Tag: Perry Dunlop

Media Update for April 29, 2010

News Summary and Comment:

My first story pertains to Perry Dunlop, the former police officer from Cornwall, Ontario, who blew the whistle of the sexual abuse of minors in that city. Despite being decorated and respected, he faced years of cover-ups and reprisals for his persistence and dedication in bringing the issue to public light.

He finally succeeded in having an inquiry called into the handling of the whole matter, but it was a Pyrrhic victory: the inquiry was too limited to really get to the bottom of things. Perry refused to testify as matter of conscience and protest and went to jail as a result. He wasn’t treated well when in there, either. He later appealed that sentence, and, just this week, his appeal was thrown out by the Ontario courts.

This was expected, but disappointing. Judges really have no idea what whistleblowers go through. I guess it’s easier to stay in the ivory tower.

You can read my full comment on his case here.

In other news, pilots are telling Transport Canada that it isn’t doing its job with respect to regulating pilot fatigue. This is the same department behind safety management systems story, in which they have been slowly surrendering its inspections and regulatory authority to operators. The department, of course, denies that this is so or that any lives are being put at risk despite evidence from recent crashes and expert opinion. Food was regulated the same way prior to the 2008 listeriosis outbreak that killed 22 people.

It brings to mind George Orwell’s quote:

“It was not easy… It needed… a sort of athleticism of the mind, an ability at one moment to make the most delicate use of logic and at the next to be unconscious of the crudest logical errors. Stupidity was as necessary as intelligence, and as difficult to obtain.” (Nineteen Eighty-Four)

I won’t say much about the Parliamentary ruling on the Afghan detainee documents except that it was the right decision, accountability-wise. The Brits are noticing what’s going on, as they have a similar situation. Blogger David Eaves has an interesting take on it, too.

Have a good weekend.

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Perry Dunlop Loses Appeal

Pilots Tell MPs that Canada not Following International Fatigue Rules

Parliamentary Speaker Rules Afghan Detainee Records Must Be Released

Quebec Construction Industry Probe Leads to Arrests

Some Collected Stories on Federal Government (un)Accountability

GAP Speaks Out in Support of NSA Whistleblower

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Perry Dunlop Loses Appeal

Ontario’s top court dismisses cop’s appeals over Cornwall inquiry contempt
Winnipeg Free Press, April 22, 2010
Summary: Ontario’s highest court has dismissed the appeals of a former Cornwall, Ont., police officer who refused to testify at a public inquiry largely of his own making, calling his claims “spurious.” Perry Dunlop led a crusade for years in Cornwall, Ont., to root out pedophiles and his work sparked calls for a public inquiry.

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Pilots Tell MPs that Canada not Following International Fatigue Rules

Canada violates rules on pilot fatigue standards, MPs hear
The Gazette (Montreal), April 28, 2010
Summary: Canada is in violation of new international standards to combat pilot fatigue in the cockpit, the country’s largest pilot union told parliamentarians Tuesday.

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Parliamentary Speaker Rules Afghan Detainee Records Must Be Released

Afghan records denial is privilege breach: Speaker
CBC News, April 27, 2010
Summary: The federal government breached parliamentary privilege with its refusal to produce uncensored documents related to the treatment of Afghan detainees and must provide the material to MPs within two weeks, Speaker Peter Milliken has ruled.

Afghan records release has legal limits: PM
CBC News, April 28, 2010
Summary: Prime Minister Stephen Harper says he is open to “any reasonable suggestion” to end the impasse over the release of documents related to Afghan detainees, but stressed that his government must also meet its own legal obligations.

Canada’s Afghan detainee scandal gets constitutional
The Guardian (Manchester), April 28, 2010
Summary: It’s been five months since diplomat Richard Colvin first levelled the charge that all detainees handed over to Afghan authorities by Canadian troops had been tortured. Since then, politicians – and those citizens who have actually noticed – have been embroiled in procedural geekery, wrestling with the issue of the government’s refusal to release relevant documents to the case. (Opinion)

Parliament, accountability and you
eaves.ca, April 28, 2010
Summary: The only thing that is extraordinary about what is happening in parliament is that it is a profoundly ordinary experience for ordinary Canadian who might ask a question of their government. (Blog)

Harper digs in over Afghan documents
The Star (Toronto), April 29, 2010
Summary: Prime Minister Stephen Harper hinted Wednesday he was prepared to go to an election if necessary to prevent the release of all uncensored Afghan prisoner documents to the House of Commons as directed by Speaker Peter Milliken.

