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December 2000
Gibbons and Connell receive
one day sentencesBy Tony Gosgnach
The Interim
In a process marred by some serious legal anomalies, pro-life activists Linda Gibbons and Rosemary Connell each received a sentence of one day in jail and 12 months probation on Nov. 28, following their convictions on charges of obstructing police. They had been arrested, charged and held in custody since Oct. 17 after their challenge of a "bubble zone" court injunction protecting the Scott Clinic abortuary on Gerrard Street East in Toronto. The measure prohibits pro-life activity of any sort within 60 feet of the building, and other abortion-related sites in Ontario.
Gibbons and Connell, represented by U.S. lawyer John Broderick and Brantford, Ont. lawyer Paul Vandervet respectively, pleaded not guilty - although Gibbons did not speak out of solidarity with the voiceless preborn. Broderick entered a plea on her behalf.
An agreed statement of facts was read to the court, which acknowledged that the pair did stand within the 60-foot zone and refused to leave after a sheriff read the text of the injunction and exhorted them to leave. However, Vandervet argued that their actions did not constitute obstruction - offering passive resistance to a peace officer's order was not illegal, he suggested.
However, the presiding judge disagreed, saying that disobeying a lawful order to leave the injunction zone caused "an unnecessary expenditure" of police resources. He found them guilty and accepted the Crown's and defence's joint submission of a one-day jail sentence, followed by a 12-month probation period. During that time, Gibbons and Connell are to stay at least 100 metres away from three freestanding Toronto abortuaries - the Scott Clinic, the Cabbagetown Women's Clinic and the Choice in Health Clinic.
Remarkably, Gibbons was never given the opportunity to have a bail hearing during her time in custody - a serious breach of legal norms. Connell, meanwhile, was improperly held in custody until the trial after asking for more time to consider bail conditions that were set for her. The presiding justice of the peace took Connell's plea for more time to be a refusal of the conditions. In a bizarre move, a publication ban was requested and granted on the evidence at the hearing.
According to the official transcript of Connell's bail hearing, the Crown attorney, a Mr. Tsui, described Connell as "an unemployed teacher who lives in seclusion in northern Ontario and is … a professional anti-abortion protester." In pressing for her continued detention, he failed to mention that she has in fact been employed full-time as a Durham Region Roman Catholic Separate School Board teacher for 20 years, is a mother to eight children (including four adopted) and a grandmother to eight. With her husband, the Burnt River, Ont. resident has also cared for several foster children, volunteered to help other physically and mentally handicapped children, sponsored Vietnamese immigrants, and hosted numerous single mothers and children in her home. She also performs fundraising work for local and international aid organizations.
The Crown falsely claimed in court that Connell condemns police as being "pawns for the brutalistic regime of the Nazi government of today's Canada."
Things went a little more according to the book when the trial itself was held. "I think the judge was very respectful," said Vandervet afterwards. "It was shocking, however, that Linda did not have a proper bail hearing. The judge had directed that she have a bail hearing, but because she wasn't verbal at all, she was detained. That is a no-no. It should not happen."
Nonetheless, Vandervet said some positives had emerged from the case. "There's an acknowledgement that the position of Rosemary and Linda is principled. There's some respect starting to be shown, which maybe wasn't there previously. Persistence is making a difference."
After the trial, in support of Gibbons and Connell, a number of pro-lifers went to the Ontario legislature to hold a Show the Truth demonstration, featuring large, graphic signs facing in the direction of the front steps of the building. Ken Campbell, the Milton, Ont. evangelist and Christian activist, addressed them.
"We have witnessed the latest of countless flagrant instances of the vicious violation of the most fundamental principles of Canadian justice," he said. "The Harris government perpetuates the Marion Boyd perversity of justice that amounts to the lowest form of institutionalized women battering, resulting in the repeated arrest and incarceration of a noble, single mother and grandmother."
He added that Premier Harris's "pro-death agenda … [is] a scandalous national and international disgrace that we've come today from a kangaroo court to Queen's Park to protest."
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