Stoddard Online

A TIME TO FACE REALITY

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For those who have followed the story of Wilbert Coffin, the year 2006 would surely have been a milestone. With the date February 10, the fiftieth anniversary of his execution by hanging passed into history. Though a huge swell supporting the belief that a wrongful conviction of Wilbert Coffin took place exists amongst Canadians from coast to coast, sadly, little has been accomplished in the clearing of his name.

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I simply cannot begin to count the number of times that I have been told that things like that were just not talked about in the community. Why not, I would ask? Invariably, the answer would be, "just because it wasn't." I do not buy that answer. It is not good enough.

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Here we are in history some fifty years after the fact. Many have obviously passed on. True, from those who remain, there are some who have changed their views and are now anxious to see this case clear the hurdles. This is a commendable approach. There are missing links still existing out there in the Gaspe' community that need to become part of the chain. You know who you are, and you know what you should do.

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From my own investigation and research, I am confident that the community at large wishes for a successful conclusion to this case. One person cannot do it all. After this period of time, it must be a community endeavour. This case had its roots in the Gaspe' community, so it stands to reason, the community harbours the secrets of the closet.

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As I have stated many times, it is not my objective to lead in a new guilty party in handcuffs. Personally, I do not think that is possible. While I do firmly believe that Wilbert Coffin was not the responsible party, I do believe that the person or persons who are truly guilty are probably no longer with us. You will note that I said "probably" because I rule nothing out until proven otherwise, as I have come across several in this case who have mysteriously resurrected from the belief that they long ago departed this earth.

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We are in the midst of a judicial review of the Wilbert Coffin case. It is a review that we know very little about. We know very little about it simply because they have told us little about it. What we do not know about this review, and this is of significant importance, is the depth that the government is prepared to allow the review to go. Will they allow new evidence, meaning evidence that has come forward since the original trial? Will they allow suppressed evidence, meaning evidence that was on hand at the time of the original trial, but was held back? Will they allow testimony of witnesses who gave sworn statements in 1953, but were never called to trial? These are all key questions that have to be answered. Otherwise, the review is going to falter.

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In addition to the above, the original process and the reasons that it happened the way that it did must be thoroughly studied. If it was flawed, why was it flawed? From the onset, was there a valid legal reason as to why an inquest jury's verdict was called back, forcing a new verdict to coincide with the police theory? Was the evidence presented in a fair and truthful way by the crown to the presiding jury? Did the imposition of a mixed language jury pose an unfair hearing for Wilbert Coffin, when he had requested an English speaking jury and trial?

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Twice in the past five months, Canadians in general have been advised that the government is doing a review of this case. In the first instance, we were told that it was in response to a review that had been requested some seven years earlier, and that it had been turned over to the CCRG, (Criminal Conviction Review Group) to study the case. The second time, a few weeks ago, the government took a vote on the floor of The House Of Commons and voted unanimously for a speedy review of the case. In neither instance, has the government outlined exactly the parameters of the investigation with reference to the things that I referred to above.

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This is the most serious and dangerous part of the whole government inquiry. Do you recall the last episode that I posted in this story? Do you recall whatI told you about in that posting of the last time that the federal government did an inquiry into the Wilbert Coffin affair? It took place back in December of 1955? The government was petitioned to do an inquiry at that time, the which, if they would have done it properly, Wilbert Coffin most probably would not have hanged. The government merely threw the case back to the Supreme Court of Canada, and of course the highest court in the land was not about to overrule their own ruling. As a result, we had an execution.

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There is only one court, and that is the court of last resort that can strike down a Supreme Court decision. The court of last resort is the federal cabinet. That is the reason why it is paramount that the government allow all the components to be part of this investigation. If this case is simply handed back to the Supreme Court, it will be final. There will be no tomorrow.

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The unanimous vote in the House Of Commons sounds like victory. It outlines nothing as to the direction of an investigation. All the voting members were merely doing was endorsing an investigation. The scope of the investigation will be determined by someone other than themselves. This is where you have to light a fire under the butt of your local voting member to get in there and pitch for this to include the new evidence and suppressed evidence, as well as let the voices of living witnesses be heard as they should have been a half century ago.

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In spite of what politicians say, this is not a partisan politics issue. This case has been around for a staggering fifty-four years. If either major political party really had a deep rooted interest in this case it would have been torn apart years ago. In fifty-four years the Liberal government has been in power for thirty-two of those years and the Conservatives have been there for twenty-two years.

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Interestingly, the late Right Honourable Pierre Elliott Trudeau, who was vocal on the case in the early days before his tenure into politics by ranting and raving about the unfairness of the case was prime minister on two separate occasions since the execution. He fought a long and hard courageous battle for Jacques Hebert in defense of his writings on the case, again, before he entered politics. Without doubt, this was a commendable thing for Trudeau to do, and while in government, he would use this case as a reference for abolition of capital punishment. Unfortunately, during these two occasions as prime minister, my question is "why did he not order a complete study and review of Wilbert Coffin's case while he had the power to order it done?"

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The point that I am making is simply that now is not the time to sit back and put your feet up. The time has come to put pressure on your member of parliament. If he or she points out that a review is under way, ask them what are the terms of the review? Ask them if they are allowing new evidence, suppressed evidence, new witnesses, also witnesses who were denied the chance to speak?

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Don't be alarmed though if your member of parliament asks you who Wilbert Coffin was. You see we have a very delicate situation here because the average age of all three hundred plus members of parliament in Ottawa is only fifty-one years. That means that with very few exceptions, most were not even born when all this took place. This fact alone states very abruptly that we must be willing to carry the torch all the way to the back fence if we are going to be heard. It is easy to get caught up in the hype and excitement, just remember, the battle is not won yet.

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Some of you will argue that I am a pessimist. Some of you will argue that I am an optimist. Having studied politics, and having watched politicians perform all my life, I like to think of myself as a realist. After this review concludes, you be the judge.

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Lew Stoddard

Posted to site March 08, 2007