Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - June 27, 2012, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE B1 2.24 % Rates subject to change without notice. Call for full details. CROSSTOWN CIVIC CREDIT UNION % Lowest Mortgage Rate w ww . c rosstow ncivic. mb . ca oac 885- 3330 ASDowns. com 8 8 5 LIVE RACING TONIGHT 7: 00PM ( and Fri- Sat 7: 00PM, Sunday 1: 00PM) CANADA DAY DON'T MISS GREAT MASCOT RACE TRACK INVASION ( GO OUT ONTRACK, MEET JOCKEYS!) Plus Pony Rides . Petting Farm . Bouncy Gym SUNDAY, JULY 1, 1: 00PM $ 30,000 C ANST A R S T A KES E Sign Up! NEWBIE NIGHT " Get serious with Scott Taylor " Sign up at ASDowns. com FREE BETS, MUNCHIES, PROGRAMS & MORE! FRIDAY JUNE 29 6: 30 PM T AFTER RACES WED- FRI- SAT Win $ 1 , 000 FREE VLT TOURNEY N CITY & BUSINESS CITY EDITOR: PAUL SAMYN 697- 7292 city. desk@ freepress. mb. ca I winnipegfreepress. com WEDNESDAY, JUNE 27, 2012 B 1 I T'S a classic he- said, she- said case, but this time the she is one of the province's top judges. And the she in this case - Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench Associate Chief Justice Lori Douglas - will have the last word as she's scheduled to be the final witness to testify in the hearing that's making national headlines. Alex Chapman is the he in this matter. The Canadian Judicial Council inquiry is looking into his complaint Douglas sexually harassed him. Chapman will be the first to testify when the hearing resumes next month. In the balance is Douglas's judgeship. Guy Pratte, the inquiry's independent counsel, said while Douglas's husband, lawyer Jack King, has admitted before the Law Society of Manitoba he twice orchestrated meetings between his wife and Chapman, who was his client, Douglas will deny anything came of the meetings. " We expect that ( Chapman) will say that she was flirting with him and touching him and that as he walked her to her car, she said ' Hope to see you at the house this weekend,' " Pratte said during his opening statement. " Justice Douglas flatly denies this. She says that Mr. Chapman is lying." While not revealing the evidence, Pratte did say " although there is some objective evidence that could support Mr. Chapman's allegation, this allegation of sexual harassment largely comes down to a credibility contest between Mr. Chapman on the one hand, and Justice Douglas and Mr. King on the other. " We will present evidence at this hearing about their credibility." But Pratte said there is one thing the inquiry will not become. " This process has not been, is not, and will not become... a witch hunt or a whitewash," he said. " While Justice Douglas's private life is not on trial, there is no denying that as a result of the unusual circumstances of this case, we will have to delve into some very private aspects of her private life." But Douglas's lawyer, Sheila Block, argued the process victimizes a victim. " Her husband betrayed her, violated her privacy and breached the most fundamental and intimate marital trust - exposing their sexual relations," she said. " What are now notorious facts came as a complete and devastating shock... This was for her an unimaginable betrayal." Chapman claims King showed him sexually explicit photos of Douglas and asked him to have sex with her. But Douglas has said she did nothing wrong and her husband acted without her knowledge. Douglas has been on leave since 2010. The Canadian Judicial Council is looking into allegations Douglas failed to disclose all relevant information when she was being considered for the bench, she and her husband sexually harassed one of his clients, pressuring the client to have sex with her, and that she can no longer function as a judge because of the public availability of the nude photos. Block said the matter has affected Douglas and " I will ask you to hear in camera the physical, mental, emotional toll which caused her to hit a low point in February this year and she felt abandoned by everything she believed in." Block said even though Douglas's husband betrayed her, it is she who is before the inquiry panel. " If a woman had been raped and the despicable perpetrator or one of his pals videotaped it and set it loose on the Internet, and that woman is appointed to the bench and the video resurfaced, would the system of justice ever say she had to be removed from the bench? To say yes to that question, that it is in the public interest to penalize the victim for the wrongdoing done to her, is the antithesis of the public interest. " She has suffered grievously at the hands of a betrayer and a wrongdoer motivated by malice." Block said despite the betrayal, the couple is still married. " She didn't throw