Blondin-Andrew’s behaviour disgraceful

In northern Canada, it’s hardly a secret that those who bully and intimidate crime victims into silence are a painful thorn in the side of the justice system.

Without credible witnesses, the justice system can’t do its job, criminal offenders can’t be made accountable for their actions, and victims of crime can’t receive vindication. When all that happens, the justice system’s reputation suffers badly.

Just last month, a Nunavut-based Crown prosecutor, in an interview with Nunatsiaq News, said witness intimidation is one of the most difficult challenges created by northern Canada’s high rate of violent crime.

The issue emerged also at a conference of federal, provincial and territorial justice ministers in September 2000, when federal Crown prosecutors working in Nunavut said more or less the same thing to the National Post.

Even now, communities often rally around accused persons and shun their accusers — especially when the perpetrator is a prominent person.

It’s within this context, then, that recent allegations concerning Ethel Blondin-Andrew’s conduct must be judged. Given that she is representing the government of Canada at the Inuit Circumpolar Youth gathering in Kuujjuaq this week, in her capacity as Secretary of State for Children and Youth, it’s essential that her recent conduct be analyzed and judged. The last thing that the youth of the circumpolar world need right now is more official hypocrisy.

We’re referring, of course to recent allegations that Blondin-Andrew attempted to pressure the mother of a 18-year-old sexual assault victim into not pursuing charges against Michel Chrétien, the 33-year-old son of Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. The charges were laid against the younger Chrétien in Yellowknife late last month.

In news stories published in The Yellowknifer and The Globe and Mail, the mother alleged that Blondin-Andrew, after returning a message left at her constituency office, attempted to pressure the woman and her child into not pursuing the charges.

The most serious allegation, perhaps, is that Blondin-Andrew told the woman that she had been speaking to the prime minister and that he intended to stand by his son and help him fight the case. The woman also alleged that Blondin-Andrew told her that if she and her daughter pursued the case, the media would “smear” the family’s reputation.

Without independent corroboration, we have no way of knowing whether these allegations are true, partly true, or totally false. If they are true, however, they demonstrate that Blondin-Andrew has no respect for the rule of law: the idea that everyone is equal under the law and that no one is above the law. In any society, those who can’t understand that principle are unfit to hold public office.

For her part, Blondin-Andrew said, in a short statement issued from her office, that she did not say the things she is alleged to have said. But she didn’t deny phoning the woman.
Peter MacKay, the Progressive Conservative party’s justice critic and a former Crown prosecutor said he believes Blondin-Andrew should be investigated for obstruction of justice. MacKay also said that it was inappropriate for Blondin-Andrew even to have made the phone call.

He’s right. Blondin-Andrew is a cabinet minister, a member of parliament, and, though she may be an insignificant voice in Ottawa, is still perceived in northern Canada as a powerful figure. She is also reported to be a backer of Jean Chrétien’s continued leadership of the Liberal party.

Given the paralyzing fear that inhibits many crime victims in northern Canada, simply making the phone call, which Blondin-Andrew admits doing, ought to be grounds for dismissal from cabinet.

As prime minister, and as a parent of an adult child, Jean Chrétien cannot be held responsible for the actions of his son. But he is responsible for the actions of his cabinet ministers. To ensure there is no perception of political interference in the prosecution of the case against his son, Chrétien should have disciplined Blondin-Andrew by removing her from cabinet.

Unfortunately, that has not come to pass. Instead, Blondin-Andrew was allowed to attend a major aboriginal youth gathering this week in Kuujjuaq, no doubt to pass herself off as a friend to youth. One wonders what the 18-year-old girl Michel Chrétien is alleged to have sexually assaulted would have to say about that. Pass the Gravol please.

JB