BishopAccountability.org
	Remember Not Only Scandal By Paul Walton Canada.com September 1, 2009 http://www.canada.com/Remember+only+scandal/1950302/story.html For nearly a year I've been in possession of five curious books. They were passed along to me on Sept. 17, 2008 by Greg Jones, a Nanaimo lawyer who experienced serious controversy while serving as a Crown prosecutor in Prince George nearly 20 years ago. During the prosecution of the Bishop of Prince George, Hubert O'Connor, for sexual assault, Jones and a colleague were censured for failing to disclose evidence to the defence. Jones, I am sorry to say, died on Aug. 25. He was 58. Four of the books are related to spiritual development and are somewhat esoteric. The fifth is Unholy Orders, about sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests at the Mount Cashel orphanage in Newfoundland. I can't help but think that Unholy Orders resonated for Jones as a former Crown prosecutor. I met Greg just as he was just returning to practising law after sorting through the aftermath of the O'Connor controversy in the 1990s. For a time he did some ad hoc prosecution work, but after a few years his case load started to dwindle. I really believe that Greg was left deeply wounded after the O'Connor case and never quite recovered. From the time that a B.C. Supreme Court judge in Prince George first ruled that Greg and his co-counsel, Wendy Harvey, failed to discharge their duties as prosecutors to rulings by the Supreme Court of Canada and the Law Society for B.C., the stress on Greg had to be tremendous. On several occasions he raised the matter with me, and said he hoped that I could find a way to publish a version of events that would show his actions in a better light. After reading a multi-page outline of the events, prepared by Greg for his lawyers, and looking further into the case, I realized that I could not undo what was already done by a court as high as the Supreme Court of Canada. Greg was a prosecutor who believed he was prosecuted without committing any crime. In a sense, that's true. What I can't figure out was whose reaction was more extreme, Greg's or that of the courts and the legal profession. The O'Connor case led to a new legal process, in which lawyers argue behind closed doors for disclosure of background evidence or counselling records of complainants in cases of alleged sexual assault. But that's not the type of legal legacy Greg wanted to leave. Let the record be clear, that aside from that one blemish, Greg Jones was a very good lawyer. Up until he stopped practising law in 2007, he continued to give solid representation to clients. He knew the law and he could argue a good case. To remember Greg for just the O'Connor scandal would be to dishonour what was an otherwise good career before the courts. If Unholy Orders, about Mount Cashel, resonated for Greg it was likely because as a Catholic he was shocked by such abuse, and as a lawyer outraged that such a worldly institution had failed to be accountable to the law for so many years. And just as Greg's law career was not the O'Connor case, his interests were more diverse than the law. He loved gardening, and was a voracious reader. Like most of us, Greg was looking for answers and turned to the great wisdom books. Greg also left with me books by Gurdjieff, and Gurdjieff's disciple, P.D. Ouspensky, as well as Tao Te Ching. These books are underlined and annotated, indicating a reader thirsty for something more than just knowledge. Perhaps lines from Tao Te Ching, highlighted by Greg, sum up his search. "Unspoken guidance and uncontrived enhancement are reached by few in the world." Paul Walton's column appears regularly in this space. To comment on his opinion, write to letters@nanaimodailynews.com
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