Wally Oppal has little to celebrate in Bountiful

Dear editor: Our former attorney general, Wally Oppal, was too quick to pat himself on the back when he claimed a strong message has been sent against polygamy in our province.

Oppal said the years in court and millions of dollars spent on the prosecution were a “wake-up call to other people in Bountiful.”

Had serious lengths of imprisonment been imposed against Winston Blackmore and James Oler for marrying multiple wives with 11 of them being under the age of 18, I would have agreed with his claims, but that is clearly not the case.

What these two got for punishment was equivalent of a teenager being banned to his room for a weekend for breaking curfew. Respectively, six and three months of house arrest, which they will likely not adhere to given their history of publicly flaunting society’s laws unless police officers are assigned to monitor each of these criminals 24 hours a day at additional cost to the taxpayers. This is not near severe enough to be a deterrent; the courts wasted millions of taxpayer money that could have been better utilized had it been determined in advance that this case would be only slightly more than a white wash resulting with a slap on the wrists.

To the contrary, the courts were far too lenient and did not send a message.

Either polygamy coupled with marrying girls as young as 15 is illegal in B.C. and supported with tough laws that are upheld in the courts and enforced with severe penalties — especially when it involves violating young girls — or it is simply a misdemeanor similar to parking violations. Sadly it cost us taxpayers millions to fine out it is the latter.

Guy Bissonnette, Lake Country