A justice system that focuses on the victim, as well as the offender, By Harvey Voogd, Freelance April 23, 2010
When a crime occurs, it does not affect just one person, but also impacts their family members and the entire community.
This was personally made clear to my family in the fall of 2008 when our pickup was stolen in the middle of the night. Though it was parked in front of our home in Edmonton and under a street light, neither we nor our neighbours heard anything.
The truck was recovered near Alberta Beach, but was written off due to a combination of damage sustained and the age of the vehicle. We received $3,700 for the loss, but our new second-hand truck cost $11,000 -- a financial hit that we had not anticipated.
The police and our insurance company treated us professionally and fairly, but still a lot of time was taken to talk to everyone. Time was needed to drive an hour to Alberta Beach to see if there were any personal items to be recovered, as well as to look for a new vehicle.
But the impact of this criminal victimization did not consist only of the property damage and the financial loss. It also included psychological and emotional after-effects.
My wife wondered if we had been targeted or singled out. Why was our vehicle stolen and not other trucks parked on the same street?
We will never know as no one has ever been arrested or charged.
Steering wheel clubs have since sprouted on vehicles on our block. They may be effective, but they are also a reminder of the communal loss of a sense of safety and security.
Shortly after the theft, I began work as restorative justice manager at the Mediation and Restorative Justice Centre (MRJC). Here, I have learned that my experience is shared by most other victims of crime.
Unanswered questions, emotional scars and physical symptoms like sleeping problems are common results of having been a victim.
But these results do not have to be permanent.
In the last 18 months, I have been witness to the power of restorative justice in cases ranging from road rage to a manslaughter case involving drunk driving causing death.
Restorative justice recognizes that crime is more than a violation of the law and the state. Crime is a violation of people and relationships and these violations create obligations.
Restorative justice's central focus is on victim needs and offender responsibility for repairing the harm that has occurred.
At MRJC we provide an opportunity for an interested victim, offender and community to meet in a safe setting to address what happened and why. The discussion includes the harm caused to the victim and how the offender may be held accountable.
The dialogue also works to an outcome that is meaningful to both the victim and offender and redresses the harm caused to the victim.
April 18 to 24 is National Victims of Crime Awareness Week. It is an opportunity to raise awareness about victim issues and about the services and laws in place to help victims and their families.
Victims of crime and their families deserve support from their community. Victims of crime need to know that they have a voice in our criminal justice system and that there are laws in place to help them.
Restorative justice can play an important role in Canada's justice system because of its focus on the need for every victim of crime to be treated with compassion and respect for their dignity.
By involving victims and the community, along with offenders, in addressing crime, restorative justice offers the following benefits to victims:
- -The process allows victims to tell their own story about the impact of the harm they have received and have their questions answered directly by the offender;
- -It gives victims a direct and personal voice and participation in the criminal justice system;
- -The restorative justice dialogue allows an offender to acknowledge responsibility and accountability directly to the victim;
- -The process also creates an opportunity for recognition of impact of harm to the community and hope for healing, closure and transformation to the victim;
- -Restorative justice aims to put key decisions in the hands of those most affected by crime.
This week has been an opportunity for all of us, citizens and those working in the criminal justice system, to re-commit to ensuring that victims are involved in the process and come out satisfied.
Harvey Voogd is manager of restorative justice programs at the Mediation and Restorative Justice Centre. The Centre provides programs and services based on restorative justice and community mediation principles.
Restorative justice helps address the suffering and loss that victims feel
Ronald Sawa was handed the sentence Monday after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting
Former Regina youth worker sent to prison for sexually assaulting children
April 26, 2010, By Jennifer Graham, THE CANADIAN PRESS
REGINA - A former Regina youth worker has been sentenced to 4 1/2 years in prison for what a judge called the "deplorable" act of sexually assaulting young boys.
Ronald Sawa was handed the sentence Monday after pleading guilty to sexually assaulting nine boys between 1974 and 1989 when Sawa worked at the Saskatchewan Boys Centre, which later became the Paul Dojack Youth Centre.
"Any incident of sexual abuse is deplorable. The actions by this accused are likewise deplorable and they are compounded by the fact that these troubled young people were sent to centres ... in the hope and expectation that with the proper guidance and counselling, their lives could be turned around into a positive direction," said Court of Queen's Bench Justice Ian McLellan.
"But Mr. Sawa, instead of helping them deal with the issues that were affecting them in a negative way, you preyed on and abused them."
Court heard that Sawa, now 60, was hired at the Saskatchewan Boys Centre in 1973 as a parental care supervisor.
The centre was initially a child welfare facility used to house those under protection orders and it was also a detention centre for youth. In 1985 it started operating strictly as a youth custody facility.
Sawa worked there until March 1989, when he was suspended amid allegations of inappropriate behaviour involving one youth. In October 1989, Sawa pleaded guilty to one count of common assault and received an absolute discharge. He was fired.
The current charges were laid after several former residents from the centre filed civil suits alleging sexual abuse and the RCMP began an investigation in 2004. Crown prosecutor Roger DeCorby told the court that the investigation criss-crossed the country as the Mounties spent years interviewing former residents of the youth centre.
Sawa was arrested by RCMP in August 2008. He initially faced 39 charges involving 18 complainants. Thirty other charges were stayed after Sawa pleaded guilty in January to nine counts.
