holding various positions within the Archdiocese of St. Boniface, at the time of the offences, police said.
He was arrested Oct. 3 and has since been released from custody.
Richard Fréchette, spokesperson for the archdiocese, said the man first went to the archdiocese in December 2016 with his complaint.
Officials in the archdiocese did an internal investigation and then Archbishop Albert LeGatt met with Lanoie in January 2017 and accepted his resignation.
The internal investigation continued and in December 2017, after seeking advice from the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Legatt permanently barred from the archdiocese offices and from performing any public ministry.
The man then went to the police with his complaint in spring 2018, said Fréchette.
In a news release, LeGatt urged people to “pray for the victim and his family, for all the faithful of the archdiocese, for all of its priests and for the entire church.”
“Each time the heinous crime of sexual abuse is reported, victims and their families are wounded again, the vast majority of faithful priests bow their heads in shame, and sincere Catholics, Christians and people of good will, experience shock, sorrow, anger and righteous indignation,” the news release from the archdiocese states.
“Every single abuse case involving a minor, no matter when it took place, is wrong and we must listen attentively and respond compassionately to those who have been victimized and hurt, particularly if the abuser is connected in any way with our church.”
And pray also for Lanoie, LeGatt added.
“May the Spirit guide us all to find the light of truth and to be a church of true compassion and justice.”
Lanoie previously worked at the parishes of St. Agathe, St. Norbert, St. Eugene, and as a chaplain at St. Boniface Hospital.
With files from Gavin Boutroy
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Winnipeg Ordained Priest Charged for Sexual Assault of a Youth in The 80’s
The Manitoba Post
15 October 2018
WINNIPEG – Police have arrested and charged an ordained priest for sexual assault of a youth that occurred in the 80’s.
Police said in the spring of this year the Child Abuse Unit began an investigation into allegations of sexual assault. The victim, an adult male, disclosed a series of sexual assaults occurring between 1982 and 1988 in Winnipeg while he was a resident student at the St. Boniface Minor Seminary. The victim was a youth at the time of the offences.
On October 3rd a 70-year-old man was arrested. Police have confirmed the man was functioning as an ordained priest holding various positions within the Archdiocese of St. Boniface at the time of the offences.
Roland Lanoie has been charged with Sexual Assault x 4 and Indecent Assault.
He has been released from custody.
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Retired priest charged with sexual assault of youth
The Winnipeg Sun
15 October 2018
Updated:
A retired priest has been charged in an historic sexual assault investigation for offences dating back to the 1980’s.
Roland Lanoie, 70, was arrested earlier this month and charged with four counts of sexual assault and indecent assault. He was released from custody.
In spring 2018, the Winnipeg Police Service Child Abuse Unit began an investigation into allegations of sexual assault. The victim, an adult male, disclosed to investigators a series of sexual assaults occurring between 1982 and 1988 in Winnipeg while he was a resident student at the St. Boniface Minor Seminary. The victim was a youth at the time of the offences.
On Oct. 3, Lanoie was arrested. Investigators confirmed the accused was functioning as an ordained priest holding various positions within the Archdiocese of St. Boniface at the time of the offences.
In a news release from the archdiocese, Archbishop Albert LeGatt urged people to “pray for the victim and his family, for all the faithful of the archdiocese, for all of its priests and for the entire church.”
“Each time the heinous crime of sexual abuse is reported, victims and their families are wounded again, the vast majority of faithful priests bow their heads in shame, and sincere Catholics, Christians and people of good will, experience shock, sorrow, anger and righteous indignation,” the statement said.
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Arbitrator tosses chaplains’ complaints about priest
The Winnipeg Free Press
25 August 2010
By: Carol Sanders
Posted: 08/25/2010 1:00 AM
More than a year after hearings began, a labour arbitrator has ruled against the three chaplains who complained their boss, a priest at St. Boniface General Hospital, bullied them
“The complaints of harassment and abuse in this case were entirely without merit,” arbitrator Arne Peltz wrote in his 140-page decision.
Moreover, the non-denominational minister, and the Roman Catholic nun and priest who filed a grievance against Fr. Gerry Ward, should ask for forgiveness, Peltz wrote.
“Rev. (Carlyle) Murrell-Cole, Sister (Jeannine) Corbeil and Father (Roland) Lanoie should search their hearts and reflect deeply on the moral quality of their actions,” Peltz wrote.
His accusers had asked the arbitrator for a month off, $10,000 each and disciplinary action for Ward, the director of spiritual care services at the hospital.
In the end, what they received, was chastisement of themselves.
