Idaho and Canada "Sister Sects"




Idaho and Canada "Sister Sects"

Ian Smith, Canwest News Service For decades there has been a "sister sect" of the Utah/Arizona polygamists just across the southern border of British Columbia, Canada (only a few miles from Idaho). A few years ago, there was a split in the Canadian FLDS group and now there are two seperate factions - one still in Bountiful, Canada (led by Warren Jeffs' bishop Jim Oler) and the other one in Bountiful, Canada and Bonners Ferry, Idaho (led by Winston Blackmore). It has been reported that underage girls are "swapped" between the Utah/Arizona group and these two northern groups to provide the brethren with "Child Brides." Below are some news articles on these "northern" communes. These articles are listed in chronological order.


Canada Court: Polygamy Ban is Invalid
The Associated Press Originally published June 16, 1992
CRESTON, British Columbia -- Canadian authorities have declined to charge two leaders of a polygamous commune, concluding that a law banning plural marriage unconstitutionally restricts religious freedom. "Section 293 is invalid and will not be enforced in B.C.," crown counsel Herman Rohrmoser said last week in summing up nine months of research into possible charges against the leaders of a breakaway Mormon sect. A woman who fled the commune near Creston, 75 miles north of Spokane, Wash., denounced the decision. Inaction by the B.C. Attorney General's Ministry legalizes the sexual, physical and emotional abuse women suffer in plural marriages, said Debbie Palmer, 36, a mother of seven who left the commune in 1988. But an elder in the United Effort Order, a 10,000-member group based in Colorado City, Ariz., whose followers run the Canadian commune, applauded the decision. Dan Barlow, Colorado City, said the decision is another signpost along the road to legalization of polygamy in the United States. Read more


The practice of polygamy: a Mormon colony stirs a B.C. controversy
By Steve Weatherbe Maclean's Magazine Originally published August 16, 1993
Unlike many other parts of British Columbia's mountainous Interior, the town of Creston is no tourist mecca. A pleasant community of 4,500 people, Creston's trim frame homes sprawl across a ridge in the southeastern part of the province, just north of the U.S. border. The town boasts no hot springs, no water slides -- not even a miniature golf course to amuse visitors. But about 15 km south of Creston, along back roads choked with wildflowers, lies a collection of large modern homes scattered among 700 acres of hay fields. And it is here, in a place known as Bountiful, that a small colony of practising polygamists has, for better or ill, put Creston on the map. Over the past three years, the 400 members of the Bountiful colony have found themselves in the glare of unwelcome publicity. During that time, the colonists -- part of a fundamentalist sect that broke with the Mormon church over the latter's decision to abandon the practice of polygamy -- have been the subject of a 13-month RCMP investigation. It concluded that two of Bountiful's leaders should be prosecuted for violating the Criminal Code's prohibition of polygamy -- a recommendation that is currently the subject of heated debate between British Columbia and federal justice officials. As well, in four separate criminal cases, four former members of the colony have been convicted of sexual assault charges. Read more


Minister of Justice asked to investigate polygamy in BC
By Mark Kelley CBC-TV The National Transcripts Originally published January 13, 2000
MARK KELLEY: The Minister of Justice has been asked to investigate the practises of a church in British Columbia. It practises polygamy. The leader of the church, who grew up with more than one mother, admits he has more than one wife. They all live together in a compound in the town of Lister, BC, near the border with Idaho. The CBC's Kelly Crowe has the story. KELLY CROWE (Reporter): They call it Bountiful. A quiet place with a reputation. That's because Bountiful is known as a community where it's normal to have more than one wife. Leader Winston Blackmore says polygamy has always been a part of his religion. WINSTON BLACKMORE (Church Leader): I am what I am. I was born that and I was born to a father that, and family that had more mothers than one. And I've never known anything different. Read more


Polygamists scoop teens
Girls allegedly being wed to elders of church with communes in U.S., B.C
By Fabian Dawson The Province Originally published September 22, 2000
A secretive commune in southern B.C. is part of a U.S. probe into the arranged marriages of under-age American girls to priests of the polygamous community. On Friday, Utah's State Attorney appointed a special prosecutor to investigate allegations of child abuse and teen brides in the 30,000-member Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which has communes on the Utah-Arizona border and in the Kootenay town of Lister. The arranged marriages are on the rise because the church's leader had predicted that the end of the world is near and that only those in "celestial pairings" will be saved. Prosecutor Ron Barton has been contacted by ex-members of the church and by a child advocacy group to investigate the movement of young girls between Arizona, Utah and B.C. Read more


B.C. commune quiet about underage marriage investigation
Members feel victimized
By Robert Remington The Province Originally published September 26, 2000
LISTER, B.C. - Members of what has been described as a polygamist commune say they are being persecuted but declined yesterday to discuss their lifestyle or comment on reports they are being investigated by U.S. authorities for arranged marriages of underage girls. "You have to understand what we have been through recently and the sensitive nature of it," said Merrill Palmer, principal of the school on the Bountiful commune, located in the Creston Valley, just north of the British Columbia-Idaho border. The commune and school is run by Winston Blackmore, 44, who is alleged to have 30 wives and 80 children. On Friday, Utah's State Attorney appointed a special prosecutor to investigate allegations of child abuse in the 30,000-member fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, an offshoot of the Mormon Church. The fundamentalist branch is reported to have communes on the Utah-Arizona border and here in Lister, just south of Creston. Mr. Blackmore could not be reached for comment on the investigation or allegations he married several new wives last year, including a 16-year-old American identified as Lorraine Johnson. Read more


Sect leader not worried about polygamy probe
Reports of teen brides
By Robert Remington National Post Originally published September 27, 2000
The Canadian leader of a polygamous breakaway sect of the Mormon Church is not worried about a U.S. investigation into allegations of arranged marriages of underage girls to church members. "We've been investigated 49 ways under the sun," Winston Blackmore, head of the Canadian branch of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, said yesterday. Utah's State Attorney last week appointed a special prosecutor to investigate reports that up to 40 underage teen brides have been wed in the past two years to church members, who live in rural enclaves on the Utah-Arizona border and here in Lister, an agricultural area near the Idaho border just south of Creston, B.C. Lenore Holm, of Colorado City, Arizona, claims that her 16-year-old daughter, Nichole, was married against Utah state law without her consent as the second wife of a 39-year-old church member with 10 children. Ms. Holm alleges her daughter was taken to Mr. Blackmore's 800-member Bountiful commune at Lister. Read more


Polygamists deny young girls forced to marry
B.C. church awash in wives: Mother claims her daughter, 16, to wed illegally
By Robert Remington National Post Originally published October 13, 2000
CALGARY - The spiritual leader of a polygamist community in British Columbia says underage girls marry members of his church, but do so legally with parental consent. "In none of these cases are these people being forced to marry anybody," says Winston Blackmore, 44, the Canadian leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Marriages of youths as young as 16 are allowed in Canada and the United States with parental consent, and as young as 15 with parental consent and the approval of a juvenile court judge. In an interview with the National Post, Mr. Blackmore denied reports a 16-year-old American girl, Nichole Holm, was married without parental consent to a church member in Utah and taken to his rural community near Lister, B.C., on the Idaho border. The Utah Attorney-General's Department also denies reports it is investigating arranged marriages of underage girls to members of the Church -- a breakaway sect of the Mormon church -- that openly practises polygamy. The fundamentalist sect has two main communities, one in Lister and another in Colorado City, Ariz., on the Utah border. Read more


Bountiful's troubling tradition
Men in this quiet B.C. community aren't limited to just one mate
By Estanislao Oziewicz The Globe and Mail Originally published December 9, 2000
Every Friday and Saturday night, the boys from Bountiful get together for a couple of hours of pickup hockey at the Johnny Bucyk Arena in nearby Creston, B.C. In the wooden bleachers one recent Friday were a handful of women with infants in their laps. Other children squealed in delight because a malfunctioning vending machine was spewing out hot chocolate for only 10 cents a cup. Pucks boomed off the boards. The women cheered and stamped their feet. The scene could be anywhere in Canada -- except that the women are all teenagers in 1940s hairdos and long, high-collar dresses. What is more, they and the hockey players all belong to the only known openly polygamous community in the country. Fuelled by a religious zeal to marry and procreate -- believed to be necessary steps on the road to heavenly salvation -- Bountiful has doubled in size to about 700 members in a decade. Even more extraordinary is that they are largely the progeny of a handful of fundamentalist Mormons who settled in Creston Valley only half a century ago. While a conjugal union with more than one person is an offence under the Criminal Code, carrying a penalty of up to five years in prison, no one in Bountiful is particularly worried about being prosecuted. Read more


13-year-old sent to B.C. for a husband
By Fabian Dawson The Province Originally published December 16, 2000
Hurricane, Utah -- Craig Chatwin said goodbye to his sister Esther Ruth shortly after her 13th birthday last year. She was getting married. "She was just a kid and was assigned to marry someone in Canada," said Chatwin, a former member of the polygamous Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Chatwin, 28, said Esther Ruth was the last of seven sisters from Colorado City, Ariz. to be assigned husbands at the Bountiful polygamous commune in Lister, B.C. "I have not seen her since," said Chatwin. "She was just a kid and they married her to a guy who was 28." Esther Ruth is among scores of teen brides whose cases are being documented to help the RCMP and U.S. authorities investigate the movement of underage girls between polygamous communities in Utah, Arizona and B.C. Read more


Bountiful, B.C.
By Daniel Woods Saturday Night Originally published August 4, 2001
It's a remote town in an idyllic valley where polygamy is the norm and the neighbours don't seem to mind. But are there darker secrets lurking within? From the remote port hill customs post on the B.C.-Idaho border, the road to Bountiful snakes east and north and east and south and east again, past fields of timothy and towering roadside cottonwoods. It's beautiful country. At the end of the meandering route, clustered beneath the Skimmerhorn Mountains, are fifty or so houses set amid well-tended gardens and pastures. Smoke from wood stoves curls from nearly every chimney. Pickup trucks are parked in driveways. The yards are manicured and full of swing sets, tricycles, and children running and shouting and laughing. The yellow buses standing beside Bountiful Elementary-Secondary School are precisely the colour of the larch that line the steep screen slopes directly above the little settlement. The mountains' jagged summits are dusted with snow. Bountiful is, to an outsider, a postcard of Bruegelian activity. The most dangerous thing around, it would seem, is the red-tailed hawk, poised on the branch of a tree. But a closer look reveals that this is a community unlike most others. A sign along the village's main road reads: "Thou Shalt Not Park Here." And straight ahead, clustered around a paved parking lot and a stand of weeping willows, sit five buildings. The two largest look more like motels than homes, with a series of doorways along both the ground and balcony floors. But homes they are. Read more


Polygamists from U.S. using B.C. as 'safe haven'
No fear of prosecution: Criminal Code offence considered unconstitutional
By Fabian Dawson National Post Originally published August 27, 2001
Vancouver -- British Columbia is becoming a "safe haven" for polygamists, prompting a coalition to press the province to enforce polygamy laws. Although polygamy is a Criminal Code offence, B.C. has decided not to enforce it, saying the law is unconstitutional. "B.C. is the only place in North America where polygamy and its associated abuses can be practised openly without fear of prosecution," said Debbie Palmer, spokeswoman for the Committee Concerned with Child Abuse in Polygamy, which is co-ordinating efforts in Canada to recriminalize polygamy in the province. "There already are polygamous families looking for a safe haven in B.C.," said Ms. Palmer, who fled the Bountiful polygamous commune in Lister, B.C., in the early '90s. Recently, one large polygamous family - the Chatwins - who lived near the Utah-Arizona border, moved to the Creston area. "They were looking for a safer place to practise what they preach," said Dee Bateman, who taught some of the Chatwin children before they moved to Creston. Ms. Palmer said other polygamous families have set up base near the B.C.-Idaho border around Bonners Ferry in Idaho. "Their children walk across the border and go to school at Bountiful," said Ms. Palmer. "The word is out there that B.C. is a safe place for polygamists." Read more


B.C. wants law changed to allow move on polygamists
By Fabian Dawson The Province Originally published February 7, 2002
The law outlawing polygamy in Canada cannot withstand a challenge under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a new review by the B.C government has confirmed. Attorney-General Geoff Plant said he has asked his officials to initiate talks with Ottawa to modify the Criminal Code before any prosecutions take place. "Faced with these legal opinions we will be seeking an amendment to the Criminal Code as that is the way we have to go," he said yesterday. In 1992, B.C. decided prosecuting polygamy was unconstitutional because it violated religious freedoms. That decision followed an RCMP investigation into two leaders of the Bountiful polygamous commune near Creston. Plant ordered a review of that stance last summer. The RCMP said commune leader Winston Blackmore and elder Dalmin Oler were polygamists. Blackmore then had six wives and Oler had five, and 45 kids. Oler is now dead. Blackmore reportedly now has more than 30 wives and 80 children.


Canadian polygamists let off the hook — again
Government says the polygamy law violates religious freedoms
By Frank Stirk christianweek.org Originally published March 5, 2002
VICTORIA, BC—The British Columbia government will continue a decade-old policy of not prosecuting polygamists, at least until the law forbidding multiple marriages has been reworded. An internal review completed last month re-affirmed the stance taken by the previous NDP administration that the statute—Section 239 of the Criminal Code—violates Charter protections of freedom of religion. "Faced with these legal opinions we will be seeking an amendment to the Criminal Code," Attorney-General Geoff Plant told Vancouver's The Province. To Rowenna Erickson, however, this refusal to enforce the law is "very disappointing." A co-founder of the Utah-based group Tapestry Against Polygamy (TAP), she says the province is ignoring the reality that women trapped in a polygamous "marriage" suffer appalling abuse. "Polygamists are every bit as bad as the Taliban in the way that they treat women," said Erickson in an interview from Salt Lake City. "They use them as property, they barter and trade them and they force them into marriages at very young ages." "Some polygamists demand that the women have a child per year," TAP executive director Vicky Prunty added. "They're breeding like little rabbits. It's just unreal how fast this type of population is growing." Other problems associated with polygamous communities are said to include child sexual abuse, incest, high levels of poverty and tax fraud. Read more


'Plural wives' allowed to immigrate
Ottawa gave residency status to polygamists despite B.C. protests
By Robert Remington National Post Originally published October 8, 2002
Acknowledging that polygamy is illegal in Canada, Denis Coderre, the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, promised yesterday to investigate why his department gave permanent Canadian residency to three polygamist wives from the United States. Mr. Coderre, in response to questions in the Commons from Diane Ablonczy, the Canadian Alliance immigration critic, said he will ask his department for a report on the 1994 case in which immigration officials in Ottawa overruled their B.C. counterparts, who sought to deny permanent status to the three women. Ottawa reportedly granted the permanent residency for three wives of Winston Blackmore, leader of a polygamist community near Creston, B.C., on humanitarian and compassionate grounds because they had children with Mr. Blackmore. They were also stepmothers to other children at the 800-member polygamist community, called Bountiful, near Lister on the B.C.-Idaho border. "The Minister knows full well that polygamy is repugnant to Canadian values in society. It very often exploits young women. Why is the Liberal government not ashamed of this action to aid and abet an illegal practice in Canada?" Ms. Ablonczy demanded. Read more


The Canadian Home of Polygamy
CBC News The Fifth Estate Original broadcast January 15, 2003
The polygamous community of Bountiful is located on the outskirts of the small town of Creston, British Columbia. The community, comprised of just over a thousand people, is tucked away in the Creston Valley under the shadow of the towering East Kootenay Mountains close to the US border. It is a secluded community where plural marriage is not only at the centre of the community's religious beliefs but it is a way of life. It's a place where some men have close to 30 wives and father up to 80 children and where teenage girls are married to men old enough to be their grandfathers. They believe that the more children a man produces, the better his chances of entering the celestial kingdom of God, finding salvation and possibly becoming a God himself. It's home to Winston Blackmore - 'The Bishop of Bountiful'. He was born and raised into the community and continues to be most powerful man in Bountiful. His first wife, Jane, says he has 26 wives and some 80 children. The men who head up the families in Bountiful make the decisions and demand that the women be demure, unobtrusive and obedient. Men rule and women are never to question their power over them. Read more


The Blackmore Family
CBC News The Fifth Estate Original broadcast January 15, 2003
For two decades Winston Blackmore was the Bishop of Bountiful, a secretive and secluded community living in the Creston Valley of British Columbia. His first wife Jane claims that he has 26 wives and some 80 children. But in an interview with Hana Gartner from the fifth estate, Mr. Blackmore didn't want to confirm any details. Hana Gartner: WELL, HOW MANY WIVES AND HOW MANY CHILDREN DO YOU HAVE THEN? Winston Blackmore: Well I'm certainly not here to talk about my private life. I have agreed to say that I have more wives than one. Read more


The Bishop of Bountiful: The Blackmore Family
CBC News The Fifth Estate Original broadcast January 15, 2003
Winston Blackmore, head of the family: The most powerful man in Bountiful, he has 26 wives and some 80 children. "I'm just a guy who wants to mind his own business and raise his family and I have a nice family by the way. And I do love my ladies by the way and I love my children." Jane Blackmore, as the first of his 26 wives Jane says she lived a privileged life and stood by Winston during their 17 years of marriage bearing him 7 of his reported 80 children. In an exclusive interview with the Fifth Estate, Jane Blackmore talks about growing up as a woman in Bountiful and reveals that she has decided to leave it all behind. "It was expected that I would be a very obedient girl and grow up and marry whom I was appointed to marry, and be a mother." Debbie Palmer, Winston Blackmore's stepmother: Raised in polygamy Debbie was only 15 when her father gave her away to a 57 year old man. She would become his 6th wife and stepmother to 32 other children. It was only after her third 'celestial marriage' that she found the courage to run from the community with her 8 children. Read more


Bishop loses Bountiful school case
By Robert Matas The Globe and Mail Originally published April 4, 2003
Vancouver -- The Canadian bishop of a polygamist religious group lost control yesterday of the community's school in British Columbia and over $1-million in assets to rivals aligned with the U.S.-based sect. The shift in power was the most recent incident in a bitter fight that has split families and neighbours in Canada and the United States over who speaks for God and who should be acknowledged as the Prophet in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A succession battle after the death last fall of Rulon Jeffs, the breakaway Mormon sect's top official, pitted Canadian Winston Blackmore against the official's son, Warren Jeffs, of Colorado City, Ariz. Mr. Justice Frank Maczko of the B.C. Supreme Court approved an order yesterday that in effect allows followers of Mr. Jeffs to control Bountiful's elementary and secondary school, located in a remote farm community near Creston in southeastern British Columbia. Read more


No multiple wives for new Canucks
By Tom Godfrey Toronto Sun Originally published June 9, 2003
Leave your other wives at home if you want to come to Canada, federal officials are warning potential immigrants. The immigration department has ordered Canadian visa officers abroad to make sure potential immigrants are not involved in polygamous marriages before they're allowed to resettle here. Immigration officials said they're concerned that hundreds of well-heeled polygamous applicants are trying to come here with two, three or four wives and their children. "The first marriage is the only one that can potentially be recognized," immigration official Nicole Gareau told visa officers in a 2002 report obtained last week under access to information legislation. "Visa officers should counsel both parties that polygamy is an offence under the Criminal Code." ILLEGAL ACT Gareau said the couple should sign a sworn statement acknowledging that polygamy is illegal in Canada and that they will live in a monogamous marriage here. Read more


B.C. women's group calls on government to stop funding polygamist school
By Camille Bains Canadian Press Originally published July 2, 2003
Vancouver -- A women's centre is outraged that the provincial Liberal government provided $632,000 in funding last year to a school at a polygamous commune in southeastern British Columbia. Debra Critchley, spokeswoman for the Vernon and District Women's Centre Society, said Wednesday that the facility uncovered the funding while reading the government's public accounts for 2001-2002. "It's shocking, mind-blowingly shocking," Critchley said of taxpayers footing the bill for a school at the Bountiful polygamous commune in Lister, B.C., near Creston. Critchley said she's also concerned about the welfare of teenage girls who are being married off to older men and then bearing several children each. Three women who sought refuge at the women's centre in recent years after escaping from the commune have said very few children are even being educated there, Critchley said. "The bottom line is, this is illegal. The entire Bountiful school is illegal and they're funding the school," she said of the government. Read more


Controversy over school in polygamous community
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Vancouver.CBC.ca Originally published July 3, 2003
VERNON, B.C. - A women's group in the Okanagan is demanding that the provincial government cut off funding to the school in the polygamous community of Bountiful, B.C. in the Creston Valley. The Ministry of Education has provided $632,000 for the Bountiful school this year. Vernon and District Women's Centre Society spokesperson Debra Critchley says she's outraged that the school continues to receive taxpayers' dollars. "A number of women that have escaped Bountiful have come forward and spoken with government. We find it particularly offensive that the school…would be funded by the government." Critchley has written a letter to Victoria expressing her concerns. But a government spokesperson says the ministry is legally obligated to fund the Bountiful school.


"Where polygamy rules"
On a B.C. commune called Bountiful, a Mormon sect keeps the world at bay
By Douglas Todd The Vancouver Sun Originally published August 26, 2003
As I drove up to the Bountiful commune, three blond boys, about age 11, spotted me. They stopped -- stunned, panic on their faces. The day was hot. The air tasted of smoke from a brush fire south of the B.C.-Idaho border. Despite the heat, the boys were wearing long jeans and dark long-sleeve shirts, because the polygamists who run this Mormon fundamentalist community forbid the exposing of bare arms and legs. The boys began scrambling up a trail to get away. They glanced furtively over their shoulders as they ran through the grass. They finally got to the top of a hill and slid under a rickety fence that surrounds Bountiful's controversial, taxpayer-funded school. An hour earlier, after trying repeatedly to reach the commune's leaders by phone, I had finally contacted the principal of Bountiful's school. Merrill Palmer told me his Canadian branch of the polygamist sect had recently developed a strict policy of refusing to speak to media. It was on the orders of the Arizona-based leader of the sect, which has more than 10,000 adherents in the U.S. and Canada. "Things are very volatile right now," the principal said. Read more


B.C. is a safe haven for polygamists
But what about the women and children?
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Saturday, May 29, 2004
Polygamy not only exists in British Columbia, the practice of keeping concubines is flourishing here. Since 1992, a parade of B.C. attorneys-general have done nothing about complaints that girls as young as 13 and 14 are being forced into polygamous marriages in Bountiful, which is near Creston, with men as much as 40 years older. They have also ignored other complaints that Canadian women and girls are being sent from Bountiful to bolster the breeding stock in polygamist colonies in the United States. They've done nothing because they believe that Canada s polygamy law is unconstitutional. This is despite a succession of federal justice ministers insisting that protections for religious freedom do not override the Criminal Code section that outlaws polygamy. The net result is polygamy's de facto legalization; legalization done without public debate and without a judge or jury. It's made B.C. a safe haven for American polygamists fleeing for fear of stepped-up prosecutions of polygamy, bigamy, child abuse and sexual assault in Utah and Arizona and afraid of the increasingly extremist views of Warren Jeffs, the new leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or FLDS. But suddenly, the government is under increasing pressure to do something about it. Read more


B.C. government does nothing while polygamists flourish:
Attorney-General Geoff Plant admits he's frustrated by the issue, but its unclear whether he sees Bountiful as a real problem
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published June 1, 2004
When election campaigns roll through the Creston Valley, aides whisper in their candidates' ears and carefully steer them away from kissing the babies held by young girls in long dresses who belong to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or FLDS. Neighbours talk about Winston Blackmore as a hard-working businessman with a logging company, cattle ranch and grain farm and an estimated net worth of about $15 million rather than as a polygamist with 26 wives and 80-some children. But a lot of people know that Bountiful -- population 1,000 and growing -- is a polygamy colony run by a breakaway sect of the Mormon church and is expanding thanks to Blackmore's forestry company. Nine women who have escaped Bountiful have filed a complaint with B.C. Attorney-General Geoff Plant alleging polygamy, sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of girls as young as 13. Another group of women -- including Blackmore's first wife, Jane, and her sister-in-law Deborah Palmer -- have filed a complaint with the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal. The complaint is against Plant, Education Minister Tom Christenson, Blackmore, James Oler, the current bishop, and Merrill Palmer, the principal of taxpayer-funded Bountiful Elementary-Secondary School for allegedly denying women and girls equal access to education and property rights, and co-operating in their oppression. Read more


Utah A-G declares war on polygamy:
B.C. ignores cult that is focus of attention in the U.S.
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Friday, June 4, 2004
Utah Attorney-General Mark Shurtleff grew up with evidence of polygamy all around him. He went to school with polygamists' kids and even has some polygamists in his own Mormon family background. "It was kind of an embarrassing fact of life in Utah that people just tried to ignore," says Shurtleff. No more. Despite his background, Shurtleff and the Utah government are aggressively pursuing the estimated 20,000 to 30,000 polygamists in the state. Right after Shurtleff was elected four years ago, county prosecutor David Leavitt -- brother of Gov. Michael Leavitt -- said he needed money and investigators to go after polygamists. He told the A-G that it was nearly impossible to prosecute, especially in Colorado City (population 10,000) and its twin city, Hildale. Both -- like Bountiful, B.C. -- are owned and controlled by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints or FLDS. Everyone from the mayor to the school principal to police officers are polygamists who are unwilling to accept that it is a criminal offence to have multiple wives and that taking 13- and 14-year-old girls as wives is sexual abuse. The more Shurtleff learned, the more difficulty he had sleeping at night. Read more


Blind eye turned to forced polygamy
By Mindelle Jacobs The Edmondton Sun Originally published June 12, 2004
Canada is known throughout the world for upholding equality rights but we've got a dirty little secret in our own backyard: We turn a blind eye to polygamy. If 17-year-old Stephanie Palmer was still living in the Mormon fundamentalist commune of Bountiful, near Creston, B.C., her life would no longer be her own. "I'd definitely be married now with at least two children and another on the way," she says. Thanks to her mother Debbie's courage, however, she's living life as a normal teenager in Prince Albert, Sask. Debbie, who grew up in the polygamous sect and was married off at age 15 to the first of three husbands, fled the commune in 1988 with her eight children. "Everyone is always surprised and shocked that (forced polygamy) is happening in a free country," says Stephanie. "Every time I think about it, I'm just glad my mother left." Many others aren't so lucky, delegates at a conference on cults at the University of Alberta heard yesterday. The event, which continues over the weekend, is co-sponsored by the American Family Foundation and the Edmonton Society Against Mind Abuse. Stephanie has more than 100 step-siblings in Bountiful. Read more


A-G must eradicate the blemish of polygamy in Bountiful, B.C.
Authorities cannot continue to avoid investigating allegations of abuse of girls and women behind the shield of religion
Editorial Vancouver Sun Originally published Saturday, June 12, 2004
Canadians understandably wax indignant when we hear of polygamy, inequality and the abuse of women and girls in countries like Afghanistan and Saudi Arabia. Yet we're a lot quieter when we hear of our own private Taliban, which conducts its business in Bountiful, B.C., near the Canada-U.S. border. As Vancouver Sun columnist Daphne Bramham explained in a series of recent columns, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS), a breakaway sect of the Mormon church, has for years been practising polygamy with impunity in a small community near Creston. Although the Criminal Code prohibits polygamy, and although the Creston RCMP recommended in 1992 that charges be laid against members of the FLDS, successive B.C. attorneys-general have refused to prosecute on the grounds that the polygamy law would not likely withstand a Charter challenge. A number of federal attorneys-general, including our current A-G, Irwin Cotler, don't share that view, but the law does appear problematic. The primary difficulty lies in the fact that Canadian law only permits marriage between two people. If a married man chooses to marry another woman, the second marriage is null and void and the man can be prosecuted for bigamy. So it's legally impossible to be married to more than one person at a time. Men in Bountiful get around this by registering their first marriage and then marrying successive wives through their church, but not through the state. Read more


Cabinet talks a signal of hope for child brides of Bountiful:
A letter detailing abuse behind the cult's veil has spurred the attorney-general to action
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Tuesday, June 15, 2004
The message finally got through to the B.C. government -- the polygamous community of Bountiful needs to be investigated. "Some people say harm is happening and it is not right for a responsive government not to do anything," Attorney-General Geoff Plant said Monday. Plant said he decided it was the moral thing to do after he received a letter last week from a former Bountiful resident outlining the abuse suffered there. He took the letter to last week's cabinet meeting and asked the other ministers what they knew about Bountiful and what they were doing about it. Plant also asked his deputy to speak to other deputy ministers and find out what is known about Bountiful. "I'm setting the tone and using the moral authority of this office," he told me after explaining that he has no power to order a police investigation. "It is time for the government to try to figure out what to do." Read more


Tax dollars support school teaching polygamy
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Friday, June 18, 2004
There's a publicly funded school in B.C. that turns out students who believe that polygamy is a sacred commandment from God, that women can only enter heaven at the invitation of their polygamous husbands, and that brown-skinned people are descendants of Satan. It's called Bountiful Elementary-Secondary. It's run by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and for nearly two decades, B.C. taxpayers have supported it with grants. Last year, the grant was $460,826. The previous year -- before a factional split resulted in 89 kids being taken out of that school and put into a new school called Mormon Hills -- it was $623,686. The new school is controlled by Winston Blackmore, the former bishop of Bountiful ex-communicated two years ago by the church's prophet, Warren Jeffs. Jeffs now controls Bountiful school and is its spiritual adviser. Mormon Hills has 131 students and now it too is eligible under the B.C. Independent School Act for per-pupil grants equal to half the amount the government pays for children attending public schools. Read more


Shut Bountiful down now and stop all public funding of private schools
Canadian Union of Public Employees www.cupe.bc.ca Originally published June 23, 2004
BURNABY, BC, June 23 /CNW/ - Barry O'Neill, President of CUPE BC is demanding that the provincial government immediately pull funding from Bountiful, the Independent school situated on a polygamous commune within School District 8, Kootenay Lake Schools. "The B.C. government must return that money to the public school system, where it belongs," says O'Neill. In addition, O'Neill is demanding a Provincial Inquiry into public funding of private and independent schools. This inquiry, he insists, must include consultation with a broad cross section of interested citizens and organizations in the province. School trustees in District 8, Kootenay Lake recently made a decision to reduce the school year by four days. The public school district is experiencing other financial problems due to the provincial government's funding formula based on student enrolment. In 2001-2002 while public school enrolment declined by 0.5% over the previous year, independent school enrolment increased by 9%. Again, in 2002-2003 while public school enrollment dropped by a further 1.3%, independent school enrollments swelled by 9.5%. "And here we have Bountiful," says O'Neill, "a so-called 'eligible' independent school, while causing so much controversy - possibly even placing children at risk - was funded to the tune of $1.1 million in the last two years." Read more


Local trustee wants school closed
By Rebecca Roberts The Interior News Originally published June 24, 2004
School Trustee Bob Haslett is not afraid to stick his nose in other people's business, as long as it means saving children from abuse, whether that be in this area's school districts or in another. After reading stories in The Vancouver Sun about a school in the Kootenay community of Bountiful, where children are reported to be sexually exploited, Haslett decided he needed to do something about it. "I've been around for 20 years as a school trustee now and I've seen a lot of things happen in British Columbia with regards to education but I've never seen anything this brutal," Haslett says. At the latest School District No. 54 meeting, he put forward a motion that the district write letters to three provincial ministries and to all school boards to garner support to put an end to the pubic funding of this school. The school in Bountiful is run by a sect of Mormons who call themselves the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Media reports say the school received over $600,000 in public funding for the 2002-03 school year and over $400,000 in public funding for the 2003-04 school year. One of Haslett's main concerns is that the school, which teaches Kindergarten to Grade 12, has never graduated a student. Read more


NDP ignored polygamy warning:
Successive governments refused to protect women and kids in Kootenay community
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Friday, June 25, 2004
If the B.C. government is serious about protecting the rights of the women and children in the polygamous Kootenay community of Bountiful, it doesn't need to waste time and money doing a study. The work was done in 1993 and the report -- Life in Bountiful: A report on the lifestyle of a polygamous community -- has been gathering dust in the library ever since. It provides the single most detailed insight into the life and beliefs of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. "The group's religious beliefs are so encompassing they have shaped a distinct culture. It is a culture that limits individual rights to the point of virtually eliminating them," it concludes. But it also poses the rhetorical question that governments have been running from ever since. "When does a culture stop being a culture and start being abuse?" Read more


Commune expands its power while B.C. plan gathers dust
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Saturday, June 26, 2004
A blueprint for how to deal with the polygamous community of Bountiful has been gathering dust on a legislative library shelf for more than a decade. The recommendations made by a government-funded committee on polygamous issues carried a warning on the cover that they were confidential and to be "circulated only as needed within the government." For whatever reasons, the people on that limited circulation list buried the report and not a single recommendation was heeded. In the 11 years since the recommendations were made, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints' population has more than doubled. Now more than 1,000 followers live in and around the Creston Valley in the east Kootenays. The leaders have prospered and have many more wives and children than in 1993. There are also many more brides and mothers in their teens. Winston Blackmore -- the bishop who was ex-communicated in a power struggle with Prophet Warren Jeffs two years ago -- now has 27 or more wives and close to 100 children. Read more


B.C. urged to charge polygamists
By Peter T. Chattaway CanadianChristianity.com Originally published July 7, 2004
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. Read more


Hunting Bountiful
Ending half a century of exploitation
From The Economist print edition Economist.com Originally published July 8, 2004
VANCOUVER - THEY like to think they do a good job protecting women's rights and fighting paedophilia. Canadians would not be so smug if they knew of the dirty little secret in the Creston Valley, in south-eastern British Columbia. For half a century, a hotbed of polygamy has quietly flourished there in a commune called Bountiful. It is run by a breakaway sect of the Mormon Church, in successful defiance of the law. Bountiful is no secret to local people, some of whom enjoy its business. Nor is it to the province's police and social workers. It is known to British Columbia's top law-enforcement officer, the attorney-general. His office was first made aware of concerns about Bountiful more than a decade ago. But the provincial government has felt constrained by an untested legal opinion that Canada's law banning polygamy was unconstitutional. Bountiful claims allegiance to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. Based in Utah, this dissenting Mormon sect teaches that men must have three or more wives and as many children as possible to enter heaven. The role of women and girls is to serve men. If women disobey men, their souls will burn in hell for eternity. The commune was quietly set up in 1947, after a few men excommunicated by the mainstream Mormon Church in Utah (which banned polygamy in 1890) moved north. Today the 1,000-odd residents are almost all the progeny of half-a-dozen men. The place is dominated by the “bishop”, James Oler, and by his deposed predecessor, Winston Blackmore, who now heads a splinter group. Read more


A chilling tale of murder and Mormons
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Saturday, July 10, 2004
After writing about the deadliest season ever on Mount Everest in his best-selling book Into Thin Air, there was nothing more Jon Krakauer wanted to say about mountaineering. Instead, he turned his attention to religion and, more specifically, the Mormon Church and its followers, with whom he had grown up in Colorado. His intention to write a history of the only North American-based world religion was soon overtaken by his storyteller's love of a great story. The history is there, in Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith, now available in paperback (Random House of Canada, 432 pages, $22.95). But it's woven around the tale of two brothers -- excommunicated Mormons -- who murdered their sister-in-law and her baby daughter. Read more


Investigation of Bountiful schools
John Russell, President British Columbia Civil Liberties Association Letter originally written July 14, 2004
The Honourable Gordon Campbell Premier of British Columbia Dear Mr. Campbell: I am writing on behalf of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association ("BCCLA") to urge you to initiate a full and public investigation into the community of Bountiful, B.C. The allegations against Bountiful's religious leaders that have been recently reported in the media are credible and suggest that some very serious breaches of civil liberties and human rights have been occurring for many years. Former residents and concerned citizens allege that the sect propagates child abuse, sexual exploitation, and the denial of equal access to education and property rights generally, and for women and girls in particular. The BCCLA obtained a copy of a 1993 report entitled "Life in Bountiful: A Report on the Lifestyle of a Polygamous Community" from the Ministry of Community, Aboriginal and Women's Services, which was completed on behalf of the former Ministry of Women's Equality. Although it has been some years since this report has been prepared, its contents corroborate recent allegations and lend support to the claim that there are on-going serious problems in Bountiful that need to be addressed by the provincial government. The BCCLA is particularly concerned about the contentions surrounding Bountiful's two schools, both of which are publicly funded and must be regularly inspected under B.C.'s Independent School Act. Critics allege that the schools' teachings are inconsistent with the provincial curriculum. The high and early dropout rates of these schools indicate that Bountiful students are not receiving an education that will allow them to function outside the community or to be knowledgeable about their rights as citizens. Read more


Religious tyrants twist tolerance for their own ends
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Saturday, July 17, 2004
What in the name of tolerance are we doing in Canada? Most thinking people can't countenance the notion that old men -- so-called religious leaders -- keep harems of women, including teens, for the purpose of breeding a pure stock. Yet for 50 years, politicians, bureaucrats and law enforcement officials haven't seen it that way when it comes to the polygamist community of Bountiful in southeastern British Columbia. For the past two decades, B.C. lawmakers and enforcement agencies have fallen back on the excuse that leaders of Bountiful's Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints can not be prosecuted for the Criminal Code offence of polygamy because the Canadian Charter of Rights guarantees religious freedom. In doing so, they've ignored evidence provided by former concubines about leaders who have as many as 80 wives, about alleged sexual exploitation of child "brides" by "husbands" two and three times their age. Read more


Civil libertarians want Bountiful inquiry:
For years, government has ignored reports of sex abuse, exploitation, denial of rights
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Wednesday, July 21, 2004
There's now more pressure on the B.C. government to find out what exactly is happening in the polygamous community of Bountiful. The B.C. Civil Liberties Association has added its voice to the lobby. In a letter to Premier Gordon Campbell Tuesday, the association's president, John Russell, called for a full public investigation into every aspect of the community. For years, the B.C. government has ignored reports of sexual abuse, sexual exploitation and denial of equal rights and educational rights in the community controlled by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Church leaders -- believed by members of the congregation to be in direct communication with God -- control almost every aspect of their followers' lives, from what they wear to whom they marry. The leaders have their pick of the community's women and girls as young as 13 as "celestial wives". They also assign concubines to men as rewards for their loyalty, and punish disloyalty by stripping men of their wives, children and property. Read more


Allegations of abuse at Bountiful commune
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation Vancouver.CBC.ca Originally published July 23, 2004
VANCOUVER - An investigative team is being assembled to check out abuse allegations at the Bountiful commune near Creston. Attorney General Geoff Plant says police will look at accusations of child abuse, forcible marriage and sexual exploitation. He says there is a serious groundswell of public concern about the polygamous commune, which is part of a breakaway Mormon sect. Plant told police it's a significant priority after he received a first-hand account from a woman who claims she was victimized at Bountiful. A social worker and a dedicated prosecutor will likely assist the police team. Debbie Palmer, who at 15 was assigned to be the sixth Bountiful bride of a 55-year-old man, says the attorney general's announcement is overdue. She claims underage girls have been trafficked across the border and impregnated by men in positions of power.


