Is Day's national potential over?

In April Mr. Day wrote a letter to the Red Deer Advocate that criticized Lorne Goddard, a Red Deer school trustee and lawyer whose best-known client is child molester Kevin Lorne Valley. The letter noted that in his attempt to get the charges against Valley dismissed, Mr. Goddard had sought to have...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inAlberta report Vol. 26; no. 36; p. 11
Main Author Gibson, Will
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Edmonton United Western Communications 20.09.1999
Subjects
Conflicts of interest
Day, Stockwell
Defamation
Goddard, Lorne
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:In April Mr. Day wrote a letter to the Red Deer Advocate that criticized Lorne Goddard, a Red Deer school trustee and lawyer whose best-known client is child molester Kevin Lorne Valley. The letter noted that in his attempt to get the charges against Valley dismissed, Mr. Goddard had sought to have Canada's child-porn laws ruled unconstitutional. Reprisals against Mr. Day were as swift as they were unexpected. In May he was publicly scolded by Premier Ralph Klein for interfering in the judicial process, and in June Mr. Goddard filed a defamation suit against him. The scoldings had their intended effect. On September 2 Mr. Day apologized for his remarks in an open letter that praised Mr. Goddard's "high moral and ethical standards." But what he thinks about Mr. Goddard's fitness as a school trustee remains unclear. The same day he filed a statement of defence which claimed he had a legal, social and public duty to criticize Mr. Goddard. Mr. Goddard is encouraging the government's apparent political expediency. He went to crown prosecutor Bert Skinner with the same deal last year, he says, but he was turned down. Then the Justice Department revived the offer just days before a hearing in which the defence planned to argue that Mr. Day's letter imposed an infringement on Valley's constitutional rights. "But my client was agreeable to the sentence," admits Mr. Goddard. "If he's happy with it, I'm happy with it." Nevertheless, Mr. Goddard plans to pursue his action against Mr. Day.
ISSN:0225-0519