“At the very least, these three chaplains owe the hospital and Father Ward a public apology,” Peltz concluded. “After the unrelenting and unfair attack he has sustained, I hope Father Ward can forgive them.”
The chaplains are still employed in the spiritual care department.
They had alleged Ward verbally abused them, threatened to undermine their careers, then labelled them as troublemakers.
In his decision, Peltz said their complaints were “frivolous and vexatious” and “blown out of proportion.”
Corbeil had testified that Ward referred to the department as a “kindergarten” and a nuclear medicine specialist as “the lady who glows in the dark.” She said Ward told her that her size intimidated a chaplain and that her temper had others calling her Attila the Nun.
Lanoie wanted to know why he wasn’t getting his work schedule sent to him electronically anymore, Ward told him it was because Lanoie was rude to his assistant. Ward’s assistant told the hearing she didn’t know anything about it and that she hadn’t reported to Ward that Lanoie was rude to her.
After Murrell-Cole, initially one of Ward’s confidantes, was elected as the chaplains’ union representative, he was removed from his long-held position as the psychiatric unit’s chaplain and the office that went with it. Murrell-Cole said he was reassigned to a heavier workload and a desk he had to share with other chaplains.
The hospital defended Ward, arguing the chaplains were unhappy employees resistant to change who were out to get him, and challenged their boss’s authority.
In 2008, they filed a grievance against Ward. The hospital’s head of human resources looked into their claims and brought in an outside consultant who said the chaplains were the problem, not their boss, the hospital’s lawyer Ken Maclean said during the hearings.
Ward walked into a “very troubled workplace… with problematic communication… He was hired to end that discord,” Maclean said.
The labour arbitrator, who heard the two sides over the course of a year, said in his award that Ward had his work cut out for him when he was hired in 2005.
“The evidence revealed a picture of an exasperated (spiritual care) Director who was facing intractable conflict including intemperate, sometimes insubordinate conduct by part of his staff,” Peltz wrote in his decision.
“The grievers were ungovernable but Ward and (human resources) persisted in efforts at counselling, coaching and mediation, rather than discipline.”
Still, Peltz ordered the hospital to pay $2,500 in compensation to Murrell-Cole after he was shuffled out of his position for which he was hired in the psych ward.
carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
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Hospitals chaplains accuse priest of bullying them at Winnipeg facility
WINNIPEG – A priest accused of bullying chaplains at a Winnipeg hospital says most but not all of his staff embraced the changes he was forced to make in a divided department in an evolving institution.
At an arbitration hearing Wednesday, Father Gerry Ward testified that after he took the job of spiritual care director at St. Boniface General Hospital in 2005, changes had to be made in his department because of infighting.
When he told the hospital chaplains they were no longer allowed to send emails to their colleagues at work without his approval, he got a swift response from one of them: “Heil Hitler.”
The remark was made by Sister Jeannine Corbeil, one of three chaplains who have filed a grievance against Ward.
Ward testified Tuesday that others in the department nicknamed Corbeil “Attila the Nun” because of her anger.
Corbeil, Father Roland Lanoie and Rev. Carlyle Murrell-Cole allege Ward verbally abused them, threatened to undermine their careers, then labelled them as troublemakers.
The email edict was an attempt to curtail some of the divisiveness, Ward testified.
Ward testified Tuesday that others in the department nicknamed Corbeil “Attila the Nun” because of her anger.
There also had to be changes in staffing to reflect changes in the overall hospital, the priest said.
Ward said nowadays, patients spend fewer days in hospital than a decade ago, so chaplains have to respond more quickly.
Ward removed Murrell-Cole from his 13-year position in the psychiatric unit after the non-denominational minister was elected as the union representative for the spiritual care department staff.
On Wednesday, he said he believed the psychiatric unit didn’t require a lot of spiritual care.
Murrell-Cole testified earlier that he was kicked out of his office and reassigned to another part of the hospital with twice the responsibilities.
He told hearing arbitrator Arne Peltz that he was assigned to share a desk with another chaplain in a tiny office and noted that at the time, there were no chaplains with any psychiatric training, experience or desire to take his place.
Regarding what you term to be “nonsense complaints”:
If their grievances were without merit the subject shouldn’t have been newsworthy. In a 140-page decision the arbitrator found the complaints were entirely without merit, and the three complainants were ordered to apologize to their boss, in spite of “Ward [referring] to the department as a ‘kindergarten’ and … [telling] Corbeil her size intimidated a chaplain and that her temper had others calling her Attila the Nun. …” However,
[a]t the hearing, the chaplain whom Ward said she intimidated denied that.”