Police team to probe polygamous B.C. town:
Investigators assembled to study alleged sexual abuses in Bountiful
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Friday, July 23, 2004
The RCMP is assembling a team to investigate allegations of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation in the polygamous community of Bountiful in southeastern British Columbia. "Police are still working on the details of what the investigative team might look like," Attorney-General Geoff Plant said Thursday. "But the message that they've got is that what will not be satisfactory is to ask the local detachment commander to add another file to somebody who is already doing 100 other things." Plant is also committed to doing what he can to ensure that a dedicated Crown prosecutor is assigned to work with police. Bountiful is controlled by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints -- a breakaway sect of the Mormon Church. For two decades, women who have escaped from the community have complained of sexual abuse, the assigning of teenaged girls as concubines (so-called "celestial wives"), the high incidence of teenage mothers, and a birth rate far above the national average. There have also been allegations that the government-supported Bountiful Elementary-Secondary School has a dropout rate far in excess of that in other provincial schools, that the students are taught blind obedience to church leaders and that their religious curriculum is racist, white-supremacist and discriminates against women. Read more


Police to investigate B.C. polygamous commune over abuse allegations
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation CBC.ca Originally published July 23, 2004
VANCOUVER - A team is being assembled to investigate abuse allegations at the polygamous Bountiful commune, nestled in the B.C. Kootenay mountain range. The province's Attorney General Geoff Plant said, the government finally has enough information to launch a criminal probe which will look at accusations of child abuse, forcible marriage and sexual exploitation. A social worker and a dedicated prosecutor will likely assist the police team. Plant said it's been difficult to investigate Bountiful's religious leaders because of constitutional rights to freedom of religion, and the basic question of whether polygamy is even against the law in Canada. What moved Plant to action was a confession from a former commune resident who claims she was victimized at the 47-year-old commune. "That direct complaint allowed me to take a step beyond my traditional role, to raise the issue with my cabinet colleagues," said Plant. Debbie Palmer, who at 15 was assigned to be the sixth Bountiful bride of a 55-year-old man, says the attorney general's announcement is overdue. She claims underage girls have been trafficked across the border and impregnated by men in positions of power. According to Canada's Criminal Code, sex with young brides constitutes statutory rape. Read more


Commune cop probe welcomed
By Melissa Ridgen Calgary Sun Originally published July 24, 2004
It's about time the B.C. government launched an investigation into allegations of child abuse at the polygamous Bountiful commune, says the mayor of nearby Creston. Joe Snopek is friends with several of the 1,000 people who live at the commune. But he feels it's time for the government to act on the complaints. "It's probably time the government decides one way or the other on the lifestyle they live," Snopek said. "I doubt anything will come of it though because the argument of religious freedom is there to be made." He counts deposed Bountiful leader Winston Blackmore -- who reportedly has 28 wives and 80 children -- as a friend and said the residents are "great people" who keep to themselves and pose no problem. "They aren't in our courts, their children are well-behaved. They do business here," said Snopek. Read more


Vulnerability fears for B.C. sect
By Melissa Ridgen Calgary Sun Originally published July, 25, 2004
The B.C. government needs to "set up a tight social safety net" for the women and children of a polygamist commune being investigated for allegations of child abuse, says a woman who heads an anti-polygamy group. Nancy Mereska, co-ordinator of Stop Polygamy in Canada, said if charges are laid against members of the 1,000-person Bountiful commune near Creston, B.C., women and their children will be vulnerable. "They'll need shelter, the necessities of life, counselling, education and health support, and most importantly, legal support," said Mereska, who has long lobbied the B.C. government to investigate alleged abuses in the community, located 520 km southwest of Calgary. Commune residents believe men need multiple wives and numerous children to get to heaven, she said. The community is part of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-day Saints, a Mormon breakaway sect. Mereska was a Mormon for 20 years, but separated from the church and her husband in 1985. She has been a long-time opponent of polygamy. And, Mereska applauds the B.C. government's announcement last week that Bountiful will be the subject of a police investigation. "The women in polygamist marriages are second-class citizens whose sole purpose is to be a walking womb. If they don't want to live this lifestyle or they disobey their husband, they're told they'll go to hell," Mereska said. James Oler, leader of Bountiful, didn't return phone calls yesterday.


Sect greets abuse probe
Polygamist leader says group will co-operate
By Mike D'Amour Calgary Sun Originally published July 27, 2004
CRESTON, B.C. -- Stating he has nothing to hide, the spiritual leader of a polygamist sect says he will not hamper an investigation into alleged acts of sexual exploitation, forced marriage and child abuse by his group. In a rare interview, Winston Blackmore told the Calgary Sun he welcomes a just-announced investigation by B.C.'s attorney general into the sexual and marriage practices of the Mormon fundamentalist church. Blackmore, while admitting he has up to 20 wives, says his community -- part of a breakaway sect of the Mormon Church -- is doing nothing wrong. "I urge the attorney general to come see us and (he) will find co-operation in the investigation," said Blackmore, who is leader to about half the roughly 1,000 residents of Bountiful, just outside Creston, about 520 km southwest of Calgary. B.C.'s attorney general, Geoff Plant, announced last week a special police task force made up of Mounties, a social worker and a dedicated prosecutor will look into the allegations. "All of these are crimes that need to be investigated that don't relate to polygamy," said Plant. This province's top law man said he's taking action because he received a first-hand account from a woman who alleges she was a victim in Bountiful and because of a "serious groundswell of public concern." However, Blackmore said the scrutiny is nothing new. "(The authorities) did this in 1990 and there was three police officers there who wouldn't even let me go to the bathroom by myself," he said. "They were trying to prove I had more than one wife so I said, 'Right, I do, now go away.'" Read more


B.C. to investigate polygamous commune
By Frank Stirk CanadianChristianity.com Originally published July 28, 2004
Mounting public pressure appears to have finally persuaded the British Columbia government to abandon its hands-off attitude toward Bountiful, a polygamous commune near Cranbrook in the southeastern Interior. Attorney-General Geoff Plant announced recently that a task force of RCMP officers, a social worker and a dedicated prosecutor is being assembled that will investigate widespread allegations that women and teenaged girls in the commune are being sexually abused and sexual exploited. "The groundswell of public concern has reached a point where government and the police, in my view, have an obligation to act," Plant told the Toronto Star. "It's a priority to investigate the many allegations being made." The commune, which was founded in the late 1940s, is controlled by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a splinter group from mainstream Mormonism that still practices polygamy as part of its religion. Women who have escaped this male-dominated lifestyle say the results are devastating. They allege rampant sexual abuse, the forced "marriages" of teenaged girls as so-called "celestial wives," high rates of teenaged pregnancies, and a birth rate well above the national average. Read more


Commune leader slammed by priest
By Mike D'Amour Calgary Sun Originally published July 28, 2004
Creston, B.C. -- Winston Blackmore may be the spiritual leader of a group of polygamists, but he is no part of a legitimate religion, says a high priest of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "(Blackmore) has false and foolish notions about polygamy," Wayne Bourne said, referring to the man in a Sun story yesterday who has at least 20 wives and numerous children. "Winston Blackmore's religion has as much to do with the Church of Latter-day Saints as Martin Luther has to do with Catholicism." Polygamy was outlawed by the Mormon church in the late 1800s and Blackmore's grandfather, John Blackmore, was kicked out of the church for refusing to bow to the rule. Winston was excommunicated from the Fundamentalist Church of Latter-day Saints -- along with about 500 men, women and children -- for his beliefs and practices in Bountifulnear Creston, 520 km of southwest of Calgary. Blackmore and his followers are under the scrutiny of a B.C. law enforcement task force looking into allegations of sexual exploitation, forced marriage and child abuse in Bountiful.


Polygamists defend lifestyle
Commune and town of Creston co-exist in a delicate economic balance
By Mike D'Amour Calgary Sun Originally published August 1, 2004
CRESTON, B.C -- Winston K. Blackmore has 26 wives. Or 27, 29 or even more depending on who's telling the story. The 47-year-old polygamist himself would only allow he had "less than 20," a number sneered at as low by those who claim inside knowledge of Blackmore's affairs. "Having more than one wife is totally normal," argued Blackmore, who reckons he has between "30 and 40" brothers and sisters through different relationships his dad had with wives, or "sister-wives," as they call each other. "I'm a product of this religion and this is my lifestyle." Until recently, Blackmore -- self-proclaimed Bishop of Bountiful, a community of about 1,000 just south of Creston, B.C. -- was near omnipotent. The man, rumoured to have at least 30 wives and more than 100 kids, was chief executive officer of all Bountiful's business interests and trustee of 320 hectares of property. He controlled all the cash and most aspects of the lives of his Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS) followers, which is not connected to the mainstream Mormon Church. However, his power has been weakened in the beautiful little community sandwiched between lush fruit orchards and the face of the Skimmerhorn Mountains. The polygamist society has been ripped in two, divided by a bitter leadership fight that split families and pit neighbour against neighbour in Canada and the U.S. Read more


Cloistered wives of B.C. polygamous colony plan public relations campaign
By Amy Carmichael Calgary Sun Originally published August 5, 2004
VANCOUVER (CP) - The usually cloistered wives in a B.C. polygamous colony are organizing a public relations campaign to defend their lifestyle as the government prepares to investigate decades old claims of abuse in the community. Marlene Palmer, 45, is a mother of six children and is married to a man who has taken several wives in the Interior town of Bountiful, B.C. She said Thursday she's sick of being demonized and so are her intensely private sister wives. "We're all going to meet on Saturday to decide what we want to say and write a press release," she said. Some women who have fled Bountiful charge that these women are brainwashed, sexually abused, married off as young as 14 and trafficked to communes in the United States. Rarely do they speak out about their male-dominated society. Read more


Investigation into commune overdue: Sask. woman
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation CBC.ca Originally published August 6, 2004
PRINCE ALBERT – A woman living in Saskatchewan says an upcoming investigation into a polygamous community in B.C. is long overdue. Debbie Palmer says she escaped from a fundamentalist church in the small town of Bountiful 15 years ago. For the past decade she has lived in Prince Albert. Palmer says when she was 15 she was forced to marry a 54-year-old man who already had five other wives. She says she came to Prince Albert to get away from her past. But now that the police are about to investigate the church, she wants them to get it right. Palmer hopes that RCMP will access the research and information she's collected before they begin investigating in Bountiful. She says if the investigation is too aggressive, the church would go underground. And that, she says, could put them even further out of the spotlight. Police in B.C. agree the inquiry must be done delicately. Read more


The many wives of Bountiful
B.C.'s Attorney-General probing sect's polygamy, alleged trafficking of teenage girls to U.S.
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published August 7, 2004
BOUNTIFUL, B.C. - No one in this polygamous community disputes that most of its first-time mothers are younger than 18. Nobody disputes that the fathers are often three or four times older than the mothers. Nobody disputes that many are the "plural wives" of men much older than them. These things are not disputed, because the fathers sign their names on birth-registry forms sent to the provincial government. But Marlene Palmer, a plural wife and the most outspoken defender of Bountiful's way of life, disputes the allegations that the women and girls do not have a choice about becoming "celestial wives" in their teens. Those accusations have sparked an investigation by B.C.'s Attorney-General, which began last month. "Women and girls do get to choose who they marry," Ms. Palmer says. "Most are 17, 18 and some are as old as 20 when they get married. There have been some who are 16 and occasionally some who are 15 ... But they never marry without their parents' permission." Read more


A house divided:
The fragile peace in the polygamous community of Bountiful in B.C. may soon be shattered with the arrival of a rival religious leader's bodyguard
By Daphne Bramham Edmonton Journal Originally published Sunday, August 15, 2004
VANCOUVER -- Last week, Canada Customs officers searched the car of an American driving across the border between Idaho and British Columbia. The man is known to customs officials, says Jennifer Leenhouts, chair of the Canada Employment and Immigration Union's women's committee. He is a bodyguard to Warren Jeffs, the new prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Jeffs was already at the polygamous FLDS community of Bountiful, near Creston in southeastern British Columbia. What the officers found in the bodyguard's vehicle were ammunition clips -- but no ammunition -- for a semi-automatic assault weapon and some rifle shells. Because they did not find semi-automatic weapons or any other guns and because the man's papers were in order, he was allowed to enter Canada. Within the last two weeks, two "brides" -- polygamous "wives" -- from Bountiful went to the United States to live with their American husbands. An unknown number of others were turned back at the U.S. border after they failed to produce proper documentation. The brides were assigned to their husbands by Jeffs during his visit. Read more


U.S. officials probe men who run Bountiful school
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Friday, August 27, 2004
The society that runs the government-funded school in Bountiful is controlled by the same polygamist church leaders who are being investigated by Arizona's auditor-general for misusing state education grants. The investigation was prompted by newspaper reports that the school district had used state funds to purchase a $220,000 US Cessna 210 aircraft. Arizona investigators are also trying to find out why there are 104 staff and only 289 students. That three-to-one ratio of students to staff is in contrast to other Arizona school districts where the ratios range from 10:1 to 25:1. Because school officials have refused to file proper expense reports, the Arizona superintendent of education confirmed this week that it may withhold 10 per cent of the annual $4 million US it gives the district in grants. Meanwhile, in B.C. it appears it is business as usual, with taxpayers' money continuing to flow into the polygamous community of Bountiful even though the government says it is investigating every aspect of the fundamentalist Mormons. The investigation stems from complaints to Attorney-General Geoff Plant about the failure to prosecute polygamists and complaints to other ministers and to the human rights tribunal on a wide variety of issues, including denial of equal educational opportunities for boys and girls. The quality of the education at Bountiful school is also an issue, stemming from former bishop Winston Blackmore's sworn affidavit to the B.C. Supreme Court that audio tapes played for students at Bountiful school children teach that "negros (sic) came from a war in heaven and they were turned into negros because they were fence-sitters and would not choose sides." Read more


Rights tribunal agrees to hear polygamy case
Four ministries accused of failing to protect the girls and women of Bountiful
By Jim Beatty Vancouver Sun Originally published Saturday, September 4, 2004
VICTORIA - The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal has agreed to hear a case alleging the provincial government allowed discrimination to flourish in the polygamous community of Bountiful, The Vancouver Sun has learned. Four government ministries are being accused of failing to protect girls and women from abusive practices in the well-known commune, located near the southeastern B.C. community of Creston. The allegations, made by eight women, only one of whom lived in Bountiful, say the government was wilfully blind to polygamy, discriminatory education practices and religious indoctrination. Former Bountiful resident Debbie Palmer, one of the complainants, said the B.C. government has failed to live up to its responsibilities. "There is no other community that I know of in Canada where teachers and elders and heads of companies and bishops can take underage female children and impregnate them and get away with it," she said in an interview Friday. "It is blatant abuse. The ministries of the government aren't going to waffle for another decade." Read more


Bountiful seeks cash
Commune must pass test
By Ethan Baron Calgary Sun Originally published September 6, 2004
VANCOUVER -- Another school in the Bountiful, B.C., polygamous commune has applied for public funding and will receive about $450,000 per school year if it passes inspection this fall. The Mormon Hills school has run for a year as a Group 3 unfunded independent school, qualifying it to apply for Group 1 funding, which is equivalent to half of what regular public schools receive. Bountiful Elementary-Secondary, the other school in the community located 520 km southwest of Calgary, received $460,826 in public funds for its 136 students last year. Mormon Hills school was created as a result of a schism in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormon splinter group that runs the commune. Former "Bishop of Bountiful" Winston Blackmore was ex-communicated by church "prophet" Warren Jeffs, whose followers control Bountiful Elementary-Secondary. The Blackmore-controlled 131-pupil Mormon Hills school would start receiving public money at the end of January, said education ministry spokeswoman Corinna Filion. Critics charge that both schools indoctrinate children with beliefs in polygamy and the inferiority of females, and teach students that church leaders have the right to control who goes how far in school, and what jobs young people can take afterward. Read more


Mother fears sect's hold over daughter
Fundamentalist group from Bountiful, B.C., is building an isolated compound in Texas
By Jane Armstrong The Globe and Mail Originally published Thursday September 30, 2004
VANCOUVER -- Susie Johnson had been missing more than a month when the young woman called home to Canada to talk with her worried mother, Jane Blackmore. She was all right and God was blessing her, Ms. Johnson said, and she was begging Ms. Blackmore to stop tracking her down. But Ms. Blackmore could hear the strain in her daughter's voice. Finally, the young woman said: "Mother, my time is up. I have to go now." Her husband, Ben Johnson, got on the line and warned his mother-in-law that God did not want her to find Ms. Johnson and their three young sons. It wasn't the first time Ms. Johnson, 23, had been spirited away in the name of God. Born into the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or FLDS, a breakaway Mormon offshoot in Bountiful, B.C., Susie was taken by her father at age 17 to Salt Lake City, Utah, to marry Mr. Johnson, a man she was introduced to just five minutes before the ceremony. Read more


B.C. woman fears for daughter in polygamist sect
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation CBC.ca Originally published September 30, 2004
CRANBROOK, B.C. - A distraught Cranbrook, B.C., woman has asked police to help her find her daughter, a member of a controversial, polygamist Mormon sect with whom she has lost contact. Jane Blackmore has filed a missing persons report with police, saying 23-year-old Susie has broken off contact with her, and officials of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints won't tell her where her daughter is. Her report comes as B.C. police prepare to probe allegations of sexual abuse and white supremacist teachings at the sect's Canadian site in Bountiful, B.C. Several families in the U.S. have raised similar concerns about missing children, and the group's leader Warren Jeffs faces two lawsuits in Utah, the sect's other base. In one he's accused of ritualistically sodomizing a young boy; in the other, teenage boys accuse him of evicting them from the community. Blackmore was a member of the breakaway sect, but left the Bountiful compound three years ago when she began to question the faith. Since then she had been in regular touch with Susie, who lived with her three children and husband in one of the Utah communities. But the family moved without warning. When Blackmore called church officials in Utah to find Susie, they refused to reveal her whereabouts, saying only she's fine, and was doing God's work. "I'm concerned because I feel like she's being coerced and not being allowed to talk to me," Blackmore said. Read more


FIGHTING BREAKS OUT IN POLYGAMOUS COMMUNITIES
From Ellen Ramsay in Canada National Secular Society Originally published October 8, 2004
Following on from my last article on the polygamous community in Bountiful, Canada, the situation in the commune has escalated into dangerous warfare between two rival leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. In an excellent piece of investigative journalism, Vancouver Sun columnist Daphne Bramham describes a fight between self-proclaimed prophets Winston Blackmore of the Bountiful commune and Warren Jeffs of the Utah commune in the United States. In an apparent escalation of a power conflict between the two leaders, a body guard of Warren Jeffs was stopped at the Canadian customs and revealed to be carrying ammunition clips for a semi-automatic assault weapon. As he didn’t actually have any live ammunition, Canada Customs (foolishly) allowed him entry into Canada even though his employer is a well known polygamous trafficker and has been in hiding to avoid being served papers from a lawsuit which alleges he sodomized his nephew in the church school. The internecine fight between Jeffs and Blackmore has sparked a rush of "assigned wives" across the U.S./Canada border as the two men line up their supporters for a stand off. Read more


Cult's women slam Bountiful critics
By Amy Carmichael The Globe and Mail Originally published October 11, 2004
Vancouver -- In a huffy note hammered onto the town message board, women from a B.C. polygamous commune have announced they would be "setting the record straight" about abuse they have allegedly been subjected to. The public notice lashes out against an equal rights group convinced that the women of Bountiful, B.C., have been brainwashed and need to be saved from their husbands. Eight women living across the province launched a complaint with the human rights tribunal on behalf of their allegedly enslaved sisters who are part of a breakaway Mormon sect in southeastern British Columbia. One is former colony member Debbie Palmer who says she suffered physical abuse at the commune, was married off at 15 and had seven children by three different men she was assigned to marry. The complaint accuses the government of failing to protect girls in Bountiful from an oppressive culture. Under the tribunal process, the complainants were required to plaster the town with notices explaining what they were doing and asking women to come forward with their stories. Read more


Women deny abuse in polygamous British Columbia town
The Associated Press Seattle Post-Intelligencer Originally published Tuesday, October 12, 2004
BOUNTIFUL, British Columbia -- In a note on the town message board, women from a polygamous commune are vigorously disputing claims that they have been abused. The notice in this southeastern British Columbia town lashed out against an equal rights group that believes women in the commune have been brainwashed by abusive husbands. Eight women from across the province have filed a complaint with the human rights tribunal on behalf of women in a breakaway Mormon sect, accusing four provincial ministers of gross dereliction of duty. The complaint accused the provincial government of failing to protect girls in Bountiful from an oppressive culture. According to the complaint, top government officials knew girls in Bountiful were "being denied an education, pulled out of class to become concubines in harems, denied birth control and having motherhood forced upon them." It also says the community school preached racism and sexism by teaching students, for example, that "females must obey males or their souls will burn forever in Hell." Read more


Alleged polygamists scrutinized
By Mike Weland Kootenai Valley Press Originally published October 26, 2004
You won’t find it on any map, but the community of Bountiful, said to hold over a thousand people, has been much on the minds of area residents. Located between the U.S. border and Creston, the community is purported to be comprised of a group of polygamists with ties to Boundary County and Utah. But the group, if it exists, remains shadowy and little is known about them, except that reports of sexual abuse are common. At a recent candidates forum, Sheriff Greg Sprungl, who is running against challengers Kevin McDonald and Geoff Palmer, announced openly that the Boundary County Sheriffs Office was taking the reports seriously and was actively investigating them. Not long after the announcement, however, the group under investigation allegedly disappeared. Read more


Polygamist Community Raises Concern in Canada
John Hollenhorst reporting KSL TV News Channel 5 Originally broadcast November 8, 2004
There's a rising chorus of concern in Canada over a thriving polygamist community. Robert Fowler/Creston, BC, Canada: "I've seen quite a few young girls that are married, and have kids, that have got to be-- I'm guessing 13, 14. Not very old." And there are allegations underage brides are being smuggled across the border from a related community on the Utah-Arizona border. Teenage brides, sexual abuse, religious fanaticism. It sounds like Colorado City. But the same issues swirl around a related community just north of Idaho, in British Columbia. Bountiful, British Columbia is in a breathtaking setting at the foot of the majestic Canadian Rockies. The people are secretive. Two residents who asked us to leave a private road say they just want to be left alone to practice their religion. Duane Palmer/ Bountiful resident: "Well our fundamental beliefs are following after the teachings of Joseph Smith, Book of Mormon. That's what's important to us." In the nearby town of Creston, British Columbia, there's growing agitation. These women organized a reform group. Linda Price/ Creston Resident: "Yes, it really shocks me that the young girls are married so young." Read more


Polygamists Torn Apart by Divided Leadership
John Hollenhorst Reporting KSL TV News Channel 5 Originally broadcast November 9, 2004
A leadership change in the nation's largest polygamy group has set off shock waves and after-effects in several states. And far away in Canada, it's created a deep division that critics say is driven by a history of tyranny and brainwashing. Bountiful, British Columbia is a town divided. Polygamists here are torn apart by a leadership crisis a thousand miles away. For many years, Bountiful was loyal to the prophet of the Fundamentalist LDS Church, Rulon Jeffs in Colorado City. Winston Blackmore, the Bishop of Bountiful, was his right-hand man in Canada. But as Jeffs became enfeebled by old age, his son Warren rose to power. He ousted Blackmore and replaced him with Jimmy Oler. When his father died two years ago, Warren Jeffs had a firm grip on power. But many Bountiful residents stayed loyal to Blackmore. Duane Palmer, Bountiful Resident: "Well we’re not going anywhere. We’re going in a separate direction. We’re sticking to our fundamental beliefs." The Bountiful community is split now: two leaders, two schools, two meeting halls. Read more


Leaving Bountiful
A rare, intimate interview with the rebellious first wife of the polygamous B.C. Mormon community’s longtime leader.
By Amanda Euringer The Tyee - Vancouver, BC Originally published November 18, 2004
The community of Bountiful has nestled uncomfortably a dozen kilometres southeast of picturesque Creston for more than 50 years. For most of that time, it was Jane Blackmore’s home. Her father, who had six wives and 47 children, was one of Bountiful’s founders. Jane became the first wife of the polygamist Mormon community’s longtime leader, Winston Blackmore. The residents of Creston and neighbouring Cranbrook are accustomed to seeing Bountiful’s residents with their peasant-style clothing and reserved ways. But they hardly know them. Until this summer, when seven women from Bountiful, including Jane Blackmore, filed a complaint with the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, the community remained largely and successfully insular. The provincial government is now investigating the women’s complaints. Allegations of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse — vigorously denied by the community’s leaders — have circulated for years. In 1992, RCMP even recommended charges against community leaders, based on evidence provided by a former resident, but Crown prosecutors chose not to proceed. Read more


Rift in FLDS Church raises local fears
By Mike Weland Kootenai Valley Press Originally published November 24, 2004
With the grim specter of the Aryan Nations so recently erased from North Idaho, there is new fear of an equally rabid "religion" gaining a foothold in Boundary County following a rift in the leadership of the Fundamental Latter Day Saints, or FLDS, which is reportedly bringing massive instability to a sect that has remained secretively in the background for decades. The FLDS has existed in a small, closed enclave called Bountiful near Creston since the 1940s, when four families moved there from Alberta. Since then, the local group has grown to over 1,000 people, formerly led by "Bishop" Winston Blackmore, who openly espouses the practice of polygamy as the path to Heaven and who led the only openly polygamous community in the U.S. or Canada. But the main body of the FLDS Church was located in the arid south, where an estimated 10,000 adherents now dwell in several communities. In 1998, former "prophet" Rulon Jeffs died, and his son, Warren Jeffs, became the group’s spiritual leader, and those who’ve studied the group say his actions since are truly frightening. "Warren Jeffs is a tyrant and a coward," said Sam Brower, an investigator who has been working to crack through the wall of secrecy surrounding the FLDS. Read more


Pressure being applied to break FLDS silence
By Mike Weland Kootenai Valley Press News Originally published December 7, 2004
Teachers in Creston have called upon their federation to request a full investigation of the community of Bountiful, British Columbia, and a judge in the United States has ordered that notices be published in newspapers in Creston, St. George, Utah, Eldorado, Texas, and Cortez, Colorado in an effort to bring Warren Jeffs, the leader and "prophet" of the Fundamental Latter Day Saints, to court to face sexual abuse charges leveled by his nephew. In late October, Jinny Sims, Vancouver, B.C., president of the British Columbia Teacher’s Federation, Vancouver, sent a letter to British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell urging a full investigation by multiple agencies over concerns regarding the education of FLDS children at two private, church run schools near Creston. Under Canadian law, even private schools receive public funds, but they are expected to provide a complete education under Canada’s Independent School Act. Only one of the two schools receives funding, the other operates illegally on a tract of farmland, and the church is reported to be working toward education ministry approval for funding. "Government grants have not been terminated, nor has the school be ordered to shut down," Sims wrote. The Bountiful Elementary-Secondary School has benefited from nearly $5.5-million in public funds in the two decades its been in existence, last year receiving $460,826 from the Ministry of Education. In the letter, Sims writes, "Serious allegations regarding this community have been raised on several occasions, yet your government has not taken any definitive action." Read more


The battle for Bountiful
Religion; Polygamy, radicalism and a fight for hearts and minds: a Mormon sect's power struggle
By Ken MacQueen Macleans Magazine Originally published December 13, 2004
Trouble brews in Bountiful, a community of fundamentalist Mormons scattered about the rolling valley lands south of Creston, B.C., a town best known for its popular Kokanee beer. The commune's founders moved almost 60 years ago from Alberta, seeking the splendid isolation of the Kootenay Mountains to live "the Principle" -- the practice of polygamy. The belief that men must accumulate "plural wives" to achieve salvation is a central tenet of their faith. It estranged them and thousands more in the United States from the mainstream Mormon Church, which ended the practice in 1890. Polygamy also violates laws in both Canada and the U.S. Still, the Utah-based Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS), to which all of Bountiful's estimated 1,000 fundamentalists once belonged, has grown into a multi-million-dollar corporation, with about 10,000 members in the church-controlled twin cities of Hildale, Utah, and Colorado City, Ariz., and mysterious new enclaves under construction in Texas and Colorado. But the fundamentalists also inhabit a world of legal trouble. Allegations of child abuse, forced marriages of underage girls, and of trafficking "wives" across the Canada-U.S. border have triggered investigations in B.C. and Utah. And Bountiful is also torn by a battle for spiritual and economic control between two powerful men, each claiming the loyalty of about half of the commune's members. Read more


Bountiful schools get public funds, but government scrutiny is suspect
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Wednesday, December 15, 2004
B.C. Education Minister Tom Christensen says it's not okay to teach polygamy to school children. Polygamy, he says, is a criminal code offence and it would be wrong to teach that in schools. What he doesn't mention is that every B.C. government since 1992 has refused to prosecute polygamy, fearing that the federal law might not withstand a constitutional challenge -- a decision that has unofficially legalized the practice here. But then Christensen and the B.C. government have just decided to put their blessing on a second fundamentalist Mormon school in the polygamous community of Bountiful in southeastern B.C. This year the government will hand over $867,000 to two fundamentalist Mormon schools -- $363,000 to the new Mormon Hills School and $504,000 to Bountiful Elementary-Secondary School. "There's no evidence that that [polygamy] is being taught in the schools and that is part of the challenge -- distinguishing what is happening in the schools and what is going on in the community," Christensen said Tuesday after releasing reports from inspections done in early November. But there may be no evidence because inspectors weren't asked to look for that in the religious teaching. Part of the problem is that both Christensen and Jim Beeke, B.C.'s inspector of independent schools, admit they don't know the difference between fundamentalist Mormons and mainstream Mormons. Read more


B.C.'s foot in the door at Bountiful:
Funding education in the community gives authorities a reason to scrutinize schools
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Friday, December 17, 2004
Public schools are closing, yet B.C. taxpayers will spend $867,000 this year on two independent schools in the polygamous community of Bountiful with a population of about 1,000. It does provide the government with a reason to go into the closed community, but it needs to be doing much more than taking a glimpse every couple of years. The education ministry is supposed to be ensuring that the children there get at least as good an education as anywhere else in the province. And that's not happening. Jane Blackmore and all of her seven children attended Bountiful Elementary-Secondary School, just outside Creston. Her youngest went there until just two years ago. That's when Blackmore took her daughter, left Bountiful, left the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and divorced her husband Winston Blackmore, the former bishop. Blackmore wants the government to continue funding the schools. Read more


FLDS woman defends group’s beliefs
By Mike Weland Kootenai Valley Press Originally published January 12, 2005
After reading a recent article on Flora Jessop, a former member of the Fundamental Latter Day Saints who fled the sect and now devotes herself to "rescuing" others who are trying to make their escape, a woman who grew up in the faith broke what has been a pervasive silence by most members of the church to defend her faith and her beliefs. Speaking on condition of anonymity, she agreed to answer several questions raised about the secretive church, a group scattered in several enclave communities from Mexico to Canada comprised of an estimated 10,000 to 12,000 members. It is the only religious group in the U.S. and Canada that openly espouses polygamy, or plural marriage, as a tenet of their faith. "I don’t mind sharing with you my personal story or experiences so you can better understand our people," she wrote, "but I don’t want to become part of this horrid media circus that is attacking our people from every direction." While not willing to share her identity with readers, she did describe herself as having been born and raised in Hildale, Arizona, and Colorado City, Utah, once being a good friend of Flora Jessop, spending the fourth through the sixth grade as classmates and friends. Read more


Polygamy, the next debate
Government launches urgent study as same-sex unions open door to Charter challenges claiming plural marriages are a religious right
By Chris Cobb The Ottawa Citizen Originally published Thursday, January 20, 2005
Just weeks before it introduces divisive same-sex marriage legislation, the federal government has launched an urgent study into the legal and social ramifications of polygamy. Critics say the study underscores a deep concern in the Martin government that legalized homosexual marriage may lead to constitutional challenges from minority groups who claim polygamy as a religious right. It also suggests that the government is suspicious that multi-marriage is more commonplace in Canada than widely realized. Polygamy, outlawed in Canada but accepted and practised in many countries, typically means a man having several wives at the same time. "In order to best prepare for possible debate surrounding Canada's polygamy policy, critical research is needed," says a Status of Women Canada document. "It is vital that researchers explore the impacts of polygamy on women and children and gender equality as well as the challenges that polygamy presents to society." Conservative party justice critic Vic Toews says there is a direct link between the Status of Women concern and the same-sex marriage legislation due to be introduced by the government in February. "This government understands it has a problem on its hands," said Mr. Toews, a former Manitoba constitutional lawyer. "What they are looking for is evidence to demonstrate that polygamy is inconsistent with Charter and Canadian values. If I was a lawyer prosecuting a polygamist that's the type of evidence I would be looking for." Read more


No connection between legalizing same-sex marriage and polygamy: Cotler
By John Ward canoe.ca Originally published January 20, 2005
OTTAWA (CP) - While some suggest that a push to legalize polygamy may lurk on the fringes of the same-sex marriage issue, Justice Minister Irwin Cotler says there is no link between the two. "We don't see any connection, I repeat, any connection between the issue of polygamy and the issue of same sex marriage," he said Thursday. "Any attempt to make that kind of connection is simply a way of confusing distinguishable issues in every regard." Earlier in Montreal, Conservative Leader Stephen Harper said the traditional definition of marriage should be enshrined in law or Canada could be faced with more radical demands, such as legalizing polygamy. "I hate to say this, but I think you have to draw the line somewhere," he told a news conference. Ottawa is set to introduce same-sex marriage legislation within weeks. Polygamy jumped into the news Thursday with word that Status of Women Canada, a government agency, was seeking research papers on the effects of polygamy. Some concluded the federal government was on a pre-emptive strike against a campaign to legalize polygamy, which usually involves a man with several wives although the opposite, too, is possible. Cotler said, however, the studies were sought by the attorney general of British Columbia, who was looking for ammunition to use in a potential criminal case involving polygamy in the province. "There have been investigations in British Columbia on the issues of polgyamy-related offences," Cotler said. "We don't know whether a charge will be laid." Read more


Polygamy study unrelated to gay-marriage bill
Cotler: Federal agency looking at constitutionality of criminal charges at request of B.C.
By Tim Naumetz and Chris Cobb canada.com Originally published January 21, 2005
Justice Minister Irwin Cotler denied yesterday the government has launched a study into polygamy vs. the Charter of Rights out of fear a new law legalizing same-sex marriage may also open the door to legalized plural marriage. Cotler disclosed his department asked Status of Women Canada, a federal government agency, to commission a research project on the subject, but he said it was at the request of the British Columbia government in the wake of complaints about polygamy at a religious commune near Creston, B.C. "We don't see any connection - I repeat, any connection - between the issue of polygamy and the issue of same-sex marriage," Cotler told reporters. His department asked Status of Women to investigate the constitutionality of Criminal Code prohibitions against polygamy in light of charter guarantees of religious freedom. "The attorney-general of British Columbia and the British Columbia deputy minister asked us to look into this issue because there have been investigations, as you know, in British Columbia," Cotler added. "We don't know whether charges will be laid, but there is a question of constitutionality." Read more


Canadian polygamy laws need to be reviewed: activist
CTV.ca News Staff CTV.ca Originally published January 26, 2005
Polygamous groups will continue to function without fear of punishment if the federal government does not review current laws, a former polygamous community member says. In 1988, Debbie Palmer left such a religious sect that practised polygamy. She told CTV's Canada AM polygamous groups continue to survive in a "vacuum" because they do not anticipate punishment for these unions, which federal laws deem illegal. Palmer is currently with the Committee Concerned with Child Abuse in Polygamy. Palmer herself was only 15 years old when her father "assigned" her to marry a 55-year-old man in Bountiful, British Columbia. Palmer says she didn't question the union and believed it to be a "really great thing." She was her husband's sixth wife. Some men in Bountiful have 30 wives, and as many as 80 children each, she says. "We really did believe that that was the right thing to do, particularly the aspect of being married to an older man," she said. "(Marrying) someone considered to be the leader for the Canadian polygamist group was a really great thing to happen to any young person." When her first husband passed away, she was assigned to marry another older man. It was only after there was a split in the leadership of the group and after Palmer noticed children were being abused that she realized, "God could have nothing to do with what was happening. So I needed to get out of there with my children because they were being abused as well." Read more


A warning from B.C.: Polygamy law is weak
Province sought legal opinion on Bountiful, was told rights challenge would likely succeed
By Peter O'Neil, with files from Cristin Schmitz Vancouver Sun Originally published Thursday, February 3, 2005
Canada's law prohibiting polygamy is vulnerable to a legal challenge and could be struck down because of a conflict with religious freedom, says B.C. Attorney General Geoff Plant. Mr. Plant, whose view is based on confidential legal opinions provided to the B.C. government on two occasions, said he has failed to convince the federal government to amend the anti-polygamy law. He said the legal opinions have played a major role in the refusal by police over many years to lay charges against polygamists in the B.C. community of Bountiful, where girls as young as 13 have allegedly been forced to become "celestial wives" of much older men. "There might well be a case where the court would have to deal with religious freedoms arguments, and I think there is at least some risk that those arguments might succeed," Mr. Plant said. He added, however, that he supports the current RCMP investigation into alleged Criminal Code offences in Bountiful. Read more


Provincial Attorney-General Warns Canada's Polygamy Law Open to Legal Challenge
LifeSiteNews.com Originally published Friday February 4, 2005
VANCOUVER, February 4, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – BC's Attorney General warned Thursday that Canada's law prohibiting polygamy will not stand up to a legal challenge, because of potential conflicts with laws protecting religious freedoms. Attorney-General Geoff Plant said, "There might well be a case where the court would have to deal with religious freedoms arguments, and I think there is at least some risk that those arguments might succeed," according to a CanWest News Service report. Plant is concerned, in part, because police have never laid polygamy charges, despite allegations that polygamists in Bountiful, BC, are marrying girls as young as 13 to much older men. "My view is that if there is evidence that would support a charge ... it is in the public interest to prosecute, because the section has never been struck down by a judge, by a court, and so it has to be treated as though it's good law," he said. "I know that some prosecutors may well have some concerns about that, and we won't have to cross that bridge until we find out if there's real evidence out there." Read more


Marriage by the numbers
Some Canadians fear legalizing same-sex marriage will lead to court challenges over polygamy. The practice of men taking multiple wives has ancient roots in several faiths.
By Ron Csillag The Toronto Star Originally published February 5, 2005
If the federal Liberals had wanted to avoid tumbling on the slippery slope they insist doesn't link same-sex marriage to polygamy, they would have done well to heed Pierre Trudeau's maxim that the essential ingredient of politics is timing. Coincidentally, it was also the late prime minister who said there's no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation. But in announcing an urgent study last month into the legal and social ramifications of polygamy, just as the same sex controversy continued to boil, the government could not but create the impression the two are related. "We don't see any connection, I repeat, any connection between the issue of polygamy and the issue of same-sex marriage," justice minister Irwin Cotler told reporters. Cotler also noted that several Canadian courts have ruled the traditional definition of marriage as between one man and one woman is unconstitutional, but that having more than one spouse is a crime. Still, critics mused that the so-called floodgates fear spooked Prime Minister Paul Martin into ordering the study, one they say reflects a deep-seated fear that legalized homosexual marriage could lead to court challenges from groups claiming polygamy (and other fringe practices) as a religious right. "If I was a lawyer defending polygamists, I'd say `This is a constitutional right, a freedom of religion,'" said Conservative party justice critic Vic Toews. The Liberals insisted the polygamy study was ordered at the request of British Columbia, which is probing complaints of the practice at the religious commune of Bountiful, near the B.C. interior town of Creston. Bountiful was quietly set up in 1947 after a few men excommunicated by the mainstream Mormon Church in Utah moved north. Today the 1,000-odd residents are said to be the offspring of six men. Read more


Panel to probe polygamy
Former child bride a feature speaker
By Dean Pritchard The Winnipeg Sun Originally published February 15, 2005
When 15-year-old Debbie Palmer was told she was to become the sixth wife of a man 40 years her senior, it never occurred to her the union was anything but ordinary. Raised in Bountiful, B.C., since she was two, Palmer had been taught her role in life was to serve her husband and raise children. "It was not considered unusual at all," said Palmer, now 49. "We were just taught to believe we were in God's protected community." Seventeen years later Palmer would flee the fundamentalist Mormon community forever after several of her children complained of abuse at the hands of male elders. Palmer, co-author of the book Keep Sweet -- Children of Polygamy, will be the featured speaker Friday at the Fort Garry Hotel for a presentation and roundtable discussion on the sexual exploitation of children in polygamy. The event, which is sold out and will include speakers on both sides of the polygamy debate, is organized by Beyond Borders, Child Find Manitoba, Soroptimist International, UNIFEM and the Council of Women. Read more


B.C. polygamists want age of consent raised
News Staff CTV.ca Originally published February 18, 2005
Fifteen women from a polygamous community in British Columbia made a rare public appearance Friday, to voice their support for a proposal to raise the age of consent in Canada. The woman travelled from Bountiful, B.C., to Winnipeg, Manitoba to speak out at a conference on sexual exploitation and child brides. "It will really help us a lot," one of the women told a roundtable that included police, teachers and child rights advocates. "Come on, children are children. I know as a mother with younger girls I encourage my girls not to get married too young." The women wanted their views heard because they knew Debbie Palmer would be attending. Palmer grew up in Bountiful. At the age of 15 she became the third wife of a man 40 years her senior. Seventeen years later she left the community, spurred by her childrens' complaints of abuse at the hands of male elders and her own suspicions that young girls were being sent as child brides to polygamous communities south of the border. Two decades on, Debbie Palmer is still concerned. Read more


B.C. polygamists vow to protect children from sexual exploitation
By Michelle MacAfee Canadian Press Originally published February 18, 2005
WINNIPEG (CP) - Tired of living under the dark cloud of decades-old claims of abuse, a group of wives from a polygamous commune in British Columbia travelled to Winnipeg on Friday to pledge their commitment to protect their children from exploitation. Fifteen women from the fundamentalist Mormon community in Bountiful, B.C., surprised a roundtable discussion on child brides and sexual exploitation within polygamy by enthusiastically supporting a proposal to raise the age of sexual consent. The women said changing the federal legislation to make 16 the age of consent from the current age of 14 would give them an edge when dealing with wilful daughters determined to marry earlier against their family's wishes. "It will really help us a lot," said Marlene Palmer, a mother of six children who is married to a man who has taken several wives. "Come on, children are children. I know as a mother with younger girls I encourage my girls not to get married too young." Palmer told the group, which included police, teachers and child rights advocates, that only about 25 per cent of the community's men have more than one wife. Read more


B.C. polygamists support bid to raise age of consent for sex from 14 to 16
Broadcast News Vancouver Sun Originally published Friday, February 18, 2005
WINNIPEG -- A proposal to raise the age of consent for sex got some enthusiastic support from an unexpected source Friday. Fifteen women from Bountiful, British Columbia, a fundamentalist Mormon community that practices polygamy, travelled to Winnipeg to defend their lifestyle at a conference on child brides. Marlene Palmer, who is her husband's third wife, said only a quarter of the men in the community have more than one wife, and very few of those women are young teenagers. But she says raising the age of consent to 16 from 14 would help stop girls from having sex too soon and marrying against their parents wishes. The federal government has introduced a bill that would let judges declare that a youth between the ages of 14 and 18 is being exploited. But organizers of the conference, including Child Find and Beyond Borders, want the age of consent raised to 16.