Afghan records meeting ‘constructive’: Goodale
CBC News, April 29, 2010
Summary: Liberal House leader Ralph Goodale says a Thursday meeting involving all parties to solve the impasse over disclosing documents related to Afghan detainee transfers was “very constructive.”

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Quebec Construction Industry Probe Leads to Arrests

Quebec corruption probe makes two arrests
Globe and Mail, April 27, 2010
Summary: A major probe into Quebec’s construction industry has netted two more people allegedly involved in municipal corruption.

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Some Collected Stories on Federal Government (un)Accountability

No evidence PS hiring reforms have had any effect, auditor general says
Ottawa Citizen, April 26, 2010
Summary: Federal bureaucrats haven’t collected evidence to show whether the much-ballyhooed legislation that was supposed to revolutionize the way the government hires, fires and manages its employees is working or not, says the auditor general.

Un système « opaque » et « non transparent »
Le Droit, April 27, 2010
Summary: Des contrats octroyés pour l’entretien des 319 immeubles fédéraux ne feraient pas l’objet d’appels d’offres publics et seraient accordés sur invitation, un système « non transparent » qui priverait des dizaines d’entreprises de la région de l’Outaouais de contrats fédéraux, selon le dirigeant d’une PME de Gatineau.

Rapport accablant sur le laxisme federal
Le Droit, April 28, 2010
Summary: Le gouvernement fédéral ne finance pas à un niveau adéquat le programme d’inspection et n’embauche pas suffisamment d’inspecteurs, mettant en péril la sécurité des travailleurs fédéraux.

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GAP Speaks Out in Support of NSA Whistleblower

When Whistle-blowers Suffer
Government Accountability Project Blog, April 27, 2010
Summary: The case of Thomas A. Drake, a former National Security Agency official indicted last week on charges of providing classified information to a Baltimore Sun reporter, is painfully familiar. In 2002, I became the target of a leak investigation stemming from America’s first post- 9/11 terrorism prosecution. The common denominator of whistle-blowers is the same: They disclose information of significant public importance that reveals illegal, unconstitutional or dangerous conduct, often at the highest levels of government. The government should not be allowed to hide illegal conduct under official-sounding labels such as “classified,” “privileged” or “state secrets,” which confer an aura of legitimacy on alleged crimes, and whistle-blowers should not be prosecuted. The billions of dollars wasted on modernizing the NSA’s vast eavesdropping system is what needs to be investigated, not Drake.

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by Ian Bron on April 29, 2010
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Perry Dunlop: The Forgotten Hero

In my first Saturday blog posting, I’d like to draw attention back to Perry Dunlop, who has been the subject of comment since Commissioner G. Normand Glaude released his report on the Cornwall Public Inquiry on December 15, 2009.

Dunlop’s story deserves to remain in the public eye, for reasons I will explain below.

The headlines following the report’s release spoke of findings, blame and moving on. “Inquiry draws no firm conclusion on abuse ring claim”, read a Globe and Mail headline. “Cornwall moves on after child sex abuse scandal” announced the CBC.

But amidst all this talk of closure, there was hardly a word for Perry Dunlop, the whistleblowing police officer who stood up when nobody else would. Perry Dunlop, the man who sacrificed his job to bring to light child abuse perpetrated by trusted authority figures in Cornwall.

He paid a heavy price for that. He was charged under the Police Services Act for going to the Children’s Aid Society, won at a board of inquiry, then had to fight again when the Cornwall Police appealed the decision.

He won again, but his career in the police came to a screeching halt. Behind the scenes, there were rumours circulating about him – rumours that killed his attempt to join the RCMP. He lacked integrity and honesty, he was told.

There were threats, too. Calls in the night.

Finally, Dunlop had had enough. He packed his bags and moved to B.C.