DeCorby told the court that the abuse started with touching and progressed to masturbation, oral and anal sex.
Court heard the boys were vulnerable because of their troubled backgrounds and felt they had no choice. Sawa took advantage of his position of authority, said DeCorby.
"In many of the offending circumstances he developed a relationship with the youths by paying attention to them and befriending them and they trusted him. In the end, he exploited their vulnerability," DeCorby told the court.
Only one of the nine people filed a victim impact statement.
"But the one victim that did give a victim impact statement certainly talked about how he trusted this individual, and the fact that he was abused by him certainly warped his thinking for many years," DeCorby said outside the courthouse.
The Crown and defence made a joint submission for the four-and-a-half-year sentence.
Defence lawyer Doug Andrews said Sawa has spent the last two decades without incident. Andrews also asked the court to consider that Sawa has lived with the threat of prosecution hanging over his head for a "long, long time."
"For the last 20 years ... he has lived in an atmosphere of uncertainty and to some degree ridicule and suspicion," said Andrews.
Sawa had no comment. He was led out of the courtroom in handcuffs to begin his prison term.
Mother of B.C. man shot by RCMP drops lawsuit, says much has changed
April 21, 2010, By Tamsyn Burgmann, THE CANADIAN PRESS
VANCOUVER, B.C. - A few years ago, still mourning the death of her son at the hands of an RCMP officer, Linda Bush vowed to expose the failures of the national police force.
On Wednesday, she sat side-by-side with Mounties and announced that much has changed since her son was shot in the back of the head at the Houston, B.C., RCMP detachment, and she has abandoned a civil lawsuit against the force.
She said she now has "great expectations" they can work together to change the system.
"I don't really feel that I need to forgive the events of the past. What I need to do is concentrate on what's available, what their attitudes are in the future," she said at a joint news conference.
"I am much more comfortable with RCMP in general... I don't know if that's a form of forgiveness or just a form of acceptance and needing to just go ahead from there."
Ian Bush was 22 when he was arrested in October 2005 outside a hockey arena for having an open beer in public and giving the officer a false name.
According to testimony from the officer, Const. Paul Koester, the two scuffled while they were alone inside the detachment. Koester testified at a coroner's inquest that he acted in self-defence when he pulled the trigger.
The officer was cleared of wrongdoing by the inquest, an internal RCMP review and an inquiry by the Commission for Complaints Against the RCMP.
But Linda Bush expressed dissatisfaction with those investigations, and made it her life's mission to ensure no family would have to endure the same painful experience.
She said Wednesday that she will continue to push for civilian investigation of in-custody deaths, but she has withdrawn the civil lawsuit. She has received no cash settlement, and said it was she who approached the RCMP with the change of course.
She said some people will be disappointed with her decision, but she did what she felt made the most sense.
"Nothing we can do will give Ian's life back to him, so the only thing we truly want is not within our reach."
Bush said the costs of proceeding in court could greatly exceed any award, and a court battle would have placed an emotional strain on the family, as the inquest did.
"We would be reliving the despair, anger, hopelessness and frustration," she said. "While I have made it my life's mission to do whatever is necessary to make the changes to the law, I am no longer sure I can justify putting my family through the ordeal of a court case."
The Mounties have never apologized for Ian Bush's death.
His sister, Rene, said while she doesn't ever expect an apology, she hopes the public doesn't view the family's move as giving up.
"I don't think I'd ever be happy with justice for Ian because I feel he was stolen from me, but I don't think retribution through courts (is necessary)," she said. "Money wasn't what we were going for, we need those changes."
Chief Supt. Craig Callens, the RCMP's B.C. deputy criminal operations officer, said Linda Bush's input into refining RCMP policy and procedures has been significant.
"The RCMP has made changes which include external investigation, review and oversight of serious incidents involving RCMP members and employees, and the installation of video recording equipment in RCMP buildings," Callens said as Bush sat beside him.
"We both agree that these changes are needed in order to enhance the transparency of police operations and to provide a means for greater accountability to the public."
Callens said the RCMP hopes the B.C. government will soon set up its own system of independent investigations, oversight and review of police actions.
The RCMP is also proceeding with plans to install video-recording equipment in its 120 B.C. detachments by the fall of 2012. Houston, a northern B.C. resource town, was one of the first to get additional cameras, Callens said.
Wednesday's announcement comes three weeks after the RCMP reached a settlement with the mother of Robert Dziekanski, who died after Mounties stunned him several times with a Taser at Vancouver International Airport in 2007.
Zofia Cisowski received an undisclosed financial payment and a personal apology from the RCMP in return for dropping her lawsuit against the force.
Archbishop of Toronto calls sex-abuse scandals in church 'exceptions'
April 18, 2010, By Colin Perkel, THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO - Sexual-abuse scandals rocking the Roman Catholic church are "dramatic exceptions" to the good work done by most priests, the archbishop of Canada's largest archdiocese said Sunday.
In a pastoral message delivered to churchgoers across the archdiocese, Thomas Collins said the clergy and lay people should not be discouraged by the seemingly endless stream of victims.
"These scandals are dramatic exceptions to the fundamental reality of priestly goodness, for almost all priests serve faithfully," Collins said.