Commune members strike back at writer
Call book on polygamy 'lies'
By Dean Pritchard The Winnipeg Sun Originally published February 19, 2005
The author of a book purporting to expose rampant sexual and physical abuse in Bountiful, B.C., drew fire yesterday from angry residents who called the book a tawdry collection of lies. Debbie Palmer, co-author of the book Keep Sweet -- Children of Polygamy, was the featured speaker at a conference at the Fort Garry Hotel examining the sexual exploitation of children in polygamy and the age of sexual consent in Canada. 'OVERSEXED BULL' "Your book is a bunch of over-sexed bulls---," 52-year-old Joyce Blackmore told Palmer following the conclusion of the half-day conference. Palmer married Blackmore's father, Ray Blackmore, when Palmer was 15 and her new husband was 55. She was his sixth wife. Palmer said she was "assigned" to marry Blackmore by community elders. Blackmore accused Palmer of "pursuing" her father, adding she was horrified to read details of Palmer's wedding night with her father. "We grew up together, and I don't remember anything in your book," said Blackmore, who left Bountiful at 17 and lives in Idaho. "It did not happen. There was no abuse. There was discipline." Read more


Editorial: Immigration rules lost in translation
The Asian Pacific Post www.asianpacificpost.com Originally published February 24, 2005
Alaskan native David Edenshaw of Hydaburg was trying to cross the Canadian border recently to play in a basketball tournament. But Canadian Border Services Agency officers near Prince Rupert turned him back apparently because of a U.S. drunk-driving conviction 13 years ago. Edenshaw, who was travelling with his wife, Jolene, was surprised, especially since he‘d successfully crossed the border several times before and submitted the required paperwork showing he now is a good citizen. The Edenshaws have been travelling back and forth between British Columbia and Alaska without incident for the last 10 years, including five times to visit family on the Queen Charlotte Islands. When the family took their case to the media, Faith St. John, a spokeswoman for Border Services' Pacific region declared: "People with criminal records are not admissible into Canada …That would include impaired driving." Okay then. Now lets take a look at Nicholas Tse — the photographer-slamming, Ferrari-crashing, girlfriend-dissing "bad boy" of Canto-pop. Read more


Abbott calls for charges against Bountiful
By Mike Weland Kootenai Valley Press Originally published February 24, 2005
Saying it would give an opportunity to test the constitutionality of Canadian law, Kootenay-Columbia Member of Parliament Jim Abbott, Cranbrook, recently said charges against the alleged polygamist community of Bountiful, situated near Creston, British Columbia, should be filed, though he confessed that he doesn’t think Canada’s federal law banning polygamy will stand under such a test. The RCMP in Creston have had an on-going investigation, but to date, no charges have been filed, much to the chagrin of many in the area who say they’ve long been concerned about the possible exploitation of children in the closed community, formerly led for many years by Fundamental Latter Day Saints Bishop Winston Blackmore, "The Bishop of Bountiful," who was ousted soon after current sect leader Warren Jeffs assumed "prophet" status in the sect following his father’s death in 1998. It is believed that a splinter group of the church has followed Blackmore to Boundary County, where he owns property near Porthill. Not only is polygamy against the law in Canada, it is specifically forbidden by the Idaho Constitution. Read more


Law should protect vulnerable teens
By Mindelle Jacobs Edmonton Sun Originally published February 27, 2005
Our laws are often necessarily complex, but on some issues there is a compelling need to draw a line in the sand and banish ambiguity. Sadly, the Liberals have chosen feebleness over determination when it comes to protecting children from sexual predators. Child-protection groups like Beyond Borders have been lobbying the government for years to raise the age of sexual consent from 14 to 16, to bring Canada in line with most western democracies. Instead, the Liberals have resurrected an old bill that attempts to safeguard children by adding a new category of sexual exploitation to the Criminal Code. Under the proposed bill, it would be up to a judge to decide whether a teen between 14 and 18 years old is being sexually exploited. "Factors that a judge may consider include the age of the young person, the age difference between the parties, the evolution of their relationship and the degree of control or influence exercised over the young person," explains the background paper. Instead of introducing legislation that would definitively declare that young teens are off limits to much older partners, the Liberals are pushing a wishy-washy compromise that will do little to stamp out child exploitation. Read more


Feds' polygamy study linked to same-sex marriage law
Canadian Press Edmonton Sun Originally published February 28, 2005
OTTAWA -- The federal government ordered urgent research on polygamy last month, partly to allay concerns about the potential adverse impact of its same-sex legislation, a newly released document shows. The wording of the original research proposal runs contrary to suggestions from the justice minister and others that the $150,000 polygamy project had no connection to the same-sex debate. "The question of polygamy has also arisen lately in connection with the current public debate on civil marriage and the legal recognition of same-sex unions," says the three-page document from Status of Women Canada. "Concerns have been raised by some that in changing one aspect of the legal capacity to marry to allow equal access to civil marriage for same-sex couples, all of the other aspects of legal capacity may also be vulnerable to attack under the Charter, including the ban on the practice of polygamy." "The government will likely be called upon to reassure Canadians that it is possible to hold the line on civil marriage, by retaining the requirement for monogamy and other restrictions in minimum age and marriage between close relatives." The document - written by Vesna Radulovic, senior research analyst for the agency - was obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act. Read more


Polygamy summit planned
CBC News vancouver.cbc.ca Originally published April 5, 2005
BOUNTIFUL, B.C. – The former bishop of the polygamous B.C. community of Bountiful has announced he will host a conference this month in an effort to stem criticism by outsiders. Winston Blackmore announced the conference – a "Summit on Polygamy" – will be held in nearby Creston on April 19. LINK: Bountiful newsletter, which announces the meeting on page 3 (pdf) He says he and others from Bountiful will make presentations about the religious group – giving its side of the story, which he says the media hasn't reported. "The media aren't doing their job in at least presenting our side of the issue," he says. "And we're tired of it." Public attention on Bountiful has intensified since last summer, when B.C. Attorney General Geoff Plant ordered a police investigation into allegations of abuse in the community. Those allegations include the forced marriage of teenage girls to older men, and claims of racist teachings in the schools. Read more


Polygamist Claims Rights
The Winnipeg Sun canoe.ca Originally published Wednesday, April 6, 2005
A B.C. polygamist says challenging his constitutional right to have multiple wives would be a huge waste of taxpayers' dollars. Winston Blackmore, a former Mormon bishop in the small community of Bountiful, said his religious freedom is guaranteed in Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Blackmore warned his community is prepared to battle any "discriminatory" legal action -- and that it could prove to be a costly waste of time for the public. The "anti-polygamy" law has no force and effect because it goes against the fundamental rights enshrined in the Charter, he said.


Bountiful women to host Summit on Polygamy
By Mike Weland Kootenai Valley Press Originally published April 6, 2005
About 100 members of the Bountiful Women’s Society, both from the community of Bountiful and from Boundary County, are organizing a "Summit on Polygamy" April 19 in an attempt to explain their views and way of life and help ease fears and concerns that have risen over the Fundamental Latter Day Saints (FLDS). The event was announced on Monday, and already the response they’ve received has been overwhelming. "It’s only been a couple of days, and it’s already half full," said Winston Blackmore, a life-long member of the FLDS and one of the speakers slated to appear. "We thought we’d get maybe 50 people, but over 200 have already signed up. What surprises me is why anyone would be interested in us ... we’re just what we always have been." Blackmore said he has personally invited the attorneys general of four states and one province to attend, including Idaho Attorney General Lawrence Wasden, and said that Utah’s attorney general has already accepted the invitation. He also said he’s fielded numerous calls from the media, including a call from a German television station, interested in learning more about the group. Read more


Congress to look at human trafficking
By Mike Weland Kootenai Valley Press Originally published April 6, 2005
Last summer, Idaho legislators met with local elected officials and one of the concerns raised by Bonners Ferry Mayor Darrell Kerby was the apparent arrival in Boundary County a splinter group of the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints, FLDS, after a schism in the group brought about by fugitive leader Warren Jeffs. "Right now, we don’t know a lot," Kerby said in a recent interview. "There are a lot of questions and we need to know the truth of what we’re facing so we can take appropriate action, if necessary." On Wednesday, March 30, the legislature took its first step in determining what the truth is, forming an interim study committee to look into allegations of human trafficking in Idaho, not only as a result of former residents of Bountiful moving to Boundary County, but reports that men are bringing wives from other countries to the Nampa area and forcing them into prostitution or slave labor. "I can’t really tell you much," said Representative George Eskridge, who advocated the formation of the study group. "We passed a House resolution that sets up the committee to look into human trafficking in Idaho. We want to see where it’s occurring and develop legislation to bring it to an end." Kerby brought the issue to the attention of House Speaker Bruce Newcomb, who called for the formation of the study group, telling Congressional leaders, "I didn’t think there was a problem in the state of Idaho until we went to Bonners Ferry." Read more


Making a break from Bountiful
Refugees from B.C.'s polygamous group find life outside is rewarding, but also a challenge
By Jane Armstrong The Globe and Mail Originally published April 9, 2005
Ray Blackmore has made quite a splash in this rough-and-tumble logging town in British Columbia's Kootenay Mountains. At 20, he's the proud owner of a $30,000 pickup truck, a 1995 Camaro with a Corvette engine and a prized Yamaha dirt bike, symbols of his newly won freedom. "It's better than drinking," he says of his passion for "catching air" on his dirt bike. "As long as you got a ramp, you can get high." His personal life is also soaring. He's had three girlfriends in the two years since he left the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a sect that broke away from the Mormon Church and has a colony in Bountiful, B.C., Canada's only polygamous community. In Bountiful, dating is forbidden and the plural marriages are arranged. For Mr. Blackmore, who says he can barely manage one woman in his life at a time, life on the outside has been "very, very good." But there have been bumps in his journey from FLDS member to freethinking Canadian twentysomething. When Mr. Blackmore tells people he's from Bountiful, many simply gape. His current girlfriend's mother has urged her daughter to break off the romance. "She's afraid I'm going to take her back there and make her part of a harem." The gangly young man with the friendly eyes said he got so sick of the wide-eyed reaction, he got a tattoo: "Judge not, lest ye be judged," it says in bold, blue letters. Mr. Blackmore is among a growing number of young people, mostly men, who are leaving Bountiful. Read more


B.C. group to host summit on polygamy
Canadian Press The Edmonton Sun Originally published April 16, 2005
CRANBROOK, B.C. -- A Mormon splinter group has invited British Columbia's attorney general and his counterpart from Idaho, among others, to attend what it is calling a polygamy summit next week. Polygamy has been openly practised for more than 60 years in the fundamentalist Mormon community in Bountiful, B.C. The summit will be held in nearby Creston Tuesday. Last summer, B.C. Attorney General Geoff Plant announced the start of an RCMP investigation into allegations of child abuse, forcible marriage and sexual exploitation. No charges have been laid in the community in southeastern British Columbia. The Idaho legislature recently formed an interim committee to investigate rumours of Mexican "baby" brides being sold to men in southern Idaho, and allegations of border crossings by young brides for the community in Bountiful. On its website, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has also invited a representative of the B.C. Teachers' Federation and Audrey Vance of a group called Altering Destiny Through Education to attend the meeting. Read more


Women of Bountiful plan summit
B.C. polygamist colony facing increasing scrutiny
By Susan Drumheller The Spokesman-Review Originally published April 17, 2005
Fed up with being labeled the brainwashed chattel of a male-dominated cult, women who live in a polygamous colony just north of the Idaho border are trying to clear up their image. The Bountiful Women's Society plans to share its point of view and explain recent developments within the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints during a Summit on Polygamy being hosted by the group this week in Creston, B.C. "We are human and we're on the same planet and we have feelings," said a woman who answered the phone for the society but didn't give her name. "There's so much garbage in the news." The forum follows a decision by the Idaho Legislature to study the problem of human trafficking in Idaho, including allegations that teenage girls are crossing the U.S. border north of Bonners Ferry, Idaho, to be forced into polygamous marriages in Canada. Those allegations and others are under investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Previous investigations have failed to result in charges against the leaders of Bountiful, a community of 800 or more members of the fundamentalist church just northeast of the Porthill, Idaho, border crossing. Media coverage in the past couple of years, including the books "Under the Banner of Heaven" by Jon Krakauer and "Keep Sweet" by former Bountiful member Debbie Palmer, also have galvanized a growing local movement against the Bountiful colony. Audrey Vance, a Creston, B.C., resident and member of the antipolygamy group Altering Destiny Through Education, said she was prompted to challenge the polygamists after she saw the former wife of Bountiful leader Winston Blackmore appear on television more than a year ago. Jane Blackmore, who was a midwife in Creston, told viewers that she had delivered a baby for a 15-year-old Bountiful girl who didn't want the baby and didn't want to return to her husband, Vance said. "That's what made me mad," Vance said. "How can parents do this to kids in the name of religion?" Read more


Idaho officials studying polygamists in Bonners Ferry
By Nicholas K. Geranios The Associated Press Originally published April 18, 2005
BONNERS FERRY, Idaho – Mayor Darrell Kerby never thought much about polygamy until he learned that a splinter faction of Mormon fundamentalists lived in Canada, just 30 miles north of this Idaho Panhandle town. Then he was shocked to learn that polygamists were moving into his own community, driven north by a leadership rift from their stronghold in Utah. For Kerby and other Idaho officials, the news was upsetting because it raised concerns about possible child abuse, welfare fraud, trafficking in child brides and other crimes. "It's so convoluted in its potential for abuse," Kerby said last week. "It will not be allowed. We are not going to fall prey to what other communities have." Idaho's Department of Health and Welfare is investigating possible welfare fraud and child brides in Boundary County, which has about 10,000 residents, but has found no evidence that is occurring, spokesman Tom Shanahan said. Idaho law enforcement officers likewise say they have no reports of laws being broken, and are not even sure how many polygamists have moved into the county. "There's lots of talk about underage brides, but no one seems to be able to produce one," said Boundary County Sheriff Greg Sprungl. The root of the issue appears to be a split in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a polygamist group chronicled by Jon Krakauer in his 2003 book, "Under the Banner of Heaven." Read more


BCTF will not attend "polygamy summit"
By the B.C. Teacher' Federation Canada NewsWire Group Originally published April 18, 2005
VANCOUVER, April 18 /CNW/ - Contrary to reports in the media and on the Internet, the B.C. Teachers' Federation never received an invitation to the "polygamy summit" taking place in Creston tomorrow. Winston Blackmore, the unrepentant polygamist and former "Bishop of Bountiful," has said that the BCTF was invited to make a presentation. The statement is untrue. "We have not received an invitation from Mr. Blackmore or anyone else in Bountiful," said Jinny Sims, president of the BCTF. "If we had, we would have declined." "Teachers have no desire to be part of this so-called summit," Sims said. "It seems to be more of a public relations exercise aimed at legitimizing or even celebrating polygamy, which is illegal in Canada. Our key concern is for the children of Bountiful and their education. Neither would be served by our involvement." In addition, Sims said, the BCTF is constrained from commenting on the situation in Bountiful because two representatives of the Mormon Hills School have initiated legal action against the Federation and two of its staff members. Last November, the BCTF issued a news release and petition calling on the government to investigate persistent allegations of sexual abuse, trafficking of girls, and expulsion of boys from the community. They also called for a thorough inspection of the polygamists' two parochial schools and for public funding to be discontinued if the schools did not meet requirements under the Independent Schools Act. To date, more than 1,500 teachers have signed the petition. Read more


Polygamists launch a PR offensive
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Wednesday, April 20, 2005
CRESTON - They are taught from birth that they are God's most favoured people -- the only people who will be saved when the world ends and that that time is coming soon. They are taught that the most sacred principle is plural marriage. But that means multiple wives for men and not multiple husbands for wives. They are members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints -- a breakaway sect of the Mormon church that practises polygamy openly in a little community they call Bountiful, a few kilometres down the road from this East Kootenay town. And Tuesday night, one of their leaders, Winston Blackmore, planned to talk publicly at what he called a polygamy summit about their constitutional right to practise their religion openly and freely despite the Criminal Code. He claimed to have invited the attorneys-general from British Columbia, Idaho, Utah, Arizona and Texas to come along. But none did. Neither did the B.C. Teachers' Federation nor Audrey Vance, co-chair of a local group called Altering Destiny Through Education, which opposes Bountiful and its teachings. Most of them never got an invitation. It's all a bit surprising this whole summit thing, since Blackmore and the FLDS believe that all the rest of us -- apostates and Gentiles as we're called -- should be avoided, even lied to, to protect the sacred principle of polygamy. But on Tuesday, principal Richard Blackmore was standing on the step of the Mormon Hills School at lunch time, inviting journalists in to see what the taxpayer-funded school looks like. Read more


No more polygamy with girls under 18, B.C. sect says
CBC News cbc.ca Originally published April 20, 2005
CRESTON, B.C. - The wives of polygamists from a religion-based community near Creston, B.C., defended their lifestyle at a meeting Tuesday night, but also said girls under 18 will no longer enter into "plural marriages." The women are part of a secretive breakaway Mormon sect that believes one man may have several wives. (The official Mormon Church banned polygamy in 1890.) They fully admit that their families are breaking the law. But during the "Summit on Polygamy" sponsored by their church at a recreation centre in Creston, the women said their lifestyle is just another aspect of the multicultural fabric of Canada, and should be respected on freedom-of-religion grounds. "Our lifestyle is not for everyone, and may not be the right choice for you," Leah Barlow, who was raised in the faith, told non-members attending the meeting. "But for us, this is the right choice." Critics speak of very young pregnant wives. The 1,000-member community of Bountiful has attracted criticism recently because some older men have nearly 30 wives, some as young as 14. Larry Corville, who protested outside the meeting with a handful of other people, said he worries about the young mothers he sees visiting Creston from time to time. Some of them are pregnant while they still seem to be children themselves, he said. "We see them come to town with one in the sack ... and they don't look like they're 15, 16 years old," he said. Read more


"They don't have horns"
Women of polygamist colony, supporters explain lifestyle and views
By Susan Drumheller The Spokesman-Review Originally published April 20, 2005
CRESTON, B.C. – Shortly after Christmas, things got a lot less comfortable for the people of Bountiful, a polygamist community just south of here near the Idaho border. The book "Keep Sweet," co-authored by a former member of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints, had just been published, full of tales of sexual abuse and oppression as a woman growing up in Bountiful. Marlene Palmer, a longtime member of the community, was at the local exercise club working out when a stranger approached her and said, "You are the scum of the earth ... If I was you, I would never show my face in this town again." Those and other stories were shared at the Summit on Polygamy, hosted by the Bountiful Women's Society on Tuesday evening in Creston's Recreation Center, which was packed with hundreds of supporters, local officials and curious Creston residents, and a large contingent of journalists. Speakers shared information on the history of the FLDS. Fundamentalists refuse to give up one of the original tenets of the Mormon faith, polygamy, which was abandoned by the mainstream church in 1890. With the help of a PowerPoint presentation replete with photos of happy children and rainbows, nurse and midwife Leah Barlow explained some of the benefits of being one of multiple wives. Read more


Polygamist Women Defend Lifestyle
KXLY News 4 - Spokane, WA kxly.com Originally broadcast April 20, 2005
The women of Bountiful, Canada's polygamist community, say they are tired of being quiet, and are now speaking out to defend their way of life. They hosted a "Summit On Polygamy" in Creston, British Columbia Tuesday night. They are part of a Mormon Fundamentalist Group, not related to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints - and are currently the target of several criminal investigations. Dozens of people came out to protest, citing Canadian laws outlawing polygamy. The women say despite rumors, they are well-educated, good parents, love their husbands and their husband's other wives. The group says it recently decided to stop allowing girls under 18 to enter into plural marriages.


Polygamists' constitutional claim must be challenged
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Thursday, April 21, 2005
CRESTON - Before a crowd of about 350 people, Winston Blackmore admitted: "I have married several very young girls in my life." But the former bishop of the fundamentalist Mormons from Bountiful, their community located a few kilometres from this East Kootenay town, said he had no choice. The breakaway sect believes only men with three or more wives will be allowed to enter God's celestial kingdom. The followers believe the church's prophet assigns plural wives based on a revelation from God. Followers believe that for a man to refuse a plural wife would be akin to saying no to God. But Blackmore insisted that even very young girls can say no to the most powerful leaders in the community and refuse a directive to become a celestial wife to a particular man. At a meeting held Tuesday night to dispel what he called the myths about polygamy, Blackmore also hinted he didn't immediately consummate the plural marriages to the young teens. Just how young his wives were, Blackmore refused to say. He also refused to confirm that he has 26 wives and close to 100 children. The youngest bride that anyone acknowledged Tuesday night was described as being one day shy of her 15th birthday. Midwife Christina Blackmore -- one of Winston Blackmore's wives -- said marriages at such a young age are unusual and she knows of only two girls who had babies before they were 16. Read more


Women of Bountiful defend polygamous lifestyle
CTV.ca News Staff ctv.ca Originally published April 21, 2005
Stung by harsh criticism in the past year, the women of a polygamous town in British Columbia opened their doors to TV cameras Tuesday. The women, some of them teen brides, defended their community and say they aren't being abused. The community is known as Bountiful, and its leaders are fundamentalist Mormons who broke away from the main church years ago. They moved from Utah to the land near Creston, B.C. more than 60 years ago, and the population is now approximately 1,000. The men of Bountiful commonly take three or more wives in "celestial unions," while girls are married and can become pregnant at the age of 14 or 15. The women refer to themselves as "sister wives." The women who spoke to the media Tuesday said that they have been upset by the media coverage of their community. "Polygamy is a team of players that care about each other," said Nina Oler. There have been accusations that the people of Bountiful are involved with trafficking girls from the Fundamentalist Latter-day Saint community in Utah to become brides in Canada. Debbie Palmer is a former Bountiful wife speaking out on the situation. "There are underage children who have been put into these marriages and then impregnated by older men," she told CTV News. "We'd at least like to see them prosecuted in that kind of situation." Bountiful's leader is Winston Blackmore, who admits to marrying several young women, but won't reveal exactly how many. Read more


Polygamous community defends its belief system
Canadian Press Fort Frances Times Originally published April 21, 2005
The women of a polygamous community in Bountiful have turned the tables on their tormentors, striking back at their critics during a packed three-hour presentation described as a polygamy summit by the Mormon splinter group that held it. "We are women that have chosen the Bountiful lifestyle," said Leah Barlow, a registered nurse and midwife. "We love it and we believe in it. We know better than any of you what our culture is like." "It’s not for everyone, but for us it’s the right choice and we wouldn’t change it for anything in the world." The meeting on Tuesday at a local recreation centre, attended by about 300 people, heard from a dozen wives from the community who argued they have been victimized by "myths and misconceptions." Winston Blackmore, the self-proclaimed Bishop of Bountiful, addressed the meeting near the end, but he refused to say how many wives or children he had. "I have married several young wives in my life," he said. Read more


Polygamy: A tale of two countries:
U.S. states are getting tough on polygamy, while B.C. leaders avoid taking action
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Friday, April 22, 2005
CRESTON - The Idaho legislature is putting together a commission to investigate the trafficking of women and children that will pay special attention to fundamentalist Mormon girls and young women being moved between the polygamous communities in the southern United States and Bountiful, B.C. The legislators there are worried about the sudden influx of fundamentalist Mormons settling in the border area to be close to the 60-year-old polygamist community of Bountiful. State representative Eric Anderson was at this week's so-called polygamy summit in Creston held by the Bountiful Women's Society and community leader Winston Blackmore. Anderson's riding nudges the Canada-U.S. border and includes Porthill and Bonner's Ferry, where fundamentalist Mormons are settling to be close to the Bountiful's 1,000-strong fundamentalist Mormon community. Anderson heard Blackmore (Bountiful's former bishop) argue at the summit that he had no choice but to obey church elders' orders that he take several "very young girls" as plural wives. He also heard about girls as young as 16 having babies. "I was kind of shocked," Anderson said later. "It was an eye-opener that this kind of thing [polygamy] was so accepted." What he doesn't understand is why British Columbia politicians aren't doing something about what he described as "girls who are heavily indoctrinated" marrying much older men. It may not be a cult, he said, but it looks a lot like one. Read more


Score One for Polygamist Public Relations
In Bountiful, home baked goodies and attacks on the media.
By Amanda Euringer The Tyee - Vancouver, BC Originally published April 22, 2005
CRESTON, BC -- In what must have been the biggest public relations event in the history of Creston, the normally secretive polygamous community of Bountiful BC opened its doors and presented a well orchestrated media blitz designed to "create bridges" between themselves and the rest of Canada. It could have been a marketing nightmare. After all, front and centre stood Winston Blackmore, the bishop of the sect who has been accused of child trafficking and pedophilia. Confident to the point of cockiness, at one point he joked about writing "The Winston Blackmore guide to women ... after all who knows them better than I do?" And then he added, "Of course all the pages would be blank." On Thursday morning, the results were in, evident on the front pages of various newspapers read in B.C. and beyond. The Globe and Mail had no coverage, but The National Post headline read: "BC Girl, 14, Defends Home Town Polygamist Sect" and The Province was equally soft-gloved: "It's Second Nature to Us: Kids at Bountiful Commune Discuss Their Way of Life." Readers of the Sun were greeted by Blackmore's laughing face dominating the front page, the caption conveying his promise to "dispel the myths about polygamy." You had to turn to Daphne Bramham's column inside to find a clearly skeptical take. Read more


Polygamists in B.C. pose legal quandary
The Toronto Star thestar.com Originally published April 24, 2005
Nestled in the shadow of the East Kootenay Mountains of British Columbia lies what has long been known as "Canada's dirty little secret": the community of Bountiful, population 1,000, where a small fringe religious group has openly practised polygamy for more than half a century. In this remote valley paradise, men routinely sire dozens of children with many wives, some as young as 15 or 16 years old. Polygamy, they believe, offers the only route to heaven. And the community holds fast to its convictions, astonishingly unhindered by Canadian laws and values. Never mind that being married to more than one person at a time is a crime in Canada. Or that disturbing allegations of child abuse, forcible marriage, sexual exploitation and cross-border trafficking of females dog the community, part of a breakaway group of Mormons known as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Or that Bountiful's two schools, which receive public funding, have abominably high dropout rates and have been accused of teaching racism. Federal and provincial authorities have turned a blind eye to these concerns for years. But as a handful of former members shed troubling light on this notoriously closed community, many Canadians justifiably want to know why so little has been done. The answer is almost impossible to comprehend. Read more


Fundamentalist Mormons must stop polygamy
Arizona Daily Wildcat wildcat.arizona.edu Originally published Wednesday, April 27, 2005
I would like to compliment Sara Ransom for organizing the lecture featuring Flora Jessop. We have members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints living in Bountiful, British Columbia, which is near Creston. It also lies on the border between B.C. and Idaho. Actually there are two factions: those headed by Warren Jeffs; and those headed by Winston Blackmore who took his 26 wives and 100 children and other followers with him when Jeffs excommunicated him in 2002. The government of British Columbia has done nothing to clamp down on this malady of plural wives, "lost boys" and numerous children. They called for an investigation into abuses last July knowing the women and children are too brainwashed or too afraid to come forward to the "outside evil world." It has been a farce from the beginning. Polygamy is a federal crime in Canada, yet charges have never been laid against the polygamist men and women in Bountiful. Last week, the Bountiful Women's Society organized a summit and invited the media, so they could put their spin on their lifestyle. Only followers of Blackmore attended. The only way this malady is going to come to an end is through education of the general public and education of those who leave polygamy regarding their rights in a free and democratic society. Polygamy is a boil that festers on the soil of our first-world nations. That boil needs to be lanced using every "surgical" (legal) method possible. Nancy Mereska Coordinator Stop Polygamy in Canada


Polygamist sect moving into north Idaho
A NewsChannel 7 Investigative Report
By Andrea Dearden Idaho's NewsChannel 7 Originally broadcast Tuesday, May 10, 2005
Just steps from the Idaho-Canada border there is a sect of fundamentalist Mormons who have openly practiced polygamy for four generations. Long considered a reclusive group, allegations of sexual abuse and forced marriage are causing members of the community to come forward. To better understand the polygamists moving into Boundary County, you only have to go a few feet across Idaho’s northern border into the Creston Valley of Canada. It is there, NewsChannel 7 met the women of Bountiful. Tucked away in the Creston Valley of British Columbia and nestled under the shadow of the Skimmerhorn Mountains, just yards from the U.S. border, sits 50 or so homes. Some are trailers and run-down cabins, while others are more like motels than houses. They stand amid well-groomed gardens, pastures and ponds. All are brimming with children. This is Bountiful. A closer look reveals it is a community unlike most others. The families here are "living the principle" - the practice of polygamy. "We are sisters and sister-wives. We have the same fathers but different mothers, and we both married the same man," said fundamentalist Leah Barlow. For Leah and Edith Barlow and the 1,000 residents of Bountiful, the belief that men must accumulate "plural wives" to achieve salvation is a central doctrine of their faith. "We draw, in large part, our scriptural beliefs and philosophies from the Mormon philosophy," said fundamentalist Mary Batchelor. Read more


The price of polygamy
By Andrea Dearden KTVB Channel 7 Boise Originally broadcast May 11, 2005
Families openly practicing polygamy in Canada appear to be moving into north Idaho. Those who oppose the lifestyle are warning officials about its dangers. This is part two of a NewsChannel 7 investigation into the price of polygamy. The polygamous community of Bountiful, British Columbia sits just a few feet north of the Idaho-Canada border. The controversial and illegal way of life has been practiced there for more than 60 years. Now, the polygamists presence is growing in Idaho and officials are vowing to be vigilant. No gates block the road that leads to Bountiful. No high fences hide its homes, but this is a closed community. "We are sisters and sister-wives," said Leah Barlow. They call themselves fundamentalist Mormons and believe plural marriage, or polygamy, is the only way to achieve salvation and earn a place in the celestial kingdom. "Our mothers were sisters and sister-wives. We have the same father, different mothers, and we married the same man," said Barlow. Read more


Free Bountiful’s men and women
By Jean M. Gerber The Canadian Jewish News Originally published May 11, 2005
I think I will become the leader of a new faith, based on the conviction that in order to be saved, I marry at least three husbands. I will build my compound in eastern Ontario. Children will attend school up to Grade 6 (for boys) and maybe a little more for the girls, who, masters of the faith, need only to acquire at least three husbands to qualify for eternal bliss. I will expel excess girls to the small town nearby, and since they will have minimal life skills, and lack the regulation three or more husbands, they will begin turning tricks to survive. No non-believing outsiders will be allowed in. To leave is to damn one’s eternal soul. When I need a new young stud – er, husband – I will order one from across the border where other groups with similar philosophies live. My only regret is that, unlike British Columbia, Ontario will not pay for the children’s schooling (in British Columbia the Independent Schools Act entitles private schools to public funding). Or one day I could just move to B.C., where polygamy and strict adherence to the teachings of the leaders, flourishes. Whoa, you say. What’s all this? Bountiful, near Creston B.C., harbours a cult. One faction is led by Winston Blackmore, a second by Warren Jeffs, both self-styled prophets of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Read more


Bountiful Residents Defend Their Way Of Life
By Elizabeth Wynne-Johnson Oregon Public Broadcasting Originally broadcast May 16, 2005
BOUNTIFUL, BRITISH COLUMBIA 2005-05-16 (Oregon Considered) - A polygamous community just north of the U.S. border in Canada is sparking a difficult debate about religious freedom. Idaho officials are concerned about a group of people who call themselves fundamentalist Mormons. Authorities fear they are expanding into the northwestern U.S., committing welfare fraud and trafficking underage girls. Correspondent Elizabeth Wynne Johnson brings us the story of Bountiful, British Columbia, and the women who are defending their way of life. ------------------------------------------------ Half a dozen boys and girls bounce, flip and tumble on a trampoline in their front yard. The air is sweet with the smell of fresh-baked oatmeal cookies. Child: Momma, I want a drink of milk! Inside, Twyla Blackmore balances a baby on her hips while stirring a pot of macaroni and cheese. Her daughter set the table. Child: Mommy? Twyla Blackmore: What? Child: I love you. [laughing] Blackmore: I love you, too. A typical day in Bountiful, British Columbia. This hamlet near the town of Creston is home to roughly a thousand people. Blackmore lives here with her husband and their eight children, as well as the man's other wife and their four kids. Read more


Nothing 'sweet' about polygamy
By Maria Hugi Opinions The Medical Post Originally published May 31, 2005
If you are looking for the town called Bountiful in any reputable atlas, you won't find it. With a nauseating slogan, "Keep Sweet," emblazoned on signage, it is a community of about 1,000 people near Creston and the B.C.- Idaho border, many of whose inhabitants are fundamentalist Mormons and whose males have been happily practising polygamy for the past 60 years. Allegedly polygamy must be practised in order to get into their Heaven. The dominant males blatantly and brazenly profess to multiple wives and scores of children. Young and pretty females are preferred by these alpha males who kick out any males, usually young, posing a threat. This polygamous lifestyle is, of course, underwritten by you and me as many of its "wives" and children are on welfare. Incredulous that such primitive conduct could in any way be legally tolerated by our society, I immediately took a look at the Criminal Code. Much to my relief, I found Section 293. (1) Every one who (a) practises or enters into or in any manner agrees or consents to practise or enter into (i) any form of polygamy, or (ii) any kind of conjugal union with more than one person at the same time, whether or not it is by law recognized as a binding form of marriage, or (b) celebrates, assists or is a party to a rite, ceremony, contract or consent that purports to sanction a relationship mentioned in subparagraph (a)(i) or (ii), is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years. To date, no Bountiful male has been jailed. Why? Read more


Americans can give B.C. tips on how to tackle polygamists
Editorial Vancouver Sun Originally published June 24, 2005
It's now been almost 60 years since polygamists from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints set up a commune in Bountiful, B.C. Despite many allegations of serious criminal activity, the commune continues to operate as it has for six decades. But it appears that things might be changing. Last year the RCMP began an investigation, and while there's no word yet on what police have found, there's a chance charges against some commune members will eventually be laid. To date, most of the controversy has focused on the practice of polygamy by members of the commune despite the fact that polygamy is illegal. B.C. authorities have long been skittish about laying charges for fear the polygamy law will be declared an unconstitutional infringement of the right to freedom of religion. Although there is conflicting legal opinion on the matter, concerns about the constitutionality of the law are well-founded and partly contributed to B.C.'s decision not to charge anyone after a previous RCMP investigation recommended charges. The Criminal Code currently outlaws the practice of marrying more than one person even if the marriages aren't recognized in law. Polygamists could argue that since their multiple marriages are recognized only by their church, the law represents a direct attack on their religion. But just because the law might be challenged doesn't mean we shouldn't use it. After all, there is abundant evidence that polygamy hurts women and children, and if the law ultimately fails a constitutional challenge, it will be Parliament's responsibility to design a new, constitutional law to protect people from the dangers of polygamy. Read more


Financial troubles threaten polygamist's power grab
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Friday, September 23, 2005
Canada's millionaire polygamist Winston Blackmore is in financial trouble. And if financial problems alone weren't enough, they could thwart Blackmore's efforts to regain a leadership role in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a sect of the Mormon church. Although Blackmore has been excommunicated by the FLDS, he continues to minister to close to 500 former FLDS followers in Bountiful, B.C., and hundreds more in the United States. He also controls Mormon Hills School, an independent school that is eligible for $342,140 in provincial government grants this year. Mounting debts have already forced the former bishop of Bountiful to sell, transfer and even forfeit more than $3 million worth of property -- nearly half of all the property he owned personally or through companies just a year ago. And there's another deadline looming. A B.C. Supreme Court justice has given Blackmore, J.R. Blackmore & Sons Ltd., his brother, Richard Guy Blackmore, and two half-brothers, Richard William Blackmore and David Kevin Blackmore, until Oct. 25 to repay the $1.03 million owed HSBC on July 25, 2005. Blackmore is president of the company. His brothers are directors. But they don't just owe HSBC $1.03 million, the interest is mounting at $202.75 a day. If they can't repay the money, the court's order will allow HSBC to seize and sell two pieces of property in Lumberton, just outside Cranbrook that have an assessed value of $1.45 million. With the exception of the birth of his 100th child, 2005 started badly for the Blackmores. Read more


Bountiful moms sending kids to public school
CBC News vancouver.cbc.ca Originally published October 26, 2005
A small elementary school in the Kootenays has been saved by the late enrolment of children from the polygamous Mormon Fundamentalist community of Bountiful. It had appeared that the school in Yahk was about be closed down because only two students had been enrolled this year. But then a group of women who normally send their children to church-run schools in nearby Bountiful visited the Yahk school and decided to enroll their children. Now at least 17 students are enrolled. For Fundamentalist Mormon mothers like Sherry Palmer, choosing a public school was a major decision. "We're having a lot of trouble with it. But I want to do it, and my children want to do it, and my husband's getting to want to do it – whether he wants to or not." Read more