But his ordeal wasn’t over. When the Cornwall Public Inquiry was finally called, it insisted that he testify. Dunlop was suspicious, and rightly so. The mandate of the inquiry didn’t include looking into the truth of sexual abuse allegations. None of the offenders would be called.

Dunlop had seen this game before. It involved him being a punching bag for Cornwall city, police and diocese lawyers. It involved his integrity being put on trial without hearing evidence about the actual assaults.

Knowing that this wouldn’t be a fair to him or his family and exhausted from years of fighting, he refused. For his refusal, he spent seven months in jail. It wasn’t a walk in the park, either: he was only allowed two 30 minute visits a week, spent much of his time in isolation. When his mother grandmother died, he was taken in handcuffs at night to view her.

When he was finally released it was probably because it was becoming embarrassing and not because anyone in authority actually thought it was the right thing to do. He has since appealed the sentence, but it’s anyone’s guess how that will turn out.

And what is said of him in papers now?

“The pedophile clan theory is largely credited to former Cornwall police officer Perry Dunlop,” wrote the Toronto Star. “His unsanctioned, off-hours investigation is credited with bringing many allegations to light, but also with fuelling the clan theory. Dunlop spent seven months in jail for contempt when he refused to testify at the inquiry of his own making, saying he no longer had faith in the system.”

Commissioner Glaude discounted the pedophile clan theory outright. This theory suggested that powerful men sexually abused boys at a cottage during strange rituals.

It isn’t hard to read between the lines: Perry Dunlop was a little bit right, but he was also wrong. And because he was wrong, he is at fault. Perhaps he even deserved the hell he went through.

This line of reasoning is wrong – in fact, repulsive – on so many levels.

First of all, he’s a whistleblower: he reported wrongdoing. How he did it, and to whom, shouldn’t matter. It’s also a generally accepted international policy that as long as a person reports wrongdoing in good faith, they should be protected – even if they don’t have all the facts, or get something wrong.

Secondly, Glaude admits that he didn’t look at evidence. He didn’t have all the facts at hand and so shouldn’t have made an unqualified judgment about the clan.

It’s interesting that he exceeds his mandate on this one point, but refuses to do it on another: “Throughout this inquiry I have heard evidence that suggested that there were cases of joint abuse, passing of alleged victims, and possibly passive knowledge of abuse,” Glaude wrote.

If that isn’t the very definition of a conspiracy, or, say, a ring of pedophiles, I don’t know what is.

But Glaude couldn’t come out and say that; it was outside his mandate. Instead, he simply wrote “I want to be very clear that I am not going to make a pronouncement on whether a ring existed or not.”

Such courage.

It’s also wrong because it suggests that Dunlop should be perfect – that he should be held to so high a standard that he shines with purity.

This is nonsense. Dunlop is human. Even if he is dead wrong about some things – and I’m not convinced he is dead wrong about anything – he deserves to be judged on the same standards as the police officers who did nothing when faced with the same knowledge he had.

Measured on that standard, he is indeed a shining star.

There’s more, too: Glaude blasts former MPP Garry Guzzo and the Project Truth website for being “reckless” and fueling “gossip and innuendo.” It’s hard to understand how Glaude could be critical of these sources when he is so aware of the gross negligence and ineptitude of the police and the Crown. “In the course of this inquiry, I have been asked to find that Perry Dunlop is a hero. And that he is a villain,” wrote Glaude, “I do neither. His is a mixed legacy.”

Glaude seems to want it both ways – to blame people who tried to force action on a critical issue of child safety, while at the same time acknowledging that the police did a bad job.

In doing so, he seems to miss the crucial point: none of this would have come to light without the efforts of Perry Dunlop.

This case underlines the need for whistleblower protection across all levels of government in Ontario, and even in the private sector. As things stand, others who have seen what happened to Dunlop can’t be blamed for thinking that speaking out on even something as important as sexual abuse will destroy their lives.

Is that what Canadians want? A society where bullies can commit any offence, confident in their power to silence people of conscience?

I don’t think it is, and I disagree with Glaude. Dunlop is a hero because he stood up when others would not. He was persistent in the face of persecution. Because of this, he may well have prevented other lives being devastated. And what thanks does Glaude give him? What thanks do Cornwallers and Canadians give him? A ruined career, jail time, and a stain on his character.

