Woe is Winston ......

News came today that Winston Blackmore's attempt to obtain special treatment under Canada's Tax Laws has failed.

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RCMP Report Delivered to Special Prosecutor

It has taken two years, but the RCMP in British Columbia have finally delivered their report on polygamy to the Special Prosecutor, who will now examine it and (we hope) bring charges to bear.

For more on this development, go to this link

Polygamy in the UK

The mind boggles at what is happening in the UK.  Apparently, not only are polygamous families allowed to immigrate, but they are now being granted increased benefits.

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A New Book About the Polygamy Reference

Craig Jones, the lead litigator for the government of British Columbia is publishing a book about the recent polygamy reference entitled "A Cruel Arithmetic: The Case Against Polygamy".  It is intended for the general reader, and will be published soon by Irwin Law, Canada.

Jones writes about  "the argument he and his colleagues developed against polygamy, drawing from fields as diverse as anthropology, history, economics, and evolutionary psychology. Yet he shows that it was ultimately the testimony of real people that showed how the theoretical harms of polygamy’s "cruel arithmetic" played out upon its victims."

Temporary Polygamy Proposed

"Ordinary" polygamy is being challenged in Iran.  That country is interested in introducing legal "temporary" polygamy .....

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A Harrowing Tale from an Escapee

Rebecca Musser reveals a tale of fear and horror as she describes life with the senior Jeffs.

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Polygamy Reference will not be appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada

The B.C. Minister of Justice said today that the Reference decision made by B.C. Supreme Court Chief Justice Robert Bauman in November 2011will not be appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada.

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Living with Plural Wives

On the stand in federal tax court, Bountiful leader Winston Blackmore confirmed that he had 21 wives, including sisters whom he married on the same day in the same ceremony.

“These are pretty much the list of people who lived with me as wives,” Mr. Blackmore said on Tuesday, following a series of questions from a Department of Justice lawyer that outlined the names and home communities of the women to whom Mr. Blackmore was “sealed” in ceremonies sanctioned by leaders of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, or FLDS.

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Preparing for the End of Days?

B.C. polygamous leader Winston Blackmore says he took out a $25,000 loan from the bank to prepare for the end of the world. 

During testimony in the Tax Court of Canada on Thursday, Mr. Blackmore said a patriarch in the community directed him to get the money to “prepare for the worst.” 

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Money, Money, Money .....

Polygamous leader Winston Blackmore acknowledges he may not be a prophet, but he’s a little less clear about whether or not he’s the leader of a church in southeast B.C

Mr. Blackmore is trying to make a case in the Tax Court of Canada for special status for his community in Bountiful, B.C

Under heated cross-examination Wednesday by federal lawyer Lynn Burch, Mr. Blackmore at first refused to answer whether or not he thought himself a prophet.

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So Many Wives .........

Despite struggling Tuesday in tax court to name all of his wives, Winston Blackmore admitted Wednesday that he'd forgotten one.

Instead of having 21 wives between 2000 and 2006, Blackmore said he had 22. 

During that period, Blackmore said he had approximately 67 children – 47 of whom were born in that six year period alone.

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Blackmore's Unpaid Taxes Under Scrutiny

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.

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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.

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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.”

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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.

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Polygamists Not Wanted in Canada

The Federal government has toughened its stance on polygamist immigrants to Canada.

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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.''

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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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RCMP on the Move

RCMP officers will be in Texas from Dec. 12 to 16 to gather information about underage Canadian girls believed to have been victimized by Warren Jeffs, the convicted pedophile and leader of a fundamentalist Mormon group.

Sgt. Terry Jacklin of the Southeast District Major Crime Unit said the officers will meet with state lawyers and members of the Texas Rangers to discuss the connection between Jeffs, the leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (FLDS), and girls allegedly sent to him by their families in Bountiful, a polygamous community in B.C.

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Polygamy Reference - the Judge's Reasons

Almost exactly one year ago, Judge Robert Bauman began hearing evidence in the case to decide if the federal law against polygamy was constitutional or not.

You can read his decision at the link below:

http://www.courts.gov.bc.ca/jdb-txt/SC/11/15/2011BCSC1588.htm