Bountiful's children break out
Students from fundamentalist community bring new life to declining secular school
By Jane Armstrong The Globe and Mail Originally published Thursday, October 27, 2005
VANCOUVER -- More than five decades after a fundamentalist group first moved to British Columbia's remote Creston Valley to escape the temptations of the secular world, its children have been permitted to attend public school outside the colony. The influx of at least 10 new pupils from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at Yahk Elementary School in B.C.'s Kootenay Mountains has breathed new life into the small rural school located about 30 kilometres east of the fundamentalist enclave. The school was likely slated for closing because its enrolment dropped to just nine at the beginning of the fall term. Then last month, the school was surprised -- and thrilled -- when a group of fundamentalist mothers showed up with their children in tow. Now enrolment is at 18. So far, the children -- whose traditional clothes include ankle-length dresses for girls and long-sleeved shirts for boys -- have adapted well to a secular school environment, said Melanie Sommerfeldt, head of the Yahk Parent Advisory Council. Read more


Fundamentalist Mormons in B.C. send kids to public school for first time
By Greg Joyce Canadian Press Originally published October 27, 2005
VANCOUVER (CP) - Some mormons who practise polygamy in southeastern B.C. have taken the breakthrough step of sending their children to a public school for the first time ever. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, a breakaway sect of the Mormon Church, has been living in a commune in Bountiful for several decades. While not all sect members live at Bountiful, their children have always either been home-schooled or attended Mormon Hills School on the Bountiful property. But this year for the first time, about 10 fundamentalist students living in the area are enrolled in the elementary school in the tiny community of Yahk, about 30 kilometres east of Bountiful. The breakthrough was hailed as historic and timely because it kept the elementary school from being shut down. "We were quite astounded and quite happy to see them because that meant the numbers were going to be large enough that we assumed school would not be closed," Rebecca Blair, vice-president of the Creston Valley Teachers Association, said Thursday from her home in Creston. Read more


Graduates a rarity at this school
B.C. tax dollars fund Bountiful school, but most students are encouraged to drop out
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published November 18, 2005
SALT LAKE CITY - In the public school system, school trustees run and are elected because they are passionate about education. One might think a passion for education would be a prerequisite for the people running independent schools as well. Apparently not. James Zitting is one of five directors of the Bountiful Elementary-Secondary School Society, which this year will receive just over $400,000 from the B.C. government. It's a school that in the past decade has rarely produced a student who has gone on to complete Grade 12. And it has a dropout rate that's astounding. From 21 students who completed the Grade 7 foundation skills assessment in 2000-01, only six took the Grade 10 provincial English exam three years later. Fewer than five took the Grade 10 essentials of math and principles of math tests. No one took the applications of math test or the Grade 10 French or science exams. But then the school society's purposes are to: "establish, maintain and operate schools for the advancement of education of those person [sic] who practice [sic] the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints religion provided that the society shall not grant a degree or diploma." (One of the other purposes of the society is to "solicit, collect, deal in and dispose of used and salvaged goods and articles or [sic] every kind for the purposes of the association." Zitting is one of two Americans on the board. The other is Leroy Steed Jeffs, whose brother, Warren Jeffs, is both the prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and a fugitive wanted for sexual conduct with a minor and conspiracy to commit sexual conduct for his part in the plural marriage of a 16-year-old girl to a 28-year-old man. Read more


American wife of B.C. polygamist fights for Canadian legal resident status
By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press cnews.canoe.ca Originally published November 22, 2005
(AP) - Ten years ago Edith Barlow migrated north from Utah to Bountiful, British Columbia, to marry Winston Blackmore, the leader of a Canadian polygamous sect. She gave birth to five kids and put down roots, weaving a tight emotional bond with her family of sister-wives and their many, many children. Today that settled life is in jeopardy, because Barlow's application to extend her visitor's visa and for permanent residency in Canada, under a humanitarian and compassionate status exemption, has been denied and she's been ordered out of the country. A letter to Barlow dated Nov. 3 states that in reaching its decision, Citizenship and Immigration Canada considered Barlow's ties to the country, including employment, family and financial means. "You are a person in Canada without legal status and as such are required to leave Canada immediately," the letter says. Barlow, 28, has no plans to obey the order. Read more


Shurtleff to discuss polygamy in Canada
By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press Provo Daily Herald Originally published Thursday, December 1, 2005
SALT LAKE CITY -- Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff takes the polygamy issue north to British Columbia when he meets next week with his counterpart there and with women's groups concerned about the status of women living in communities practicing plural marriage. Shurtleff will meet with Wally Oppal, the attorney general and minister responsible for multiculturalism on Dec. 8 in Vancouver. Oppal, whose been in his job just five months, said he welcomes Shurtleff's visit, advice and the exchange of ideas. As in Utah, polygamy in Canada has received spotty attention from political and law enforcement officials over the last 50 years. But Oppal said that climate is changing. "I get a lot of letters from people wondering why we won't do anything about it," the minister said. "When I took office, I made the statement that I am prepared to prosecute." Read more


Canadians find polygamous town 'offensive': Oppal
Canadian Press CTV.ca - Canada Originally published December 7, 2005
VICTORIA — Canadians view a polygamous town in southeastern B.C. as offensive and abhorrent to community values, B.C.'s attorney general said Tuesday. Wally Oppal said he has stacks of letters from people from across Canada concerned about the town of Bountiful, where allegations of sex crimes against women and children have surfaced, but have never resulted in a conviction. Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and Oppal will meet Thursday in Vancouver to discuss polygamy, and possible ways of improving tactics to investigate the community, said Oppal. Oppal, a former judge who was elected last May, said he is prepared to prosecute if some members of the Bountiful community are willing to testify. "It's something that incenses a lot of Canadians," he said. "The ideas that we are condoning this type of activity is something that's a matter of concern to Canadians. I'm concerned about it as well." Read more


B.C., Utah discuss polygamy
CBC News - British Columbia cbc.ca Originally published December 8, 2005
Politicians from British Columbia and Utah met Thursday in an effort to develop a common strategy to deal with polygamy. Both jurisdictions are concerned that women and young girls are being abused in the polygamous communities linked across the border by common history and beliefs. But the RCMP have never been able to lay charges because they find it hard to convince witnesses from the closed society to come forward. "We can't do anything with that unless we have a witness or witnesses or documentary evidence that would stand up in a court of law," B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal said after meeting his Utah counterpart Mark Shurtleff in Vancouver. "I think we can exchange ideas and look to see what the police and prosecutors in Utah have done with respect to obtaining evidence," he said. "It may be that evidence could pertain to offences that happened here." Read more


Polygamists Excluded From British Columbia Meeting
By Jennifer Dobner The Associated Press KUTV Channel 2 Originally published December 8, 2005
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - Four women who support the practice polygamy were denied access to a Thursday meeting between Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff and Canadian women's organizations talking with him about the problem of polygamy in Canada. "It's a bit ironic that they felt they knew better (about polygamy) without anyone present from the community ... ," said Mary Batchelor, executive director of Principle Voices, a Salt Lake City-based pro-polygamy group said. Batchelor and Anne Wilde, Principle's community relations director, went to the meeting with Ruth Lane and Leah Barlow, both of whom are married to polygamist Winston Blackmore, the leader of Canadian arm of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Neither Batchelor nor Wilde are currently in plural marriages, although they have been in the past. Shurtleff went to Canada to meet with Wally Oppal, British Columbia's attorney general. Read more


B.C., Utah politicians discuss strategies to investigate polygamists
By Amy Carmichael Macleans - Toronto, Ontario Originally published December 8, 2005
VANCOUVER (CP) - A meeting between British Columbia's and Utah's attorneys general on allegations of sex abuse in polygamous communities took a surprise twist Thursday when plural wives showed up concerned that their right to religious freedom might be trampled. Ruth Lane and Leah Barlow travelled from Bountiful, B.C., to stand up for their community and deny claims of abuse, but they also said they want to work with the government to create culturally sensitive counselling and services for people living in polygamy. "I am not abused and I don't personally known of anyone who is," said Lane. They showed up with one of Bountiful's spiritual leaders, Winston Blackmore, to hear B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal and his Utah counterpart report on shared strategies on polygamy. Utah's Mark Shurtleff said his state has done a lot of work to make women in the secretive, closed communities feel safe enough to come forward and give testimony. Oppal said that's something that B.C. has to do as well, considering allegations that women and children in plural families in Bountiful are being abused. Read more


Oppal, Utah A-G get together to talk about polygamy
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Friday, December 9, 2005
The polygamy circus came to town Thursday. Two attorneys-general -- Wally Oppal from British Columbia and Mark Shurtleff from Utah -- had scheduled a meeting to share information about the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and the other polygamists who live in Bountiful, a remote community in southeastern British Columbia, and in Hildale, Utah. Both men face similar problems. Polygamy is illegal. But it's a prime tenet of the FLDS faith, which says only men with three wives will be allowed into the highest realm of heaven and is openly practised in both places. And in both Canada and the United States, religious freedom is constitutionally guaranteed. So what do they do? Shurtleff has five years of experience dealing with the 10,000-strong FLDS community in Utah and another 30,000 polygamists who describe themselves as fundamentalist Mormons. (The mainstream Mormon church renounced polygamy in 1890 and excommunicates anyone who practises it.) Oppal was just appointed following his election in June. What they both share is a concern not so much for the issue of polygamy, but for the allegations of sexual exploitation of children, sexual abuse of women and children, physical abuse and abuses of government programs, including welfare. Read more


Polygamist leader wants 'dialogue' with government
CBC News - British Columbia CBC.ca Originally published December 12, 2005
The former bishop of the polygamous community of Bountiful wants B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal for a visit, to speak with residents in person. Winston Blackmore, who readily admits to being a polygamist with many wives, says he has nothing to hide. And he says he will make the invitation to Oppal soon. "I hope that in the coming weeks we can set up some sort of dialogue, and give him a formal invitation and I would hope that he'll follow Mr. Shurtleff's lead." Shurtleff is Utah Attorney-General Mark Shurtleff who visited Vancouver last week to discuss polygamy with Oppal. Shurtleff has made polygamy his top priority. His office has prosecuted a man for bigamy, and offered financial support to women trying to escape polygamous communities. Read more


B.C. politicians voice concerns over polygamy in Bountiful
Tories silent on the issue
By Dirk Meissner Canadian Press Originally published Friday, January 27, 2006
VICTORIA (CP) -- The controversial issue of polygamy and its links with a religious commune at Bountiful in B.C.'s Kootenay mountain region has produced a rare political alliance. The provincial Liberal government and Opposition New Democrats are saying they want to help women escape Bountiful. But the newly elected federal Conservatives appear to be adopting a hands-off approach to the community where allegations of child brides, sexual assaults and immigration scams abound. A spokesman for Kootenay-Columbia Conservative MP Jim Abbott said there is nothing new to say about Bountiful, which is located in his riding. The spokesman said Abbott, who has held the riding for 13 years, made several statements about Bountiful during the recent election campaign. "Bountiful jurisdiction is 80 per cent provincial and 20 per cent federal, but `enforcement' of any law or regulation must be zero per cent political," Abbott said in a statement published last month in the Creston Valley Advance. It's estimated about 1,000 people live in Bountiful, located minutes from the southeastern B.C. community of Creston, near the B.C.-Idaho border. Read more


Leaving Bountiful behind
By Erika Sherk Producer: Laura Moses Capital News Online Originally published Jan. 27, 2006
OTTAWA \| Jan. 27, 2006 — It is difficult to imagine leaving your family and community forever. Harder still if you have little education or support. Now imagine being told that if you leave you will be disowned by your family and your soul will go straight to hell. Ben Blackmore left his faith behind when he abandoned the polygamous community in Bountiful, B.C. This is what the boys of Bountiful, B.C. face if they leave the fundamentalist Mormon community there. Bountiful, a secluded town close to the American border, is the only known community in Canada that practices polygamy. Polygamy – marriage involving more than two people – has shot to the forefront of Canadian discussion thanks to a federal government-commissioned report by three law professors at Queen's University. The report suggests polygamy be decriminalized to better address the rights of the women and children involved. But some are also concerned about the the difficult life young men face if they leave Bountiful. Fed up with rules forbidding things like short sleeves and watching television, and caught in the midst of a power struggle between two religious leaders that has torn the community in two, nearly 50 boys have left Bountiful in recent years — a significant number for a community of about 1,000 people. Read more


POLYGAMY AROUND THE CORNER
REAL Women of Canada - (Realistic, Equal, Active, for Life) Originally published February, 2006
Conservative leader, Stephen Harper, and Liberal MP, Tom Wappel, were ridiculed during the same-sex marriage debate last spring when they claimed that the same-sex marriage bill would lead to demands for the legalization of polygamous unions. It turns out, however, that they were right on the mark. Same-sex marriage in Canada has only been legal for about six months, but already the demands for polygamy have been creeping out from the dark shadows and are gradually moving onto centre stage. The issue will soon be before the courts in BC. This court case will result from a situation in the community of Bountiful, situated near Creston, BC, in the interior of the province, that has been the home of a renegade branch of the Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormons). This community's beliefs include polygamy as one of its tenets. It argues that polygamy is a legitimate way of life and marriage. The leader of the community and his assortment of wives have boldly appeared on TV, radio and in print, unabashedly discussing their joy and happiness about being in polygamous relationships and all the supposed advantages, (obviously for the male at least!) The Attorney General of BC, Wally Oppal, has merely blushed and looked the other way, and has not prosecuted the leader of the polygamous community. Why? Because he knows that with the passing of the same-sex marriage legislation, and the protection of religion in the Charter, there has been created serious legal problems for the Crown in prosecuting such a case. That is, to lay a charge of polygamy will be dangerous, since the courts could then follow the identical arguments heard once in the trumped up, same-sex marriage court challenges in 2003. Read more


More babies born to teen mums in Bountiful
CBC News - British Columbia Originally published March 7, 2006
B.C. government statistics show the teenage pregnancy rate in the polygamous community of Bountiful is several times higher than the provincial average. Provincial documents obtained by CBC News under the Freedom of Information Act also show that while the mothers were young, many of the men who fathered those babies were considerably older. Sixty-nine babies were born to teenage girls in the polygamous community near Creston in southeastern B.C. between 1986 and 2004. Almost half of the fathers were between five and 10 years older than the teenage girls who gave birth to their children. And more than a quarter of the men were even older – by a decade or more. Read more


Report examines high teen birth rate at B.C. religious commune
By Dirk Meissner Canadian Press Vancouver Sun Originally published March 8, 2006
VICTORIA -- The higher than normal numbers of teen births occurring at the polygamous commune of Bountiful in southeastern B.C. concerns the government and the RCMP, two cabinet ministers said Wednesday. But so far police and government investigations have yet to find any health or criminal issues at Bountiful, a religious commune of about 1,000 people located minutes from the Kootenay community of Creston near the B.C.-Idaho border. "We have a generalized concern about that," said Health Minister George Abbott about an internal report from his ministry that found the number of teen births in the Creston area is higher than expected. Read more


Attorney General wants RCMP update on polygamous community
CBC News - British Columbia Originally published March 8, 2006
Attorney General Wally Oppal says he's concerned about the high rate of teen pregnancies in the polygamous community of Bountiful in southeastern B.C. According to documents obtained by CBC News under the Freedom of Information Act, 69 babies were born to teenaged mothers in Bountiful between 1986 and 2004 – several times the provincial average. The documents also show some of the mothers were as young as 16, and a quarter of the fathers were a decade or more older. Oppal says he plans to meet with the RCMP as early as next week to get an update on their investigation into possible criminal activity in the community. "And we've been concerned from two perspectives – a civil matter, which is what you've raised, which is the welfare of the women and children – and also the criminal matter." Read more


BC Teacher's Union Urges Province: Defund Faith-Based Schools Teaching 'Religious Intolerance'
By Terry Vanderheyden LifeSiteNews.com Originally published Thursday March 16, 2006
VANCOUVER, March 16, 2006 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The British Columbia public Teachers' Federation has urged that the province stop financing independent faith-based schools, arguing that the institutions teach religious intolerance. Approximately 700 teachers attending their annual meeting voted to pass the resolution. "All we're saying is that the provincial government has to enact what it says it will do through the Independent Schools Act," said resolution sponsor, Vancouver teacher Jane MacEwan, according to a Focus on the Family news report. "And it clearly states that schools teaching religious superiority or racial superiority cannot receive [public] funding." Read more


Saskatchewan says 'no thanks' to polygamist group
By Bill Graveland Canadian Press Originally published Monday, April 3, 2006
REGINA -- The possibility of Saskatchewan becoming a second Canadian stronghold for a fundamentalist Mormon splinter group that practices polygamy isn't something government officials here are about to welcome with open arms. "Polygamy is against the law in Canada and perhaps more importantly, there are laws against the sexual exploitation of children and minors," Frank Quennell, Saskatchewan's attorney general and minister of Justice, said Monday. "Those laws will be enforced in Saskatchewan and we certainly don't have the welcome mat out for anybody who would break them," he added. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is led by fugitive Warren Jeffs and teaches polygamy as its central tenet. It is based in the twin border towns of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Ariz., where about 10,000 church members live. Jeffs is wanted on a U.S. federal charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution after allegations he arranged a plural marriage between a 16-year-old girl and an older man. Last week Bruce Wisan, a spokesman for the church, said Jeffs may be creating a new colony in Saskatchewan and that as many as 40 per cent of the church members may be moving to "a very remote, pristine area to start over again." Read more


She fled sect and says it's something to worry about
By Erin Warner, with files from James Wood Regina Leader-Post Originally published Tuesday, April 4, 2006
Debbie Palmer moved to Saskatchewan 10 years ago to create a safe distance between herself and the polygamist community she fled seven years earlier. "I really needed to feel like it was far enough away that it wasn't possible for them to have a half-a-day's drive and find me and my children," said the Prince Albert woman and former plural wife of 34 years. Now, as rumours circulate that a fundamentalist Mormon leader is urging followers from Bountiful, B.C., to relocate in Saskatchewan, Palmer said she is concerned about sharing a province with the fundamentalist sect. She also worries about loyalists to self-annointed prophet Warren Jeffs. Currently a fugitive in the U.S. wanted for allegedly molesting his nephew, Jeffs encourages his followers to shun government services and not to register births, said Palmer. This establishes a population that can have people disappear easily, she added. "I know that if they're able to locate into an area that is as remote as it is here, we won't have any idea what's happening to the families and what they're doing and if they're safe," Palmer said. Read more


Gay union poses trouble for Bountiful
From religious shock to immigration issues, wedding dumps a mess in politicians' laps
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published April 7, 2006
By all accounts the first same-sex marriage in the polygamous community of Bountiful in southeastern B.C. was a quiet, women-only affair on a Tuesday evening in early December. The brides purchased the marriage licence at the government agent's office in Creston and the ceremony was performed by a woman from outside the fundamentalist Mormon cult. It was the first ceremony Barbara Archibald had performed since she had only recently been appointed a marriage commissioner. It was also the first legal marriage for the two women, although both had been brides in so-called celestial marriages. Both had been joined "forever and all time" in a fundamentalist Mormon ceremony to Winston Blackmore, one of the community's leaders, when they were in their mid-teens. Each has borne several of Blackmore's 100-plus children. The brides asked to be married in Archibald's home. When she refused, the women married at a home in Bountiful. Although Archibald wouldn't comment on the wedding, when contacted she did say she'd never forget it. One bride is Lorraine Johnson, an American, sent by her family to "marry" Blackmore, who was then the powerful bishop. She was his 18th wife. It's not clear whether Johnson immigrated legally to Canada or simply came across the border and stayed. The other bride is Shelina Palmer, a Canadian born into a polygamous family in Bountiful and assigned to Blackmore. She is wife number 22. Read more


What's not to like about Judas, bikers, polygamy?
By Les MacPherson The StarPhoenix - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Originally published Saturday, April 15, 2006
Today's subject is bad reputations. The news reports provide us with three excellent examples: Judas Iscariot, the Bandidos motorcycle gang and polygamists. If there was such a thing as an unpopularity contest, these would be among the semi-finalists. Judas, of course, is among the most vilified figures in human history. After more than 2,000 years of ignominy, however, he's finally getting a break. New evidence cries out at least for retrial, if not necessarily an acquittal. The biblical rap on Judas is that he betrayed Jesus in exchange for 30 pieces of silver. Realizing too late his folly, he cast away the money and hanged himself. This shows how standards have changed in 2,000 years. Today, he'd have signed a book deal and gone on the talk-show circuit. Now there's an alternative account. An ancient, non-biblical gospel, recently discovered and translated, suggests that Judas was acting entirely on Jesus' instructions. In other words, he was not a dirty rat. Rather, he was the truest of disciples, entrusted with the most difficult and thankless of roles. Had these texts been available to the people who compiled the Bible, we might today see schools and hospitals named for St. Judas. Read more


Teen mothers, older fathers
Inside Bountiful's baby boom: Pregnancy rate among polygamous Mormon sect's young women up to seven times average, yet B.C. officials watch and wait
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published April 21, 2006
Finally, there is some indication that the provincial government really does know what's going on in the polygamous community of Bountiful. Of course, it doesn't mean that it's actually doing anything. Between 1998 and 2004, the B.C. Vital Statistics Agency says, 69 Bountiful girls 18 or younger had babies. A third of those girls were impregnated by men 10 or more years older than they were. Three-quarters of the men in the fundamentalist Mormon sect who fathered children with teens 18 and younger were at least five years older. The agency says the teen pregnancy rate there is anywhere from double to seven times the provincial average. All of this information was obtained under the Freedom of Information and Privacy Act. The data were gathered in early 2005 for Deputy Health Minister Penny Bellam in January 2005 after reports in The Vancouver Sun about Bountiful that included allegations of sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of women and children. Sexual exploitation is a Criminal Code offence. Any person in a position of trust or authority commits the offence if he or she, for sexual purposes, touches a person 18 or younger. It's punishable by up to five years in jail. As troubling as it may be that a Bountiful teen is seven times more likely to get pregnant than other B.C. girls, the rate is probably much higher than that. The analysts assumed that the number of teens in Bountiful mirrors the teenage population of nearby Creston. They could not have been more wrong. Read more


Utah trustee moves to prevent sale of B.C. land in polygamist community
By Terri Theodore Canadian Press Originally published Wednesday, April 26, 2006
VANCOUVER (CP) - Concerns that part of the polygamist community in Bountiful, B.C., may "cash out" and move to another colony - or start another one somewhere else in Canada - have forced a Utah-controlled trust fund to ask the courts to intervene. A lawyer for the United Effort Plan Trust, which oversees the assets of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, said the lawsuit will prevent some of the more extreme followers from liquidating properties and moving. "We've just heard rumours that they may be going to another province. I've heard Manitoba and Saskatchewan mentioned," said Zachary Shields, a lawyer representing Bruce Wisan, the court appointed accountant running the church trust in Utah. About 400 of 1,000 people in the southeastern B.C. community are followers of Warren Jeffs. The others are followers of another leader, Winston Blackmore. The division is causing a rift in the community. Read more


Bountiful investigation nearly completed
CBC News ca.news.yahoo.com Originally published May 3, 2006
The RCMP investigation into activities at the polygamous commune at Bountiful in the B.C. Interior should wrap up in the next week, says Attorney General Wally Oppal. That renewed investigation has been going on for nearly two years, focusing on allegations of abuse of women and children in the small fundamentalist community - where older men take multiple, younger wives. "I met with the RCMP two weeks ago, and they tell me something will be coming down one way or the other within a few weeks," said the attorney general. Oppal said he's sympathetic to the RCMP investigators who have found it difficult to find witnesses willing to testify. He said it will be up to the Crown to decide if the police have gathered enough evidence to warrant charges. The Crown was prepared to lay charges after an earlier investigation back in 1992. But the NDP attorney general at the time was concerned that polygamous activities were protected by the constitution. Only after considerable pressure from anti-polygamy activists did the investigation resume in 2004. Earlier this year, CBC News obtained documents showing the rate of teen pregnancy in the community - with a population of more than 1,000 - was several times the provincial average.


Polygamist with Northwest ties added to FBI Most Wanted List
By Melissa Luck KXLY News 4 - Spokane, Washington & Northern Idaho Originally published May 8, 2006
SPOKANE -- A polygamist and self-proclaimed prophet with ties to the Pacific Northwest has been added to the FBI’s Most Wanted List after he fled to avoid being prosecuted for having sex with a minor and rape as an accomplice for arranging marriages between his followers and teenaged girls. Warren Jeffs leads a group called Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints which has followers in Arizona, Colorado, South Dakota, Texas and north of the Idaho border in Bountiful, British Columbia. In Bountiful, BC several hundred people have lived their lives based on one principle that polygamy is the way to the celestial kingdom. Half of the people in Bountiful follow longtime leader Winston Blackmore while the other half of the community follows self-proclaimed prophet Warren Jeffs. Jeffs has been charged with sexual conduct with a minor, conspiracy, unlawful flight to avoid proscution and, rape as an accomplice for arranging marriages between his followers and teenaged girls and the FBI is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to his capture. While Jeffs' preachings are heard in Bountiful and in other communities across the United States he hasn't been seen in public for two years. Some believe he's hiding out on a recently-built compound in El Dorado, Texas surrounded by armed body guards. "I would say that twenty percent of the population ... are radical enough to take up arms and kill for him, no questions asked," ex-FLDS member Craig Chatwin said. Read more


Mother of five loses bid to stay in Bountiful
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published May 11, 2006
Edith Barlow's life is falling apart. After living for years in Bountiful, B.C., on a visitor's visa, she is facing deportation. Citizenship and Immigration Canada has rejected her plea that she be allowed to stay in Bountiful on humanitarian grounds because she is the mother to five children, all born after her plural marriage to Winston Blackmore. But that's not all. Barlow is estranged from her family, who are loyal followers of Warren Jeffs -- the fundamentalist Mormon prophet, who is on the FBI's 10-most-wanted list. And she believes that, within a few weeks, Winston Blackmore will be charged for having taken under-aged girls as plural wives. "If they do charge him, they really have to take into consideration the number of people it will affect," Barlow said in a telephone interview. "He's my children's father. He's my partner and someone that I love with all my heart. We [his wives] will help each other through it, but my concern is that he is someone I love with all my heart and nobody wants to see him hurt." Blackmore has more than 20 wives and close to 100 children. But for now, Barlow says deportation is at the top of her mind. Read more


Polygamist Compound; Targeting Polygamy; Inside Polygamy; You Pay for It; Polygamists Under Fire
ANDERSON COOPER 360 DEGREES CNN Originally broadcast May 11, 2006
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: And good evening. New details tonight about Warren Jeffs' polygamist compound. A new word on the search for the man some call messiah, others say is evil incarnate. ANNOUNCER: Searching for one of America's most wanted. Outlawed Polygamist Warren Jeffs. Still on the run, does his trail lead across the border? Out of the compound and into the mainstream. Tonight, how some women escape polygamy, only to find more troubles ahead. ANNOUNCER: Across the country and around the world, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360. Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, here's Anderson Cooper. COOPER: Good evening. We begin tonight with the search from British Columbia to Texas for Warren Jeffs. According to the FBI, the tips are coming in as fast as they can process them. In recent days, agents have searched a home outside Denver for the fugitive polygamist. They found nothing there. Reports have also placed him in Mesquite, Nevada, and at his compound in Eldorado, Texas. This is where Journalist John Krakauer told us Jeffs could be hiding, perhaps even planning his final stand. Read more


Canada probing former top FLDS official
But officers deny any imminent plans to arrest polygamist
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Thursday, May 11, 2006
A man who was once one of the top leaders of the Fundamentalist LDS Church is under investigation in Canada. One of the purported wives of polygamist Winston Blackmore told the Deseret Morning News that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police is wrapping up an investigation of Blackmore. "We've heard just a little bit," Edith Barlow said Wednesday. "We're expecting (something to happen) within the next couple of weeks. RCMP officers confirmed to the Deseret Morning News there is an investigation but said no criminal charges are imminent. "Our investigation is continuing, but that's all I can say about that," Staff Sgt. John Ward said from the RCMP's Vancouver office. Blackmore was once the No. 3 man in the FLDS Church, leading the community of Bountiful, in British Columbia. He was ousted by Warren Jeffs, the fugitive leader of the polygamist group. Hundreds of followers in Bountiful remained loyal to Blackmore and split from the FLDS Church. Read more


Polygamist group's leader expects to be charged soon
Winston Blackmore is being investigated for allegedly sexually exploiting girls in Bountiful
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Friday, May 12, 2006
The leader of Canada's largest polygamist group, Winston Blackmore, believes that within days he will be charged with sexual offences. "We have one very reliable source that indicates that it will happen." Blackmore said in an e-mail. For nearly two years, the RCMP has been investigating allegations that fundamentalist Mormon leaders, including 49-year-old Blackmore, have been sexually exploiting girls as young as 14 by either assigning them as plural wives to other men or taking them for themselves. Among the pieces of evidence the RCMP collected are the birth records from Bountiful's midwifery clinic and birth certificates that have been signed by both parents. If Blackmore is charged, he will be the second polygamist leader to be charged in North America this year with sexual offences. Warren Jeffs has been charged in Utah and Arizona for arranging the marriages of underage girls to older, married men and is on the FBI's 10 most wanted list for evading prosecution. Jeffs and Blackmore are acquaintances, if not friends. Blackmore was bishop of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Canada until Jeffs muscled him and others out of the way to become prophet in September 2002. Jeffs then excommunicated Blackmore, splitting the community of Bountiful nearly in half -- about 700 people continue to follow Blackmore, while about 500 follow Jeffs. Allegations of sexual abuse in Bountiful haven't just come from people who have left the community or outsiders tired of seeing very young girls with their babies and shocked by teen pregnancy rates that are at least seven times higher than elsewhere in the province. Last year at the so-called polygamy summit his wives organized in Creston, Blackmore admitted, "I have married several very young girls in my life." Read more


3 Bountiful wives ordered out
CBC British Columbia Originally published May 12, 2006
Three American women living in the polygamous B.C. community of Bountiful have been ordered to leave the country by Canada Immigration. Edith Barlow, Martha Chatwin, and Zelpha Chatwin are all married to the former bishop of Bountiful, Winston Blackmore. Among them, they have 16 children, all of whom were born in Canada. But the women are still American citizens, and their applications to remain in Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds have been denied. The children can stay in Canada with their father, and his more than 20 other wives. The three women can't apply to immigrate as spouses, because they are not legally married. And they don't qualify as skilled workers, or as students. They may still be able to appeal to the Federal Court, or ask the Canada Border Services Agency to make a determination as to whether their safety would be at risk in the U.S. Failing that, they may simply refuse to leave. Some other women in Bountiful have already vowed they won't let Canadian Immigration officials separate children from their parents. The controversial community in southeastern B.C. has an estimated population of more than 1,000 people. It was established in the late 1940s by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints – a breakaway sect of the Mormon Church.


Polygamy in America 101
ANDERSON COOPER 360 DEGREES CNN Originally broadcast May 12, 2006
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, tips pour in on the hunt for fugitive Warren Jeffs, as police investigate another polygamist leader. ANNOUNCER: Across the country and around the world, this is ANDERSON COOPER 360. Live from the CNN Broadcast Center in New York, here's Anderson Cooper. COOPER: Thanks for joining us this Friday evening. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DEAN MAY, HISTORIAN, UNIVERSITY OF UTAH: The people who practice polygamy in Utah today see themselves as continuing a practice that was urged upon Latter Day Saints by their earlier prophets. (END VIDEO CLIP) COOPER: (AUDIO GAP) leader Warren Jeffs on the run and on the FBI's 10 most wanted list. Why do his followers believe what they believe? We will delve into their backgrounds and their beliefs. And an exclusive interview with an ex-follower of Warren Jeffs, a guy who has about 20 wives or more, about 100 kids, and he says now the law is watching him. Read more


Polygamous Sect in Canada Goes Public
By Beth Duff-Brown The Associated Press Yahoo News Originally published May 13, 2006
YAHK, British Columbia - The 16 new pupils at two-room Yahk Elementary School are wary of strangers in case they are unbelievers, apostates, journalists — anyone their church elders consider evil. Their mothers, mostly pale and plump with hair swept back in stiff pioneer hairdos, cast their eyes down and evade questions as they pick up their kids. With their polygamous sect divided and one of its leaders wanted by the FBI, the media spotlight is all the more unwelcome. But not to Rita Palmer. Four of her eight children are among this year's newcomers, and she's eager to set the record straight: "We're normal. We're not brainwashed." Palmer, 34, and several other mothers of children at Yahk belong to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a sect that quit the Mormon Church in Utah after Mormonism banned polygamy in 1890. Frustrated in the confines of their secretive community, and too busy to home-school their many children, they have done the unthinkable — put their kids into Canada's secular public school system. They have moved them out of Mormon Hills, the school on their religious compound in Bountiful, whose two leaders are feuding for control and are under investigation on suspicion of sexual abuse and child trafficking. Read more


Polygamist family goes on the defensive
Vancouver Sun, with files from Canadian Press Originally published May 16, 2006
BOUNTIFUL, B.C.- Canada's best known polygamist family went on the offensive today, holding a news conference on their driveway to accuse both RCMP and Canada Citizenship and Immigration of unfairly treating them and discriminating against them because of their religious beliefs. Winston Blackmore - the patriarch of a family that includes 20-some wives and more than 102 children - was flanked by three of his American wives who have been ordered to leave Canada having failed to satisfy Citizenship and Immigration that they meet the criteria for immigration under humanitarian and compassionate grounds. The wives - Edith Barlow, Marsha Chatwin and Zelpha Chatwin - believe that they were discriminated against because they are fundamentalist Mormons who believe that practising polygamy is one of the ways of getting into the highest realm of heaven. Blackmore also said Warren Jeffs, a U.S. polygamist on the FBI's most wanted list, is probably in Canada. But he didn't say whether he knew where Jeffs was and said anyway, that's not his problem. Read more


B.C. polygamists claim persecution
CBC news Originally published May 17, 2006
Polygamists in Bountiful, B.C., say they're being persecuted by the RCMP and federal immigration officials. One of the community leaders says he expects he'll soon be facing criminal charges, and three of his wives who are American citizens have been ordered out of the country. The family members took the unusual step of inviting reporters into their 1,000-member community in southeastern British Columbia on Tuesday to talk about their concerns. 'Every single person knows, including the RCMP, that [charges] would be a waste of time.' -Winston Blackmore "It's a persecution as far as we're concerned," said Winston Blackmore, who answered reporters' question along with five of his wives outside their home in Bountiful. Read more


Polygamist family lashes out at Ottawa
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published May 17, 2006
BOUNTIFUL, B.C. - Canada's best known polygamist family went on the offensive Tuesday, accusing Ottawa of discrimination and the RCMP of obtaining information under false pretenses. In the driveway of his Bountiful, B.C., home, Winston Blackmore the patriarch of a family that includes 20-some wives and more than 102 children held a news conference, just days after fundamentalist Mormon polygamist leader Warren Jeffs was placed on the FBI's 10 most wanted list. On Tuesday, Blackmore and his wives talked about how they've been targeted by the Canadian government because of their openness to talk to officials unlike many of their neighbours here who follow Jeffs and have cut off all contact with non-believers, especially the police. Three of Blackmore's American wives have been ordered to leave because they've failed to meet Citizenship and Immigration Canada criteria for staying on humanitarian and compassionate grounds. Edith Barlow, Marsha Chatwin and Zelpha Chatwin said they believe they were discriminated against because they're fundamentalist Mormons who believe in practising polygamy. Their principle belief often just called "the principle" is that men must have three or more wives to be eligible to enter the highest realm of heaven or the celestial kingdom. Polygamy is illegal in Canada and the U.S., although it's rarely prosecuted in either country. Read more


Polygamists claim religious persecution
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Wednesday, May 17, 2006
BOUNTIFUL -- Canada's best-known polygamist family went on the offensive Tuesday in the wake of last week's massive media coverage of polygamist Warren Jeffs being placed on the FBI's 10 most-wanted list for sexual offences involving under-age girls. Winston Blackmore -- patriarch of a family that includes more than 20 wives and more than 103 children -- held a news conference on his driveway at the entrance of Bountiful to accuse both RCMP and Canada Citizenship and Immigration of unfairly treating them and discriminating against them because of their religious beliefs. Their principal belief -- often just called "the principle" -- is that men must have three or more wives to be eligible to enter the highest realm of heaven or the celestial kingdom. Blackmore and his wives talked about how they have been targeted because of their openness to talk to officials, unlike many of their neighbours here who follow Jeffs and have cut off all contact with non-believers and especially the police. On one side of Blackmore at a long table decorated with a dandelion chain woven by his daughter Elsie were two of Blackmore's American wives, Leah Barlow and Ruth Lane, who launched an attack on the RCMP. Lane claimed that officers had obtained information from them under false pretences and had violated their rights. Read more


ABC 4 Exclusive: Polygamist leader speaks out on Warren Jeffs
By Brent Hunsaker ABC 4 News Originally broadcast May 17, 2006
Canadian Polygamist leader Winston Blackmore called a rare press conference Tuesday to say that not all polygamist leaders are alike. Blackmore was once the bishop of Bountiful and in the hierarchy of the FLDS Church. He was booted out in 2002 for protesting some of the activities of Warren Jeffs. Both Utah and Arizona have charged Jeffs in connection with the forced marriage of underage girls to older men. The FBI has also charged him with fleeing to avoid prosecution and recently added Jeffs' name to the "10 Most Wanted" list. Blackmore also finds himself in hot water with Canadian authorities. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police have launched an investigation. The RCMP will not comment, but Blackmore claims they're looking to charge him with polygamy -- something he claims will never hold up in court, but will nonetheless cost him "$5,000,000" in legal fees to fight all the way to the Canadian Supreme Court. Blackmore says, "It's persecution as far as we're concerned. [Warren Jeffs] predicted that our family would be broken up and ruined. Canada seems to want to help him fulfill that prediction." Read more


Put polygamy to constitutional test
By Mindelle Jacobs Edmonton Sun Originally published May 21, 2006
For years, Winston Blackmore has been portraying himself as an unassuming family man - albeit with 20-odd wives - and the government has been content to leave him alone. Lately, the Bountiful, B.C., polygamist leader has become a media hound, as evidenced last week when he held a news conference to complain that three of his wives face deportation back to the U.S. because their visitors' visas have expired. Blackmore suspects immigration authorities rejected his wives' appeals to stay in Canada on humanitarian and compassionate grounds just because they're polygamists. Well, I would hope so. Now, will officials please hurry up and turf these women out of the country? As for the 16 Canadian children they've reportedly had, there's no perfect solution, but I'd place them in foster homes. Leaving them in Bountiful means sentencing them to bleak and twisted lives. The girls would be brainwashed to believe they are incapable of being autonomous and the boys would be indoctrinated to wield women like puppets. As for Blackmore, let's stop pussy-footing around and charge him with polygamy. He's certainly not hiding his activities, and he's making an ass out of the law. Read more


Life offered few choices in polygamous commune
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Friday, May 26, 2006
CRANBROOK - Truman Oler looks enough like the Sedin twins to suggest that given the opportunity, he might have been able to live his dream and, like them, play in the National Hockey League. But Oler never had that chance. He never had a chance to finish school. In fact, he didn't have a lot of chances at all, which is why three years ago he left the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, walking away from family and friends and a life centred around the practice of polygamy. Oler is 24. He is one of the 48 children of Dalmon Oler, one of the founders of the polygamous community of Bountiful, B.C. Dalmon Oler, Ray Blackmore and a couple of other families dropped out of the mainstream Mormon church in Alberta to practise "the principle." That principle is polygamy, set out by Joseph Smith in his Doctrine and Covenants, one of the primary texts of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And while fundamentalists still practise polygamy, the LDS disavowed it in 1890 under pressure from the U.S. government. They moved from Alberta to Lister, B.C. in 1945. It was an ideal location, far from prying eyes in a remote corner of southeastern B.C. and close to the American border for an easier commute to other polygamous communities in Utah and Arizona. Over time, they unofficially, but fittingly, changed its name to Bountiful. Over time, Oler had six wives and all those children. Truman was one of the last, the youngest child born to Oler's second wife, Memory Blackmore. She was Ray Blackmore's daughter and sister to Winston Blackmore, who pushed Dalmon Oler aside to become the FLDS bishop. Read more


Polygamist deserves to be on FBI's most-wanted list
Opinion/Insight By Andrew Hunt Waterloo Record - Waterloo, Ontario, Canada Originally published May 27, 2006
The usually quiet community of Bountiful in southeastern British Columbia, near the U.S.-Canada border, has been attracting a lot of media attention lately. CNN news crews have already descended on the remote town several times this month. Recent episodes of CNN's ultra-hip Anderson Cooper 360 have been focusing on the controversial polygamist sect in Bountiful as part of its coverage of Warren Jeffs, a self-proclaimed prophet with multiple wives who's now on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list. The FBI wants Jeffs because he arranged numerous marriages between underage girls and older men in his polygamist church. Even though the Jeffs controversy has drawn attention to Bountiful, this isn't a new story. The Canadian media and B.C. authorities have been watching Bountiful for years. Read more


Immigration law brought to bear on Bountiful
MORMONS \| Polygamy, which is illegal, has been cited to deny admittance to Muslims; there's no reason this case is any different
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Saturday, May 27, 2006
What will the Conservative government make of assertions by a bunch of American-born, fundamentalist Mormon polygamists that they are victims of religious persecution and cultural genocide? Undoubtedly, the minority Conservatives would like to ignore them and the community of Bountiful, B.C., just as politicians before them have for more than 60 years. But they can't. Three young plural wives have been ordered deported. They came here on visitors' visas and only after years of living here bothered to apply to become permanent residents. Marsha Chatwin, Zelpha Chatwin and Edith Barlow all lack the skills required for immigration. Their marriages to the same man -- Bountiful's ex-bishop Winston Blackmore -- aren't legal. Their pleas for admittance on humanitarian and compassionate grounds as mothers to 16 Canadian-born children were denied. Read more


Polygamy recognized in Canada
By Kathleen Harris Sun Media - Ottawa Bureau cnews.canoe.ca Originally published May 31, 2006
Multiple-wife marriages have been legally recognized in Canada to award spousal support and inheritance payments. The former Liberal government long maintained that polygamy is criminal in Canada but documents obtained by Sun Media under Access to Information show that polygamous marriages have been recognized "for limited purposes" to enforce the financial obligations of husbands. Religious organizations say same-sex marriage opened the door to decriminalizing polygamy, and worry that formal recognitions of plural marriages will weaken the government's ability to defend the anti-polygamy law if it faces a constitutional challenge on religious grounds. A polygamist from Bountiful, British Columbia has warned he will fight for his constitutional right to have plural wives on religious grounds.


