BishopAccountability.org
	Coffee Break: Inquiry Rules Unfair By Claude McIntosh Standard Freeholder [Canada] April 4, 2007 http://www.standard-freeholder.com/webapp/sitepages/search/results.asp?contentID=473497 &catname=Local%20News&type=search&search1=Coffee%20Break:%20Inquiry%20rules%20unfair The Cornwall Public Inquiry has a dangerous double standard when it comes to who gets named and who doesn't. This comes with Comm. Normand Glaude's blessing, a good jurist who seems to be doing a tight-rope routine. Victims and alleged victims testifying are allowed to remain anonymous, but are given the freedom to name names. Such was the case last week when an alleged victim's identity was kept secret at his request. As usual, the commissioner and Inquiry staff bent over backwards to protect his identity. Nothing wrong with that, except that when it comes to alleged perpetrators, names are tossed out as if the people have been found guilty. The presumption of innocence goes out the window. The Inquiry has been rocked by revelations that some of the accusations against individuals made in affidavits are false. But that's another sad story. In criminal court, such testimony could be aggressively challenged by defence lawyers. But at the Cornwall Public Inquiry the commissioner has ordered a kid-glove approach to cross-examination of witnesses. And, if a witness doesn't like the way things are going, he or she can just get up and storm out, leaving the judge twiddling his thumbs. The "go-ever-so-tenderly" rule has tied the hands of highly-skilled lawyers, representing institutions and individuals on the firing line. Good example: an alleged victim told the story of how a separate school teacher physically and sexually abused him while serving detentions. The school was named. The teacher, now retired and living in Cornwall, and who has never been charged, was named. The name was published and aired by the media. The testimony was questionable - a defence lawyer would have shot holes in it - but under the rules of engagement laid down by Judge Glaude, it went almost unchallenged. It just isn't right. Tell me, is there really a Felix Lovejoy? Sure sounds a lot more legit when it's Felix Lajoie. From the 'Hey, it's only taxpayers' money" file: The Cornwall (Occasional) Public Inquiry forks out $30,000 for one of the groups involved, Citizens for Community Renewal, to hire a private investigator halfway through the process. Dalton McGuinty and George Smitherman, in voicing their opposition to private clinics, say they have great faith in the public health-care system and brag about how it has improved under the Fiberals' watch. Perhaps if Dalton and George came down from the Ivory Tower and played Joe Citizen for a day, and spent five or six hours in a crowded emergency department waiting room, or spent six weeks on a waiting list for an emergency medical procedure, they might not have such great faith in the system and a little more appreciation for the private sector; they might even understand why people, who can afford it, go to a private Gatineau MRI clinic that moves them up in the line. Little known fact: the great U.S. sprinter Jesse Owens of 1936 Berlin Olympic fame once competed in a meet in Cornwall at the old Athletic Grounds track, which in its day was considered one of the finest tracks in the country. That wonderful track was ripped out to make room for the Bob Turner Memorial Centre. All in the name of progress, of course. Just wondering - Why isn't there federal legislation that identifies members of the $100,000 club? Seems unfair that only provincial civil servants get to wear the "fat cat" hat.
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