him out. She worked hard to forgive him, knowing he was ill and for the sake of their young child and his children," Block said. On Tuesday, Chapman was granted the right - and funding - to have a lawyer represent him at the inquiry. Alberta Chief Justice Catherine Fraser, the inquiry chairwoman, stressed Chapman's participation will be " limited." The decision meant the inquiry came to a halt to allow Chapman's lawyer time to prepare. The inquiry will resume July 16. The witness list is expected to include judges, lawyers and former justice minister Irwin Cotler, who appointed Douglas. kevin. rollason@ freepress. mb. ca A GROUP of university students in Winnipeg is sending money to Prime Minister Stephen Harper and has produced a video for YouTube urging other Canadians to do likewise. Their 59 Cents Campaign says that's all it would cost every Canadian a year to restore health- care benefits to refugees that the federal government is cutting June 30. "... We are asking all Canadians to place 59 cents in an envelope and send it to the Prime Minister's Office to let him know that we will not stand for these cuts," the students at the Canadian School of Peacebuilding at the Canadian Mennonite University said in a video. It shows people finding loose change - in couch cushions and sock drawers - then mailing it to the prime minister. ( The video can be viewed at www. youtube. com/ watch? v= TQiSe00HOec) " We believe that if Canadians stop to consider the effect which these changes will have on the most vulnerable portion of our global society, that our country's annual savings of 59 cents per person to keep the Federal Interim Health Program open for refugees will be seen as insignificant," the video says. For one of the students involved, it's personal. " I have a friend who's a refugee who was impacted by this," said Rianna Isaak. Her friend is a 28- year- old Ugandan woman who arrived in Winnipeg with two small children and troublesome wisdom teeth. Two of her teeth were removed and the procedure was covered under the Interim Health Care Program. She has to wait until July to get two more removed - if she can afford it. The suggested fee for a single wisdom tooth extraction is from $ 197.10 to $ 411.50 per tooth, the Manitoba Dental Association says. Starting Saturday, Citizenship and Immigration Canada will stop paying for supplemental health benefits for refugees during their first year here. The cuts prompted health- care professionals to rally across Canada including in Winnipeg at The Forks on June 18. That inspired the students to take action, said Matt Dueck, 25. " We wanted to take an angle supportive to what they're doing, as a push from a different group of Canadian citizens." While coming up with an idea was a small- group assignment at school, following through and executing the campaign was not, he said. " It's strictly our own moral conviction, our own personal feelings." The assignment was to devise an advocacy campaign that could quickly and easily be implemented at the grassroots level. They targeted the Interim Federal Health Care Program cuts that are expected to save $ 100 million over the next five years. The anticipated saving works out to $ 20 million a year and, divided by Canada's population, that equals 59 cents per person, Dueck figured. The goal is to get enough support from the Canadian public that the federal government will reverse its decision to cut supplemental health benefits to refugees during their first year in Canada. He said they have no political affiliation, just a sense of what's right as citizens of Canada, and they felt strongly enough to make a video, create a web page and use social media to spread the message. " In 2011, Canada was proudly a place of hope and healing to 25,000 refugees. This is a fact in which we take pride and wish to take pride in for generations to come," the video says. carol. sanders@ freepress. mb. ca Judge's accuser gets funding Chapman first to testify when harassment case against Douglas resumes By Kevin Rollason ' She has suffered grievously at the hands of a betrayer and a wrongdoer motivated by malice' - Sheila Block, lawyer for Justice Lori Douglas ON THE WEB CHECK OUT WWW. 59CENTS. ORG/ OR WWW. FACEBOOK. COM/ FIFTYNINECENTS FOR MORE INFORMATION Send 59 cents to PM: students Impending cuts to refugees' health care worth less than a buck to each Canadian By Carol Sanders MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Cecilly Hildebrand ( from left), Maureen Gathogo, Rianna Isaak and Matthew Dueck want the Tories to refrain from cutting health- care benefits to refugees. B_ 01_ Jun- 27- 12_ FP_ 01. indd B1 6/ 26/ 12 8: 14: 19 PM ;