Canadian Polygamists Distancing Selves from Jeffs
John Hollenhorst Reporting KSL TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast June 7, 2006
The investigation of polygamist Warren Jeffs in the United States seems to have turned up the heat for polygamists in Canada as well. Concerns about growing legal pressure have apparently prompted that country's most prominent polygamist to wage a public relations campaign in recent weeks. When we visited British Columbia two years ago, several FLDS polygamists defended their beliefs. Duane Palmer, August 2004: "Well, our fundamental beliefs are following after the teachings of Joseph Smith, Book of Mormon. That's what's important to us." But their leader avoided us, as he used to do with most reporters. Lately, though, Winston Blackmore has been more out-in-the-open, and it may have a lot to do with Utah fugitive Warren Jeffs. Blackmore once was the top FLDS leader in Canada, until Jeffs forced him out. Blackmore has been helping US investigators probe into the secrets of Jeffs' group. Some of Blackmore's allies have urged him to publicly emphasize his distance from Jeffs. Read more


Arizona gets an FLDS conviction, so why can't B.C.?:
Member of polygamous sect found guilty of having sex with a minor
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published July 11, 2006
News out of Arizona should stiffen the spines of B.C. law enforcers, who have been investigating the goings-on in the fundamentalist Mormon community of Bountiful for the past two years. An Arizona jury convicted 38-year-old Kelly Fischer on charges of sex with a minor and conspiracy to commit sex with a minor. Fischer is a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a group that broke with the mainstream Mormon church over polygamy. The FLDS has about 500 adherents in Bountiful, while another 700 or so Bountiful residents follow excommunicated FLDS bishop Winston Blackmore. What makes Fischer's case of particular interest is that the Arizona prosecutor got the conviction without having the testimony of the victim or a witness with firsthand knowledge. Fischer's stepdaughter, who gave birth to his child at 17, did not appear in court or testify. Mohave County Attorney Matt Smith doesn't know where she is, having escaped the clutches of the FLDS, her abuser and her mother, who helped arrange for the plural marriage between daughter and stepfather. But he reminded jurors that it's not unique that a victim doesn't testify. It happens all the time in sexual abuse and domestic violence cases in Arizona -- and in B.C. and dozens of other jurisdictions. Read more


Teenage boy in polygamist sect shot dead
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Tuesday, July 25, 2006
A 15-year-old boy from a reclusive, fundamentalist Mormon sect was shot and killed Saturday. RCMP and the B.C. Ambulance Service received a report of an accidental shooting at a home near Yahk and the Kingsgate border crossing in southeastern British Columbia. They were not able to revive Lance Palmer. Creston RCMP, along with the RCMP's South East District Major Crime Section, are investigating. Palmer's death comes just as the RCMP are wrapping up a separate, two-year investigation into allegations of sexual and physical abuse within the polygamous sect. Palmer was a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. So is Macrae Blackmore, Palmer's grandfather and the owner of the isolated, residential compound at the end of a forestry service road where Palmer's body was found. Read more


Remembering those who took a stand
Memorial replaces monument that disappeared after dedication in 2003
By Brian Passey The Spectrum Originally published July 27, 2006
COLORADO CITY - This Arizona border town known as a polygamist enclave once again has a memorial to residents arrested during a major 1953 raid by law enforcement, but those at the memorial's unveiling Wednesday do not expect the engraved stone to stay for long. "I really don't think it will last," said Merlin Johnson, one of the dozens of residents attending the memorial dedication at a small park. "I think someone will tear it out real soon." Johnson's fears are founded in a former memorial to the same raid. Colorado City officials used city funds and state grants in 2003 to erect a monument and build a museum to the historic raid. But less than a month after its dedication, the museum - housed in the old Short Creek School - was closed and the stone monument disappeared. At the time, officials were mum about what happened to the monument. However, that was before Warren Jeffs, self-proclaimed prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, became a federal fugitive and returned the spotlight to the twin towns of Colorado City and Hildale, which are filled with his followers. There are now many in the community who were excommunicated by Jeffs or have chosen to separate themselves from him. They are the ones who rebuilt the monument in honor of past leaders and in defiance of current ones like Jeffs. Read more


Polygamist sect on agenda as B.C., Arizona and Utah attorneys general meet
By Jeremy Hainsworth Canadian Press Originally published Friday, July 28, 2006
VANCOUVER (CP) - As legal action in the investigation into a B.C. polygamist commune looms, the province's attorney-general will be meeting with his Arizona and Utah counterparts next week to discuss the situation in their jurisdictions. Wally Oppal said the investigation into allegations of sexual abuse at the Bountiful commune in southeastern British Columbia is continuing and may yield results soon. "We are optimistic that something will happen soon," Oppal said. "We are really concentrating on one area and that is the area of the apparent sexual abuse and the sexual exploitation." But, Oppal said, that does not mean the province is not concerned about allegations of polygamy at the commune just south of Creston and only metres from the U.S. border. People at the commune are members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. There have long been allegations of sexual abuse at the commune and rumours of charges against leaders of the community such as Winston Blackmore have long been whispered. "I don't think we're that far away actually. We've got our fingers crossed," Oppal said. Read more


RCMP don't know yet if U.S. arrest of polygamist will have impact in Canada
By Camille Bains 680News (680 AM) - Toronto, Ontario Originally broadcast August 29, 2006
VANCOUVER (CP) - It's too early to say whether the U.S. arrest of a polygamous leader will have an impact in Canada on an investigation into the sect's Bountiful, B.C. community, says an RCMP spokesman. Sgt. John Ward said Warren Jeffs is not facing any charges in Canada, nor is he a suspect in the Mounties' ongoing investigation in Bountiful, where allegations of child abuse surfaced years ago. Allegations of human trafficking, involving young girls being moved across U.S. borders and into Canada so they can be married off to older men, have also come up. Jeffs's sect is based in the state-line communities of Colorado City, Ariz. and Hildale, Utah, and he also has followers in Bountiful. The self-proclaimed "speaker of God's will" and leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is wanted in the two states on suspicion of sexual misconduct for allegedly arranging marriages of underage girls. He is also wanted for fraud. Ward said the Mounties' probe of Bountiful, a community south of Creston, B.C., is moving ahead. "We are very close to being able to send a report to Crown counsel" for consideration of criminal charges, he said. Read more


Polygamist leader's arrest sets stage for cross-border power struggle
By Jeremy Hainsworth Macleans Originally published August 30, 2006
VANCOUVER (CP) - A woman who escaped from B.C.'s fundamentalist Mormon commune says the group's leaders will be battling for control of the sect after the arrest of so-called prophet Warren Jeffs in Nevada. Debbie Palmer said in an interview that Winston Blackmore of Bountiful, B.C., will be assessing his options for taking power over the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Blackmore was removed as bishop of Bountiful by Jeffs and replaced with her brother, Jim Oler. "I know that Winston has been positioning himself to be a available as a leader for any of the ones who have become disillusioned," Palmer said Wednesday. But that could be difficult. While Oler is Jeffs' point man and "enforcer" in Bountiful, he is also Blackmore's nephew. The two had been close at one point. "The lines are quite firmly drawn," Palmer said. "The fact that Jim accepted the position under Warren to be a bishop was quite a shock to all of us because Jim and Winston had been quite close. "He (Oler) had had a similar position under Winston for many years. Read more


Polygamous 'prophet' nabbed in a red Caddy
By Petti Fong The Globe and Mail - Toronto, Canada Originally published August 30, 2006
VANCOUVER — The self-proclaimed prophet of a polygamous sect was arrested yesterday in Nevada when a state trooper pulled over his flashy red 2007 Cadillac Escalade for a minor traffic violation. The followers of Warren Steed Jeffs believed their conduit to God would never be taken without a fight, and likely aided him in his year-long flight from authorities. But in the end, the 50-year-old fugitive's arrest was mundane and uneventful. Police pulled over the vehicle Monday night about eight kilometres north of Las Vegas after noticing its out-of-state temporary licence plate was partly obscured. While the other two people in the vehicle, Mr. Jeffs's brother Isaac, and one of the polygamist's wives, Naomi Jeffs, produced identification, the fugitive gave an alias. The trooper recognized Mr. Jeffs, who is on the FBI's top 10 most-wanted list and reportedly has 40 wives and 60 children. He is wanted in Arizona and Utah on charges of sexual misconduct for allegedly arranging marriages of underage girls. He is also accused of fraud. Read more


B.C. commune under suspicion after arrest
By Ethan Baron CanWest News Service - Vancouver Province Originally published Wednesday, August 30, 2006
VANCOUVER - Fugitive polygamist leader Warren Jeffs who has hundreds of followers in B.C. has been arrested on a Nevada highway with $50,000 in cash, 15 cellphones, three wigs and a police scanner. Jeffs, 50, was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list, charged in Utah with "rape as an accomplice" for allegedly arranging a teenage girl's marriage to a man, and charged in Arizona with child sexual assault. A Nevada highway patrol trooper pulled over an SUV late Monday just north of Las Vegas for improperly displayed licence plates. In it were Jeffs, one of his wives, Naomi Jeffs, and a brother Isaac, both 32. Jeffs is being held in federal custody in Las Vegas pending a court hearing on unlawful flight to avoid persecution. On Tuesday, B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal says Jeffs' rival, Winston Blackmore of the polygamous Bountiful commune near Creston, is a subject of a probe into allegations of sex crimes against children. "I would normally not name someone that's under investigation, except that Blackmore has been front and centre and pretty much challenging us to charge him," Oppal said. Read more


Diversion Tactics
By Mindelle Jacobs Edmonton Sun Originally published Thursday, August 31, 2006
If the authorities are too timid to go after polygamists because of constitutional quivers, the state can seriously wound such sects using other tactics, experts say. While it's unclear who will fill the leadership vacuum following the arrest of fugitive polygamist head Warren Jeffs, it opens a window of opportunity to help save some of the brainwashed women and children, according to a lawyer and a cult expert. Calgary social justice lawyer Vaughn Marshall says he hopes that education and social services officials take a closer look at what's happening in the polygamous community of Bountiful, B.C. The education authorities should be far more careful monitoring what's being taught in Bountiful, and social services officials need to do what they can to prevent underage marriages, he says. "If the department of education is more vigilant in making sure that Bountiful children get an education, and if they're more vigilant in ... making sure that underage girls don't get married, then at least that will give the people the opportunity to ... make their own choices," says Marshall. Read more


Polygamist leader told followers he'd never be caught
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published September 1, 2006
VANCOUVER - Shackled at the waist with a bulletproof-vested guard on either side, polygamist leader Warren Jeffs stood in a Las Vegas courtroom Thursday morning and agreed to go first to Utah to face charges of being an accomplice to child rape. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison. After that, the prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints will be sent to Arizona where he is wanted for having sex with a minor and conspiracy to have sex with a minor. Until his arrest, Warren Jeffs had been on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list, along with Osama bin Laden. Now he'll be spending his days in Purgatory Correctional Centre in St. George. Jeffs was brought down not by force or some sophisticated surveillance, but because of a traffic violation. The temporary licence plate on his red 2007 Cadillac Escalade wasn't visible. Jeffs had told his 15,000 or so followers in the United States, British Columbia and Alberta that he was invincible and would never be caught. And he might not have been except that Jeffs looked so nervous when he was pulled over on a highway north of Las Vegas, Nevada State Trooper Eddie Dutchover grew suspicious. There was certainly nothing about Jeffs, his brother Isaac (who was driving) or Naomi Jessop Jeffs (one of his 50 or more plural wives) that distinguished them as fundamentalist Mormons. Jeffs and his brother were wearing cargo shorts and white, short-sleeved cotton T-shirts. FLDS boys and men are never supposed to wear short-sleeved shirts or shorts. All members of the sect are supposed to have their bodies covered at all times and wear a "temple garment" - religious underwear - that covers them from neck to wrist to ankle. Naomi was wearing jeans and a pink T-shirt, a far cry from her usual long-sleeved, ankle-length dresses in pastel ginghams or floral prints. Read more


Simons looks at polygamist sect
Patricia Hall - Coast Reporter The Powell River Peak - Powell River BC Originally published September 13, 2006
Simons is the opposition critic for human rights, multiculturalism and immigration and is a former child protection social worker. Last week, he went to Bountiful's nearby town of Creston where he talked to people who work very closely on the issues of Bountiful. "It's not a question of religious freedom," Simons noted. "This issue is about much more than polygamy." He identified three key issues with the Bountiful community. "Children aren't getting the level of education that our society expects them to get in terms of high dropout rates. Issue two is the abuse of women and children that will continue unless structural changes are made. The third, that boys and young men become superfluous in a community that doesn't need gender balance. They're being sent away, excommunicated with minimal education and social skills that only work in a very small and insular community." Read more


Canada's double standard on victims of polygamy
THE LAW \| We offer safe haven to foreign women, but no protection for Canadians, even though the practice is illegal
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Saturday, September 23, 2006
Canada grants refugee status to foreign women who have good reason to believe they may be forced into polygamous marriages. Yet, while Canada offers safe haven to foreign women fleeing polygamy, it offers no such protection for Canadians born into polygamous communities. Even though polygamy is illegal, more than 1,200 polygamists live in Canada. In part, they have flourished because the anti-polygamy law hasn't been used in nearly 100 years. Which is not to say that Canada shouldn't provide a safe haven for foreign women. Rather, Canada needs to recognize the duplicity of offering unequal protection to citizens and non-citizens and correct it. It needs to bridge the glaring gap between what it does internationally and what it does at home. Twice in the past four years, the Federal Court has ordered the Immigration and Refugee Board to reconsider its denial of safe haven for African women fleeing forced polygamous marriages. The court does not have the power to grant refugee status; it can only review decisions, intervening when the board's ruling are "perverse." Read more


Polygamy view blasted
Report slams Canada for allowing multi-wife marriages to flourish
By Kathleen Harris - Ottawa Bureau Calgary Sun Originally published Thursday, October 5, 2006
OTTAWA -- Canada is violating international human-rights law by allowing polygamous relationships to thrive and could face a global rebuke for failing to act, a new report commissioned by Justice Canada has concluded. The $20,000 study by University of Toronto law professor Rebecca Cook, ob-tained by Sun Media, finds there are no justifications on religious, cultural or family grounds for polygamy under international law that prohibits discrimination against women. Canada's Criminal Code prohibits polygamy, yet multi-wife marriages and polygamous communities such as Bountiful, B.C., have openly flourished without criminal prosecution. "It's important that they address it as a matter of their international law obligations," Cook said. The UN committee monitoring women's rights around the world obliges Canada to disclose polygamy exists in this country and report how our laws, policies and practices will attempt to eliminate it, she said. "If they can't show they've taken all appropriate measures to address this problem, the committee in its concluding observations will take them to task," Cook said. Read more


Police investigation into polygamist Bountiful community now with Crown
Canadian Press Maclean's Magazine - Toronto, Canada Originally published October 19, 2006
VICTORIA (CP) - A police investigation into the polygamist commune in Bountiful has been completed and is in the hands of the criminal justice branch. The branch release a brief statement Thursday from Crown spokesman Stan Lowe, confirming the receipt of a report from the RCMP concerning the community, located near Creston in southeastern B.C. The report was received by the branch on Sept. 28, 2006, and resulted from a lengthy and complex police investigation into alleged misconduct on the part of some residents of Bountiful, the statement said. A "comprehensive charge assessment review" of the police report will be conducted by senior Crown counsel to determine if any Criminal Code offences have been committed. The branch said that the assessment would likely take a long time to complete and no further comments would be made until there is a decision. People at the commune are members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. There have long been allegations of sexual abuse at the commune and rumours of charges against leaders of the community such as Winston Blackmore have long been whispered. Last summer, in a meeting with the attorneys general of Arizona and Utah, B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal discussed common problems with polygamist communities. The church is based in the state line communities of Colorado City, Arizona and Hildale, Utah, but it also has a sizeable branch in Bountiful.


Canada wraps up its polygamy probe
Prosecutors now considering whether to file any charges
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Friday, October 20, 2006
Prosecutors in Canada are screening criminal charges against members of the polygamous enclave in Bountiful, British Columbia. The Crown Counsel's Criminal Justice branch released a brief statement Thursday confirming it has received a report from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police into alleged criminal activities in Bountiful. "The report ... resulted from a lengthy and complex police investigation into alleged misconduct on the part of some residents of Bountiful," Crown Counsel spokesman Stan Lowe said in a statement. "A comprehensive charge assessment review of the police report will be conducted by senior Crown Counsel to determine what if any offence under the Criminal Code of Canada has been committed." The report includes a "significant amount of investigative materials" and will take some time to complete, Lowe said. The Crown Counsel declined further comment. The RCMP has been conducting investigations into allegations of child abuse and human trafficking, involving teenage girls reportedly escorted across the U.S.-Canada border so they can be married to older men. Ex-FLDS leader Winston Blackmore has also been the subject of a police inquiry. In an e-mail to the Deseret Morning News last May, he acknowledged the investigation. "Since we are not hiding we are not hard to find," he wrote. "It is hard to think that Canada, the home of free lovers and legalized same sex marriages, not to mention legal wife swapping clubs, could waste their time on people who live like we do." Read more


Police complete complex Bountiful investigation
The Crown must now decide whether charges should be laid for alleged misconduct
By Neal Hall The Vancouver Sun Originally published Friday, October 20, 2006
A police investigation into the Bountiful polygamist commune in southwestern B.C. has been completed and is in the hands of the criminal justice branch to determine whether charges should be laid. B.C. Crown spokesman Stan Lowe said Thursday a report was received from the RCMP Sept. 28 after a lengthy and complex investigation into alleged misconduct of some residents of Bountiful, a community near Creston. "It's now in the charge assessment stage," Lowe explained. "It's a massive file and it will require a substantial period of time to complete." The Crown will determine "what, if any, offence under the Criminal Code of Canada has been committed," he said. Lowe could not estimate how long the assessment will take. The branch will not comment further on the file until a charge assessment decision is made, he added. About 700 people live at the commune. They are members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, commonly known as Mormons. Winston Blackmore, leader of the Bountiful group, has admitted to having had several child "brides" but has never been charged. Read more


Polygamy violates rights
Ottawa: Study says Canada breaking international law by turning blind eye to polygamist communities
By Janice Tibbetts The Vancouver Sun Originally published Monday, October 23, 2006
OTTAWA -- Canada is violating its international human rights obligations regarding women and children by allowing polygamy to persist unchecked, says a new study commissioned by the federal Justice Department. "Polygamy is a violation of international law," says the study's author, Rebecca Cook, a University of Toronto law professor. "Canada has an obligation as a matter of international law to take all appropriate steps." While polygamy is technically illegal in Canada and punishable by up to five years in prison, the practice has flourished for more than 50 years in Bountiful, B.C. -- the home of a colony of adherents to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The breakaway Mormon sect teaches that men must have at least three wives to achieve eternal salvation. After more than a decade of refusing to lay charges amid concern that the federal law is too weak to survive a constitutional challenge, the provincial Crown is reviewing a new police report to determine if criminal prosecution is warranted. Cook's report, quietly posted on the Justice Department's website last month, is part of a broader $150,000 study on polygamy launched by the former Liberal government in 2005. One controversial report commissioned by the Status of Women, which was published last year, called for repealing the ban on polygamy in favour of other laws to help women and children. But Cook takes a more conventional view, maintaining that Canada is required to enforce the law because it is a signatory to numerous international treaties and conventions such as the United Nation's Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Read more


Sexual assault chief concern in Bountiful
Canadian Press The Globe and Mail - Toronto, Canada Originally published October 23, 2006
VICTORIA — The possibility of children being sexually exploited or abused in the community of Bountiful is of more concern than the issue of polygamy, B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal said Monday. But Mr. Oppal also said he is not ignoring the fact polygamy charges may be available to Crown prosecutors for some members in the southeastern B.C. community. "The fundamental issue here is sexual exploitation of children, sexual abuse of children and sexual assaults — if all that is taking place," Mr. Oppal told reporters. "That is more important than anything else. I'm not ignoring the fact there may be polygamy charges available there but it's much more important I think we can all agree, that we prevent any child abuse." The B.C. Criminal Justice Branch has started a charge assessment review after receiving an RCMP report. A separate federal Justice Department report says Canada is violating international human rights obligations by allowing polygamy to persist in the community. Mr. Oppal said lawyers in the criminal justice branch continue to examine the hefty RCMP report concerning the polygamist community to determine whether charges will be laid. Read more


Many want gov't to take action
By Daphne Bramham CanWest News Service Regina Leader-Post - Saskatchewan, Canada Originally published Monday, November 6, 2006
VANCOUVER -- An overwhelming majority of Canadians believe polygamy should remain illegal, according to a COMPAS poll obtained exclusively by The Vancouver Sun. Only one in 10 of those surveyed believes the practice of having multiple marriage partners should be legalized. Another 10 per cent said they didn't know. The poll also found strong support for governments to intervene more aggressively to protect children in polygamous communities such as Bountiful, B.C. Eight of 10 surveyed said that governments need to do more or a lot more to ensure the children get a better education, that girls have a choice of whom they marry and that boys are not forced out of the community so that a higher ratio of females to males is maintained. The poll of 502 people across Canada was done for the Institute of Canadian Values between Oct. 18 and 27 and has a margin of error of 4.5 per cent, 19 times out of 20. Coincidentally during the polling, there were media reports about a study done for the federal Justice Department suggesting that by not enforcing the polygamy law, Canada was violating international law and United Nations conventions on the rights of women and children. Read more


The slippery slope to polygamy
By Margret Kopala The Ottawa Citizen Originally published Monday, November 27, 2006
If you think polygamy can't be legalized in Canada, think again. According to a recent poll sponsored by the Institute for Canadian Values and the Vancouver Sun, 82 per cent of Canadians oppose legalizing polygamy. But public opinion did little this summer to stop the Dutch courts from upholding the right of the Brotherly Love, Freedom and Diversity Party to field candidates in recent elections. Protected by the Netherlands' guarantees of freedom of expression, assembly and association, the party was formed by pedophiles calling for a reduction of the age of sexual consent to 12 and the legalization of pornography and sex with animals. Not that public opinion should dictate the law. On the contrary, the thumbs-up, thumbs-down politics of the gladiator ring has no place in a mature democracy, but as the House of Commons approaches its vote on reopening the same-sex marriage issue, it would do well to consider the effects of its own poorly considered thumbs-up, thumbs-down treatment of same-sex marriage when it was first legalized. Here in Canada, no one is proposing a pedophilia party (yet), but thanks to Bountiful, B.C. and same-sex marriage, legalized polygamy is now probable. Should the B.C. Attorney General ever lay charges, the Bountiful polygamists will, for reasons similar to Dutch pedophiles, be laughing all the way to the Supreme Court. Not only will this breakaway sect of the Church of the Latter Day Saints likely enjoy protection under the Charter's freedom guarantees, but it can also claim to be faith-based and therefore invoke its freedom-of-religion entitlements. Read more


CNN LARRY KING LIVE
Interview With Polygamist Winston Blackmore
Originally broadcast December 8, 2006
LARRY KING, CNN ANCHOR: Tonight, he is one of the most powerful polygamist leaders in North America, reported to have more than 20 wives, more than 80 children. In fact, he says half the kids you see here are his. And now that polygamist leader Warren Jeffs is in jail, could Winston Blackmore be the next prophet of a controversial religious sect that practices something that's illegal? A rare one-on-one with a man who claims he and his many wives are following god's law. Winston Blackmore is next on LARRY KING LIVE. We welcome Winston Blackmore to LARRY KING LIVE, former member of Warren Jeffs' church, the church that later became the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints, or FLDS. He lives in the polygamist community of Bountiful, British Columbia and joins us here in Los Angeles. By the way, we had a crew spend some time with Winston this week in and around his home in Bountiful. He gave us a rare guided tour of his community and invited our photographer to shoot a lot of video, including video of some of his many children. Throughout the night's broadcast, you'll be seeing that video, along with other shots of life there. It's a great pleasure to welcome Winston to LARRY KING LIVE. We have shots of your kids but not your wives. Any reason we couldn't shoot them or? WINSTON BLACKMORE, POLYGAMIST LEADER: Well, they weren't around there... KING: Oh. BLACKMORE: When we showed up in the community, the kids were playing off. KING: But you don't have a problem with us seeing the wives? BLACKMORE: No, I don't. There's also some footage of that, too, isn't there? KING: Why are you a polygamist? BLACKMORE: I was born, you know, I was born in our belief structure and, you know, I have 30 brothers and sisters. My father was a polygamist and I grew up that way. And I don't know any other life than that. KING: In British Columbia? You grew up in British Columbia? BLACKMORE: Yes, in British Columbia. Read more


Polygamist leader wed girls under 16, he tells Larry King
Winston Blackmore, head of B.C.'s Bountiful group, says none of his wives are underage now
By Wency Leung Vancouver Sun Originally published December 9, 2006
Winston Blackmore, the leader of the Bountiful polygamist commune in southwestern B.C., told CNN's Larry King Live that he has married girls under the age of 16, and that he was aware of at least one case of inter-marriage between family members. Blackmore, who was investigated by police earlier this year over alleged misconduct, said none of his wives are underage now, but some were "just barely" under 16 when they married. "There's one that was, and one that lied about their age, but that's not unusual for women, is it?" he said. During the interview, aired Friday night, he also told show host Larry King that intermarriage between family members "should not happen." But asked if it did occur, he said he had heard of one case. "I think that's before the court," he said. About 700 people live in the Bountiful commune. In late September, the RCMP submitted a report to the B.C. Crown after a lengthy probe into alleged misconduct by some of Bountiful's residents. The Crown said in October that it was determining whether any criminal offenses had been committed. Read more


Polygamist appears on Larry King
By The Canadian Press The Chronicle Herald - Halifax, Nova Scotia Originally published December 10, 2006
VANCOUVER (CP) — The leader of a polygamist community in Bountiful, B.C., defended his lifestyle during an appearance Friday on the Larry King Live show. Global TV reported that a spokesman for the attorney general’s office in B.C. said officials here were aware of King’s interview with Blackmore. Crown counsel is reviewing material from the RCMP to determine if any charges should be laid against Blackmore or anyone else at the commune. It’s alleged underage girls have been forced to marry adult men in the community. It’s estimated Blackmore has at least 20 wives and more than 100 children. He admitted some of his wives were underage when he married them.


Escaping Polygamy: Kelly Rowan Is In God’s Country, January 23 on CTV
Desperate Housewives’ Richard Burgi Co-Stars as Man with Eight Wives
CTV Media Originally published January 8, 2007
Toronto, ON (January 8, 2007) – Kelly Rowan is one of eight wives living a nightmare in a modern-day polygamous marriage in In God’s Country, a remarkable CTV original movie premiering Tuesday, January 23. In the two-hour fictionalized drama, Rowan stars as a woman who confronts the religious traditions of her community and risks everything to protect her children from a future of submission. In God’s Country airs immediately following American Idol at 9 p.m. ET/PT (7 p.m. AT/MT; 8 p.m. CT) on CTV and in High Definition on CTV HD East / West. Media Note Download photos from In God’s Country at www.ctvmedia.ca. A man must have at least three wives and as many children as possible in order to reach the highest level of Heaven. So dictates the nineteenth-century Mormon belief that continues to exist today in certain communities. In God’s Country lifts the veil on such communities and exposes the intensely personal conflict between tradition and modern-day values that many women in this situation must confront. Read more


No O.C. no problem for Rowan
By Ann Marie McQueen Ottawa Sun Originally published January 19, 2007
The O.C. star Kelly Rowan lets out a big laugh when it's suggested she doesn't let any perfectly manicured southern California grass grow under her feet. The Fox show might be ending Feb. 22, but Rowan has a television movie airing Tuesday and an independent film opening next Friday. "Well, you know, there's lots of time to sleep later," she jokes over the phone from Toronto. The actress, who spent the first 12 years of her life raised as an only child in Ottawa, may be seeing her gig on The O.C. end -- it was cancelled late last year after a four-season run -- but she isn't wanting for work. Part of that is her commitment to producing, something she says she consciously sought out as an actress in her 30s. Sure, Meryl Streep and Helen Mirren may have cleaned up at the Golden Globe Awards on Monday, but Hollywood is Hollywood, says Rowan. "That's kind of why I got involved in producing and developing," she says. "because I didn't want to complain." In God's Country, which airs on CTV Tuesday at 9 p.m., was filmed outside of Toronto last summer; Rowan flew back and forth to shoot Mount Pleasant on weekends off from The O.C. last spring. That they are opening in the same week, Rowan says, "just happened." She's spent the past five years working with her producing partner Graham Ludlow to bring In God's Country to screen. The movie is set in a rigid, polygamy-devoted Mormon sect. Rowan plays one of eight wives married to a church bishop (played by Desperate Housewives Richard Burgi) who flees but is forced to return when she learns her vengeful ex is bent on marrying her daughter from her first marriage. Rowan says she thought it was an important story to bring to light, particulary considering similar groups regularly ship young teen women back and forth across the border to marry church elders. Read more


TV fiction tackles the heavy lifting for us
By Daphne Bramham, Special to the Sun The Vancouver Sun Originally published Saturday, January 20, 2007
Polygamy in a religious context raises so many questions about rights, freedoms, familial bonds, choice, informed consent and politics that, at times, it seems easier to just ignore it than puzzle it out. For the most part for more than 100 years, Canadians and Americans have been doing that -- ignoring followers of Joseph Smith's teaching that only men with multiple wives will enter the highest realm of heaven. They call themselves fundamentalist Mormons. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- mainstream Mormons -- hate that because the LDS renounced plural marriage in 1890. And nobody is more eager for the fundamentalist Mormons to be forgotten than the 12 million members of the LDS church. Yet it's almost impossible to ignore fundamentalist Mormons. They are always doing something creepy or illegal like forcing under-age girls to marry men who are double, triple and even quadruple their age, moving these young brides illegally across international borders, reassigning wives and children, kicking young boys out for the simple offence of falling in love, and bleeding money from the government in child-tax credits, health services and grants for schools that few parents seem to want their children to attend for more than a few years. But what to do about it seems to paralyze us and our political leaders. And here's where the wonder of drama comes in. Instead of all that mental heavy lifting, it focuses us on what it might feel like to be a plural wife in a polygamous community. Read more


One woman's heroic journey
Kelly Rowan felt it was time to bring the often ugly truths of polygamy to prime time
By Gayle MacDonald Globe and Mail Originally published January 23, 2007
Long before B.C. serial polygamist Winston Blackmore creeped out audiences by telling CNN's Larry King about his 20 wives and at least 100 children, Ottawa-born actress Kelly Rowan had vowed to take on a religious sect whose men view women as chattel. Two full years before Blackmore's debut on Larry King last December, the former O.C. star had knocked on the door of Toronto's Shaftesbury Films, pitching a fictionalized drama about a woman who escapes a commune of fundamentalist Mormons (which bears an eerie resemblance to Blackmore's polygamy stronghold of roughly 700 faithful in Bountiful, B.C.) Sickened by what she had read and watched about polygamist communities in Canada and the United States, Rowan decided that it was time to make a program that lifted the veil on a religion that sanctions men marrying young girls (some under 16) -- and, at times, intermarriage between family members. "The purpose of the film really was to cause some dialogue," asserts Shaftesbury Films chair Christina Jennings, who shot the film with a $5-million budget. "Kelly's goal -- like ours -- was to make a movie that gets people talking and thinking about polygamy, about how society can possibly justify men having a whole bunch of wives and the taking of young girls." Rowan, who stars in the film and has a co-executive producer's title along with Jennings, shot In God's Country in and around Hamilton last summer. The finished product, which co-stars Desperate Housewives alumnus Richard Burgi, airs tonight at 9 ET on CTV. Read more


Child Brides - Part I
Submitted by Kiota Progressive U blog ProgressiveU.org - San Mateo, CA Originally published February 28, 2007
The founder of the Mormon sect, Joseph Smith, had no less than 33 wives, possibly as many as 48. The youngest of his wives was fourteen years old when he told her she must marry him, or face eternal damnation. He taught that every man needs at least three wives in order to attain the 'fullness of exaltation' in the afterlife. The Mormons keep the nastier sides of Joseph Smith undercover. They've since renounced polygamy. Mormon fundamentalists, however, are still going strong. Debbie Oler is a fairly typical example. Her father, Dalmon Oler, moved his family to Creston Valley in order to join a fundamentalist Mormon group. He eventually married six women and fathered forty-five children, of whom Debbie was the oldest. When Debbie was six, her birthmother died, and her father's second wife, Memory Blackmore, became increasingly violent towards her. From the age of two Debbie was raised as a Mormon fundamentalists, raised in the mentality of total obedience, learning that her chief responsility as a woman was to serve her husband and to produce as many children as possible. When she was fourteen, she felt 'impressed by the Lord' to marry Ray Blackmore, the community leader. At the age of fifteen, she was married to the fifty-seven year old Blackmore, becoming his sixth wife and stepmother to his thirty-one kids, most of whom were older than herself. He was the father of her own stepmother, Memory - and thus she became her own stepmother's stepmother. Read more


Polygamist education brings hole in School Act to light
By Terri Theodore, Canadian Press The Province - Vancouver BC Originally published Saturday, April 14, 2007
VANCOUVER — The B.C. Education Ministry has been bombarded with letters of complaint from people who find it galling that the government is paying to educate the children of Bountiful with polygamist ideology. A legal expert says the government’s own regulations under the Independent School Act may be designed to deliberately ignore the issue. "I’m sure that Bountiful is not the only religious school that, sadly, does things like teach girls that they are inferior or subservient," said University of B.C. associate law professor Janine Benedet. "It’s not a condition, for example, that you teach sex equality or you don’t teach sex discrimination or whatever, they (the ministry) haven’t identified that as a criteria that is relevant for funding." The letters, obtained by the Canadian Press under the Freedom of Information Act, are from unnamed individuals, various advocacy groups, three B.C. Interior school boards, and even a branch of the B.C. Retired Employees Association. The general theme in the dozens of letters allege few students from Bountiful complete Grade 12, as the boys are needed to work for the elders and the girls are required to become "celestial" wives and start producing children. Read more


Bountiful students not taught polygamy, ministry says
By Cathryn Atkinson The Globe and Mail - Toronto, ON Originally published April 17, 2007
The Ministry of Education says it is satisfied with the way British Columbia's curriculum is being taught at two schools in the controversial community of Bountiful, near Creston, and that children attending those schools "are not being subjected to polygamist teaching." The comment came after criticisms that the ministry had not responded to letters complaining that $1-million in taxpayer's money was going to support the schools in the fundamentalist Mormon community that have about 340 students between them. Critics allege that most students leave after Grade 10, with girls at both schools being taught to become subservient wives to men old enough to be their grandfathers, and boys being sent out to work to build profits for the sect's leaders. Education Minister Shirley Bond was unavailable for comment yesterday, but authorized her spokesperson to state that the ministry had received 211 complaints since 2000, including letters, faxes and e-mails. One of the letter writers, Audrey Vance of the Creston-based Altering Destiny Through Education, a group that assists those wanting to leave Bountiful, raised concerns about dropout rates and allowing children "free and fair education." "The only thing that will make a difference is if the children are completely educated. What concerns us as taxpayers, and we don't understand it, is that polygamy is against the laws of Canada. How can we be funding a school that teaches children to break the law?" she said in an interview. Ms. Vance said she had been told by women who had left the community that no student has graduated there in 10 years. Read more


B.C. mulling charges against polygamist sect
CBC News Originally published Thursday, May 10, 2007
A polygamist community in Bountiful, B.C., is again at the centre of a political and legal controversy as the province is looking at filing criminal charges. Bountiful is home to a fundamentalist Mormon sect that continues to practise polygamy, which is illegal in Canada. B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal told CBC News that taking action against the community is one of his top priorities. "I would expect we will have some kind of answer within the next week or so as to whether or not we'll be laying charges," he said. Church leaders in Bountiful insist young girls are never forced into a marriage they don't want. But Oppal said their claim could be tested soon in a criminal courtroom. Oppal's comments came after the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal found it doesn't have the authority to hear a complaint against the provincial government, which was accused of failing to protect young girls from sexual exploitation. Jancis Andrews, one of the women who filed the human rights complaint three years ago, alleges the province had a policy not to prosecute men in Bountiful for polygamy or the sexual exploitation of young girls. "I wanted women's rights upheld," Andrews told CBC News. "And I don't think any civilized country should have concubines and harems among its populace, which of course is what Bountiful is doing." Read more