"But just one priest gone wrong causes great suffering, and as we hear of evil done by some clergy in our own communities and around the world, we are all filled with dismay."
The pastoral message was given to priests to deliver as the homily at Sunday mass in all 225 parishes of the Toronto archdiocese, which is home to 1.9 million Catholics.
Mary Lozowsky, of Brampton, Ont., said she was encouraged by what she heard, particularly Collins' admission the church had "failed."
He didn't try to blame the victims, she said.
"There was no counter-attack in this - it was not a defensive response," Lozowsky said.
"I thought it was honest."
Also Sunday, Pope Benedict met a group of clerical sex-abuse victims in Malta.
The pontiff promised them the church would do everything in its power to bring justice to victims and protect young people in the future.
Benedict also expressed shame and sorrow at the pain the men suffered, the Vatican said.
Among allegations that have emerged in recent weeks was that the diocese of Pembroke in eastern Ontario conspired with the Vatican to cover up sex-abuse accusations.
In that case, a letter from the bishop of the diocese written in 1993 indicated a church official - later jailed in Ontario - was promoted to a top Vatican post despite knowing about several complaints about his conduct.
Collins called the situation "painful" as he acknowledged the impact of the scandals on the church.
"It seems that not a day has gone by in recent weeks without hearing of Catholic priests who have sexually abused those entrusted to their care, or of the failure of their superiors to deal rightly with that," he said.
"In the face of this constant criticism, Catholic clergy and lay people alike can feel discouraged, angry, confused, and ashamed."
However, he noted that much of the abuse happened many years ago, and said measures have been put in place to make the church safer.
At the same time, he said, his archdiocese is looking to update its protocols - first introduced in 1989 - to deal with accusations of misconduct.
He said he would be asking a group of lay people experienced in youth, psychology, legal issues and ethics to recommend changes to make the protocol more effective.
In addition, he said, priests and others involved in pastoral service in the archdiocese will gather this fall to discuss more fully about how to best respond to sexual abuse in the Church and in society.
Lozowsky said she was pleased the church is talking about ways to prevent future abuse and cover-ups of complaints.
The Toronto archdiocese put a video of Collins' message on its website along with text copies translated in five languages so it would be as accessible as possible, a spokesman said.
Survivors mark National Victims of Crime Awareness Week
Media contact:
Sherry Edmunds-Flett, Executive Director
L.I.N.C. (Long-term Inmates Now in the Community)
Phone: 604-820-1015 (office), 604-852-5514 (cell)
Email: seflett@telus.net
Survivors mark National Victims of Crime Awareness Week
April 23 at UFV
For the last 13 years, Misty Cockerill has been a victims’ rights advocate. It all started at the criminal trial of the man who not only attempted to take her life, but also murdered her best friend. He was sentenced to life in prison.
Cockerill is one of several survivors of violent crime who will mark National Victims of Crime Awareness Week by speaking at a public forum at the University of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford ― her hometown. The free forum, called ‘Every Victim Matters’, is the fourth annual event of its kind and will take place at 7 pm on Friday, April 23 in room B101 at UFV (33844 King Rd., Abbotsford).
Sponsored by the L.I.N.C. (Long-term Inmates Now in the Community) Society, the forum is also supported by the Criminology and Criminal Justice department at UFV, and funded by the federal Department of Justice. Fraser Simmons, former regional director of the National Parole Board, Pacific Region, will moderate the panel and lead a discussion on realizing the vision for a healing centre for victims of serious crime.
Cockerill’s realization that she could help victims speak – even if she just lent them a voice to be heard – came when a woman approached her in court in tears. The woman explained that her daughter had been raped, beaten, and left for dead. The girl survived but was afraid to charge her assailants. Watching the trial had changed her mind and she gathered the strength to press charges. Since that day, Cockerill has been speaking in high schools about the effects of crime and the impact on victims lives. She has spoken at rallies in an effort to take back the streets and give them back to the children.
She is scheduled to graduate from UFV this April and is ready to begin a career in social work, with a focus on helping people during their time of need. She has been able to pursue her goal thanks to the help of the Canadian Crime Victim Foundation, which established a trust to support victims of crime as they work toward their education goals and improve their quality of life.
Cockerill’s message to society has been to take care of victims of crime. “Strength is not just a word, it’s the force that keeps you moving, breathing and laughing,” she says. “There will always be violence and despair. It has followed us since the beginning of time. So instead of just trying to prevent violent acts, as a society, we need to also learn how to support and nurture the victims of those acts. They should not feel as they are the ones being prosecuted. Encourage people to be successful instead of forcing them into failure.”
John Allore’s sister Theresa was a 19-year-old Canadian college student who disappeared in 1978 from her campus in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. Five months later her body was discovered approximately one kilometre from her dormitory. Police initially suggested she was a runaway, and then perhaps a victim of a drug overdose. In 2002, Allore enlisted the support of an investigative reporter and friend, who produced a series of articles that gave compelling evidence that Theresa Allore was a victim of murder, and that her death was possibly linked to two other unsolved local cases. The theory was supported by geographic profiler and then FBI consultant, Kim Rossmo, who suggested a serial sexual predator may have been operating in the Quebec region in the late 1970s and advised police to investigate the three deaths as a series.