We should all be ashamed.

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To read more about Perry Dunlop and the Cornwall Public inquiry, visit “The Inquiry,” a website maintained by Sylvia Maceachern. Sylvia also has an excellent blog on the inquiry.

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1 Comment by Ian Bron on January 23, 2010
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Media Update for January 18, 2010

News Summary and Comment

Welcome back to the Canadians for Accountability media updates. You’ll have to forgive me as I get used to blogging and figure out how to add new features to it. It’s a work in progress. Hints would be appreciated, by the way.

I will start with a wrap up of accountability and whistleblowing news from the past month.

As everyone knows, the government has prorogued Parliament – some say to head off having to face the music in the Afghan detainee controversy. Whether or not that’s true, nobody can deny that the issue has become a lightening rod and handling it badly – as the government has done – may well have cost the government any hopes of a majority it once had. Commentators are now turning their attention to military leaders such as retired Chief of Defence Staff Rick Hillier. They wonder why the media darling isn’t being grilled more about his role. I personally have lost a lot of respect for him, not least because of his classless insinuations about Richard Colvin. Now that evidence shows Hillier should have known what was going on, he looks more and more like a man who started to believe his own press and didn’t like any suggestions that he might not be perfect.

The Braidwood Inquiry into the death of Robert Dziekanski has been given the go-ahead to make findings of misconduct against the RCMP officers involved. The reason this was an issue is because the RCMP is a federal police force which contracts itself out to provinces, while the inquiry is a provincial affair. But commentators generally agree that the RCMP will be forced to act on the inquiry’s findings. Why? Well, the province has made strong hints that it will dump the RCMP and start its own force if it isn’t happy about the response. Given the questionable quality of RCMP services in recent years, many would cheer such an outcome in any event. The inquiry’s report should be out in the spring.

Perry Dunlop, the former police officer who blew the whistle on the systematic sexual abuse of minors in Cornwall is also back in the news. It appears that he is appealing his contempt of court conviction and sentence as cruel and unusual. I don’t know whether he will succeed, as he is attacking the “system”, as it were. I hope that there is an open airing of the facts around his time in prison, though, which was a real travesty. For whatever reason, his time in jail was made a s painful as possible.

Another big story was the issue of freedom of expression. Two judgments came back from the Supreme Court affirming the right of the press to make honest errors when pursuing a story. This will kill frivolous defamation lawsuits which individuals had used to muzzle the press and hide from scrutiny, and will greatly strengthen the press overall.

The federal Ethics Commissioner dismissed a complaint over government ads that Senator Martha Hall Findlay said looked suspiciously like Conservative Party ads. The reason: the Conservative Party isn’t a person or a corporation – rather, it’s an association. Whatever the merits of the complaint, this was an ethically and intellectually dishonest way to dismiss the complaint, and only serves to undermine the Commissioner’s moral authority. Such as it is, anyway.

Finally, I include a number of stories on political and corporate accountability. The assessment of the Harper government’s performance in this regard is generally bad, with Democracy Watch giving it an E. I find this an odd score, as generally D is the lowest score a person can get before F, but never mind.

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Afghan Detainee Controversy

Why are generals getting a free pass in Afghan affair?
The Star (Toronto), December 20, 2009
Summary: It is appropriate to have a debate about the torture of Taliban prisoners at the hands of Afghan security forces and we need to find the truth. But the present debate is incomplete. We have scrutinized the role of politicians and diplomats but no one has questioned the role of Canadian military leaders.

Feds and army brass deepened detainee crisis: transcripts
Hill Times (Ottawa), December 21, 2009
Summary: Orders from former Canadian Forces chief of defence staff Rick Hillier and the federal Cabinet hindered Canadian troops as they were attempting to process Afghanistan detainees in compliance with international war law and likely contributed to severe detention conditions at the military police compound in Kandahar, previously unreleased documents indicate.

