VANCOUVER, April 16, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A very emotional New Democratic Party Member of Parliament, Svend Robinson, read a statement to the press on Thursday. Robinson, who admitted to stealing a $50,000 ring on Good Friday, said, “I am…stepping down at this time as the federal New Democrat candidate for Burnaby-Douglas while these issues remain unresolved.”
Canadian Press reported Friday that the Toronto-area auction house from which Robinson stole the ring is satisfied with Robinson’s apology and won’t be pressing for criminal charges to be laid. The final decision on charges is now in the hands of an independent special prosecutor appointed to handle the case. CP reports that some legal experts say criminal charges may never be laid.
Robinson attributed the theft to a “moment of utter irrationality,” resulting from his “severe stress and emotional pain,” which “relate to the cumulative pressures of dealing with the emotional consequences of a nearly fatal hiking accident,” he suffered in 1997.
Predictably, NDP leader Jack Layton announced today that Robinson can remain in the party caucus.
Meanwhile, there is growing scepticism over the Robinson press conference performance, the huge media coverage it received and the seemingly orchestrated outpouring of support for the chronic headline grabber by the Canadian left-wing establishment. LifeSiteNews.com was called by one reader on Friday morning who expressed dismay with the totally one-sided effort by Canada’s national broadcasting network, the CBC, to present numerous persons expressing sympathy and praise for the notorious leftist politician.
One analyst noted that Robinson’s sobbing admission of guilt, his tale of personal woe and being lovingly comforted by his homosexual partner was conveniently timed just before the April 20th start of the Senate’s final re-consideration of Robinson’s Bill C-250. The bill, which would add “sexual orientation” to Canada’s hate law is experiencing massive organized opposition because of a perceived serious threat by the proposed law change to Canadian’s freedom of expression and freedom of religion.
In Friday’s National Post, columnist Don Martin slams Robinson’s latest media event. Martin writes that “this could end up being his best publicity stunt ever”. The journalist goes on to express what many seasoned observers of Robinson’s antics are suspecting about the current incident:“this whole setup is so perfectly framed in classic Svend style, you know this cannot be the final word from an MP who has never stopped talking.”“Consider the announcement’s setup—television networks going live, newspaper skeds revamped, sympathetic colleagues rushing to share his pain, a sombre party leader hailing his accomplishments and even a prime minister praising his contributions.”“But then consider the actual details of what Robinson announced.”“He was feeling extreme stress, but he didn’t specify the cause. He is receiving medical treatment, but refused to detail the affliction. He decided to take a leave of absence, but didn’t actually quit his seat.”“He suggested he won’t seek re-election, but left enough wiggle room to suggest that decision is subject to change without notice.”
Martin concludes that there is not a chance the “one-man, raging-left” Robinson will leave politics since he “is too addicted to politics; too fixated on his many causes and too obsessed with himself to let a fleeting guilty conscience end his career.”
Lastly, contrary to the weepy, broken man seen by millions of Canadians exposed to the press conference, the Post’s Martin notes that “for a politician who preaches inclusion for all, Robinson has often shown himself markedly intolerant of others.” The Post reports in another column that Nelson Riis, a former party leader, once said “Svend will drive a knife into your neck with no remorse”.
In another Friday Post column, John Ivison writes of Robinson, “This, after all, is the man who wanted God removed from the Charter of Rights; who stood up when Ronald Reagan was addressing the House of Commons and heckled him; who claimed that the CIA had penetrated senior levels of Petro-Canada before offering a complete and unequivocal apology; who campaigned for “sexist language” to be removed from the national anthem; and, who once urged jungle nomads in Sarawak to use blowpipes with poison darts against the Malaysian government to stop the destruction of rainforests.”
Not also mentioned by Ivison is the fact that Robinson has been an aggressive advocate of abortion, killing via euthanasia, legalized prostitution and brothels and forcing acceptance of homosexuality upon the Canadian public and institutions.
Ivison adds to the suspicion over Robinson’s latest performance stating, “the worst adverts for socialism are its adherents, and Robinson has presented a deeply unsympathetic public face to all but hardened collectivists. His tendency toward hysteria and his appetite for headlines has made him a lodestone for the ‘loony left’ tag.”
However, Edmonton Journal columinist Alan Kelogg wrote, “in the end, it comes down to a matter of suspending our well-honed sense of disbelief—or not. A trusted friend of mine, no slouch on cynicism, who knows Robinson professionally and has wrestled with depression himself, is convinced that was no show on Thursday, and it rings true.”
According to the Vancouver Sun, Robinson has retained the services of Clayton Ruby, a high-profile Toronto criminal lawyer who is perhaps best known for successfully defending Canada’s most prominent abortionist and secular humanist, Henry Morgentaler.
See also MP Larry Spencer’s release on the Robinson theft incident:
“There must be consequences for breaking the law. Why should Mr. Robinson be treated any differently than ordinary Canadians had they committed the same act,” Spencer asks. “The interesting point is that Mr. Robinson is being treated like a victim, while I was treated like a criminal.” Spencer concludes, “Who broke the law?”
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004_docs/Spencerrelease.pdf
See
Robinson Shopped for Ring
https://www.canada.com/calgary/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=6d013164-31dc-46b1-be04-8c82a98ea850
Read National Post coverage (subscription required): https://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=468f2679-ad6a-4c36-b514-52b8a858240e
https://www.canada.com/national/nationalpost/news/story.html?id=fbe528ea-2ac5-4933-aaa0-7e84f1ddd48d
See past LifeSite Reports:
MORE FALLOUT FROM MP BULLYING PRO-LIFE PRIEST
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2000/jan/00012002.html
Homosexual Activist MP Holds to “Fascism” says Alliance MP in House Debate
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2003/sep/03091703.html
ATHEISTS WANT GOD TO BE REMOVED FROM CANADA’S CONSTITUTION
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/1999/jun/99060402.html
HOMOSEXUAL ACTIVIST MP EMBARRASES CANADA AGAIN BY POSING NUDE
https://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/jun/02061004.html