Polygamy illegal?
 
By Black Press
Peninsula News Review
 
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.

"British Columbians do not believe that these marriages are truly consensual, and they want something done to protect children in Bountiful from sexual exploration," Krog said.

RCMP have twice recommended charges in the 20-year investigation of Bountiful. In 1990 they recommended polygamy charges, and a 2006 investigation led to a police call for charges under the sexual exploitation provisions of the Criminal Code.

Crown counsel decided not to proceed because a conviction would be unlikely.
 
PeninsulaNewsReview.com
Originally published August 10, 2007
 
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