A-G willing to charge polygamists
By Suzanne Fournier The Province Originally published Thursday, May 10, 2007
B.C. Attorney-General Wally Oppal vowed yesterday that he would not shy away from laying "substantive" polygamy charges against Bountiful's fundamentalist Mormon sect. Oppal promised a decision "will be made very soon, within two to three weeks," on whether B.C. will file criminal charges against the Bountiful commune, under either Sec. 293 of the Criminal Code, which makes polygamy illegal in Canada, or under Sec. 153, which prohibits underage marriages. Oppal said he was unaware of any past prosecution for polygamy in Canada and that because prosecution "would raise constitutional issues," his ministry is obtaining "constitutional opinions" before laying any charges. The group has raised legal and political controversy through its open practice of polygamy by older males who take multiple, typically much younger wives. On May 2, a B.C. Human Rights tribunal dismissed a complaint against Oppal's ministry by Sunshine Coast activist Jancis Andrews. The complaint was filed in 2005 by Andrews and six other women on behalf of the women in Bountiful and dealt with enforcement of the criminal law, supervision of a private school in Bountiful, child protection and women's rights. Read more


Prosecutor to probe B.C. polygamists
Dissident Mormons believe men in the community must marry as many wives as possible.
By Terri Theodore Canadian Press Toronto Star Originally published June 6, 2007
VANCOUVER – A special prosecutor has been appointed to look into charges involving the Bountiful polygamous colony. High-profile Vancouver criminal lawyer Richard Peck will conduct a review of the results of a police investigation into members of the community, the Criminal Justice Branch of the Attorney General said in a news release Wednesday. RCMP investigators have been looking into charges of polygamy and other offences of a sexual nature and had submitted a charge recommendation report to the Crown last fall. Controversy surrounding the sect has been going on for years. The RCMP's charge assessment has already been reviewed by four senior Crown lawyers, including the assistant deputy attorney general for the branch, Robert Gillen. The assessment then went to Attorney General Wally Oppal's office, but on May 31, he asked for another review from a senior lawyer from the private bar, the branch said in its release. Oppal asked that the lawyer look into "consideration of any and all potential criminal or quasi-criminal charges including, but not limited to, polygamy and any other offence of a sexual nature." Read more


Special prosecutor appointed in Bountiful case
By Jane Armstrong The Globe and Mail - Toronto, Canada Originally published June 6, 2007
KITCHENER, B.C. — After a lengthy police probe into Canada's only polygamous community, B.C. Attorney-General Wally Oppal has appointed a special prosecutor to rule on whether criminal charges should be laid against leaders at Bountiful, a secretive sect near the U.S. border. This wasn't the development that anti-polygamist activists were hoping for, nor was it the one expected from Mr. Oppal, who has long been critical of the conduct of leaders of the Canadian branch of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). Activists wanted B.C. authorities to follow the lead of U.S. officials who last year charged American FLDS leader Warren Jeffs with sex crimes for his role in arranging the marriage of a 14-year-old girl to her 19-year-old cousin. Canadian authorities believe underage girls are routinely married off to older men at the fundamentalist Mormon community of Bountiful, in southeastern B.C. For years, they have been watching the moves of Winston Blackmore, the one-time Canadian FLDS leader. In a rare interview earlier this year at a lumberyard he owns near Creston, B.C., Mr. Blackmore told The Globe and Mail that he doubted if B.C. authorities would ever collect enough evidence to charge him. Mr. Blackmore, who is said to have sired 100 children with more than 20 wives, said if underage girls were married at Bountiful, their parents were to blame – not him. He also claimed that Mr. Oppal has an axe to grind against him. "This Attorney-General is nothing more than more prejudiced, as far as I'm concerned," he said. "I think that guy has an agenda, he has a political agenda, and he's very biased. ... I think he's biased against polygamy." Read more


Attorney-general appoints special prosecutor in Bountiful case
By Suzanne Fournier The Province - Vancouver, BC Originally published Thursday, June 7, 2007
Anti-polygamy activists were outraged yesterday to learn that B.C. Attorney-General Wally Oppal appointed a special prosecutor to review possible charges against members of the Bountiful polygamist community. Lawyer Richard Peck is to decide "by the end of this month" whether criminal charges would stand up in court and whether a B.C. prosecution of polygamous practices could withstand a constitutional challenge. "I have to take a responsible role in this, before any charges are laid, [to ensure that] they meet our stringent standards," said Oppal. But the additional delay, after two decades of public complaints and police investigation, infuriated activists. "The continuing prevarication regarding Bountiful is bewildering - underage girls have been ordered into sexual unions and impregnated - that's rape," said Jancis Andrews, a Sunshine Coast activist. Andrews said Bountiful is treated "as if it's a sovereign country, entitled to disobey Canadian law." "One can only hope justice will be done and charges against the sexual exploiters of Bountiful will be laid." The RCMP investigated Bountiful for at least two years and reported to prosecutors in the fall of 2006. Four senior prosecutors gave Oppal their opinion in early May. Read more


Special prosecutor to rule on polygamy charges
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Thursday, June 7, 2007
Three years after it ordered an investigation into the polygamist community of fundamentalist Mormons in Bountiful, the B.C. government has hired a special prosecutor to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to lay charges. Special prosecutor Richard Peck, a Vancouver criminal lawyer who has worked on some of B.C.'s most complex and highest profile cases, will also conduct the prosecution and any appeals if he decides charges are warranted. Peck's clients have included an accused Air India bomber, child pornographer Robin John Sharpe and teacher Tom Ellison, who was convicted of sex crimes dating back to the 1960s and 1970s. Attorney-General Wally Oppal said Wednesday that Peck will analyse the RCMP's evidence and recommend whether to lay criminal charges such as sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, polygamy or human trafficking, or any other quasi-judicial or regulatory charges such as violations of the Independent School Act. Oppal expects Peck's review could be completed by the end of June. Four senior Crown counsel have already reviewed the material and made a recommendation to Oppal. The attorney-general refused to say what that recommendation was. Peck's hiring points out just how troublesome this file is for the government, which is under tremendous public pressure to uphold the anti-polygamy law as well as ensure underage girls aren't forced into plural marriages and children are receiving a good education in the community's two, publicly funded schools. Read more


Special prosecutor appointed to review case of B.C. polygamous colony
By Terri Theodore CJAD 800 AM Newstalk Radio - Montreal, Quebec Originally published June 7, 2007
VANCOUVER (CP) - British Columbia's attorney general wants to ensure that the province is on solid constitutional ground before any charges are laid against members of a polygamous sect. "There is some concern that the religious rights of a particular sect or a particular person will trump any right to prosecute," Attorney General Wally Oppal said Wednesday. It's not a position Oppal is happy about, and neither are those demanding the government do something to stop what's happening in Bountiful. On Wednesday, Oppal's office appointed a special prosecutor to do yet another review of whether to charge members of the Bountiful community in southeastern B.C. For a decade, legal experts have advised the province of the constitutional difficulties of proceeding against the sect. While polygamy is outlawed in Canada's Criminal Code, people living in Bountiful are members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Among their beliefs is that men must marry as many wives as possible in order to get into heaven. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or Mormon church, renounced polygamy in 1890 and the FDLS broke away from it. The Mormon church excommunicates members who practise polygamy. The latest RCMP investigation and its charge recommendations were reviewed by four senior Crown lawyers earlier this year - including a deputy attorney general - and they referred their conclusions to Oppal's office last week. Read more


Getting a conviction worries attorney-general
It may be difficult to get witnesses to testify as well as evidence
By Michael Smyth The Vancouver Province Originally published Thursday, June 7, 2007
Attorney-General Wally Oppal may have earned the nickname "Stonewally" for his recent zip-the-lip act, but the A-G has been anything but silent when it comes to the polygamist commune in Bountiful. Ever since he left the B.C. Appeal Court bench to enter politics, Oppal has been openly gunning for criminal charges to be laid in the Bountiful case. "It smacks of slavery," he said of the polygamist sect shortly after being sworn in as attorney-general in 2005. "I'm not content to sit back and do nothing." Doing nothing is pretty much the approach a long string of B.C. governments has taken toward the 60-year-old breakaway Mormon sect, which openly flouts Canada's law against men taking multiple wives. Oppal assured he would take a more aggressive approach. And as the RCMP began investigating -- again -- he didn't hide his determination to bring the hammer down on Bountiful's leaders. "We are optimistic that something will happen soon," he said nearly a year ago. "We've got our fingers crossed." It's unusual for an attorney-general to comment so openly on an investigation before charges have even been laid. It may explain why the government appointed an independent special prosecutor to take over the file yesterday. It also explains why Oppal seems so frustrated at the continuing delays. "Stonewally" is running into some stone walls of his own. He revealed yesterday that prosecutors are worried about charges being tossed out of court on freedom-of-religion grounds. But is that what's really holding him back? Read more


Caution is needed in long-running polygamy battle
Editorial The Vancouver Province Originally published Wednesday, June 13, 2007
We understand the dismay expressed in some quarters over the further delay in deciding whether to lay charges as a result of a police investigation into the polygamists of Bountiful in southeastern B.C. The controversy surrounding the 60-year-old community of fundamentalist Mormons has been a matter of public concern for over two decades. The concern is not merely with the practice of polygamy itself, though that is clearly against Canadian law. The wider issues include such questions as whether minors are being exposed to sexual abuse or women are coerced into marriages against their will. As Suzanne Fournier reported in The Province last week, the RCMP spent two years investigating Bountiful and delivered a report to prosecutors last fall. Last month, senior prosecutors provided B.C. Attorney-General Wally Oppal with their considered opinion on whether charges might succeed. While we have not been told what those recommendations were, they were clearly of such import that Oppal felt he needed yet further input. He has now hired veteran lawyer Richard Peck as special prosecutor, and asked him to review the file and report back by the end of the month. Activists have expressed outrage at the delay. But their impatience should be tempered by realism. As far back as 1990, Victoria abandoned plans to prosecute the polygamists because of the likelihood that the charges would not stick. Read more


Polygamy: Legal in Canada
Without really trying, we've reinvented marriage again, with help from the Charter
By Ken MacQueen Macleans Magazine - Toronto, Ontario June 25, 2007 Issue
Chloe is a twentysomething legal assistant from Toronto, who hopes to go to law school one day. She's interested in kayaking, camping, painting and photography, "the 'old fashioned' way, with film." As for her thoughts on marriage, she's even more old fashioned: think, Old Testament. "I am interested in polygamy, which brings me here!" she wrote to Sisterwives, an online forum for women in polygamous marriages, for those considering it, and for "poly-friendly individuals, male and female." Sisterwives is one of a surprising number of pro-polygamy websites, both faith-based and secular, devoted to an act that is illegal -- in theory, if rarely in practice -- in Canada and all 50 American states. Hundreds of people from around the world have posted to the U.S.-based site, but for the most part, they aren't who you'd expect. They aren't members of fundamentalist breakaway Mormon sects, like those living in enclaves in Bountiful, B.C., as well as in Utah, Arizona, Texas and other states. Nor are they largely immigrants from predominantly Muslim countries where polygamy is sanctioned. Many are increasingly vocal "Christian polygamists," who draw their inspiration from the much-married prophets of the Old Testament. Read more


Polygamous community investigated
By Tom Fletcher Black Press Goldstream News Gazette - Victoria, British Columbia Originally published June 20, 2007
The B.C. government has appointed Vancouver lawyer Richard Peck as a special prosecutor, the latest step in a lengthy investigation of the polygamous community of Bountiful in southeastern B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal said Peck will review a charge assessment done by four ministry lawyers, after a lengthy police investigation of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints commune near Creston. The investigation dates back to 1990, with advocacy groups and former residents alleging that male community leaders not only have multiple wives, but sexually exploit young girls in the community. "As far as the allegations of sexual impropriety are concerned, we’ve had some difficulty over the years in obtaining the co-operation of witnesses, and regarding the ages of the various people in Bountiful," Oppal said. "As far as the polygamy charges are concerned, we want to ensure we are on a sound legal basis, given the fact that there are some legal opinions out there that the offence of polygamy may be contrary to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms." Read more


BOUNTIFUL – COMPLETION DATE FOR CHARGE ASSESSMENT REVIEW
Stan Lowe Communications Counsel Criminal Justice Branch Ministry of Attorney General - British Columbia Originally published Friday, 6 July 2007
Victoria – In response to numerous media enquiries, independent Special Prosecutor Richard Peck, Q.C. has advised the Criminal Justice Branch that he anticipates his charge assessment review will be completed by July 31, 2007. Mr. Peck has sought the assistance of the Branch in providing this advisory to the media. Read the official Press Release


Bountiful case has wide ramifications for Canadian law
Muslims anxiously watch polygamy case on religious freedom
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Friday, July 13, 2007
As special prosecutor Richard Peck continues poring through the mountains of evidence collected in the polygamous community of Bountiful in the East Kootenays by the RCMP, he can't help but be aware of how high the stakes are. It may be part of the reason Peck has asked for a month-long extension to July 31 to make a recommendation on laying charges -- double the time he and Attorney-General Wally Oppal initially estimated. Far from being a discrete case about a tiny sect of about 1,500 fundamentalist Mormons, it is potentially a landmark case that could either result in the Supreme Court of Canada agreeing to unfettered religious practice or setting new limits on religious freedom. If B.C. charges either or both of Bountiful's leaders, Winston Blackmore and Jim Oler, with the criminal offence of practising polygamy and loses, it opens the door for the free practise of plural marriage in the guise of religion. If B.C. loses, it could even open the door to other repugnant practices, such as female genital mutilation. Although rarely prosecuted, polygamy has been illegal in Canada since 1890. But since the Charter of Rights and Freedoms was enacted in 1982, there have been unanswered questions about whether the guarantee of freedom of religion trumps the polygamy law and whether the Charter's equality rights provisions forbid such discriminatory practices as genital mutilation and forced marriages of girls and women. Read more


Get more Letters
Edmonton Journal Originally published Thursday, July 26, 2007
Re: "B.C. polygamy trial ramifications huge for religious freedom; Rights of women and children at stake in East Kootenays courtroom," by Daphne Bramham, Ideas, July 14. Daphne Bramham's article on the prosecution of polygamy raises some interesting points, but misses completely what is probably the most significant issue for our society. Of course the "religious discrimination" allegation will be trotted out, and there will be fine speeches in court (and at appeal) about Charter rights. Bramham is correct in writing that, if the prohibition on polygamy is invalidated and a small number of residents of Bountiful, B.C., are allowed to practise polygamy legally, denying the same opportunity to Muslims would amount to discrimination on religious grounds. Bramham falls short, however, in her analysis of the Bountiful problem. The existing law applies (or should apply) to all residents of Canada - it does not discriminate in any way. A political or judicial activist might claim that there is "adverse effect" discrimination involved, and it is this claim that needs to be analyzed carefully. We must ask how the prohibition of polygamy affects the practice of any faith. Does the sect in Bountiful "require" that all members practise polygamy? This is not the case; it simply "permits" the practice. Abiding by current legislation would not impair in any way the religious observance of the members of the Bountiful sect. Read more


Get more Letters
Edmonton Journal Originally published Thursday, July 26, 2007
Re: "B.C. polygamy trial ramifications huge for religious freedom; Rights of women and children at stake in East Kootenays courtroom," by Daphne Bramham, Ideas, July 14. Daphne Bramham did an excellent job in analyzing the dilemma Canadian society will face if the Supreme Court decides in favour of religious freedom. However, I think she did not do full justice to the Islamic viewpoint and practices regarding four wives. This is the most commonly-asked question and objection against Islamic teachings, after terrorism. Bramham should have provided a context where up to four wives are allowed in Islam. This applies to certain situations when it becomes necessary for both preserving the health of society and the rights of women. It is evident from a study of the Qur'an that a special situation of a post-war period is being discussed. It is a time when a society is left with a large number of orphans and young widows, and the balance of the male and female population is severely disturbed. A similar situation prevailed in Germany after the Second World War. Islam, not being the predominant religion of Germany, was left with no solution to resolve the problem. The strictly monogamous religion of Christianity could offer no relief. As such, the people of Germany had to suffer the consequences of these imbalances. There was a large number of young women for whom there was no prospect of marriage. Read more


Justice officials study report on B.C. polygamist group
The Canadian Press CBC British Columbia - Vancouver Originally published Tuesday, July 31, 2007
A lawyer appointed to look into allegations of sexual abuse among members of a polygamist sect in Bountiful, B.C. has completed his report. Vancouver lawyer Richard Peck has given his findings to the provincial attorney general's Criminal Justice Branch, and branch spokesman Neil MacKenzie says justice officials are studying it. He says no public statements will be made at this time. Last fall, the RCMP gave the Crown its recommendations about possible charges after investigating allegations that men had been marrying multiple women and committing possible sexual offences in Bountiful, in southeast B.C. That report was reviewed by four senior Crown lawyers before going to Attorney General Wally Oppal, who in turn asked for Peck to review the file. Read more


Decision said near on Canadian polygamy charges
Reuters Originally published July 31, 2007
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - A special prosecutor has completed his report on whether criminal charges should be filed against a Canadian polygamist community, but no decision has been made, an official said on Tuesday. British Columbia's attorney general is reviewing the report that looked, in part, at whether prosecuting members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints would run into constitutional problems. "We're expecting to be able to release something in the near future," said Neil MacKenzie, a spokesman for the B.C. Criminal Justice Branch. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police launched an investigation into the FLDS in Bountiful, British Columbia, two years ago after media reports raised allegations that underage women were being forced into marriages with older men. Read more


B.C. prosecutor recommends no charges against polygamists
The Associated Press The Columbian - Vancouver, Washington Originally published August 1, 2007
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- A special prosecutor has concluded there's not enough evidence to charge members of a southeastern British Columbia polygamist colony with sex offenses involving minors, partly because the women involved said they wanted to have sex with the older men. Provincial Attorney General Wally Oppal said Wednesday he had reviewed a report by special prosecutor Richard Peck and agrees that no charges should be pursued against members of the fundamentalist Mormon sect in Bountiful, British Columbia. The group is part of the southern Utah-based Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, known as the FLDS and headed by Warren Jeffs. Oppal said Peck has recommended referring the case to the provincial Court of Appeal to determine the validity of the province's polygamy law. He said it is an issue that relates to the equality of women and that he personally believes the law against multiple marriages is valid. Read more


Report Concludes There Isn't Enough Evidence To Press Sex Charges Against Polygamous Group
By Valerie Chang AHN (All Headline News) Originally published August 1, 2007
Vancouver, BC (AHN) - An independent prosecutor commissioned to make recommendations whether criminal charges should be pressed against a polygamous group living in Bountiful, B.C. has concluded that there isn't enough evidence to charge members with sexual offenses against minors. B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal said at a news conference on Wednesday that Richard Peck, the independent prosecutor, concluded that the evidence would likely be insufficient to produce a conviction because many of the young girls in the community who were married to older men said they were the ones who initiated sexual relationships with the older men. Mr. Oppal also said there was no evidence that men in a position of trust had sexually exploited young girls. In addition to his findings relating to potential criminal charges, Mr. Peck recommended that the question of whether laws prohibiting polygamy in Canada violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms should be referred to the British Columbia Court of Appeals, as government officials may ask courts to decide legal questions in the absence of a prosecution. Read more


Canada urged to review legality of polygamy ban
By Allan Dowd Reuters Originally published Wednesday August 1, 2007
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - A special prosecutor has recommended Canadian courts be asked to rule on the constitutionality of the country's long-standing laws against polygamy, officials said on Wednesday. But the independent prosecutor, prominent Canadian criminal attorney Richard Peck, has recommended that criminal charges not be filed against a U.S.-linked religious community that has openly practiced polygamy in Western Canada for years. Peck said pursuing the charges related to sex with underage girls would not likely results in convictions on the "available evidence," but the case left unanswered the broader issue of how Canada should handle the issue of plural marriage. "The legality of polygamy in Canada has for too long been characterized by uncertainty," Peck wrote in a report to British Columbia's attorney general that was released to the media on Wednesday. "Polygamy is the underlying phenomenon from which all the other alleged harms flow, and the public interest would best be served by addressing it directly," Peck wrote, saying the province should put the issue to the courts in the form of a specific question rather than a criminal case. B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal told local media his office was considering Peck's report, but might still press criminal charges so the constitutional issue would be raised by the defendants. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police had recommended charges be filed against unspecified members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS). Read more


Prosecutor tells BC: find out once and for all if anti-polygamy law stands
By Stephanie Levitz Canadian Press Canada East Online Originally published Wednesday August 1, 2007
VANCOUVER (CP) - A special prosecutor has concluded there's not enough evidence to charge members of a British Columbia polygamist colony with sex offences involving minors, closing yet another door in the government's bid to find a way to levy charges against the breakaway Mormon sect. But in shutting off one legal avenue, Richard Peck opened another, suggesting the time had finally come for the B.C. government to challenge the law banning polygamy itself by asking the courts to rule on its constitutional validity. By putting the question before the court, the government leaps over the hurdle of prosecuting a criminal case in which the defendants would likely claim religious freedom as a defence and where getting witnesses to testify could be extraordinarily difficult. Indeed, the challenge in finding women to say they were victims of sexual offences in Bountiful was the reason Peck couldn't gather enough evidence to find a basis to lay charges, B.C. Attorney-General Wally Oppal said Wednesday. "The real issue here is that the number of so-called complainants that we have have all told us that they consented to the act that took place," Oppal said. At the time the incidents are alleged to have taken place, the age of consent was 14, though it's now been raised to 16. "We really have no case as far as sex assaults are concerned," Oppal said. So authorities tried to pursue charges that the women had been sexually exploited by a person in a position of trust, but that effort was again thwarted. "There's no evidence of exploitation," Oppal said. Read more


No Charges Likely Against Canadian Polygamists
Sarah Dallof Reporting KSL-TV Channel 5 Originally broadcast August 1, 2007
Canadian authorities say they will not file charges against a polygamist community in British Columbia. The group is part of the FLDS Church, led by Warren Jeffs, who will go on trial later this year on charges of rape as an accomplice. According to Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff, it won't affect Jeff's trial here in Utah, but it is still encouraging to see other countries investigating polygamist communities. The community was led by Winston Blackmore, until he was ousted by Warren Jeffs in a leadership struggle that split the community. The FLDS community had moved to Canada to avoid U.S. and Utah laws banning polygamy, even though it is also illegal in Canada. The problem today, according to British Columbia officials, is that they have no witnesses. The young women they've spoken to say they entered into relationships with older men willingly; in some cases they told police they pursued the men. It's a problem Utah authorities have also struggled with. Read more


Correction: BC-WST--Canada-Polygamists story
The Associated Press The Columbian - Vancouver, Washington Originally published August 2, 2007
VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) -- In an Aug. 1 story about a prosecutor concluding there was not enough evidence to charge members of a polygamist colony with sex offenses involving minors, The Associated Press reported erroneously that the age of consent for sexual relations in Canada had been raised from 14 to 16. Legislation to raise the age of consent is still before the Canadian Senate.


Polygamy fight
Attorney-general Wally Oppal says the practice is abhorrent; to the special prosecutor it's the 'root of the problem'
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published August 2, 2007
After more than 60 years of ignoring fundamentalist Mormons who are illegally practising polygamy in East Kootenay, the B.C. government may finally do something about it. Attorney-General Wally Oppal is considering referring the anti-polygamy law to the B.C. Court of Appeal, asking it to determine whether the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom renders the Criminal Code offence invalid. During Wednesday's teleconference with journalists, Oppal called polygamy abhorrent and contrary to the Constitution's guarantee of equal treatment of women. Both Oppal and special prosecutor Richard Peck, who made the recommendation for the court reference, believe the anti-polygamy law will be found to be valid because the Constitution also guarantees equality and allows for laws limiting freedoms where there is proven harm to others. What Peck concluded after studying the evidence for two months was this: "Polygamy itself is at the root of the problem. Polygamy is the underlying phenomenon from which all the other alleged harms flow, and the public interest would best be served by addressing it directly." He went on to say, "There is a substantial body of scholarship supporting the position that polygamy is socially harmful . . . Religious freedom in Canada is not absolute. Rather, it is subject to reasonable limits necessary to protect 'public safety, order, health, or morals or the fundamental rights and freedoms of others.' " Read more


Support for same-sex unions doesn't equal polygamy on the way: legal experts
By Stephanie Levitz Canadian Press 570 News - Kitchener, Ontario Originally published August 2, 2007
VANCOUVER (CP) - Gay marriage is declared by opponents as a slippery slope to all manner of nasty lifestyles not condoned in Canadian society, and they suggest legalizing polygamy will raise it's ugly head next. Legal authorities are chopping that argument off at the neck. Same-sex marriage and the practice of taking multiple wives share little basis in law, they say. Why then has British Columbia has been so reluctant to take action against a radical Mormon sect where the men take many wives as their ticket to heaven? "I always find it baffling when people see the two as so closely linked," said Robert Leckey, a law professor at McGill University. "Over the years many things about marriage have changed. It used to be for life, now we have divorce. It used to be the man had all the rights, now men and women have equal rights. It is weird to me that same-sex marriage is seen as being the first change dramatic enough to make people think it is polygamy next." The existence of polygamous marriage has been a thorn in the side of B.C. legislators for more than 20 years. Tucked in the southeast corner of the province sits a colony of a breakaway fundamentalist Mormon sect whose faith dictates that to reach heaven, a man must marry as often as possible. And they do. The head of the colony in Bountiful, B.C., Winston Blackmore, is estimated to have more than 20 wives. Read more


Frustrated A-G looking for alternative tactic
With no victims willing to testify, prosecution becomes impossible
By Michael Smyth The Vancouver Province Originally published Thursday, August 2, 2007
Attorney-General Wally Oppal is disgusted by the concept of polygamy. So are most Canadians, according to every opinion poll on the topic. And since polygamy is clearly illegal under the Criminal Code, Oppal has always favoured a tough-cop approach to the problem. But now he's finding out why no previous attorney-general, stretching back decades, has seriously gone after the polygamist leaders of Bountiful, B.C. How do you bring down a bunch of bad guys if you can't find any victims? Not only do the multiple wives of Bountiful's male masters claim to be happy and content with their lives, but they also shocked Oppal with their attitudes toward sex. It was a surprise to me the number of young women who told the police that they were the aggressors -- that they wanted to have sex with the older men," Oppal said yesterday. You may be thinking what Bountiful's many critics allege: The women are brainwashed and coached on what to say to the cops. "But how do you prove that?" Oppal asked. The answer: You can't. With no victims, no evidence of sexual assault or exploitation and no evidence of coercion, you've got no case. Oppal admitted as much yesterday, announcing there would be no charges against Bountiful's polygamist leaders. But he's not giving up. Oppal said the government will now likely ask the courts to rule on whether the long-established but rarely prosecuted polygamy law is valid in the first place. It's a case that could go all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada. But something tells me polygamist leaders like Winston Blackmore, the cocky and confident "bishop of Bountiful," aren't very worried. Read more


Religious rape?
A tip to Bountiful: Save your girls from a life of polygamy
By Mindelle Jacobs Opinion Edmonton Sun Originally published August 3, 2007
With a straight face, B.C. Attorney-General Wally Oppal said this week there's no evidence that girls in the province's infamous polygamous colony are being exploited. "In fact," he added, "it was surprising to me the number of young women who told police that they were the aggressors, that they wanted to have sex with the older men." What's Oppal been smoking in Lotusland? What did he expect from girls who've been raised in a cloistered community where men have all the power, independence and education is discouraged and females are brainwashed for years to believe their role is to breed and serve men. Did he imagine that after a lifetime of emotionally crippling psychological moulding that girls from Bountiful would reveal their true feelings to outsiders -- especially the cops? Read more


B.C. government has a duty to protect Bountiful's children while challenging polygamy
Editorial Vancouver Sun Originally published Friday, August 3, 2007
Polygamy has been a crime in Canada since 1892. Under s. 293 of the Criminal Code any kind of conjugal union with more than one person at the same time, whether or not it is recognized as a binding form of marriage, is an indictable offence that carries a penalty of up to five years in prison. There's no ambiguity in s. 293. Polygamy is illegal, no ifs, ands or buts. Given this clear prohibition, it is baffling that a polygamous community of fundamentalist Mormons at Bountiful in East Kootenay has been allowed to thrive for 60 years in defiance of the law. Polygamy has never been prosecuted in British Columbia, although the RCMP recommended in 1990 -- to no avail -- that charges be laid against several Bountiful leaders. The reluctance to prosecute has long been based on the view that a conviction would be unlikely because a brainwashed 15-year-old girl forced into an arranged multiple marriage with a much older man would be unwilling to testify against her elders. (The notion that a victim of this age could give consent to a sexual act with a male authority figure is ludicrous, of course.) Read more


National Post editorial board gets clear about polygamy
By Marni Soupcoff Editorial National Post - Don Mills, Ontario, Canada Originally published August 3, 2007
It is nearly 20 years since the fundamentalist Mormon community near the U.S. border in Bountiful, B.C., began to attract attention for its open practice of polygamy. That means it has been nearly two decades since feminists and human rights advocates started calling attention to cult-like conditions and a culture of oppressive secrecy in the colony. And for almost that entire period the RCMP has stood ready to lay charges of polygamy under Section 293 of the Criminal Code. But the B.C. attorney-general's office has held back through several changes of government, fearing that a prosecution could be thwarted by Charter of Rights guarantees of religious freedom. On Wednesday, a special prosecutor who had been asked by Wally Oppal, the Attorney-General of B.C., to formulate a legal strategy delivered his report on the Bountiful problem. Richard Peck's report crushes police hopes that other sections of the Code could be used to shine some light on conditions in Bountiful and to give a chance at freedom to women who are generally thought to be living in an unhealthy mental environment. Mr. Peck says there is "no substantial likelihood of conviction" on charges of sexual exploitation, human trafficking or similar offences. The women of the community simply won't co-operate. Even those who entered into polygamous arrangements with much older men while still teenagers say they gave their free consent and profess themselves happy with a polygamous existence. "In any event," Mr. Peck adds, "these other offences do not address the core of the problem" -- namely, the institution of polygamy itself. Read more


Bountiful education report full of errors
School inspectors say everything is just fine with polygamist sect's system. It isn't. Victoria should take a closer look
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Saturday, August 4, 2007
British Columbia's independent school inspectors believe everything is just fine at the Bountiful elementary-secondary school. The most recent report says that the school complies in every way with the province's Independent School Act and its regulations. If that's true, alarm bells should be ringing in Education Minister Shirley Bond's office. And since the school gets close to $600,000 a year in operating grants, B.C. taxpayers should also pay attention. To start with, the inspectors' report of their two-day visit to the school in the East Kootenay in February got some basic details wrong. "A locally approved program of religious instruction reflecting the Mormon faith is an integral part of this school's curriculum," it says, noting that the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Neither of those things is true. The 158 children attending BESS are not being taught the mainstream Mormon faith. Their parents are members of a polygamist sect called the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has its headquarters in Colorado City, Ariz. Read more


Polygamy cases highlight society's confusion over the age of consent
By Susan Paynter Seattle Post-Intelligencer Originally published August 5, 2007
The "women" said they wanted to have sex with the older men. Never mind that, in this particular case, the "women" were: A: As young as 14. And B: May well have been brainwashed (since they were actual babies) by the never-questioned male leaders of the Canadian sect headed by infamous, indicted and jailed polygamy cult leader Warren Jeffs, "prophet" of the offshoot sect known as the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Jeffs now sits in a Washington County, Utah, cell on felony charges of accomplice to rape for just one of many marriages to older men he is said to have forced upon girls as young as 13 and 14. One week after his father, FLDS founder Rulon Jeffs, died in 2002, Warren Jeffs, himself, reportedly married several dozen of his father's wives. He then reportedly continued marrying many more minors, including close blood relatives, based on the belief that incest preserved a purer blood line. But, "there is no evidence of exploitation," Provincial Attorney General Wally Oppal told The Associated Press last week when he decided that he couldn't prosecute any of the middle-age men involved in similar unions in southeastern B.C. Sounding as if he assumed they actually were exercising free will and informed consent, Oppal said, "It was surprising to me the number of young women who told police ... that they wanted to have sex with the older men," he said. Read more


Is polygamy now legal in Canada?
It might as well be after a surprise recommendation in British Columbia
By Ken MacQueen Maclean's Magazine - Toronto CNews Originally published August 8, 2007
If polygamy is illegal, but nobody wants to prosecute it, is it really a crime? The question of the legality of plural marriage is no closer to resolution in British Columbia, home of the Bountiful polygamous community, now that a special prosecutor weighed in Wednesday with his ambivalent opinion. Prominent Vancouver lawyer Richard Peck has recommended charges not be laid against unspecified members of the Bountiful commune, where plural marriage has been openly practiced for more than 60 years. "The legality of polygamy in Canada has for too long been characterized by uncertainty," Peck wrote. He was appointed by the provincial attorney general's ministry to render an independent opinion on whether the commune's blatant violation of Canada's longstanding anti-polygamy law should be prosecuted, or whether men in the commune could be charged for having sex with their underage wives. Peck said the "available evidence" offered little likelihood of a conviction, especially since the women in Bountiful have not stepped forward with a complaint or cooperated with investigators. A Maclean's story in June - Polygamy: Legal In Canada - raised a furor by suggesting plural marriage was de facto legal since it was rarely if ever prosecuted. Peck's report does nothing to change, despite his warning "there is a substantial body of scholarship supporting the position that polygamy is socially harmful." Read more


Polygamy illegal?
By Black Press Peninsula News Review Originally published August 10, 2007
A special prosecutor has recommended that the B.C. Court of Appeal be asked to rule on whether polygamy is allowed under the Canada’s constitution before any prosecution of members of the fundamentalist Mormon community of Bountiful in southeastern B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal said he will decide by the end of August whether to refer the question to the courts, or prosecute a case instead. Polygamy has been illegal in Canada since the first Criminal Code was enacted in 1892, but prosecutions have been rare and none has been tried since the modern Charter of Rights and Freedoms protected religious choice. Oppal believes the law against polygamy would be upheld as a justified infringement of religious freedom. He said he is more concerned with allegations that young girls in Bountiful have been exploited sexually by older men in multiple marriages, but community members have told investigators they consented to the marriage arrangements. NDP critic Leonard Krog urged Oppal to clarify the law as soon as possible. Read more


Criminal act or religious right?
Canada stymied by polygamy issue
By Charles Lewis National Post - Ontario Originally published Saturday, August 11, 2007
To understand the moral and legal conundrum of polygamy in Canada, consider that when the Canadian Bar Association discusses the matter at its annual meeting next week, it will be part of a larger discussion about the "implications of family diversity." The practice of having multiple spouses -- illegal for more than a century -- is being considered alongside serial monogamy, surrogacy arrangements and same-sex relationships as being among those societal changes "charting new legal territory for family relationships" being examined by a panel probing what it means when the law moves into the bedrooms of the nation. Is polygamy a religious freedom that should be allowed in a pluralistic society or is it so morally repugnant that it should remain a criminal act? This is the question raised by the recent recommendation to test the constitutionality of Canada's anti-polygamy law -- proposed last week as a way to get at the legion of alleged wrongs in the polygamous outpost of Bountiful, B.C., but which raises an array of issues that reach far beyond the inner workings of one small community. Bountiful was founded in the mid-1940s by the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Americans ex-communicated by the mainstream Mormon church who feared prosecution for their polygamous lifestyle. Because no one knows how many Canadians live in polygamous relationships, Bountiful has become the symbol for polygamy in this country. Read more


Polygamists should have the same rights and freedoms as other people
By Alan Ferguson The Vancouver Province Originally published Tuesday, August 14, 2007
My mother lived for too long in an abusive relationship, married to a drunk and a gambler who robbed his children's money boxes to play the horses. One of the reasons she put up with him was the social stigma that, just a generation ago, attached itself to the victims of broken marriages. She did finally pluck up the courage to leave and, despite minimal support from her own Victorian-era parents, who thought she should have stuck it out, her life was immeasurably improved. The institution of marriage has evolved dramatically over recent years, and the social acceptance of divorce has mercifully spared countless incompatible couples the agonies of prolonged cohabitation. But the habits of a long, church-going tradition are not easily eradicated. A majority of religious believers opposed the landmark Supreme Court of Canada ruling legalizing gay unions. By emphasizing that marriage is a "civil institution" -- not subject to the whim of church-based morality -- the ruling effectively ended religious tyranny over sexual mores, with all its hypocrisy, misery and humiliation. In the current debate over polygamy, echoes of medieval bigotry are heard again. Our own attorney-general, Wally Oppal, is under pressure to take action against unnamed members of the 60-year-old polygamous community in Bountiful. Though polygamy is a crime in Canada, it has rarely been prosecuted. Oppal's people tell him charges would likely fall foul of guarantees in the Charter of Rights of religious freedom and liberty. In other words, the Charter aims to ensure that, in a pluralistic society, it is the right of a free people to live life as they see fit, provided, of course, they don't interfere with the rights of others. Read more


Bountiful horror show
By Lyn Cockburn Opinion Edmonton Sun Originally published August 17, 2007
For years, various B.C. governments have thrown up their judicial hands in confusion over polygamy in the religious hellhole that is Bountiful. "Religious freedom" is the rallying cry around which successive attorneys-general have excused themselves from shutting down this fundamentalist Mormon cult. This in spite of the fact that polygamy is clearly and unequivocally against the law in Canada. Wally Opal, the current AG, has the dubious distinction of becoming the first to consider referring the anti-polygamy law to the B.C. Court of Appeal, asking it to determine whether the constitutional guarantee of religious freedom renders the Criminal Code offence invalid. And as usual, pundits and private citizens alike of the same-sex-marriage-is-of-the-devil persuasion have begun blathering on about "if same sex marriage why not polygamy?" Extremists insist that allowing same sex-marriage opens up the door to not just polygamy, but sibling marriages and inter-species wedlock. Still, I do wonder what panda would want to marry a wacko human. Surely, having to put up with human incursion into bamboo territory is bad enough. What Opal and the opponents to gay marriage seem to forget is that in communities like Bountiful, children are involved. Girls as young as 14, and some suspect younger, are forced (what other verb could be used?) into marriage with men in their 40s or 50s in the name of religion - one that dictates a man must have at least three wives in order to make it into heaven. Read more


A win for those who want to halt abuses at Bountiful
Activists don't get all they want from Victoria, but it's a start
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Children in all independent schools in B.C. may soon get a more balanced education. People leaving the polygamous community of Bountiful may find it easier to get the help they need. And Attorney-General Wally Oppal may come under even more pressure to ask the courts to rule on the constitutionality of the anti-polygamy law. It's all because of a small group of seemingly indefatigable women who complained two years ago to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal that the provincial government has discriminated against all women, but specifically against the female members of the fundamentalist Mormon community in Bountiful. The women contended that the government had failed to enforce the law that forbids polygamy and failed to provide Bountiful's girls and women with equal access to services. The women didn't get all that they asked for. But they got something despite the provincial government doing all that it could to stop their complaints from being heard. Read more


Now Polygamy
After Legalizing Same-Sex ‘Marriage,’ More Canadians Want to Redefine Marriage
By Steve Weatherbe National Catholic Register September 2-8, 2007 Issue
VICTORIA, British Columbia — British Columbians, arguably Canada’s most morally permissive population, are discovering that tolerance has its limits. At issue is the polygamous behavior of the breakaway Mormons of Bountiful, a community of about 700, tucked away in the mountainous southeast corner of the province close to the American border. British Columbia Attorney General Wally Oppal repeatedly has stated his desire to prosecute the handful of middle-aged men with multiple partners like Bountiful’s unofficial leader, Winston Blackmore, who has reportedly fathered 100 children by 20 wives. But Oppal’s own legal advisers have warned him that Canada’s century-old anti-polygamy law would probably be overturned by the protection of religious freedom enshrined in the 1982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms. And the legal fate of the obscure border community could have international ramifications: According to some observers, other countries that follow Canada’s lead and legalize same-sex "marriage" may be forced to sanction polygamous unions, as well. Bountiful was established in 1946 by followers of the Arizona-based United Effort Order, whose founders broke with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints when the latter dropped polygamy in 1890 as part of a deal with the U.S. government. The colony emerged from obscurity in the early 1990s when some female members left the community and instigated criminal charges with claims they had been forced, as minors, into plural marriages. Blackmore, recently deposed as the community’s bishop, insists the Canadian constitution protects the Bountiful Mormons’ practice of "plural marriage" just as it protects other Canadians practicing their religions. Read more


Legalizing polygamy shapes up as societal nightmare
Bureaucratic horror story in government briefing paper
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Friday, August 31, 2007
British Columbia's de facto legalization of polygamy could force a massive overhaul of family law and result in demands that would overwhelm the taxpayer-financed social safety net. That's what Ida Chong, B.C.'s minister responsible for women's issues, has been told by her officials in briefing notes prepared in 2006 prior to her ministry's budget estimates being debated. Family law, social programs and even public and private insurance benefits schemes were established on the basis of average-sized, monogamous families. No one contemplated fundamentalist Mormon families composed of several wives and 30, 40, 50 or 100-plus children. As a result, plural wives and their children have no legal protection or recognition under current laws and social programs. If their religious or spiritual marriage is dissolved, there are no laws covering child custody, support or division of "marital" property in polygamous relationships. In the event of the husband's death, only the first wife and her family are entitled to his property. This, of course, could lead to tremendous inequities among the wives and serious consequences for the children's well-being. Read more


One wife is plenty
By Iain Hunter The Victoria Times-Colonist Originally published Wednesday, September 5, 2007
As someone who's had wives in succession, with qualified success, I have no interest in polygamy. Marriage is not something to be taken lightly, especially after children are produced. A loving relationship with one person, with all its ups and downs, is a wonderful thing. But I suppose there are men who have a hankering for a clutch of wives, especially young, pretty and healthy ones, and who think it would be kind of neat to have 100 or so kids if they could afford them. And I suppose there are women who could share a husband with other women and not be consumed with jealousy on their own or their children's account. If there are men who like the idea of sharing a wife with another man, I haven't met them. We've been made aware for some time of the existence in British Columbia of a community known as Bountiful, where about 1,500 members of a fundamentalist Mormon splinter group are living what the law says is a life of crime. Males in the community are encouraged to take many wives. Winston Blackmore, one of its leaders, is reported to have at least 26 wives and 100 kids. The sect claims religious authority for this helter-skelter approach to marriage and conception. It believes that men must marry multiple wives in order to get to heaven; women are bidden by their faith to help them get there. Read more


Polygamy review
By Kelly Sinoski Vancouver Sun Originally published Friday, September 7, 2007
B.C.'s Attorney-General has appointed power lawyer Leonard Doust - who was one of 17 lawyers on the Air India prosecution team - to review a report on allegations of misconduct in the polygamist community of Bountiful. Wally Oppal directed the Criminal Justice Branch on Friday to retain Doust to review the decision of special prosecutor Richard Peck. Last month Peck recommended that no criminal charges be laid in connection with the investigation. Peck was appointed by Robert Gillen to determine whether there were potential charges relating to polygamy, or any offence of a sexual nature. In his decision last month, Peck said there was not a "substantial likelihood of conviction" on charges of sexual exploitation in connection with Bountiful. He also considered other sexual and marriage-related offences, but determined none of them was applicable, the report said. Oppal wasn't available Friday, but Shawn Robins, a spokesman for the Ministry of the Attorney-General, said Oppal ordered the appointment to determine whether there is a basis to proceed with criminal charges. Read more


Look at polygamist colony again, B.C. A-G asks
By Jane Armstrong The Globe and Mail Originally published September 8, 2007
Victoria -- Attorney-General Wally Oppal has asked for a second opinion on a special prosecutor's report that recommended Canada's anti-polygamy law be referred to the Supreme Court of Canada for a test of its constitutional validity. Mr. Oppal has asked B.C.'s Criminal Justice Branch to hire Vancouver lawyer Leonard Doust to review the report submitted last July by Special Prosecutor Richard Peck, which recommended that no sexual assault charges be laid against residents of the polygamous community of Bountiful in southeastern B.C. Mr. Oppal had asked Mr. Peck to review the file because of concerns that sexual assault charges could fail a constitutional challenge. In a written statement released yesterday, Mr. Oppal said if Mr. Doust recommends charges, then he will be asked to conduct the prosecution.