Peter MacKay, Red Cross discussed detainees in 2006
The Star (Toronto), December 21, 2009
Summary: Peter MacKay, Stockwell Day and Gordon O’Connor, then senior cabinet ministers, met the head of the International Red Cross in the fall of 2006 as the humanitarian organization tried to focus Canada’s attention on alleged abuses in Afghan prisons, The Canadian Press has learned.

Top brass, ministers accused of ducking responsiblities
The Star (Toronto). December 23, 2009
Summary: When the going gets tough, expect Canadian generals and cabinet ministers to disappear from accountability, a retired senior diplomat told a parliamentary committee.

Hillier accused of ‘trivializing’ torture at detainees hearing
Calgary Herald, December 23, 2009
Summary: Civil liberties lawyer Paul Champ on Tuesday accused retired general Rick Hillier of “trivializing” torture when the country’s former top soldier compared Afghan detainees and inmates at Ontario’s Millhaven penitentiary during testimony last month to a House of Commons committee.

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Inquiry into the Death of Robert Dziekanski

Dziekanski probe can find misconduct against Mounties
Calgary Herald, December 29, 2009
Summary: A finding of misconduct may be considered against four RCMP officers involved in the Tasering of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski, the B.C. Court of Appeal has ruled.

Taser inquiry report held off until spring
Ottawa Citizen, January 5, 2010
Summary: The Braidwood inquiry report dealing with the fatal police incident involving a Polish immigrant at Vancouver’s airport two years ago won’t be sent to the attorney general until April or May, officials confirmed Tuesday.

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Perry Dunlop Fights for Justice

Dunlop’s fight for justice goes on
Cowichan Valley Citizen, January 15, 2010
Summary: Perry Dunlop, who blew the whistle on sexual abuse in Cornwall and was persecuted for years afterward, continues to fight for vindication and the rights of the children whose lives were damaged.

Cop at centre of Cornwall inquiry appeals contempt convictions
Canadian Press, January 18, 2010
Summary: The seven months a former police officer served in jail for refusing to testify at a public inquiry, largely of his own making, amounted to “cruel and unusual punishment,” the man writes in appealing his contempt convictions. Perry Dunlop led a crusade for years in Cornwall, Ont., to root out pedophiles and his work sparked calls for a public inquiry.

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Freedom of Speech

Supreme Court backs press in major libel ruling
The Star (Toronto), December 22, 2009
Summary: In a landmark ruling on freedom of expression, the Supreme Court of Canada has created a new legal defence to libel lawsuits that would shield journalists who fairly and responsibly report stories of public interest.

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Ethics Commissioner Dismisses Complaint over Ads

Ethics commissioner dismisses Liberal complaint over ads
Ottawa Citizen, January 13, 2010
Summary: Parliament’s ethics commissioner has dropped an investigation into allegations by a Liberal MP that the federal government used taxpayer dollars for advertising programs that were thinly disguised attempts to promote the Conservative party.

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Political Accountability

Harper assumes powers of executive privilege, U.S.-presidential style
Hill Times (Ottawa), December 21, 2009
Summary: A dispute that began with stonewalled reports of Afghan prisoner abuse is set to become the crucible that determines if the Prime Minister or Parliament is now supreme. (Column)

Management of errors
Hill Times (Ottawa), December 21, 2009
Summary: Why do governments engage in secrecy and cover-ups rather than admit errors and accept responsibility for them?  (Note that this op-ed is available to subscribers only)

Government receives ‘E’ on accountability report card
Hill Times (Ottawa), December 21, 2009
Summary: Ethics and accountability in government advocacy group Democracy Watch gave the Conservative government an “E” last week on its accountability measures, three years after introducing the Federal Accountability Act. (Note that this article is available to subscribers only)

Ex-watchdog boss warns on objectivity
Calgary Herald, January 4, 2010
Summary: The former RCMP watchdog says the government must change the way it appoints heads of independent commissions so they don’t become beholden to their political bosses.

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Corporate Accountability

Passing the buck and covering the butt in middle management
Whistleblowers Protection Blog, January 1, 2010
Summary: Washington attorney, former prosecutor and former SEC enforcer Dan Hurson has written an article of advice for middle managers who become targets of internal corporate investigations. Canadians should pay attention as many companies here are covered by U.S. laws.

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by Ian Bron on January 18, 2010
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