“Murder victims have multiple deaths,” says Allore. “There is the physical death, but then there is a second death when they are driven into silence by the voices of law enforcement, or the media who co-opt tragedy to tell a story (and in so doing distort the truth), and in some cases there is the death by the legal community who fashion facts for their own purposes. After a criminal death, there is only humiliation.”
The April 23 forum will focus on addressing how people can survive the devastating loss of a loved one or being the victim of a violent crime themselves, what services survivors feel they need, and how can the community can contribute.
Cockerill and Allore will speak about their experiences as survivors and what has helped them get through the experience. Marjean Fichtenberg, the principal researcher and writer of the L.I.N.C. Society’s feasibility study on a healing centre for survivors of homicide, will outline some of the study’s preliminary findings. She is the mother of Dennis Fichtenberg, who was murdered by an offender on conditional release.
This forum, like those of the past three years, is part of an ongoing process to help eradicate the stigma attached to being a survivor of violent crime, to listen to and value the experiences of survivors, and to educate the community about what survivors need and want in order to carry on.
No RSVP required. Pay parking is in effect on UFV’s campuses ($2 per four-hour period).
Toronto Const. Michael Sweet
Family of slain cop demand end to 'torture' of privacy and parole laws
April 14, 2010, By Colin Perkel, THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO - The family of a police officer, who bled to death 30 years ago while his killer taunted police, pleaded Wednesday for changes to privacy laws that hide information on which the murderer made a partially successful bid for parole.
Backed by police groups across the country, the widow and now grown children of Toronto Const. Michael Sweet said Craig Munro's prison records should be as public as the killing was.
"Mike was murdered in a public place; Craig Munro's trial was public information; Craig Munro's sentencing was public information," said Sweet's widow, Karen Fraser.
"However, as soon as Craig Munro was in prison, all information concerning Craig Munro became private information under the federal government's Privacy Act."
In winning four unescorted passes into Kelowna, B.C., from his jail in Agassiz, B.C., Munro, 58, claimed to have reformed and accepted responsibility for his crime.
He told a two-member National Parole Board hearing last month that he was drunk and high during the standoff, and didn't realize Sweet was dying while he and his brother kept police at bay.
Sweet's family believes otherwise, pointing out that a three-member parole board nixed his release bid a year ago believing he was still dangerous.
Privacy laws prevent the public from learning the results of Munro's psychological testing or the information the two-member panel relied on in March in granting him unescorted passes.
At the same time, Fraser said as her three daughters looked on, the National Parole Board and Correctional Service of Canada are able to "hide behind" the privacy rules.
"We're not even allowed a transcript of these hearings," Fraser said, speaking out publicly for the first time.
"Every Canadian deserves to know who is being released back into our community and how the parole board has made their decision."
The family is also calling for an end to annual parole hearings for violent offenders, arguing victims are constantly forced to relive the trauma of their loss.
"My dad ... would be horrified to know that his wife and his girls are having to deal with the torture of facing Craig Munro again and again," said Nicole Sweet, who was almost two years old when her father was killed.
Munro is serving a life sentence for Sweet's first-degree murder on March 14, 1980. The officer was responding to a late-night tavern robbery. Munro was on mandatory supervision at the time.
He applied for early parole in 1997 under the "faint-hope" clause but withdrew the bid after a public outcry.
A psychological assessment last year concluded he had antisocial personality disorder.
Tim Danson, the Sweet family's lawyer, said the public interest needs to outweigh Munro's privacy interest.
"How do we know that there isn't manipulation and deception if we can't see the records upon which decisions are made?" Danson said.
"You can't be partly pregnant - once public always public."
The family has formally requested Munro's information, which can be released only if he consents.
Danson said the records, if turned over, would be made public so Canadians can judge the parole board's workings for themselves.
Munro's brother Jamie was convicted of second-degree murder and released in 1992. He is believed to be living in Italy.
"Everybody is so busy worrying about prisoner rights that they've forgotten about ours," said Kim Sweet, another of the officer's daughters.
"When my dad was killed, I was sentenced to a life that will forever be marked by pain, sadness and a huge sense of loss."
Sex Offenders and Pardons
Screening guide oversight underscores confusion over pardoned sex offenders
April 11, 2010, By Bruce Cheadle And Jim Bronskill, THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA - The government's own "best practice" guide for screening volunteers makes no mention of a critical step to identify pardoned sex offenders such as Graham James.
The oversight highlights the current confusion in the system for doing criminal background checks, and serves as a pointed reminder to organizations gearing up for the summer volunteer season to ensure they follow a rigorous screening protocol.
Under existing legislation that has been strictly enforced since last December, only the individual being screened can request a "vulnerable sector" search that would reveal a pardoned sex offence.
Yet Public Safety Canada's own "best practice guidelines for screening volunteers" does not explain vulnerable sector searches in detail, nor make clear that they must be initiated by the individual being screened.
A Public Safety spokesman said in an emailed statement that it's "implicitly understood that a vulnerable sector search is automatically part of the process."
The guide acknowledges that although a person may have received a pardon, the public safety minister may unseal the record to help screen those who would work with children and other vulnerable people.
But it doesn't spell out the fact that the volunteer must personally initiate the search and then submit fingerprints before the details of a pardoned offence can be released to the individual.