“When Lanoie wanted to know why he wasn’t getting his work schedule … anymore, Ward told him it was because Lanoie was rude to his assistant. Ward’s assistant told the hearing she didn’t know anything about it and that she hadn’t reported to Ward that Lanoie was rude to her.”
These documented instances of lack of respect in the workplace could have affected employee productivity outcomes. Working without a schedule in a large institution, for example, can’t be done. Furthermore, “[t]he chaplains [were] still employed in the spiritual care department.” The arbitrator also “…ordered the hospital to pay $2,500 in compensation to [the non-denomination chaplain]. Did these outcomes to the hearing occur because there was SOME merit to the chaplains’ grievances? The arbitrator’s ruling seems unclear.
At this time a movement to secularize provincial faith-based hospitals, e.g. removing crucifixes from patient’s rooms, was trying to gain traction. In-fighting among spiritual care providers, accusations of rebellion, bullying, and verbal harassment would have supported the perceived need to secularize provincially funded health-care institutions.
2017, 2016: Priest-Moderator at St. Norbert Roman Catholic Church, St. Norbert, Manitoba. In 2017 CCCD his address is listed is that of … in …, Manitoba. In the 2016 CCCD his address is listed as that of the Archdiocese of Saint Boniface (CCCD).
May I ask, where did you get Mr. Lanoie’s most recent address? Who provided this information?
I ask because the community in which Mr. Lanoie resides is small. The city itself isn’t a megalopolis like Toronto. The subdivision pinpoints even further where he lives. To expose the accused even further you named a particular assisted living facility:
“2017, 2016: Priest-Moderator at St. Norbert Roman Catholic Church, St. Norbert, Manitoba. In 2017 CCCD his address is listed is that of ****, an assisted living facility in ****, Manitoba.” (The asterisks are mine).
Until I read your blog I had no idea where he lived. Read the Winnipeg Police Service Media Release of October 15, 2018. There is no mention of Mr. Lanoie’s place of residence. The Winnipeg Police didn’t provide his address: it seems public security and peace are maintained without relaying this information. Yet you saw fit to do so. Why?
Canadians submit to the rule of law, not to the rulings of the Star Chamber. A person is considered innocent until proven guilty (as stated in various forms in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Common Law, and the Code civil in Québec). Let’s leave the investigation, the subsequent trial and acquittal/conviction to the professionals, shall we?
Caroline:
Did you intend to be condescending and snarky? That is what I am hearing. You are not asking a questions, you are issuing a (lawyerish sounding) rebuke.
I live in a remote region of Canada where residential school and pedofile priest trials have been gutwrenching and every northern family and every northern community appears impacted by the suffering of survivors. The offenders are known! No one hunts the accused/offenders down and attacks them.
Attacking them in a senior citizens facility, no less.
I suggest you may be watching too much television — crime series, maybe.
Either that or you are a lawyer trying to score a point or two.
Sylvia, your site is factual, nonsensational and highly credible. The five offenders whose trails I have knowledge of are now known because of your site. No accused were harmed nor was this advocated. Keep up the amazing work.
If my last post came off as snarky, I do apologize. Brevity isn’t conducive to conciliation. I will not, however, apologize for asserting Charter Rights as being non-negotiable.
I am glad the victim brought his complaint to the archbishop. It took a lot of courage to do so; it will continue to require courage to undergo public scrutiny. I am encouraged by his undergoing therapy; he’ll be able to state more calmly what happened between himself and the defendant thirty years ago. I have no doubt his rights are being respected, and will be protected when the trial is underway.
Causing me concern is people willing to relieve a character, deemed unsympathetic, of a basic right, e.g. the security of his person. Whether you like it or not, it is alleged that Mr. Lanoie committed five unlawful acts against the victim. Nothing has been presented in court, everything has yet to be proven. We must wait: other allegations may come forth.
Unfortunately, people want immediate justice. That kind is generally reserved to military dictatorships, but is not lawfully practised in Canada. Here, Charter Rights are not supposed to be sacrificed on the altar of Convenience.
Truth isn’t expendable, either. In the adversarial process found in our courts the victim and the defendant will be collaborating, strangely enough, in exposing Truth. The Crown will present its case; the Defense is expected to vigorously challenge the evidence. The Truth, no doubt incomplete because of the time elapsed, will be used to convict or liberate the defendant.
When our lives are uneventful we take our Charter Rights for granted. Fate is fickle, however; all it takes is one moment of distraction, one act of thoughtlessness to make us appreciate fully how precious these Rights are. If you wouldn’t want them taken from you, then don’t wish them removed from anyone else.
P.S. The law has as its base common sense. I am not a lawyer, but thank you for the compliment.