Here’s the quiz in the form of a transcript from an interview my Corus Calgary colleague Dave Rutherford did with a Liberal candidate in the Alberta riding of Wild Rose, a former provincial judge. John Reilly has received the blessing of Michael Ignatieff, despite having seen what you are about to see right now.***************************************
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Rutherford: You shouldn’t go to jail for a sex assault?
Reilly: Well, you know, there are sexual assaults and there are sexual assaults.
Rutherford: Sure?
Reilly: And I had another young man, not a young offender, but a 19, 20-year-old. He’s at a party, there’s a lot of sexual innuendo, one of these women is being very aggressive with her boyfriend and they’re drinking a lot, the boyfriend passes out, she goes, gets into bed naked, he goes up, he’s thinking he’s going to be able to, that she’ll probably agree to have sex with him, he fondles her privates, and she wakes up and tells him to go away, and he goes away.
They report it, he’s charged with (a) sexual offence, he has digitally penetrated her, the Crown prosecutor says this is a digital penetration of a woman’s vagina, he should go to jail for three years, that’s the starting point for this sexual offence.
And I’m looking at this 20-year-old, socially inept young man, and his offence is a sexual assault and it’s one that they consider a major sexual assault because it involves digital penetration. I don’t think in those circumstances that what happened there should put that young man in a penitentiary for three years.
Rutherford: Unless it’s your daughter, and then maybe you’ve got a whole other perspective! You haven’t mentioned the word “victim” once yet!
Reilly: You know, I am concerned about victims, but what I’m concerned about is our society as a whole.
There now. Wasn’t that easy? And it only took a minute of your precious time. Ignatieff’s response to the transcript was that he was offended by it, but not nearly offended enough to toss Reilly under the Liberal bus. He remains a candidate, but has since apologized.David Akin has done some digging on the Liberal candidate and points out Michael Ignatieff would not fire Reilly that an apology was good enough. The former judge has a record.
If you’re comfortable with the Liberal leader’s judgment, mark yourself down as an Ignatieff Liberal. Now you might be an NDPer. But what you are not is a conservative. I can tell you that without the assistance of CBC-friendly professors.
Reilly has had his sentences overturned at least three times by the Alberta Court of Appeal and was criticized by the high court in at least two.Liberals say they are for women. Well Liberal women should think twice before they cast a vote for the Liberal party if this is the kind of candidate they have. Where are the Liberal female candidates? Why are they not speaking out? Reilly no where in that interview expressed any kind of sympathy for the female victim. If the Count won't fire him,it speaks to the Liberal mindset.
Ladies, Liberals will not protect you! Vote Conservative,they will!