There were 887 pardons granted to sex offenders in 2009-10 and 667 the year before, according to the National Parole Board. The RCMP reports it has files for 14,584 pardoned sex offenders in its national database.
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews is planning legislative changes that would make it more difficult for people convicted of sex offences to obtain pardons.
While Toews' office says it's a good idea to request "full criminal record checks" on prospective employees and volunteers, there's no indication he will do anything to make it easier for organizations and companies to identify pardoned sex offenders.
Professional background screeners are crying foul since the RCMP tightened up privacy provisions to restrict soccer leagues, churches and others from asking directly whether a pardoned sex offence exists in police databases.
Liberal public safety critic Mark Holland says the restrictions are unacceptable.
"It's deeply concerning. The fact is right now it is nearly impossible for organizations to get access to information on whether or not somebody has a history as a sex offender," Holland said in interview.
"Now, somebody like Mr. James is in a position where he could be placed in an authority position over youth. That's clearly unacceptable."
The RCMP says it's merely respecting privacy provisions set out in the law.
"A criminal records check won't reveal the existence of a conviction for which a pardon's been granted," said Supt. Chuck Walker. "That's the whole idea."
In any event, a typical police records check - even a vulnerable sector check - is not a panacea for volunteer groups who want assurances a new recruit has had no trouble with the law, Walker says.
A thorough check involves looking in local police indices as well as the national criminal records system, he said.
"Let's say there was no flag, and yet there are 10 incidences of police contact in the local police records database where this individual has been identified as somebody who prowls parks, they've had things said about them, there's been accusations made that - either because there was an unco-operative witness, or they couldn't amass enough evidence to lay a charge - it never made it out of local police indices. It was never a matter before the courts."
Walker argues such local police checks should be a routine part of screening.
"It's not legislated. My view is that it probably should be, because the vulnerable sector - or the pardoned sex offender registry query - is one-third of the entire puzzle. It's not a complete picture."
Lawyer and author Michael Carabash says the disparate criminal records system is a disjointed mass of confusing data.
"The criminal records system needs a complete overhaul. How can people expect to know anything about criminal records if it's unclear to me, a lawyer who has researched the damn thing for months?"
Simpler record-check procedures would be welcome because the current time-consuming process can be a bothersome headache for potential volunteers, said Don Lapierre of umbrella group Volunteer Canada.
Lapierre would also like to see a truly national system of volunteer-screening procedures. "If there was some sort of common approach across the country, that would be beneficial to the sector."
Public Safety and volunteer groups stress that a criminal records check is only one element of a comprehensive screening program that includes an interview with applicants, personal reference vetting, supervision and evaluation, and followup with program participants.
"There's no screening process that's 100 per cent foolproof," said Susie Mackie, a spokeswoman for Scouts Canada, which has a multi-layered system.
The organization's interviewers are trained to look for anything unusual when talking to prospective volunteers. Mackie said it's also a good idea for parents to get to know volunteer leaders and to ask their children about the programs they're enrolled in.
For the last 10 years, Scouts Canada has also had a policy of requiring two fully screened adult leaders to be present with children.
Shelley Goertzen, general manager of the Kanata Soccer Club just west of Ottawa, echoes that suggestion - for everyone's sake.
"We always tell our coaches to never be alone with a player that they aren't related to," she said. "Just as a matter of general principle, don't put yourself in situations where anybody's conduct could be called into question."
Why not just revoke James' pardon? By PAUL RUTHERFORD, Winnipeg Sun
Convicted pedophile Graham James is eligible for a pardon? Pardon? You can’t be serious.
That was my first reaction.
Put me down as one of the legions of Canadians who thinks the paltry three-and-half-year holiday James had in Club Fed, which ended in 2000, is a travesty in itself. Now this?
James did get a pardon alright and predictably Canadians are outraged.
With news Wednesday that at least one other former player is seeking charges against James, this thing could just get sicker before too long.
The Canadian Press discovered James, the disgraced junior hockey coach, had been pardoned in 2007. The pardon was signed off by Pierre Dion, a full-time member of the Appeal Division of the National Parole Board. It came to light when a former hockey player from the late 1970s, who was never coached by James, learned about the pardon through recent discussions with the Winnipeg Police.
I like the Parole Board’s spin on why pardons are beneficial.
“Pardons encourage commitments to lead law-abiding lives, help people secure jobs and reduce reliance on social programs,” says its latest planning report.
Haha. Sounds fine if you’re a thief or fraudster but a pedophile? They remain a very serious risk whatever community they settle in.
As Sheldon Kennedy put it “I know how this guy works.” James uses charm and manipulation to worm his way into the lives of young athletes.
Even more ridiculous was the statement by Parole Board spokeswoman Caroline Douglas.
“We cannot discriminate based on the crime committed. Very few people are ineligible for a pardon. Everyone else is eligible no matter their crime. We have to follow the law.”
I think it’s about time they paid attention to what crime was committed.
No two criminal cases are the same. Victims of crime can’t all be lumped into one category. No one is ever going to be able to convince me that a pardon for a thief is equivalent to a pardon for a pedophile.
Alan Shanoff, QMI’s legal columnist wrote Tuesday he’s not at all surprised that James got a pardon.