B.C. ponders polygamy charges
By Stephanie Levitz Canadian Press Edmonton Sun Originally published September 8, 2007
VANCOUVER -- Yet another review has been ordered on whether criminal charges can be laid against members of a B.C. polygamist colony. This time, high-profile lawyer Leonard Doust is being asked to review a report that concluded there wasn't enough evidence to charge members with sexual offences at the breakaway Mormon sect in Bountiful, B.C. Special prosecutor Richard Peck concluded in a report released in August that the provincial government should ask the court to rule on the constitutional validity of Canada's laws against polygamy. RELIGIOUS FREEDOM Peck said a reference to the court would avoid a lengthy criminal trial in which the defendants would likely claim religious freedom and where getting witnesses to testify could be extraordinarily difficult. "Peck looked at it from one particular angle as to the reference part, not necessarily from the perspective of whether we should lay charges and let the defence raise (the constitutionality), and I've always sort of felt that way about it," said Attorney General Wally Oppal, a former judge. "I just want to cover all bases. We just want to be cautious before we do those things." Read more


A polygamist on trial
The 'Prophet' Of A Church That Rules Bountiful, B.C., Faces Rape Charges In A Utah Court
By Daphne Bramham, CanWest News Service National Post - Ontario, Canada Originally published September 10, 2007
Is Warren Jeffs a monster or a man of God? Is he one of the most dangerous men in the United States or a sideshow on the fringe of America? Jurors in St. George, Utah, will consider such questions over the next two weeks as they try to determine whether the prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is guilty of two counts of being an accomplice to the rape of a 14-year-old girl. He faces a maximum penalty of life in prison. Mr. Jeffs is the "prophet" of the 15,000-member church that includes about 600 adherents in Bountiful, B.C. The Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) is the largest polygamous group in North America, although it represents fewer than half the estimated number of fundamentalist Mormon polygamists in the state of Utah alone. Fundamentalist Mormons broke away from the mainstream church in 1890, when the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints renounced the earthly practice of polygamy. The principle of plural marriage was set out by Mormonism's founder Joseph Smith as a direct order from God and it remains in the mainstream church's holy book, The Doctrines and Covenants, as article 132. Mr. Jeffs' trial promises to be sensational. The 51-year-old "prophet" was a fugitive for 15 months. He was arrested last August after 114 days on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list. In addition to the Utah charges, an Arizona grand jury has indicted Mr. Jeffs on charges of sexual conduct with a minor, conspiracy to commit sexual conduct with a minor and unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. Media spaces in the 53-seat St. George courtroom are already over-subscribed; the television networks long ago booked parking spots for their microwave trucks. Read more


Jury selection begins in trial of one of America’s 10 Most Wanted
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Monday, September 10, 2007
ST. GEORGE, Utah — Jury selection for the trial of Warren Jeffs — one of America’s 10 Most Wanted — has entered its second phase. Eleven of the 230 potential jurors were interviewed in Judge James Shumate’s chambers Monday by lawyers for the state and for Jeffs, the so-called prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Jeffs is charged in Utah with two counts as an accomplice to the rape of a 14-year-old girl. Jeffs is alleged to have forced the girl to marry her 19-year-old first cousin and then counselled the husband to impregnate her. The maximum penalty for the conspiracy charge is life in prison. Jeffs has also been charged in Arizona with six sex-related counts and he faces two federal counts of unlawful flight from prosecution. Jeffs and his 15,000 or so followers — including about 600 in Bountiful, B.C. — believe that a man requires multiple wives to enter the highest realm of heaven. They believe the prophet arranges the marriages after receiving a revelation from God about who is to marry whom. Part of the reason that the judge is taking such extraordinary lengths to find jurors is that he earlier denied a defence motion to have the trial moved to Salt Lake City. Lawyers for Jeffs argued that it would be impossible to find eight jurors and four alternates in this county, which is home to the FLDS stronghold of Hildale and its twin town, Colorado City, Ariz. Read more


Jurors hard to find for Warren Jeffs trial
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Monday, September 10, 2007
ST. GEORGE, Utah - There is a very real possibility that the trial of Warren Jeffs - North America's most notorious polygamist - may be have to be moved from this southern Utah city because an impartial jury can not be found. Jeffs was on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list alongside Osama bin Laden when he was arrested last August. He is the so-called prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints whose 15,000 followers (including about 600 in Bountiful, B.C.) believe that he is God's mouthpiece on earth and may well be a god himself. Jeffs is charged in Utah with two counts of being an accomplice to the rape of a 14-year-old girl, who he assigned to marry her 19-year-old first cousin. The maximum penalty for the conspiracy charge is life in prison. Jeffs has also been charged in Arizona with six sex-related counts and he faces two federal counts of unlawful flight from prosecution. Polygamy is not an issue at the trial. But between being on the Most Wanted List and being a polygamist, it's hard to find anybody who doesn't have an opinion about Jeffs and his innocence. After two days, only nine people have been deemed eligible to move to the next stage in the selection process, when attorneys for the prosecution or the defence can exclude up to four people each without any reason. Of the original pool of 300, only 230 showed up for the first round on Friday to fill out an 11-page, 76-question survey. From those 230, 74 were in court on Monday. Thirty-five were excluded on the basis of their answers to the questionnaire. Sixteen people were interviewed and seven more were excluded. Read more


Tough job picking a jury for Jeffs
Leader of North America's largest polygamist sect has few 'peers' as questionnaire disqualifies many
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Tuesday, September 11, 2007
ST. GEORGE, Utah - Defendants are promised a jury of their peers, but getting one is impossible if you are a notorious leader of a breakaway polygamist sect. Warren Jeffs is charged as an accomplice to the rape of a 14-year-old girl. He is alleged to have arranged and presided over the marriage of the girl to her 19-year-old first cousin and then counselled the husband to impregnate his wife. The leader of the largest polygamist group in North America was captured only after he was placed on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list alongside Osama bin Laden. So who should sit in judgment of Warren Jeffs, the prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose followers believe he is God's mouthpiece on Earth and a possible god himself? That's what Judge James Shumate, Washington County prosecutors and Jeffs's lawyers are going to extraordinary lengths to determine. They have done something that would be impossible in Canadian courts given our privacy laws and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. To ensure that he gets an unbiased jury, the lawyers crafted an 11-page, 75-question survey to weed out any undesirables from a pool that started at 300 on Friday and was down to 230 before the questionnaires were even handed out. Another 45 were dismissed Monday based on their written answers. By the end of the day, of the 74 people who appeared, only nine were deemed eligible to go on to the next round when the defence and prosecution each have four pre-emptory challenges -- meaning that they can exclude them without providing any reason. Read more


Final jury selection in polygamy trial slated for Thursday
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Wednesday, September 12, 2007
ST. GEORGE, Utah -- Final jury selection for the trial of Warren Jeffs, the leader of the largest polygamist group in North America, will be done Thursday morning with opening arguments scheduled to begin in the afternoon. Jeffs is not charged with polygamy even though it is illegal in Utah and against the state's constitution. He is charged with two counts of being an accomplice to the rape of a 14-year-old girl by her 19-year-old first cousin. Jeffs married the pair in a religious ceremony and allegedly counselled the husband to impregnate the girl. The judge, prosecutors and defence lawyers spent four days trying to weed out any potential jurors who have strong opinions about polygamy, arranged marriages, the judicial system or about religion. After surveying and interviewing close to 200 people, they have come up with a final pool of 28 people from which to draw eight jurors and two alternates. On Thursday, each side - defence and prosecution - can simply reject four jurors without giving any reasons and one alternate. Even if Jeffs is acquitted of the charges in Utah, he still faces similar charges in Arizona and two federal counts of unlawful flight from prosecution.


Knowing too much about jurors not always the best
Utah is so keen for Warren Jeffs to have a fair trial that extraordinary measures have been taken
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Thursday, September 13, 2007
ST. GEORGE, Utah - The trial of Warren Jeffs, leader of the largest polygamist group in North America, will start this afternoon. It has taken four days to whittle the jury pool from 300 to 28. Prospective jurors have answered 75 written questions and been interviewed for an average of 15 minutes each to weed out any with strong opinions about polygamy, Jeffs, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, arranged marriages and even the government. This morning, lawyers will reduce the 28 to eight jurors and four alternates and clean up some pre-trial motions before the real work begins. Even though polygamy is illegal in Utah and against the state's constitution, Jeffs is not charged with that. He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of being an accomplice to the rape of a 14-year-old girl by her 19-year-old first cousin. Jeffs married the pair in a religious ceremony and allegedly counselled the husband to impregnate the girl. The extensive questioning of prospective jurors is unheard of in Canada. Even individual interviews are unusual in the United States. But Utah is so keen for Jeffs to have a fair trial that extraordinary measures have been taken. Judge James Shumate, the prosecutors, defence lawyers and Jeffs himself all know a great deal about the jurors. Not only have they quizzed people about their biases, religious or moral qualms and media-instilled ideas about Jeffs and the FLDS, they have also pummelled them with questions about whether they truly believe Jeffs is innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt. One prospect was asked to look Jeffs in the eye and say that. It would never happen in Canada. But does it ensure a fairer trial? Read more


Girl, 14, begged not to be married, says prosecution in Jeffs trial
By Daphne Bramham, CanWest News Service Vancouver Sun Originally published Thursday, September 13, 2007
ST. GEORGE, Utah - Give yourself over, mind, body and soul to your husband. That's what the prosecution said Warren Jeffs, the 51-year-old leader of the largest polygamist group in North America, counselled a 14-year-old girl who had earlier got down on her knees and begged not to have to go through with the arranged marriage to her 19-year-old first cousin. Jeffs told the girl that her heart was in the wrong place; she had a duty to go forward and marry because it was God's will, the prosecution said during opening remarks in the trial Thursday. Jeffs is charged with two counts of rape as an accomplice, and if found guilty, faces the prospect of anywhere from five years to life in prison. Polygamy is not at issue in the case. However, polygamy, the control that Jeffs exercises over the 6,000 to 8,000 members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - including about 600 in Bountiful, B.C. - and what the church's members are taught provide the backdrop to the case. The FLDS is a breakaway sect that has no affiliation with the Mormon church. Prosecutor Brock Belnap told jurors that on the victim's wedding day in April 2001, "She left as a child and came back expected to move into a bedroom with her adult husband. That night she put her pyjamas over her clothes and pretended to be asleep while her husband had a shower." A few weeks later, she went to Jeffs, told him that she was being touched in ways that she didn't like and that her husband was doing things that made her uncomfortable. Belnap said Jeffs told her, "'Repent. Go home and give yourself mind, body and soul to your husband.' And she did." Read more


Opening arguments made in polygamist leader's trial
By Daphne Bramham, CanWest News Service National Post - Ontario Canada Originally published Friday, September 14, 2007
ST. GEORGE, Utah - Give yourself over, mind, body and soul to your husband. That's what prosecutors say Warren Jeffs, the 51-year-old leader of the largest polygamist group in North America, advised a 14-year-old girl who had earlier got down on her knees and begged not to have to go through with the arranged marriage to her 19-year-old first cousin. Mr. Jeffs allegedly told the girl that her heart was in the wrong place; she had a duty to go forward and marry because it was God's will. It's those admonitions that have put him in court facing two charges of rape as an accomplice and, if he's found guilty, the prospect of anywhere from five years to life in prison. Polygamy is not at issue in the case. The arranged marriage of the girl and her first cousin was a monogamous one. The girl's age is also not at issue. The charge is rape, but it is not what was once known as "statutory rape" involving sex with a child. The age of sexual consent in Utah (as in Canada) is 14. The backdrop to the alleged rape includes polygamy, the control that Jeffs exercises over the 6,000 to 8,000 members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (including about 600 in Bountiful, B.C.) and what the church's members are taught. Read more


Keep Sweet: The little girls of Bountiful, B.C.
By Sarah Galashan CTV News - Ontario, Canada Originally published September 15, 2007
They surrounded me, all dressed in identical prairie-styled smocks and leggings. Most wore their hair braided and all of the little girls in Bountiful, B.C. bore a remarkable resemblance to each other. If they weren't directly related, it was clear many of them were half-sisters, or cousins, sharing a father, although few were willing to admit it. It was two years ago that I had the chance to visit Canada's only polygamist community, nestled in the mountains near Creston, B.C. But the testimony out this week's trial of Warren Jeffs, in Utah, has me thinking about Bountiful again. Jeffs, the 51-year-old prophet/leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is charged on two counts of rape as an accomplice for using his authority to coerce the marriage of a 14-year-old girl to her older cousin. As the head of the FLDS, Jeffs has many followers in Bountiful. It's been alleged that he dictates who marries who within the U.S. church, and that his influence extends to Bountiful. In particular I remember the little girls. They were ... sweet, in keeping with the town's motto "keep sweet," I suppose. Read more


Polygamy oozed onto public square
Once scorned, Turcotte's comments may prove prophetic
By Deborah Gyapong Canadian Catholic News - Ottawa Western Catholic Reporter - Edmonton, Alberta Originally published week of September 17, 2007
Long scorned was the idea that polygamy would ever become legal in Canada. But now plural marriage is edging its way on to centre stage of both the courts and the media. Polygamy has been in the news all summer as British Columbia considers testing whether the law against plural marriage can withstand a religious freedom challenge. Meanwhile, the U.S. movie network HBO has been airing the hit drama series Big Love, about a polygamous family living a "closeted" life in an American state, to overwhelmingly positive reviews. Turcotte ridiculed Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast recalls how Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte, archbishop of Montreal, was ridiculed by the news media only a few years ago when he warned that legalizing same-sex marriage might lead to polygamy. Now Turcotte's remarks - and those of many others who warned against it during the same-sex marriage debate - may appear more prophetic than foolish. Read more


Polygamist's lawyer attacks girl's credibility
By Daphne Bramham CanWest News Service Originally published Monday, September 17, 2007
ST. GEORGE, UTAH - The attorney for Warren Jeffs, the "prophet" of the largest polygamous group in North America who is charged as an accomplice to rape involving a 14-year-old girl, did some damage to the girl's credibility in cross-examination Monday. The alleged victim's credibility is key to the state's case against Jeffs since her 19-year-old first cousin has never been charged. The state alleges Jeffs forced the girl to marry the cousin. Tara Isaacson got the girl - now 21 and called Jane Doe to protect her identity - to admit that her mother and at least one sister had told her she didn't have to go ahead with the marriage, that she had never spoke directly to Jeffs about sexual intercourse, and that Doe never told anyone about the alleged rapes until several years after they had occurred. Isaacson also questioned how Doe could say she was "trapped" in her marriage when she worked; travelled twice to Bountiful, B.C., staying for nearly five months without her husband; and, in early 2004, was able to sneak away to Las Vegas with another man who is now her husband. In response to Isaacson's questions about whether Jeffs had ever directly told her that she must have sexual intercourse with her husband, Doe told the jury that was impossible. "We didn't use those words - sexual intercourse - in our society," Doe said. "He wouldn't have told me that because that is something we just didn't use." Read more


Bride says sex was way to flee forced marriage
Utah woman says she 'sugared up' so she would be allowed to leave cousin-husband to visit sisters
By Petti Fong Western Canada Bureau Chief Toronto Star Originally published September 18, 2007
ST. GEORGE, Utah–The accuser of polygamous-sect leader Warren Jeffs testified yesterday she was a scared teenager when forced into marriage, and submitted to having sex with her husband, in order to be allowed trips away from him. The witness, known only as Jane Doe, said she was pressured by everyone she trusted when told she was going to get married to a first cousin at age 14. Jeffs, head of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is charged on two felony counts of rape as an accomplice for allegedly arranging the spiritual union between a 14-year-old and her 19-year-old cousin. That union in 2001 lasted 3 1/2 years. The woman, now 21, testified she felt trapped because she had been taught to follow the teachings of the man she knew as the "prophet." She was told getting married at that age was the right thing to do. "I believed in the prophet," said Jane Doe. "We were not to question anything." Under cross-examination by defence lawyer Tara Isaacson, the witness said she tried to talk to Jeffs about the problems in her marriage. "Did you ever clearly and specifically tell Warren Jeffs about your sexual relationship?" asked Isaacson. The woman said she did, but the culture of the religion was that Jeffs never used the words "sexual relationship" or "sex." Read more


Polygamist's lawyer attacks wife's credibility
By Daphne Bramham CanWest News Service Montreal Gazette Originally published Tuesday, September 18, 2007
The attorney for Warren Jeffs, the "prophet" of the largest polygamous group in North America, who is charged as an accomplice to rape involving a 14-year-old girl, tried to damage her credibility in cross-examination yesterday. The alleged victim's credibility is key to the state's case against Jeffs because her 19-year-old first cousin has never been charged. The state alleges Jeffs forced her to marry the cousin. Attorney Tara Isaacson got the wife, now 21 and called Jane Doe to protect her identity, to admit her mother and at least one sister had told her she didn't have to go ahead with the marriage, that she had never spoken directly to Jeffs about sexual intercourse, and that Doe never told anyone about the alleged rapes until several years after they had occurred. Isaacson also questioned how Doe could say she was "trapped" in her marriage since she worked, had travelled twice to Bountiful, B.C., staying for nearly five months without her husband, and, in early 2004, was able to sneak away to Las Vegas with another man who is now her husband. Later, Doe said her mother finally convinced her she had no other choice but to marry her first cousin even though Doe was strongly opposed to getting married at 14 to a man she hated. Asked why Doe didn't confide in her mother after the first incident, Doe replied: "Of course I didn't tell her I was raped. Who wants to tell anyone that they are being raped?"


Defence tries to show Jeffs not linked to alleged rape
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Tuesday, September 18, 2007
ST. GEORGE, Utah - Warren Jeffs' lawyers got a chance Monday to poke some holes in the state's case against Jeffs, the "prophet" of the largest polygamous group in North America, who is charged as an accomplice to the rape of a 14-year-old girl. The prosecution is alleging that Jeffs counselled, enticed, encouraged and aided in the rape of the girl first by helping arrange her marriage to her 19-year-old first cousin and then by telling her to give herself to her husband "mind, body and soul." But the prosecution has a problem. The alleged rapist has never been charged. As a result, its case rests on the star witness's credibility. To find Jeffs guilty, the jury must first believe that she was raped and, then, that Jeffs' actions contributed to that rape. The witness, now 21 and called Jane Doe to protect her identity, testified Friday and was cross-examined Monday. Jeffs' lawyer Tara Isaacson got Doe to admit that Doe's mother and several sisters told her she didn't have to go ahead with the unwanted marriage; Doe had never spoken directly to Jeffs about sexual intercourse or the rapes; and she never told anyone about the rapes until several years after they had occurred. Isaacson questioned how Doe could say she was "trapped" in her marriage, when she held a job during the marriage, and went to Bountiful, B.C. without her husband and stayed with her sister for nearly five months. Read more


Court hears former legal adviser urge Jeffs to continue underage polygamy
Daphne Bramham, CanWest News Service Vancouver Sun Originally published Tuesday, September 18, 2007
ST. GEORGE, Utah - The prosecution abruptly wrapped up its case against polygamist prophet Warren Jeffs Tuesday morning after playing a tape of Jeffs's former legal adviser predicting a criminal prosecution like this one. Jeffs, who leads the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is charged with two counts of being an accomplice to rape in the arranged marriage of a 14-year-old girl to her 19-year-old first cousin. Jeffs officiated at the marriage. On the tape, former Colorado City town marshal Sam Barlow urged FLDS to continue to practise polygamy and the marriages of underaged girls. "In a country where Congress can make no law prohibiting the free exercise of religion, how can it legislate to pre-determine what age a person can make a religious covenant (such as marriage)?" Barlow is heard saying. But he warned that testing the constitutionality of the law would likely mean appealing to the Supreme Court and that would be expensive - unless the Lord delivered them from the fight. Barlow was speaking in the late 1990s at a time when the FLDS believed the apocalypse was imminent and that faithful people like them would be lifted up to heaven. Read more


'Prophet' allowed women to rule on sex, trial told
By Petti Fong WESTERN CANADA BUREAU CHIEF Toronto Star Originally published September 19, 2007
ST. GEORGE, Utah–One was a modern, defiant wife who proudly said no to unwanted sex; the other a mild, soft-spoken husband who insisted he always waited until his wife was ready to have sexual relations. The two witnesses presented by the defence in the case of polygamous sect leader Warren Jeffs were a study in contrast of the role of women and men under the rule of the man they both called "prophet." The defence began its case yesterday in Jeffs's trial on two counts of being an accomplice to rape by showing a religion and culture of obedience and submissiveness of women who could still assert some authority. It is a marked difference to the culture portrayed by Jane Doe, the now-21-year-old woman and former follower of Jeffs who said she was forced into an unwanted marriage as a teenager and raped. The scenario presented by Doe, who was 14 when she was married to her 19-year-old first cousin, was of absolute obedience to the words of the "prophet." She said she begged Jeffs to free her from her marriage, but he ignored her pleas. Jeffs is the spiritual leader of the 6,500-member Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a group scattered through Arizona, Utah and with an off-shoot branch in Bountiful, B.C., headed by Winston Blackmore. Read more


Alleged rape victim, 14, actually initiated sex, cousin testifies
By Petti Fong WESTERN CANADA BUREAU CHIEF Toronto Star Originally published September 20, 2007
ST. GEORGE, Utah–The husband of a woman who accuses polygamist leader Warren Jeffs of arranging her unwanted marriage at age 14 said yesterday he never forced the teen bride to have sex. The man, who was 19 when he married his first cousin, testified she was the one who initiated sexual contact and the couple had sex a few weeks after they married. At times breaking into tears, the cousin softly told jurors how she approached him after he fell asleep in his clothes following a 12-hour day at work. "I told her I loved her, she curled up close to me and she asked me to scratch her back and one thing led to the next until I felt myself being guided up on high and we had sexual intercourse," he said. He also said: "I thought it was okay. I didn't know very much, didn't know how to make a girl like me." That version varies wildly from the testimony the accuser gave on the stand earlier this week. The woman, now 21, who has left the church and remarried, described that incident as so traumatic that her whole body was shaking because she was scared. After it was over, she went to the bathroom, contemplated suicide with Ibuprofen and Tylenol pills and vomited, she has said. Her cousin was the final defence witness as the presentation of evidence wrapped up yesterday. Jeffs, president of Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, is on trial for two counts of being an accomplice to rape for arranging the 2001 marriage between the two. The teen bride has testified that her objections to the marriage and her cousin's subsequent sexual advances were ignored by church leaders. Read more


It wasn't rape, ex-husband testifies
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Thursday, September 20, 2007
ST. GEORGE, Utah - Who will the jury believe? That's what it comes down to in the trial of Warren Jeffs, the prophet of the largest polygamous group in North America. Will they believe Jane Doe, the young woman forced by her mother, stepfather and Jeffs to marry at age 14, who says that within three weeks she was raped by her then-husband, 19-year-old Allen Steed? Will they believe she'd been told by the prophet -- Jeffs' father -- that she didn't have to go through with the arranged marriage and that Jeffs overruled that? Will they believe she begged Steed not to touch her and told him she hated him? Or will they believe Steed, who cried as he testified Wednesday that he loved her and would never have hurt her? If jurors choose Steed, Jeffs -- who was on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List -- has to be acquitted of two counts of being an accomplice to rape. If they choose the young woman's version, the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints could go to jail for life. Steed has never been charged with rape and risked incriminating himself by testifying. The marriage was annulled in 2004. Before the marriage, the now 26-year-old truck driver said he was counselled to "be slow, take a long time, to be kind, considerate and respectful" of her by Doe's stepfather, the FLDS bishop. Growing up in the reclusive, repressive FLDS society, neither Steed nor the girl -- called Jane Doe to protect her identity -- had any sex education and had never been allowed to date. They believed God determined who was to marry and communicated that to the prophet through revelation. Read more


Jeffs being prosecuted for polygamist connections, defence argues
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Friday, September 21, 2007
ST. GEORGE, Utah - The only reason a 14-year-old girl went into a bedroom with her 19-year-old first cousin was because Warren Jeffs told her to, a jury has heard. During closing statements Friday the prosecution in Jeffs's accomplice to rape trial said the only reason the girl had sexual intercourse with her cousin a few weeks after the marriage Jeffs presided over was because he told her to. The prosecution said that is why the prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints should be found guilty of two counts. But Jeffs's attorney argued there was no rape. Walter Bugden said the only reason Jeffs is on trial is because he leads the largest polygamous group in North America, which the state of Utah does not approve of. He noted that on the day the girl testified, Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff was in the courtroom sitting with her lawyer. Bugden said there was no way that Jeffs knowingly aided in the rape even if he directed them to "go forth and replenish the earth." "The state does not have the courage to charge Warren Jeffs with what Mr. Jeffs may be criminally responsible for," which is unlawful marriage and the marriage of an under-aged girl, said Jeffs's lawyer Read more


Warren Jeffs trial jury gets weekend off before beginning deliberations
By Daphne Bramham Canwest News Service Originally published Friday, September 21, 2007
Jurors in the Warren Jeffs trial have been given the weekend off after hearing final arguments and starting their deliberations on Friday. They'll need the rest, as they're faced with a difficult case with a maximum penalty for the accused of life in prison. Accomplice to rape is a highly legalistic, difficult-to-articulate charge that's complicated by the fact that nobody has actually been charged with rape in connection with the case. Further, the actions that prompted the charges happened in a closed, religious community where Mr. Jeffs is the prophet, who determines which people go to heaven. Mr. Jeffs's lawyers argue that not only was he not an accomplice to two counts of rape, there was no rape at all. In his closing statement, defence lawyer Walter Bugden went further, suggesting to the five-man, three-woman jury that this is a politically motivated persecution by state legislators who disapprove of Mr. Jeffs's fundamentalist Mormon sect - the largest polygamous group in North America. Mr. Bugden noted that state Attorney General Mark Shurtleff was in court a week ago comforting the girl once her testimony concluded. "The state has gone crazy for political reasons to charge this man, Warren Jeffs, with rape.... This case is out of the world, Mars stuff," Mr. Bugden said, going on to add: "The state does not have the courage to charge Warren Jeffs with what Mr. Jeffs may be criminally responsible for" - unlawful marriage and the marriage of an underaged girl. Read more


Warren Jeffs jury faces daunting task
Complex case accuses a man of being an accomplice to rape, while no one is charged with the rape
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Saturday, September 22, 2007
Jurors in the Warren Jeffs trial have been given the weekend off after hearing final arguments and starting their deliberations on Friday. They'll need the rest because what they're being asked to decide is difficult, and the maximum penalty is life in prison. Accomplice to rape is a highly legalistic, difficult-to-articulate charge that's complicated by the fact the alleged rapist has never been charged. Further, the alleged rape occurred in a closed, religious community where Jeffs is the prophet, the mouthpiece of God, who determines which people go to heaven. There are five men and three women on the jury. Four alternates -- all women -- were dismissed before deliberations began Friday afternoon. What the jurors must decide is: Did Warren Steed Jeffs, the prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, intentionally, knowingly or recklessly solicit, request, command or encourage a 19-year-old man to rape his 14-year-old first cousin? The prosecution says, "Yes." But Jeffs's lawyers say not only was he not an accomplice to two counts of rape, there was no rape at all. Read more


Jury close to verdict at polygamist leader's trial
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published September 24, 2007
ST. GEORGE, Utah — After nearly 11 hours of deliberating Monday, the jury in the Warren Jeffs trial asked to go home for the evening shortly after 8 p.m. Mountain Time. Judge James Shumate confirmed with the jury foreman that five men and three women believed they were close to a verdict, but wanted to "sleep on it." Jeffs, the prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is charged with two counts of being an accomplice to the rape of a 14-year-old girl. The alleged victim, who is now 21, claims that Jeffs forced her to marry her 19-year-old first cousin. She said he then urged them to "go forth and multiply" at the end of the wedding ceremony and, later, told her to "repent" and give herself to her husband "mind, body and soul" after she told the prophet that her husband was touching her in ways that she didn’t like or understand. Her husband has never been charged with the rapes. The penalty for the offence ranges from five years to life in prison. The jury began deliberations Friday, but broke for the weekend after only two hours. The jurors will return to court at 9 a.m. Tuesday. At mid-afternoon on Monday, jurors told Shumate that they were hung up on the second of two charges against Jeffs. "We do not believe further deliberation is needed," they wrote in a note to the judge. "How do we go about it at this point?" Read more


Jury hung on one count in polygamist leader's trial
Daphne Bramham, CanWest News Service Vancouver Sun Originally published Tuesday, September 25, 2007
ST. GEORGE, Utah - The jury is hung on the question of whether Warren Jeffs, the prophet of the largest polygamous group in North America, is guilty on the second of two counts of being an accomplice to the rape of a 14-year-old girl. The jury of five men and three women has reached a unanimous decision on the first count of being an accomplice to rape. The court is not yet making that verdict public. "We have a hung jury regarding the second count," a note the jury delivered to the judge read. "We do not believe further deliberation is needed; how do we go about it at this point?" Judge James Shumate told the jury to go back and deliberate more. He also instructed them to consult the jury manual and urged them to keep their minds open. Read more


Mormon leader found guilty for being accomplice to rape
By Daphne Bramham, CanWest News Service Vancouver Sun Originally published Tuesday, September 25, 2007
ST. GEORGE, Utah - Warren Jeffs, the prophet of the largest polygamous group in North America, has been found guilty of two counts of being an accomplice to the rape of a 14-year-old by her 19-year-old first cousin. Jeffs, 51, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison for counselling Elissa Wall to go ahead, against her will, with the placement marriage to Allen Steed. Jeffs performed the wedding ceremony, urging them to "go forth and multiply." Wall testified that when she went to Jeffs and told him that her husband was touching her in places and ways that made her uncomfortable, Jeffs told her to "repent" and give herself "mind, body and soul" to her husband. Jeffs and his followers are members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Mormons who claim to be the only true and faithful followers of Joseph Smith, Mormonism's founder. The forefathers of the 8,000-member FLDS split with the mainstream church, which suspended the earthly practice of polygamy in 1890. The jury of five men and three women deliberated for 17 heated and, at times, raucous hours before reaching the unanimous decision. Juror Deidre Shaw, a 32-year-old stay-at-home mom, said at one point she thought there was going to be a fist fight. At another point, a marking pen was thrown across the room. Jeffs stood emotionless as the verdict was read. He agreed with his lawyers to have a pre-sentence investigation, which means sentencing could be delayed for 45 days or more. Read more


Authorities urged to investigate polygamy cases
Canada AM CTV Originally broadcast September 26, 2007
A Canadian woman who said she escaped a polygamous group is hoping the conviction of Warren Jeffs in Utah will urge Canadian authorities to pursue similar cases. Jeffs, the leader of a polygamous Mormon splinter group, was convicted Tuesday of being an accomplice to rape, for performing a wedding between a 19-year-old man and a 14-year old girl. "I think that it's time that something like this happened," Debbie Palmer told CTV's Canada AM. "This is the first time in North America. It's the first time anywhere that a fundamentalist Mormon polygamist prophet has been prosecuted and then found guilty for any crimes." Palmer is hoping the conviction will urge Canadian authorities to revisit their information on polygamous communities. "I hope this case will help our Attorney General's office and our Crown prosecutors in Canada take further attention," Palmer said. Palmer was assigned to marry 57-year-old Ray Blackmore when she was 15 years old in Bountiful, B.C., but she left before that happened. Read more


Mormon polygamist's conviction celebrated
Canadian activists fete Jeffs' conviction on rape charge
By Suzanne Fournier The Province - Vancouver Originally published Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Anti-polygamy activists in Canada yesterday celebrated a Utah jury's conviction of notorious polygamous Mormon leader Warren Jeffs as an accomplice to rape, saying they hope it helps fortify the resolve of B.C. lawmakers. Jeffs, 51, who could get life in prison for helping to force a 14-year-old girl into marriage and sex against her will, has about 10,000 followers in the U.S. and many in the Bountiful polygamous community near Creston, where a power struggle has pitted his followers against the self-styled Bishop of Bountiful, Winston Blackmore. "Guilty! Guilty!" Anti-Polygamy Network spokeswoman Nancy Mereska trumpeted online. Guilty! Does that mean charges will at last be laid in Canada? Does that mean authorities are going to now work their way down charging other FLDS [Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints], who believe they can force young girls into harems, force young men out into a world they do not trust?" demanded Mereska. Blackmore, who admits to marrying more than 20 wives, some when they were 15, has more than 100 children, most of whom still live in Bountiful. Read more


'About time,' ex-Bountiful member says
By Kelly Sinoski Vancouver Sun Originally published Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Ex-members of the polygamist community of Bountiful renewed calls Tuesday for B.C. to prosecute polygamists on this side of the border after a U.S. jury found prophet Warren Jeffs guilty of two counts of being an accomplice to the rape of a 14-year-old by assigning her to marry her cousin. Debbie Palmer, who grew up in Bountiful, near Creston, and was assigned to marry 57-year-old Ray Blackmore when she was 15, said she was happy to hear of the guilty verdict Tuesday. She said she hoped it will push B.C. Attorney-General Wally Oppal to "look harder at the prosecution of the some of the elders in Bountiful." "It's about time one of these polygamist cult leaders that has caused as much damage and [committed] horrific crimes against women, children and men is held accountable," Palmer said. "It'll help make more people in the community realize that if they take that step to talk about the abuse in the community the law will respond," she said. "Up until now it has been a hopeless job." Read more


Jeffs jury saw crime for what it was
Conviction of sect leader shows ordinary people understood forced marriage of underage girl was not acceptable
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Saturday, September 29, 2007
The only possible reaction to the double conviction of fundamentalist Mormon prophet Warren Jeffs as an accomplice to rape can be grim satisfaction. There's no reason to rejoice in the fact that Jeffs, 51, will be sentenced Nov. 20 to between five years and life in prison for his part in the rape of a 14-year-old, who was forced by Jeffs to marry her 19-year-old first cousin. How can there be? Somewhere between 6,000 and 8,000 people believe Jeffs to be God's infallible messenger. They are members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the largest polygamist sect in North America. It's impossible to know how many were victims of child rape, like Elissa Wall, since there's nothing new in what Jeffs did. From the 1950s on, FLDS prophets have assigned underage girls, ostensibly on orders from God. Often the grooms are decades older and often the brides are not their first wives. Yet even before placement marriages, it wasn't uncommon for girls to be married shortly after puberty. Equally impossible to quantify is how many FLDS boys and young men have been put in the terrible position of Allen Steed, Wall's husband. Raging with hormones, Steed was a virgin when he married Wall. He'd been taught that he had authority over her as her "priesthood head" and that it was his duty to impregnate her and "bring forth priesthood children." Socially and emotionally retarded because of FLDS teachings, Steed bizarrely believed that exposing his penis in a public park might convince his child bride that sex would be okay. A few days later, Wall testified, Steed raped her. Read more


Hope springs Bountiful?
By Chris Selley Maclean's Magazine - Toronto Originally published October 1, 2007
Even by the standards of the wheels of justice, coming to grips with the polygamous community in Bountiful, B.C., has been an achingly slow process. And with last week's conviction of polygamous leader Warren Jeffs in Utah, the years of indecision at the B.C. Attorney-General’s office have been brought into even sharper focus. While successive governments in Victoria have fretted over whether Canada's polygamy ban would survive a challenge under the Charter of Rights, their counterparts in Utah and Arizona have appeared far more inventive in prosecuting sexual assault cases against polygamists. A jury in Arizona convicted 38-year-old Kelly Fischer of having sex with a minor last year despite never hearing from his victim. Jeffs was convicted as an accomplice to the rape 14-year-old Jane Doe by her 19-year-old first cousin, in that he had arranged their marriage, even though the "rapist" himself wasn't charged. Polygamy has been illegal in Canada since the first Criminal Code was enacted in 1892, and Section 293 of the Criminal Code makes clear just how much the government prefers monogamy. It threatens five years' imprisonment for anyone who "in any manner agrees or consents to practise or enter into … any kind of conjugal union with more than one person at the same time" - or, indeed, anyone who "celebrates, assists or is a party to a rite, ceremony, contract or consent that purports to sanction [such] a relationship." A 2005 poll showed upwards of 95 per cent of Canadians disapproved of the lifestyle, which is commonly associated with everything from poor educational achievement to physical and sexual abuse, the abandonment of male children and human trafficking. Read more


The Macleans.ca Interview: Wally Oppal
British Columbia's Attorney-General insists the polygamist community of Bountiful will finally be dealt with - soon
By Chris Selley Maclean's Magazine - Toronto Originally published October 1, 2007
Last week, a Utah jury convicted polygamist leader Warren Jeffs as an accomplice to the rape of a 14-year-old girl. To critics of the British Columbia Attorney-General's Office, this was another stark reminder of the commanding lead American jurisdictions hold over B.C. in successfully bringing polygamists to justice. Stories of physical and sexual abuse, child brides and poor education have filtered out of Bountiful for years, yet for various reasons the government has been unwilling or unable to pursue charges. Tough-talking Attorney-General Wally Oppal insists he's the man who will finally put Canada's law against polygamy to the test—either by pursuing a charge or referring the law to the B.C. Court of Appeal as a "reference case."In fact, he says, Canadians can expect to finally see some tangible progress within the month. Oppal spoke to Macleans.ca about Jeffs, the differences between the American and Canadian situations, and what we can expect to see here if the law is upheld. Macleans.ca: What's your reaction to Warren Jeffs' conviction? Wally Oppal: I don't normally cheer convictions, I think it's somewhat unseemly to do that. But in this particular case I'm encouraged by what has taken place because of the potential social consequences—the whole concept or idea of these communes where children are being abused—and from that perspective I think the jury's verdict might well send a message to the people in those communities that the law and right-thinking people will not stand by while all this is taking place. Read more


Debbie Palmer to sign books for hope
LOCAL NEWS IN BRIEF The Spectrum Originally published October 5, 2007
ST. GEORGE - "Keep Sweet - Children of Polygamy" author Debbie Palmer will be at The Book Cellar and Andrae Exotic Imports speaking and signing books at 6 p.m. Friday at 130 N. Main St. Palmer is visiting from Canada for a benefit for The Hope Organization. "Keep Sweet - Children of Polygamy" is the intimate story of her first 18 years of life in Bountiful, a Canadian polygamist community affiliated with Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. At 15, Palmer was assigned to be the sixth wife of the group's leader, who was 55. After his death in 1974, she was assigned consecutively to two other men in the group. She left the community in 1988, one of the first women to escape with all of her children. Since leaving, Palmer has worked to educate and lobby government on interventions and education inside polygamist communities and has met internationally with human rights activists on this topic. Her main areas of expertise and research are fundamentalist Mormon polygamist communities, relationship violence prevention, community crime prevention and issues of poverty and education in closed communities. The event is free and open to anyone who would like to attend. Seating is limited, so please call 652-0227 for reservations.


