EDMONTON, Nov 4 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Alberta’s Provincial Treasurer, Stockwell Day, an ardent advocate for families and a respected leader at both federal and provincial levels, has been attacked by the media and must defend himself in court on charges of defamation for writing a letter against child pornography.
The Canada Family Action Coalition reported yesterday that Day wrote a letter to the media following a controversy over a school board trustee who, in his capacity as a lawyer, agreed to defend a repeat pedophile. He argued in court that laws against possession of child porn were unconstitutional. A school board member wrote to the newspaper questioning the appropriateness of a school board trustee – a person in a position of trust over thousands of children – accepting the case of a client charged with possession of child pornography and was subsequently attacked by another school board member who wrote a letter to the paper in support of the trustee.
After the pedophile was convicted, Day, in his capacity of Member of Legislative Assembly for the area, wrote his own letter to the editor explaining the consequences of legalizing possession of kiddie porn and noting that it was understandable that people would be concerned about the position of their school board trustee on that issue. But he also wrote that everyone has a “right to a fair trial, even a pedophile charged with possessing child porn material.” His letter also defended the lawyer’s right to “freely proclaim his views”.
Mainstream media did not print Day’s letter in full and said that Day was attacking the lawyer for defending his client. The lawyer/trustee has a defamation lawsuit against Mr. Day seeking $600,000 in damages. According to accepted procedure, Day applied to the Provincial Treasury insurance plan – a plan for employees of the Alberta Government, including MLAs, for the purpose of protecting themselves against legal actions taken against them while serving in their capacity as government employees. The media are now criticizing Day for “[taking] public money to cover his legal costs and liability for attacking and defaming a lawyer who was simply performing his duty in defending an accused pedophile”.