Apparently it’s as easy as putting your shoes on.
In 2008-2009 the Parole Board issued 39,628 pardons. In the last five years 111,769 pardons were issued.
Someone convicted of a very serious indictable offence (like James) must wait five years before applying. The year he got his more than 7,000 others of his ilk got them. Only 103 were denied.
Let’s face it, this is a rubber stamping exercise. They’re handed out freely by the look of it. So the “shocked” Conservatives are promising to do something about the pardon laws. Why don’t they just simply revoke James’ pardon?
As Shanoff wrote, cabinet currently can grant another type of pardon — cabinet-issued pardons that erase someone’s criminal record. So why not wield the same power to take one away?
Thankfully James’ criminal record is not erased.
And it would be discovered if a criminal record check is done if he ever applied to work with children, the disabled or other vulnerable people. Still it sickens me that this guy can get any breaks at all after what he did.
Prosecutors must testify at Frank Paul's Public Inquiry
Prosecutors must testify at freezing death inquiry, says Supreme Court
April 8, 2010, By THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA - Crown lawyers will have to testify at a public inquiry into the freezing death of a Vancouver man.
The Supreme Court of Canada has refused to hear their appeal of an order requiring them to explain why they decided repeatedly not to charge police in the death of Frank Paul. As usual, the justices gave no reasons for their decision.
Paul died in December 1998 after a police officer dumped him in an alley, soaking wet, after he'd been released from a drunk tank.
A decade later, retired judge William Davies, who is leading an inquiry into the death, ruled that Crown lawyers had to explain their repeated decisions not to lay charges.
The B.C. Criminal Justice Branch disagreed, saying the principle of prosecutorial independence gives Crown lawyers constitutional protection against having to justify their decisions.
Davies rejected that argument and the courts backed him.
The British Columbia Court of Appeal ruled last July that the prosecutors must be publicly accountable because the inquiry into Paul's death was specifically asked to look at the role of the Criminal Justice Branch.
First Nations groups in British Columbia fought for years for inquiry into Paul's death, saying the public has a right to know why two officers involved with him before he died were never charged.
Last spring, Davies released a highly critical report of the circumstances surrounding Paul's death, saying he was a victim of indifference and callousness who died cold and alone.
Davies also lashed out at the Vancouver Police Department, saying a botched investigation by police investigating themselves was part of a flawed system that failed Paul.
Prisons must work to prevent suicides: expert
By LAURA PAYTON, Parliamentary Bureau OTTAWA — Prison officials should work hard to prevent inmates from trying to kill themselves, a clinical psychologist said Monday in the wake of a suicide attempt by the former commander of CFB Trenton.
Ronald Holden, a professor at Queen’s University whose research includes prison suicides, spoke to QMI Agency in the wake of reports that Col. Russell Williams attempted to suffocate himself on Saturday by shoving a toilet paper roll down his throat after jamming the lock in his cell so guards couldn’t easily reach him.
Williams is in an Ontario detention centre awaiting trial for killing two women and sexually assaulting two others.
Holden researches “psychache,” or unbearable psychological pain, and how it relates to suicidal behaviour. He says while prisons assess suicide risk when inmates are admitted, they need to do as much as possible to prevent suicide attempts. Inmates are five to 10 times more likely than the average person to try to kill themselves.
“If they wish to address this sort of psychache then I think they need to focus in on which particular frustrated need is relevant for that particular individual,” Holden said, pointing to factors like the needs for achievement, autonomy and love; the need to strive to replace a sense of loss — such as losing a high-profile career — and the need to avoid embarrassment.
Williams was removed in February as base commander for CFB Trenton and is under administrative review, meaning the formerly ambitious officer could lose his rank as colonel. He is still paid at that rank.
A spokesman for Ontario’s community safety and correctional services ministry says inmates are assessed based on previous history, suicidal tendencies they’ve expressed, strange behaviour and a formal psychiatric assessment.
If they’re assessed to be a risk, they’re segregated or placed in a medical cell and given round-the-clock, one-on-one supervision.
There are other precautions, like limiting the number of things in a cell, removing bedsheets and providing tear-resistant coveralls so inmates can’t strangle themselves.
“We take such steps as we can to reduce the risk of any inmate harming themselves. Our priority is always safe, secure custody,” said Stuart McGetrick, who emphasized he was speaking in general and couldn’t confirm or deny reports of Williams’ suicide attempt.
Graham James: TIMELINE
Here is a timeline of the important dates in the career of Graham James:
Born: Feb. 7, 1952 in P.E.I.
1970: Quits hockey as a player due to bouts of asthma. Mid-1970s — Graduates from university; works as substitute teacher; begins coaching career.
1979-83: Coaches junior A hockey, winning the Manitoba provincial title with the Fort Garry Blues.
1983-84: Named head scout of the WHL’s Winnipeg Warriors. Recruits both Theoren Fleury and Sheldon Kennedy.
1984: Hired as head coach of the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors.
1986: Hired as head coach and GM of WHL’s Swift Current Broncos. He acquires Kennedy in a trade.
1986-94: Eight-year stint with Broncos nets a pair of WHL titles in 1989 and 1993 and a Memorial Cup.
1994: Joins Calgary Hitmen as part-owner, GM and head coach.