Tolerance or Exploitation?
By Pamela Pizarro Global Perspectives RH Reality Check - Washington, DC Originally published October 11, 2007
Canada is well known for its tolerance and acceptance of different religions, ethnicities and beliefs. Although I believe in and fully support letting individuals decide their own religion, the debate becomes murky when religious practices become dangerous to the development and well-being of any individual. This is the case of polygamy practices of a breakaway sect of Mormonism in Bountiful, British Columbia. This fundamentalist sect of Mormonism preaches that the marriage of a man to more than one woman is ordained by god, and needed in order to reach the kingdom of heaven. In this sect the practice of marrying young girls in their teens to older men, who are very often old enough to be their fathers and grandfathers, is quite common. The average birth rate for women in the sect is "eight or nine children while the provincial average is 1.5." The leader of the sect, Winston Blackmore, also claims that he himself married girls that "lied about their age." The entire sect has low levels of education, but in the case of women, girls are expected to have a child a year as soon as they are able. Females are often pulled out of school because their role in society is to be at home, looking after children, and taking care of the needs of her husband. Read more


Permissibility of polygamy put in new light
By Lorraine Weinrib Second Opinion Law Times - Aurora, Ontario Originally published Monday, 15 October 2007
The extension of civil marriage to same sex couples has put the question of the permissibility of polygamy into a new light. Opponents of same-sex marriage raised the spectre of Charter-mandated legalization of polygamy as the next wrenching lurch down the slippery slope to a godless society or, at least, extreme social dysfunction. If marriage no longer unites one male and one female, why restrict its benefits to two persons? The extension of civil marriage to same-sex couples does not push us down this precipice, because the Charter does not categorically reject all traditional restrictions on civil marriage. The common law rule barring same-sex conjugal couples from civil marriage reflected the faith-based view that marriage disciplines sexuality, supports procreation, and secures a stable family. This rule breached the Charter’s equality clause without justification, because it did not respect the equal dignity of gay and lesbian individuals and couples who desired the benefits of the civil version of this institution. The Charter precludes public policy based on the fully discredited claims that homosexuality is abnormal, deviant, and/or harmful to the individual, the conjugal couple and their children, and the larger community. While the Criminal Code prohibition against polygamy reflects, in part, the desire to protect traditional notions of marriage, it also reflects apprehension of the real harms related to polygamy. Would prosecution alleviate these harms? Read more


Polygamist leader tried to kill himself in jail: documents
'I was never the prophet and I have been deceived by the powers of evil'
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Wednesday, November 7, 2007
Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs attempted to hang himself last January in his cell in Utah's Purgatory Correctional Facility, only days after having confessed to his brother that he was immoral and was no longer the prophet of the largest polygamist group in North America. Still, Jeffs was deemed competent to stand trial and last month was convicted of two counts of being an accomplice to the rape of a 14-year-old girl. Jeffs had forced her to marry her 19-year-old first cousin. Jeffs, who was one of America's 10 Most Wanted before his arrest, plans to appeal. The suicide attempt was recorded in a raft of documents unsealed Tuesday by Judge James Shumate in advance of Jeffs's Nov. 20 sentencing. Jeffs faces from five years to life for each conviction. Jeffs has been held in solitary confinement since his arrest in August 2006. By January 2007, his weight had dropped 20 pounds to a scant 130, even though Jeffs is six-foot-two. Throughout January, Jeffs spent so many hours kneeling in prayer that he'd developed ulcers on his knees. He refused food and liquids and rarely slept. He tried to hang himself Jan. 28. The day, he was placed on a suicide watch, which was still in place when psychiatrist Eric Nielsen interviewed Jeffs in April. Two days after the attempted hanging, Nielsen's report says, Jeffs had been "throwing himself against the walls." He was given anti-anxiety medication. On Feb. 2, Jeffs was "banging his head on the wall," although Jeffs denied having hallucinations. He was subsequently prescribed tranquilizers and antidepressants, which he quit taking by April. Read more


A battle for Bountiful's children
Teressa Wall Blackmore, mother of three, testified against Warren Jeffs
By Daphne Bramham, CanWest News Service Vancouver Sun Originally published Saturday, November 17, 2007
In mid-September, Teressa Wall Blackmore walked confidently to the witness stand in the St. George, Utah courtroom to testify against fundamentalist Mormon prophet Warren Jeffs. Dressed in a smart suit with attractively styled hair, Blackmore clearly no longer belonged to the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. What Teressa had no idea about was the truth of the adage, "No good deed goes unpunished." Teressa's testimony supported her sister's. Elissa Wall was 14 years old when she was forced to marry her 19-year-old first cousin, Allen Steed, who subsequently raped her. The first rape occurred only a few weeks after the wedding in the spring of 2001. Shortly after she was raped, Elissa and her husband visited Teressa and Roy Blackmore, in Bountiful, B.C. During that first visit, Teressa testified that Elissa confided in her about the rape. The second visit stretched from late fall 2002 into February 2003 because Elissa had a miscarriage. It was her second one. By then, Teressa testified, "She was basically a body with no soul." Within two weeks of the jury convicting Jeffs on two counts of rape as an accomplice, Teressa's estranged husband, Roy Blackmore, filed for sole custody of their three children as well as an interim order from the B.C. Supreme Court for Teressa to return the children from her new home in Payette, Idaho to the closed, polygamous community in Bountiful. Roy never objected when Teressa took the children in June, which suggests that this is retaliation from the FLDS leaders and a warning to others not to testify against the prophet. Read more


Jeffs' charge, trial, sentence "unjust" says lawyer
By Daphne Bramham, CanWest News Service Vancouver Sun Originally published Tuesday, November 20, 2007
ST. GEORGE, Utah - Warren Jeffs, the leader of the largest polygamous group in North America, was sentenced Tuesday to consecutive terms of five years to life for the role he played as an accomplice to two rapes of a 14-year-old girl. "Warren Jeffs belongs in prison for abusing his authority and being an accomplice to rape," Utah's Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said in a statement following the sentencing. "A jury found Jeffs guilty and Judge Shumate made the appropriate decision to protect other people from being harmed. Unfortunately Jeffs' attorneys and some of his followers continue to claim that this convicted felon is being punished for his beliefs. Jeffs can believe whatever he wants but he is going to prison for his actions, which led to the rape of a child," Shurtleff said. Jeffs was also ordered to pay a total of $37,000 in fines, $1,000 for transporting him from Nevada where he was arrested to Utah and $50 in security fees. The prophet of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was convicted in September. Exactly how much time Jeffs will serve is up to the Utah Board of Pardons. Jeffs will be transferred as soon as possible from the Purgatory Correction Facility where he has been staying since his arrest in August 2006 to a state prison. There, he will be evaluated and given a plan for his rehabilitation. Three years into his sentence, Jeffs will go before the Board of Pardons for a full hearing after which, it will be determined how much longer he must serve and whether he must remain in jail or can be paroled. Before sentencing the gaunt and seemingly disoriented 51-year-old prophet, Judge James Shumate noted that when Jeffs decided to force a 14-year-old girl into a marriage with her 19-year-old first cousin he broke a number of state laws. Read more


Polygamist leader faces five years to life in prison
By Daphne Bramham CanWest News Service Originally published Wednesday, November 21, 2007
ST. GEORGE, Utah - Warren Jeffs, the leader of the largest polygamist group in North America, was sentenced to two consecutive terms of five years to life in prison Tuesday on two counts of being an accomplice to rape. "Warren Jeffs belongs in prison for abusing his authority and being an accomplice to rape," Utah's Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said in a statement following the sentencing. "A jury found Jeffs guilty and Judge Shumate made the appropriate decision to protect other people from being harmed. Unfortunately Jeffs' attorneys and some of his followers continue to claim that this convicted felon is being punished for his beliefs. Jeffs can believe whatever he wants but he is going to prison for his actions, which led to the rape of a child," Shurtleff said. The victim, Elissa Wall, was 14 when she was forced to marry her 19-year-old first cousin, Allen Steed, who subsequently raped her only a few weeks after the wedding in the spring of 2001. Jeffs, 51, was found guilty in September of being an accomplice to the rape. The jury deliberated for 17 hours in September before reaching a unanimous decision. The fundamentalist Mormon prophet, who before his arrest was on the list of America's 10 Most Wanted, plans to appeal. But he may be on trial again within a few months - this time in Arizona where he's charged with five counts of sexual conduct with a minor and two counts of conspiracy. "Warren Jeffs will be going to Arizona after he is sentenced in Utah," said Mohave County, Ariz., Attorney Matthew Smith in a statement Tuesday. Read more


IN THE SUPREME COURT OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
Blackmore v. Blackmore, 2007 BCSC 1735 Docket: 17814 Registry: Cranbrook
courts.gov.bc.ca Originally published December 3, 2007
Joseph Roy Blackmore Plaintiff And Teressa Blackmore Defendant Before: The Honourable Mr. Justice Melnick Reasons for Judgment [1] Joseph Roy Blackmore ("Mr. Blackmore"), the father of three children with his former spouse, Teressa Blackmore ("Ms. Blackmore"), seeks an order that he be granted sole interim custody and guardianship of those children. He also seeks an order that Ms. Blackmore be required to return the children from the State of Idaho to British Columbia. Mr. Blackmore’s alternative position, although not expressed in his notice of motion, is that he would be content with an order for joint custody and joint guardianship provided Ms. Blackmore returns with the children to reside near his residence in Canyon, British Columbia. [2] From Mr. Blackmore’s perspective, the issue before me is simply to deal with a mother who snatched their children from under his nose under the guise of having them for a summer holiday when she really intended to change their residence. Ms. Blackmore stoutly denies that Mr. Blackmore was not aware that she was changing the residence of the children. However, apart from that, to her the issue is not simply one of matrimonial relations. She claims the real issue is her desire to keep her children, particularly her two daughters, out of the clutches of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS Church), the Mormon community connected with Bountiful in Southeastern British Columbia of which Mr. Blackmore continues to be a member, but which Ms. Blackmore has left. To Mr. Blackmore, the FLDS Church is a convenient red herring raised by Ms. Blackmore as a cover to justify what would otherwise be regarded as wrongful conduct on the part of a parent in denying custody and effective access to the other. Read more


Ex-Bountiful mom wins custody
By Keith Fraser The Province - Vancouver, Canada Originally published Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Calling the polygamist-church issue "an elephant in the corner," a judge has granted sole interim custody and guardianship to an Idaho mother of three who fled the children's fundamentalist Mormon father in B.C. Teressa Blackmore, who recently testified against polygamist leader Warren Jeffs, took the children to Idaho, claiming she was trying to get them out of the clutches of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormon community linked to Bountiful, near Creston. Her husband, Joseph Roy Blackmore, filed suit and claimed that the church issue was a red herring to justify wrongful conduct and sought to have the children returned to him. But B.C. Supreme Court Justice Thomas Melnick found that the religious issue was not irrelevant. The judge noted that if the kids were to be raised by the dad, they would be raised within the church and the mom, having left the church, would discourage such involvement. He said it's beyond the scope of the application to deal with the "wider legal and society implications" of the religious issues. Then he added: "Suffice it to say that, whatever Mr. Blackmore may argue about the FLDS Church being irrelevant to this application, it is an elephant in the corner of the room of this proceeding that inevitably casts a shadow over it." Read more


Warren Jeffs' lawyers file motion for new trial
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Lawyers for the polygamist prophet Warren Jeffs filed a motion Tuesday calling for a new trial in Utah. In a one-paragraph motion laden with spelling mistakes, the lawyers cited "errors and improprieties that occurred during the trail, which substantially effected the defendant's right to fair trial and due process." Jeffs, the head of the 8,000-member Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, was convicted in September on two counts of being an accomplice to the rape of a 14-year-old girl. He was sentenced last month to two consecutive terms of five years to life in prison. Jeffs has yet to be tried in Arizona on six, sex-related charges or by the U.S. government on two counts of unlawful flight from prosecution. While Jeffs and his followers claim to be the only true followers of Mormonism founder Joseph Smith, the FLDS has been disavowed by the mainstream church which renounced the earthly practise of polygamy in 1890.


Judge's custody ruling a warning
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Thursday, December 6, 2007
Politicians in British Columbia may be afraid to tackle the polygamous community of Bountiful, but a Supreme Court judge didn't shy away from repeating the obvious this week. Polygamy is illegal and it may not be in childrens' best interests to be raised within a polygamous society. And if anything Justice T.J. Melnick's ruling on the interim custody of three of Bountiful's children should raise alarm bells in several different B.C. ministries whose responsibilities include the care, protection, nurturing, and education of children. The judge denied Roy Blackmore's request for sole interim custody and guardianship of his three children aged 8, 7 and 5. Blackmore is a member of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the largest polygamous group in North America. Instead, the judge said, until the custody case goes to trial, the two girls and a boy will be allowed to stay with their mother, Teressa Wall Blackmore, who fled the B.C. community 18 months ago and is now living in Payette, Idaho. Even though the Blackmores' marriage was monogamous, the judge recognized that if the children were raised by their father, they would be constantly exposed to the FLDS belief that polygamy is essential to reach the highest realm of heaven whether within their extended family, in the community, at church, and at the government-funded Bountiful elementary-secondary school, which last year received nearly $640,000 in grants. Read more


Jeffs trial witness getting help in custody case
By Ben Winslow Deseret Morning News Originally published Sunday, December 30, 2007
An organization that helps people leaving polygamy is raising money to help pay the legal bills of a witness in the trial of Fundamentalist LDS Church leader Warren Jeffs. The southern Utah-based HOPE Organization is soliciting funds to pay for attorneys in Teressa Wall's child custody case in Canada. "Because Teressa's ex-husband is still a member of the FLDS, she is now facing a legal battle for custody of her children in retaliation for her testimony against Warren Jeffs," HOPE director Elaine Tyler wrote in a plea posted on the Web site, thehopeorg.org. Teressa Wall is the sister of Elissa Wall, who was the Washington County attorney's star witness in the case against Jeffs. She bolstered her sister's claims that Jeffs performed a child-bride marriage between then-14-year-old Elissa and her 19-year-old cousin. "Two weeks after I got back from testifying, I got the papers," Teressa Wall said in an interview Friday night with the Deseret Morning News. "I'm positive that's what it's all about." Read more


Report on Bountiful school leaves questions unanswered
Ministry continues to fund a facility that fails to meet government standards
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Friday, January 4, 2008
Teaching polygamy is not what landed Mormon Hills School and its directors in trouble with the B.C. education ministry, putting at risk more than $400,000 a year in operating grants. But for the first time, the ministry's independent-school inspectors acknowledged that nobody had any idea what was being taught in religious studies to more than 100 children registered in Grades 1-9. Even now, all the ministry has is a brief overview. It was only one of myriad problems, including breaches of the basic requirements of the Independent School Act. According to documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, two of the five teachers didn't have accreditation. Criminal records checks had not been done on half the staff. Students in Grades 4 and 7 did not take the required Foundation Skills Assessment tests. What the ministry's evaluators concluded last February was that there was no way to tell what, if anything, the 14 students in Grades 8 and 9 were learning. Initially registered and funded as home-schooled students through the Kootenay Lake school district's Homelinks program, the students quit in October 2006 and started going to Mormon Hills full time. "An important conclusion in the Mormon Hills/Homelinks issue is that because there are delivery standards for public distributed learning, the Mormon Hills community chose another approach that did not meet standards for independent neighbourhood school delivery," according to a note prepared for deputy minister Emery Dosdall. Read more


U.K. pays price of polygamy
By Daphne Bramham The Vancouver Sun Originally published Friday, February 8, 2008
Polygamists in Britain are now receiving welfare benefits for their multiple wives as long as they were legally married outside the country. It's a bizarre turn of events since the government undertook the review after concerns were raised polygamists were bilking the welfare system. It's a measure of just how nervous politicians were about the decision taken at the end of last year that they didn't make it public. It was left to The Sunday Telegraph to break the news this month that not only will polygamists be able to collect welfare for all their wives, the payments will be made directly into the husbands' -- not the wives' -- bank accounts. Further, the British government agreed the estimated 1,000 polygamists are now also eligible for additional housing and council tax benefits. Most British polygamists are Muslims. Their holy book, the Koran, allows men to take up to four wives with the stipulation they can only do so if they're able to adequately provide for all of them. Now, British taxpayers will be helping those men, paying millions of pounds each year to support their larger-than-average families. As in Canada, polygamy is illegal in Britain. The punishment there is seven years in jail -- it's five in Canada. The U.K.'s immigration law -- like Canada's -- doesn't allow men to bring multiple wives into the country. Read more


U.S. polygamist leader back in court Wed.
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Tuesday, February 26, 2008
Polygamist leader Warren Jeffs will make his first appearance in an Arizona court Wednesday charged with two counts of sexual conduct with a minor and two counts of incest. His lawyer Mike Piccarreta plans to ask that the trial be moved from Kingman in Mohave County, arguing Jeffs cannot get a fair trial there because of all of the media coverage. Jeffs is the leader of a fundamentalist Mormon sect that controls the twin towns of Hildale, Utah and Colorado City, Ariz. About half of the 1,200 people in Bountiful, B.C. are also members of Jeffs' Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Last September, a Utah jury found Jeffs guilty of two counts of being an accomplice to the rape of a 14-year-old girl. Jeffs had arranged her marriage to her 18-year-old first cousin. Jeffs has been sentenced to two consecutive terms of five years to life in Utah. And following the Arizona court proceedings, he still faces federal charges for illegal flight from prosecution. When Jeffs was arrested in Las Vegas in August 2006, he was on the FBI's 10 most wanted list. Today, Mohave County attorney Matt Smith dropped two other cases involving the 52-year-old prophet of the FLDS. Read more


The polygamist's bride
Trials of teenage wife Debbie Oler suffered in various ways after marrying a British Columbia Mormon leader
By DAPHNE BRAMHAM, Canwest News Service The Montreal Gazette Originally published Saturday, March 22, 2008
The Vancouver Sun's Daphne Bramham has been writing a continuing series of columns and reports on the polygamous community of Bountiful, B.C. The following is an excerpt from Bramham's new book, The Secret Lives of the Saints: Child Brides and Lost Boys in Canada's Polygamous Mormon Sect. It wasn't just the exhortations and expectations of the priesthood leaders that made Debbie Oler anxious to marry. She also believed in the power of revelation, and that by fasting and praying she would come to know God's plan for her. And what she came to believe was that God not only had chosen her to be Ray Blackmore's wife, but that he would tell her how to cure Ray of his leukemia if she loved him enough, was obedient enough and prayed hard enough. That fall, after her fourteenth birthday, Debbie told her father about her revelation and how she felt about Ray. Dalmon Oler approached the prophet LeRoy Johnson on his next visit to Lister, B.C. The prophet listened but said nothing. Debbie was heartbroken and, in her distress, poured out her heart to her friends, and Ray's busybody son heard almost every word. "Oh what an uproar at school," Winston Blackmore wrote in his questionable account of the strange romance. Read more


Author delves into life in Bountiful
Lifestyles Black Press - British Columbia, Canada Originally published March 26, 2008
Exploring polygamy Author delves into life in Bountiful Religious extremism seems worlds away from Victoria. However, the southern part of our province is a hotbed of religious extremists. A tiny communal town with less than 1,000 people, Bountiful, B.C., is one of North America’s well-known settlements for the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, who openly practice polygamy — the practice of taking multiple wives. The tiny community recently gained national attention when Utah’s Warren Jeffs, the former leader of Mormon fundamentalist polygynist sect who had close ties to the town, was arrested and convicted of being an accomplice to rape after he arranged an extralegal marriage between an adult follower and underage girl. Winston Blackmore, the leader of Bountiful, B.C., once a follower of Jeffs and close confident, has since denounced the former leader as a "false prophet." Blackmore currently has around 22 wives (at last count) and has allegedly fathered more than 100 children and allegedly impregnated 15 year olds. Read more


Children around dangerous work can have tragic results
Death of Bountiful teen who was using heavy equipment is under investigation
By Daphne Bramham Vancouver Sun Originally published Friday, March 28, 2008
A 14-year-old boy is dead, killed at mill site near Cranbrook nine days ago. Steven Clancy Blackmore was apparently trying to manipulate some heavy equipment at a lumber mill with a pole when the weight of the equipment "must have been too heavy and fell back on the victim," according to an RCMP press release issued six days after the accident. "When found by his father, the pole was pinned across the victim's neck." Neither his father nor paramedics was able to revive him. The victim is a nephew of fundamentalist Mormon leader Winston Blackmore. The work site is owned by Palmer Bar Holdings Inc., whose sole director is Duane Palmer. Palmer is Blackmore's bishop in the community of Bountiful and superintendent of the government-funded Mormon Hills School. The boy's father, Karl Blackmore, told RCMP that his son was not working at the site and was not an employee of Palmer Bar Holdings. The father told police that he took his son with him after the mill was closed to unload some wood. While the father did that, his son was apparently left on his own to scramble around heavy equipment. RCMP, the provincial coroner and WorkSafeBC are all investigating. WorkSafeBC has yet to determine whether the boy was working at the site. But its investigator is checking to ensure that the site is safe for visitors as well as employees, according to Roberta Ellis, the vice-president of investigation policies. She said the inspector will be looking at whether the company's training and supervision for new and young workers is adequate. Read more


the polygamy problem
Canadians don't condone the practices of fundamentalist Mormons, yet nothing is done about plural wives, 'lost boys' and abuse. Daphne Bramham's analysis is a must-read
Don Grayston, Special to the Sun The Vancouver Sun Originally published Saturday, March 29, 2008
THE SECRET LIVES OF SAINTS: CHILD BRIDES AND LOST BOYS IN CANADA'S POLYGAMOUS MORMON SECT BY DAPHNE BRAMHAM Random House Canada, 439 pages ($32.95) - - - Vancouver Sun columnist Daphne Bramham took the road to Bountiful and found it paved with child abuse, forced marriage, greed, lies, fraud and the suckering of the provincial government. The story she tells in The Secret Lives of Saints, a well-researched book on the community, is gripping, illuminating and infuriating. Bountiful, near Creston in southeastern B.C., has been the home of a polygamous community of fundamentalist Mormons since the 1940s. The villain of the piece is Winston Blackmore, millionaire bishop, husband of (at last count) 26 wives and father of 109 children. He is the folksy, shrewd patriarch of an essentially pre-modern society, which he controls by his knowledge of the modern/postmodern world in which the rest of us live -- a world to which he largely denies his followers access. On the wall of his office is the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which he confidently believes gives him, through its reference to freedom of religion, the right to practise polygamy as a religious duty. Read more


Old-time religion, old-fashioned abuse
By DAWN RAE DOWNTON The Globe and Mail - Toronto, ON Canada Originally published April 5, 2008
THE SECRET LIVES OF SAINTS: Child Brides and Lost Boys in Canada's Polygamous Mormon Sect By Daphne Bramham Random House Canada, 464 pages, $32.95 There's big love for Big Love, the Tom Hanks-produced, Golden Globe-nominated HBO series about a renegade sect of polygamous Mormons, which is now entering its third season and acclaimed by critics everywhere. But Mark Olsen, one of the show's creators, recalls another emotion: when, early on, he "actually had the nerve to drive, very quickly, through Colorado City," the Arizona-Utah border town that's home to 8,000 members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (the FLDS), on which Big Love is ever-so-loosely, and myopically, based. Polygamy was outlawed in the United States and Canada and renounced - half-heartedly - by the mainstream Mormon church in 1890. That drive through God's brothel was "scary, scary," Olsen remembers. "We drove in, chickened out, drove right out again." Compare Big Love to The Secret Lives of Saints: Child Brides and Lost Boys in Canada's Polygamous Mormon Sect, Daphne Bramham's new book on the FLDS, and you'll see how Olsen took a powder on the truth of polygamy. Cruelty doesn't play on prime time, after all, but quirky does. Bramham doesn't do quirky. A journeyman columnist for The Vancouver Sun who's written extensively on the FLDS in Canada, she's unflinching - though still she missed interviewing the U.S. FLDS "Prophet" Warren Jeffs. She had to. Jeffs, 52, was a fugitive headlining the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list with Osama bin Laden until 2006, when he was caught. Read more


Test polygamy in court first, A-G told
Lawyer advises there's no point charging Bountiful polygamists until constitutionality of the law has been determined
By Darah Hansen and Jonathan Fowlie Vancouver Sun Originally published Tuesday, April 8, 2008
There's no point charging alleged abusers in B.C.'s polygamous community of Bountiful until the courts rule on the constitutionality of polygamy itself, a senior Vancouver lawyer has concluded. "[This] is not an attempt to dodge or delay dealing with the problems in Bountiful," Leonard Doust wrote in a special report to the criminal justice branch in the Attorney-General's Ministry, which was made public Monday. "On the contrary, it is the swiftest, most effective and fairest way of beginning to address them." Doust's opinion marks the second time a lawyer hired by the government has recommended the constitutionality of the polygamy law be tested in court. Special prosecutor Richard Peck came to the same conclusion last year after he was appointed by Attorney-General Wally Oppal to look into the issue. The constitutional question hinges on whether the Charter of Rights and Freedoms offers protection to polygamists on the basis of religion and freedom of expression. Bountiful is home to about 1,500 fundamentalist Mormons who practise a polygamist lifestyle. But critics say the community is rife with abuse, with young women in their teens forced to marry much older men. Oppal said Doust's finding was not what he had been hoping for. "It's no secret that I favoured a more aggressive approach to this," Oppal said. "But I'm mindful of the opinions given by two highly respected and knowledgeable lawyers," he said, adding he was not surprised by the recommendation. "These are two opinions given by two of the best lawyers in the province who deal with this type of work. We'll have to think about what our next step will be," he added. Oppal said he hoped to have a decision on what direction to take "within the next week or so." Read more


No word on Canadian presence at Texas polygamist community
By Becky Rynor, Canwest News Service Vancouver Sun Originally published Tuesday, April 8, 2008
OTTAWA - Foreign Affairs said Tuesday it still does not know for certain whether there were any Canadians among the women and children taken from a polygamist community near Eldorado, Texas. "The Canadian consul in Dallas has still not received any calls regarding any Canadians involved, nor has (the department of Foreign Affairs)," spokeswoman Eugenie Cormier-Lassonde said. "Nobody from there has asked us for consular assistance, or the American authorities have not informed us of any Canadians involved. But you never know. Sometimes people don't call straight away. Or they might be dual nationals. It can turn out tomorrow that some people would ask us, but for now we have not received any calls for consular assistance," she said. Late last week Texas authorities removed 416 children from the remote west Texas ranch that belongs to a breakaway Mormon sect linked to jailed polygamist leader Warren Jeffs. A spokesman with the Texas Child Protective Services department said they were still trying to determine identities of the children and of 133 women who had also left the compound. "It's difficult to determine who they are, because they all have similar names, sometimes these children have the same names. They change names, so identifying exactly who they are has not yet happened," Darrell Azar told Canwest Tuesday. "There are steps in the legal process where we can start to deal with that now that we have them in our care, in our custody. But right now we don't really know who all these people are." Read more


B.C. should prosecute polygamists, says former sect member
Province studying constitutionality of case
By Charles Lewis National Post - Toronto, Ontario Originally published Wednesday, April 9, 2008
The Attorney-General of British Columbia should stop wasting time and start prosecuting individuals in the fundamentalist Mormon community of Bountiful, a former member of the polygamous sect said Tuesday. Debbie Palmer, who was married off at the age of 15 to a 55-year-old man, said she does not understand why the province keeps studying the constitutionality of the federal law that forbids polygamy rather than testing it by enforcement. Vancouver lawyer Leonard Doust issued a report this week that said the best way to proceed was to refer section 293 of the Criminal Code to the courts to test its constitutionality, rather than prosecute individuals first. Mr. Doust had been asked by B.C. Attorney-General Wally Oppal to recommend a course of action. However, last August, Vancouver lawyer Richard Peck, also commissioned by Mr. Oppal, came to the same conclusion. When Mr. Oppal was asked by The Vancouver Sun for his reaction to Mr. Doust's report, he said, "It's no secret I favoured a more aggressive approach to this." Ms. Palmer said if that is the case she does not understand why Mr. Oppal just does not take action. "All the anti-polygamists were feeling Wally Oppal was our last hope. But I don't think he is any more determined to sort out the issue than any other attorney-general has been. He is definitely stalling," said Ms. Palmer, who now lives in Prince Albert, Sask. "Having been a child on the inside I know the uncertainty has a really bad effect on everybody: on the people concerned about the issue and the women and children inside the community who don't know what's going to happen to them." Read more


B.C. kids at cult compound
Texas seized 416 kids from the fundamentalist Mormon compound, including some from B.C
By Kelly Sinoski Vancouver Sun Originally published Friday, April 18, 2008
Some B.C. children are believed to be among the 416 children seized from a polygamous cult in Texas last week, B.C. Attorney-General Wally Oppal said Friday. Oppal said he was alerted by federal officials Friday morning because of a similar situation in Bountiful, B.C., although the province has no jurisdiction in the matter of the B.C. kids in Texas. Canadian interests are being handled by the Foreign Affairs and Justice departments and Canada Border Services Agency because the Canadian children were living abroad. "There are some Canadians involved," Oppal said Friday. "That doesn't surprise me given that we've been told there's a lot of movement back and forth in the communes." "We know there are Americans in Bountiful. It's very difficult for the agencies to exactly get all the details." Oppal said federal officials were still trying to confirm how many B.C. and Canadian children were seized in the raid, which occurred at the Yearn for Zion ranch last week over fears that teenage girls were being coerced into marrying, and in some cases being sexually abused by, much older men. The compound is one of several homes of the breakaway Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. More than a thousand church members live in the closed community of Bountiful, in the B.C. Interior. "I'm always concerned. It points out to us how encompassing it is and it really knows no borders when we hear of matters like this," Oppal said. "It's chaos down there now." Read more


Polygamist turmoil in U.S. could spill over into Canadian community
Daphne Bramham, Canwest News Service Vancouver Sun Originally published Saturday, April 19, 2008
VANCOUVER - The same problems that have bedevilled prosecutors in British Columbia, Utah and Arizona are making life difficult for Texas authorities, who over the last two weeks have apprehended 416 children from a walled, fundamentalist Mormon compound. Backed by tanks and snipers, child protection officials moved into the compound after a phone call from a pregnant 16-year-old mother who claimed she had been forced into a plural marriage with a 50-year-old man, who subsequently abused her. Yet nothing may come of it unless the state can prove its allegations that girls as young as 13 were assigned to "spiritual marriages" and that others are at risk of similar harm. As Thursday's chaotic court proceeding in San Angelo, Tex., attended by 350 lawyers indicated, nothing is simple when it comes to closed, religious communities. The prosecution's attempt to enter the medical records of an 18-year-old girl and two 17-year-olds caused a 40-minute delay as lawyers scrambled to see the records and then determine if they objected. What eventually was entered into evidence were documents indicating that 10 girls had been married by age 16 to men as old as 56, and that one man had 22 wives. But so far, there are no victims, only records, because it's almost impossible to get anyone to say anything because they risk losing everything - their church, their family and their salvation. Many children won't say who their parents are or even who they are. It's possible some have Canadian connections or may even be Canadian since the surnames on the court documents match some of those in Bountiful - Johnson, Barlow, Steed, Jessop and Jeffs. B.C.'s Attorney General Wally Oppal said Friday Canadian children are among the those seized. A federal spokesman could not confirm the report. Read more


B.C. polygamists alarmed by Texas child seizures
By Dirk Meissner The Canadian Press Toronto Star Originally published April 21, 2008
Bountiful, B.C. – The leaders of one of the most mysterious, private and controversial communities in Canada are opening their normally sealed-shut doors to speak out against the apprehension of more than 400 children in Texas by U.S. authorities. Ultimately, the leaders of Bountiful, B.C. are hoping to protect themselves against what they fear could result in similar actions by Canadian authorities. Winston Blackmore and Merrill Palmer, leaders of two feuding factions of the polygamous colony in Bountiful, B.C., said in interviews with The Canadian Press on Monday that the apprehension of the Texas children requires a public response, even though the people of Bountiful are taught to keep to themselves. On Monday, children ran and hid behind trees when strangers approached. But Palmer said it's time to speak out. "We're heartbroken," said Palmer, principal of one of two schools at Bountiful, located near Creston, in southeastern B.C., about one kilometre away from the U.S. border. He said he hasn't spoken to the media for years and there have been times he's locked his school doors as reporters approached. Palmer said the polygamist sect he belongs to would rather stay out of the public eye, "but desperate times call for desperate measures." "Someone needs to speak up for us, because we do a poor job speaking up for ourselves," he said. Read more


B.C. polygamists praying for Texas kin
Leader says many in Bountiful concerned over U.S. raid
By Dirk Meissner The Canadian Press Toronto Star Originally published April 21, 2008
BOUNTIFUL, B.C.– Winston Blackmore, the unapologetic leader of a polygamist community in British Columbia, says his people are praying for their "relatives" in Texas. The spiritual leader of the colony at Bountiful, B.C., says he doesn't know if any of the children seized by U.S. authorities from a similar Texas compound earlier this month are from his commune. But in a rare interview on the Bountiful property, Blackmore said he's concerned as a parent. "Any parent should be concerned about every child, whether they are Canadian or not," he said during a 20-minute conversation at the commune's rodeo grounds. "A lot of those people are our relatives and our friends and I'm concerned about them. I'm sure sorry that (the raid) happened." More than 400 children apprehended April 3 at a Texas enclave of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints may be subject to genetic tests to sort out family relationships that have confounded welfare authorities. B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal has said federal government officials told him at least 15 Canadian children in Texas are likely linked to Bountiful. Department of Foreign Affairs officials declined comment on the weekend. Read more


Politically expedient and popular but it could be a mistake
Oppal will meet with a special prosecutor before moving on the Mormon fundamentalists in Bountiful
By Ian Mulgrew Editorial Vancouver Sun Originally published Wednesday, April 23, 2008
B.C. Attorney-General Wally Oppal is itching to follow the lead of Texas authorities and step in at Bountiful, near Creston, to seize the children of the breakaway Mormon cult that has been living there for 60-some years. As politically expedient and popular as it might appear, it could also be the mistake of his career. Some of the best legal minds in the province have considered whether polygamy charges would succeed in the 21st century and concluded, no. Let's think about it. If a man and three, four or more women want to live together, copulate and tell people they're "married," who cares? That's not a crime, that's a commune. Maybe 100 years ago, you could find enough religious bigots to defend a law like that, but not in an era of gay marriage and moral laissez-faire. Now, start talking about forcing teenage girls to marry ugly old farts, bride bartering, physical abuse and things like that, and you've definitely crossed the line. But that's not something you can invent or conjure according to a political timetable. It took the apparent cry for help from an abused teenager on the cult's U.S. property to bring child welfare and police swooping down April 4. Now there are 437 kids in U.S. government care, most with their own government-appointed lawyer, all demanding their rights. Read more


Canadian found on Texas polygamist ranch
The Canadian Press Toronto Star Originally published April 25, 2008
OTTAWA – The federal government confirmed today that at least one Canadian citizen was living on a Texas polygamist ranch raided by U.S. authorities. Foreign Affairs says the Canadian government is providing that person with diplomatic assistance, but a spokeswoman for the department offered no further details. "Consular officials have confirmed the presence of one Canadian citizen," Eugenie Cormier-Lassonde said in an e-mail. "Contact has been made with the lawyer representing the Canadian and assistance is being provided." Texas officials stormed the Yearning for Zion Ranch earlier this month following a call to a family violence shelter, purportedly by a 16-year-old girl who said her 50-year-old husband beat and raped her. More than 460 children have been seized from the ranch, which is run by a breakaway Mormon sect. The Foreign Affairs statement noted that the welfare of Canadian children in the United States is the responsibility of the Child Protective Services agency in the relevant jurisdiction. It said the department will work with the agencies involved to provide assistance to any Canadian that requires some. A spokesman within the Texas government said he wasn't aware of the Canadian statement – and even if he had been aware of it, he still wouldn't be able to elaborate. "Once the children are in foster care, we don't like to talk about any particular child's characteristics at all," said Patrick Crimmins, spokesman for the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. Reports have surfaced that some of the children taken from the ranch are Canadian, likely from the B.C. polygamist community of Bountiful. Earlier this week, leaders of the community – one of the most guarded and controversial in Canada – spoke out against the raid. The community leaders apparently hoped to protect themselves against what they fear could result in similar actions by Canadian authorities. A spokesman for B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal wasn't able to offer more detail about the Canadian citizen living on the Texas ranch. Shawn Robins referred calls to Foreign Affairs.


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