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	Seeking the Truth of Project Truth Inquiry Starts Today into the Investigation of an Alleged Sex Ring in Cornwall, Ont. By Timothy Appleby Globe and Mail [Canada] February 13, 2006 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20060213.TRUTH13/TPStory/TPNational/ It was called Project Truth, encompassing multiple, years-long investigations into an alleged pedophilia network that had supposedly operated for decades in and around Cornwall, Ont. And it cast a wide net, shocking the Eastern Ontario city to its core. By the time police were done in the mid-1990s, more than 670 people had been questioned, 114 criminal charges had been laid, and 15 of the city's most high-profile figures stood accused of sex-related charges. They included doctors and lawyers, justice officials and priests. But the truth proved elusive, and still does. Only one man was convicted, and there was no evidence he had anything to do with any organized sex ring. Along the way, numerous other charges were abandoned, chiefly because they took so long to wind their way through the courts. In one instance, that process lasted more than six years. So what really happened? Was there substance to the complaints? Or was it all a giant witch hunt? Either way, another question lingers: How could so many prominent individuals in a city of less than 50,000 have their reputations tarnished -- wrongly or rightly -- by what looks to be a deeply flawed series of investigations? That's the issue at the core of the long-awaited commission of inquiry that begins in Cornwall today, under the stewardship of Mr. Justice Norman Glaude, a senior judge from the Sudbury area. Lawyer Paul Ledroit, acting for dozens of plaintiffs in a package of more than 20 related, unresolved lawsuits, voiced optimism at the outcome. "There's a good judge and a good counsel, and they're hopefully going to get to the bottom of this." As to whether sexual abuse occurred, Mr. Ledroit says he has no doubt. "Absolutely none." Some earlier lawsuits, involving the Cornwall diocese of the Roman Catholic Church and the provincial and federal governments, have been settled. That fact speaks volumes about his clients' claims, Mr. Ledroit suggests. Accompanied by town hall meetings and a regularly updated website, the hearing promises to be lengthy and complex. So, too, is the murky, 13-year chronology that precedes it. It began in 1993, when Cornwall police began investigating a series of sexual-abuse complaints stretching back to the 1950s, chiefly involving people who were, or had been, in positions of authority. Twice in the same year they examined the allegations and twice they drew a blank. So, too, did the Ontario Provincial Police, who launched a follow-up investigation in 1994. Finally, in 1997, amid simmering accusations of a police cover-up, the OPP launched Project Truth, an exhaustive re-examination of all the circumstances, linking a total of 69 complainants. This time charges were laid. Among those accused were a Crown attorney, a probation officer, a teacher and four Catholic priests. But the charges were disparate and they produced only a single conviction. Moreover, there was no evidence to support the notion of an underground clan of pedophiles, the OPP concluded. In calling the inquiry, at which 11 parties have been granted full standing and two others partial standing, the provincial government's purpose seems clear: It wants the air cleared. Certainly that's the hope of Cornwall Mayor Phil Poirier, who predicts the inquiry will cost "millions" and last at least a year. "I hope this will bring closure," he said. The inquiry's primary focus will be on the array of institutions involved, and how they responded to claims that community leaders in their midst were guilty of sexual abuse against children.
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