Nov. 22, 1996: Calgary police charge James with two counts of sexual assault involving hundreds of incidents against two of his former players over a span of 10 years.
Jan. 2, 1997: Pleads guilty to sexual assault. Sentenced to three and a half years in prison. The Canadian Hockey Association imposes a lifetime ban on coaching.
2001-03: In spite of the ban, he coaches several teams in Spain, including the national team.
2003: A civil lawsuit against James is settled out of court. The suit, filed in 1999 by an anonymous victim of James’s sexual abuse and his parents, named as defendants the Canadian Hockey Association, the Western Hockey League and various other hockey organizations and individuals, in addition to James.
2009: Fleury alleges James sexually molested him from the age of 14.
Junior hockey predator Graham James pardoned as fresh allegations emerge
April 4, 2010, By Bruce Cheadle And Jim Bronskill, THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA - Graham James, the junior coach convicted of sexually abusing his players in a case that rocked the hockey world from house leagues to the NHL, has been pardoned by the National Parole Board, The Canadian Press has learned.
Though the pardon was granted three years ago, it comes to public light only now as a result of a previously unknown accuser contacting Winnipeg police.
A shocked Prime Minister's Office, notified of the pardon by The Canadian Press, called it a "deeply troubling and gravely disturbing" development that demands an explanation from the parole board.
James, now 58, pleaded guilty to sexual assault after two of his former teenaged players, including ex-NHLer Sheldon Kennedy, came forward with their stories of abuse at his hands from 1984 to 1995. James was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison in 1997.
His current whereabouts are unknown.
Kennedy said news of the pardon awakened an old anger.
"I'm not forgiving of what is going on here," he told the Canadian Press Sunday night.
"What angers me is that in a matter of 12 years he can go and do whatever he wants to do and he can bluff his employers because nobody knows what his background is because it's erased. That bothers me."
Kennedy added, however, that putting James back in the public spotlight could be a good thing.
"Graham's conviction brought with it a lot of change and his pardon and it coming to light is only going to bring more change," he said.
James' latest accuser, who says his encounter with the junior coach preceded Kennedy's by four years, is still deciding whether to follow former NHL star Theoren Fleury in lodging a formal complaint with police.
Fleury went to Winnipeg police in January after publishing a shocking tell-all memoir last fall that detailed years of alleged abuse by James.
"I'm shocked and mystified. Imagine somebody who commits that kind of crime being pardoned," said Fleury in a statement issued Sunday.
"Obviously nobody was proud of the decision or it wouldn't have been a secret. I thought we had an open justice system. It's just more proof our society has a lot to learn about protecting the victims."
Fleury added that the pardon makes it "even tougher" for those who have been abused to talk about what they've been through.
Winnipeg police have confirmed they are investigating Fleury's allegations.
The latest accuser spoke to The Canadian Press on condition he not be identified. He was never coached by James but said he was targeted in 1979-80 as a player with prospects. Now a lawyer, the man said he learned of James's possible pardon through recent discussions with Winnipeg police.
The Canadian Press subsequently discovered that James was pardoned on Jan. 8, 2007. The pardon was signed off by Pierre Dion, a full-time member of the Appeal Division of the National Parole Board who also has a clinical psychology practice in Ottawa with court experience in child protection cases.
Dion was appointed by the Liberals and re-appointed by the Conservatives. He could not immediately be reached for comment.
A pardon does not erase a person's criminal record, but it means the information is kept in a separate file and doesn't show up on checks of the Canadian Police Information Centre, a key law-enforcement database used by the RCMP and other police forces.
In the case of someone convicted of serious sex offences, the criminal record is kept apart from others, but the name is flagged in the CPIC system. According to the parole board, that means details of the person's conviction would be discovered by a check that takes place if they apply to work with children, the disabled or other vulnerable people.
James's latest accuser is aware of that safeguard through his own volunteer work coaching his son's hockey teams, but still finds the pardon inexplicable.
"To say that the parole board process has been abused would be a grotesque understatement," he said in an interview.
"Here you have an incredibly high-profile pedophile - and there's no other word to use to describe him - who clearly has not been able to take responsibility or show any accountability for his actions."
The man said he considers the mere act of seeking a pardon as an illustration of James's absence of remorse. That it was granted, he said, is like a fresh wound.
"I can't explain in words the extent to which this just cuts right to the heart of the pain again, in terms of who he is and what he did."
In the interview with The Canadian Press, James's latest accuser did not specify his allegations beyond indicating they were sexual in nature and made him contemplate suicide. Since he has not filed a formal police complaint, no new charges are connected to his allegations and nothing has been tried in a court.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper, while noting the independence of the parole board, expressed shock that the government is learning of the pardon only three years after the fact.
"The prime minister has asked for explanation on how the National Parole Board can pardon someone who committed such horrific crimes that remain shocking to all Canadians," said Dimitri Soudas.
The ruling, he said, was made "without our government's consent or knowledge."
"The actions of this convicted sex offender shocked the conscience of a nation - one where the bond of trust between coaches and players in our national game is sacred," Soudas said.
Harper, he added, has asked Public Safety Minister Vic Toews "to propose reforms that will ensure that the National Parole Board always and unequivocally puts the public's safety first."
