A decision by the BC Court of Appeal last week and the resulting response by the Attorney General appear to underline what is clearly wrong with the NDP and their view of what is and what is not just. Our story begins in 1994 when a complaint of sexual harassment was initiated against then Government Services Minister, Robin Blencoe. The premier of the day, Mike Harcourt, called Blencoe on the carpet and was assured by Blencoe there would be no further problems and no other complaints were in the offing. Within a week, cwo further come laints were filed by two other women. All three com- plaints essentially dealt with unwanted attentions paid to . them by Blencoc. Apparently, he tried to steal a kiss or nvo. Harcourt tossed Blencoc from Cabinet, ostensibly ’ because he had “lost confi- dence in the minist-r.” He was then booted from the NDP caucus. “” BlencGe was a career politician and the stigma attached to him because of the. complaints spelled his political doom. He moved to Ontario, to asmall town where his wife Ob had family, to try to get a fresh Start. But the past fol- ‘lowed him to his new job which he then lost. He and - his family returned to Victoria Where he remains unem- ‘ ployed and under the care of a physician for clinical depres- “: sion. _ «Despite Blencoe’s having consistently denied ail allega- tions against him and the extreme penalty he paid just we be for being the subject of the , 1 crime and punishment sexual harassment complaints, the Human Rights Commission pursued its investigation and pushed for- ward for a tribunal hearing over 30 months after the first complaint had been laid. Blencoe challenged in the BC Supreme Court, arguing thar his right t a speedy “trial” had been violated. He won. The Human Rights Commission appealed to the BC Court of Appeal, and Blencoe won again in its deci- sion delivered on May 11. Attorney General Ujjal Dosanjh then stated he was planning to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada. Hold on now. At what cost? Two and a half years of investigation, a Supreme Court hearing and a Court of Appeal review and now Dosanjh wants to take it fur- ther. For what? Sticking his tongue in a secretary’s ear? Disgusting? Hell yes. Inappropriate? Of course. But the man’s carcer has already been destroyed. His wife and kids have suffered as a result. He has totally depleted his life’s savings to defend himself and support his family. And the AG wants yet another - kick at him. Compare this to the case of disgraced former Burnaby ciementary school principal William Bennest. He was given a red carpet stroll through: the justice sys- tem-after being charged with multiple criminal offences of justice - relating to homasexual pedophilia. After the “sweetheart” deal was exposed, Dosanjh announced he was appealing the sentence Bermest received "after pleading guilty to pos- session of kiddie porn, some of which involved a 12-vear- old boy from the very school he administered. Burt that was al] show. Two weeks after he posed ia front of the TV cameras clucking his tongue and announcing his appeal, he appointed former Supreme Court Justice Josiah Wood to review the case and advise whether he thought an appeal would be successful. Director of Appeals Bob Wright prepared a lengthy legal brief substantiating the reasons for appeal. Wood dis- missed it with a 400-word let- ter written to the AG in early February. Evidently Wood's opinion, which didn’t even address any of the legal argu- ments submitted by Wright, was enough for the AG to throw in the towel. At the same time as he appointed Wood to review the chances for appeal, he also appointed him to “advise” the police on an “ongoing crimi- nal investigation.” That investigation was essentially a witch hunt to find the Vancouver cops who, disgusted with the Bennest deal, allegedly leaked informa- tion to the media concerning the wire tap part of the Bennest investigation. The investigation, con- ducted by a Delta police staff sergeant, has been going on for over four months. George Garrett of CKNW and yours truly were the only members of the media focused on by the investigation despite the fact neither of us publicized one iota of information relat. ing to any information gicaned by the police from Wire taps. In simple terms, Dosanjh relied on a skimpy report by Wood rather than the lengthy legal brief by his own Director of Appeals when he should have simply let the court hear the appeal. Once he disposed of that little problem, he then set about trying to ferret out honest police officers who are disgusted with wnat they view as Corruption, So what’s the message being sent here? Stick vour rongue in a woman’s ear and the full might of the state will be unleashed to destroy yeu. Be a homosexual pedophile, abusing young teenage boys and the AG pos- tures and dances but at the end of the day allows a waltz through the system virtually penalty-free. Blencoe has suffered more than enough. I make no judgment on his guilt or innocence, nor do I suggest the complaints against him aren’t serious. But realistically, docs the pun- ishment fit the crime? Hardly. Yer Dosanjh wants to ga all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. Ask the same question about Bennest. Did the pun- ishment fit the crime? Not even close. Yer the AG appeared to orcheswate a situation ensur- ing an appeal would not be heard by the courts and at the same time targeting his guns on honest individuals who dared to expose the sham. Onc has to wonder whether Blencoe would be pursued as steadfastly were he homosexual and the com- plainants male. 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