B.C. urged to charge polygamists
CRESTON, BC-Seven women have taken their fight against polygamy and the politicians who do nothing about it to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal.
In a complaint filed with the tribunal in late May, the complainants allege the Bountiful commune near Creston is part of a polygamist network in which women and children are "regarded as chattels."
They also allege women there are passed from one "celestial husband" to another and girls as young as 13 are made into concubines.
One complainant, Debbie Palmer, says she was given in "marriage" to a 57-year-old man when she was 15. After being assigned to two more "harems" and discovering several cases of child sexual abuse, she fled with her eight children in 1988, at the age of 32.
"It's basically incest and pedophilia that's going on there, in our opinion," says Jancis Andrews of Sechelt, who has been actively lobbying the government to do something about the commune.
The women also allege in their complaint that children are taught racist and sexist beliefs at a school within the commune that receives provincial funding, and that Bountiful has become a safe haven for polygamists fleeing a recent crackdown in Utah.
In addition to three of Bountiful's leaders, the women also named B.C. Attorney-General Geoff Plant and Education Minister Tom Christensen in their complaint. The women allege these members of the provincial government have "allowed the contravention" of the human rights of Bountiful's women and children by failing to intervene there.
Several provincial attorneys-general have refused to press charges against Bountiful ever since the RCMP investigated the commune and recommended charges be laid in 1992.
The attorney-general at that time, Colin Gabelmann, said the Criminal Code's section 293, which prohibits polygamy, might be ruled unconstitutional for infringing on the religious rights of the commune's members. The Bountiful commune is associated with the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which broke off from the Mormon church after it banned polygamy in the late 19th century.
Gabelmann's policy has been adopted by other attorneys-general since, including Plant. But Andrews does not accept their rationale. "It's not his place to wonder whether the law is constitutional or not," she says. "It's his place to lay charges, and then if the defense wants to use constitutional arguments, that's up to them, not the attorney-general."
Plant has said it is not his job to initiate criminal investigations and prosecutions, telling the Vancouver Sun there is "tremendous ignorance" about what he can and cannot do with regard to Bountiful. However, Federal Justice Minister Irwin Cotler said the polygamy law is constitutionally valid and he would support Plant if he took the case to court.
Andrews says she suspects Plant is avoiding a legal battle because the current provincial government has committed itself to cutting costs. "Believe you me, they are really going to soar if they lay charges against Bountiful," she says. "And we think that is the real reason why they avoid Bountiful like the plague. They have a budget to keep to."
A few churches have begun petitioning the government to address the allegations regarding the commune. The B.C. Conference of the United Church passed a resolution last year encouraging congregations to write to the attorney-general.
Diane Watamanuk, a United Church member in Courtenay who was also one of the seven signatories to the human rights complaint, says she was not satisfied with the answer Plant gave to the letter that she wrote him. "He stated that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is in conflict with the Criminal Code of Canada," she says.
She adds she she is not impressed by the way the provincial government has said that it is up to the federal government to change the law so it will be easier to enforce, while the federal government has said that it is up to the provincial government to enforce the law as it stands.
"That's passing the buck, isn't it?" she says.
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