A pardon can make it easier for a convict to get a job or travel abroad. The number of applications for pardons has surged in recent years.
Under Canadian human rights law, a person cannot be denied access to services or employment with a federal agency due to a pardoned conviction.
Because he was convicted of an indictable, or more serious, offence, James had to wait five years after the end of his sentence -as opposed to three - before applying for a pardon. In addition to ensuring he had no further convictions, the parole board would have been obliged to investigate James's behaviour to ensure he was of "good conduct" during that time.
In 2006-07, the parole board issued 7,672 pardons to people convicted of lesser offences, granted another 7,076 to people with more serious convictions, including James, and denied just 103 applications.
Parole board chairman Harvey Cenaiko was unavailable for comment.
Board spokeswoman Caroline Douglas said the pardons process does not generally take into account the nature of the crime - even those that the public finds particularly upsetting.
Only a small segment of offenders, including those convicted of murder or branded dangerous offenders, are barred from being pardoned.
"We cannot discriminate based on the crime committed," Douglas said. "Very few people are ineligible for a pardon. Everyone else is eligible no matter their crime. We have to follow the law."
The board's latest planning report says pardons are beneficial not only to the individuals who earn them, but to society in general. "Pardons encourage commitments to lead law-abiding lives, help people secure jobs and reduce reliance on social programs."
A pardon can be revoked if the person is later convicted of another crime, or the parole board finds the person is no longer of good conduct. Discovering the person lied or concealed relevant information at the time of the application can also result in a pardon being cancelled.
James was a smooth-talking, savvy rising star in the Prairie coaching ranks of junior hockey when he committed the crimes for which he's been pardoned.
In 1983, as a scout for the Winnipeg Warriors of the Western Hockey League, James recruited Fleury and Kennedy, both of whom would go on to NHL careers. He became head coach of the WHL's Moose Jaw Warriors the following year. By 1986, as head coach of the Swift Current Broncos, James re-acquired Kennedy in a trade.
Fleury's autobiography, "Playing With Fire," alleges that James began molesting him at age 14, and describes one occasion when James drove Kennedy and Fleury to Disneyland for a vacation, allegedly assaulting the pair on alternate days.
But it wasn't until more than a decade later in 1996, when James was coach, GM and part-owner of the WHL's Calgary Hitmen, that he was charged with two counts of sexual assault involving hundreds of incidents.
The other victim besides Kennedy has never been publicly named. Fleury, although widely rumoured to have been abused, was not one of the complainants at the time.
James pleaded guilty. After his 3 1/2 year sentence was up in 2000, the Canadian Hockey Association barred him from coaching for life.
Yet from 2001 to 2003, James coached hockey in Spain, including the national team - with his Spanish employers fully aware of his Canadian police record.
He has not been heard from since Fleury came forward with his own allegations of abuse. There have been reports that James is living in the Montreal area, possibly under a new name. He could not be reached for comment.
Quebec government launched a sexual-assault awareness campaign
MONTREAL – The Quebec government launched a sexual-assault awareness campaign involving TV and radio advertisements as well as a website.
The campaign focuses on the long-term impact of sexual assaults, stresses that such acts are criminal offences and sheds light on the fact that the elderly, too, can be victims of sexual assault.
For more information on the campaign, visit www.sexualassaults.gov.qc.ca/en/
Top court rejects abuse victims' claim against province in P.E.I. orphanage case
April 1, 2010, By THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA - Some survivors from a privately run orphanage in Prince Edward Island have lost their bid to seek damages from the province for what they say was years of physical and sexual abuse.
The Supreme Court of Canada has ruled 9-0 to uphold a provincial appeals court decision that found the province had no duty of care toward children sent to the orphanage by family members or guardians.
Justice Thomas Cromwell's written decision said the appeals court was right when it found that the province had no role in the operations of what was known as the P.E.I. Protestant Orphanage.
"In my view, the court of appeal correctly answered all of the questions put to it," Cromwell wrote in the decision released Thursday. "I would dismiss the appeal."
The high court agreed that the province and its superintendent of child welfare had no role, direct or indirect, in the running of the orphanage and, thus, no duty of care.
"Given that the home was operated by a private organization (and not a publicly regulated one) and there is no evidence in the record that the trustees consented to the application of the relevant terms of the Act, the superintendent had no statutory duties or obligations with respect to the operation, management or supervision of the home."
The institution was established in 1928 and shut down in 1976.
A group of 57 survivors banded together in 2002 to seek damages from the province. They said they were subject to beatings and sexual abuse for years.
A lawyer for the claimants said Thursday she was disappointed with the ruling, but hoped the province would see fit to resolve the ongoing dispute on its own.
"We just hope that we can put an end to this sad saga in P.E.I.'s history," Kimberley Johnson said from Calgary.
She refused to elaborate on the decision.
The province sidestepped the lower courts with a direct reference to the court of appeal, asking for a ruling on its duties and liabilities.
The appeal judges found the province had no duty of care for the majority of the survivors.
They did, however, find the province has some responsibility for 14 of the survivors, because they were wards of the province when sent to the orphanage. These 14 can pursue their damage claims in the lower courts, although they must prove other elements, such as negligence, before they can win their cases.
For the other 43, Thursday's decision is the end of the line.
