The polygamous community of Bountiful is not a congregation and by insisting that it is, community leader Winston Blackmore is trying to offload a tax bill on to those who can ill afford to pay it – including young men shipped out of the community to work at low-paying jobs, a federal tax lawyer said on Monday.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
New Special Counsel for Bountiful
Vancouver lawyer Peter Wilson has been named as the new special prosecutor to look into potential criminal offences in Bountiful.
B.C.’s Criminal Justice Branch announced Mr. Wilson’s appointment Wednesday.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
B.C.'s Special Prosecutor Steps Down
Spurred by details of underage marriages that came to light in a landmark court reference on polygamy, the B.C. government is looking for a special prosecutor to weigh criminal charges relating to activity in Bountiful after the person who had been in the role declined to take another look.
“I made my decision on this case 4½ years ago,” said Richard Peck, the Vancouver lawyer who was appointed as special prosecutor on the polygamy file in 2007. “And the government decided to go in a different direction and, as far as I was concerned, I wasn’t going to be involved any more.”
Friday, December 30, 2011
Polygamy Reference to the Supreme Court of Canada?
The British Columbia government has not yet decided whether or not to send the polygamy reference result for confirmation by the Supreme Court of Canada.
The Amicus Curiae, George Mackintosh has said that he does not intend to appeal the B.C. Supreme Court's decision on the validity of the federal law.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Federal Immigration Guide - Polygamy
OTTAWA - Canada is hoping to crack down on polygamous relationships such as the one that's come to light during the sensational Shafia honour killing trial, according to Immigration Minister Jason Kenney who will unveil a revised guide for newcomers early next year that will addresses the issue specifically.
In a year-end interview with Postmedia News, Kenney said while polygamy is a concern he raised early on in his mandate, it's one that's been difficult to tackle.
``We leave no stone unturned to try to prevent what you might call polygamous immigration marriages, but the problem is that if someone comes to the country on a particular visa and then chooses to enter into say a religious marriage, it's never reported with the state in Canada and they never report it to us as an immigration sponsorship,'' he said.
``It's outside of our system.''
A Personal Story ......
When my family lived in Richmond, a group of Mormon fundamentalists from Bountiful, near Creston, visited our mainstream Mormon congregation extolling the practice of polygamy, also called the principle or plural marriage. They were looking for wives to add to their collections. They targeted families who had young girls.
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