6 — THE CITIZEN, Prince George — Thursday, July 28, 1983 WIDE DIFFERENCES OF OPINION Gregoire scandal sparks pedophilia debate MONTREAL (CP) — The sex scandal involving Quebec national assembly member Gilles Gregoire has triggered heated public debate over political accountability, press objectivity, and the pros and cons of pedophilia. The debate over adult-child sexual relations surfaced last March when Gregoire was charged with contributing to the delinquency of seven minors. Graphic accounts of the first day of the trial, particularly Gregoire’s tryst with a 12-year-old girl, prompted juvenile court Judge Andre Sirois to bar reporters and the public from the trial, saying the coverage in some tabloids bordered on "pornography.” On Tuesday, Quebec Superior Court rejected a request by Gregoire, who was found guilty of two similar offences in 1980 and fined $600, to appeal his latest conviction. Gregoire’s lawyer says he may try to appeal the length of the sentence — two years less day. The Gregoire controversy took an unexpected turn when several Quebec intellectuals argued that the politician had done nothing wrong and that sex between adults and minors should be legalized. Montreal psychologist Alain Bouchard wrote a lengthy letter to La Presse defending pedophilia. “A child has a right to know everything about his sexuality and pedophilia is part of that knowledge,” wrote Bouchard, a homosexual. He argued that violence is not usually involved in adult-child sexual acts and there is no evidence that children are “traumatized” by such experiences. Bouchard later appeared on the top public affairs show on the CBC French television network and host Denise Bombardier. When Bouchard lauded man-boy relations as "a beautiful expression of mutual tenderness,” Bombardier retorted that as a mother she could not condone pedophilia. She accused the psychologist of defending abnormal behavior. Bombardier’s persistent and emotional questioning sparked a complaint to the Quebec Press Council, an independent media watchdog, on the way she handled the 10-minute interview. The council concluded the TV host had ‘‘prevented viewers from having a total view of the subject matter,” and said her actions had publicly "discredited” Bouchard. The press council statement was denounced in newspaper columns and in letters to the editor. La Presse columnist Lysiane Gagnon observed that women are rarely charged with sexual acts with children, that men seem less concerned about pedophilia than women and that the seven press council members who studied the complaint were all men. "It is unfortunate that the council has fallen into the trap of those trying to make pedophilia acceptable, to pass it off as behavior that is not only normal but progressive,” Gagnon wrote. The emergence of Quebec’s pedophilia lobby was underlined recently by the publication of a book by left-wing sociologist Luc Racine. The book, Enfance et societe nouvelle (Childhood and the New Society), argues that "social liberation” can only develop through the establishment of sexual relations between adults and children. Pierre Bourgault, a writer and former leader of a pro-independence party, and poet Paul Chamberland also have spoken out in favor of pedophilia. They have noted that many novels and poems have explored the issue. "Okay for freedom of expression,” Gagnon commented. "But those men should recognize that others have the same rights and stop crying repression when we do not agree with them.” Bombardier said the press council missed the point of her TV interview. "The problem is, pedophilia has always existed, but society never tolerated it. But now we have advocates who are finding rationalizations for this aberration — all in the name of sexual liberation and tolerance.” Government officials, child care workers and editorial writers all have come to Bombardier's defence. Remi Voghell, Montreal director for Quebec’s Youth Protection Committee, which oversees the province’s youth protection law, said society’s respect for children should be "unconditional.” Celeste Johnston, a psychiatric nurse and child abuse researcher at Montreal Children’s Hospital, dismissed pro-pedophile arguments as “armchair philosophizing.” "There may not be physical violence in most of the cases,” she said in an interview, "but there is psychological violence. “Such incidents even have an effect on the second generation, the children of the victims.” Whether pedophilia is right or wrong was not the issue, Press council director Jean Baillargeon replied. Bombardier “has a right to her ideas, but she is not there to impose her ideas in her position as an interviewer,” he said. “She is there to let her guests talk.” Although Baillargeon said the council received some angry, anonyms calls both supporting and opposing the decision, its stand received little sympathy from letter writers to Quebec newspapers. Gazette reader Arthur Roberts complained that "to have the council uphold the complaint against Ms. Bombardier is mind-blowing. Is the council made up of a bunch of spineless wimps who cannot tell the difference between decency and perversion, right and wrong?” The lack of political accountability highlighted by the case also drew angry reactions from the public. Gregoire was forced out of the PQ caucus after he refused to resign his seat. PIONEER Best Buy SX-4 AM/FM RECEIVER • All electronic presets • 20 Watts per channel AUDIO PULSE AP-820 SPEAKERS • 8" 2 Way • Great sound PL-2 TURNTABLE • Semi-auto • Shure Cartridge GOOD VALUE at $969.85, NOW *509 95 C£pioi\ieen * ■ .....—---------------- SX-4 AM/FM RECEIVER • All electronic presets • 20 watts per channel ONLY $19995 vector research PIONEER PIONEER ©PICKERING XV-15/625 E CARTRIDGE PLUS ELEcmorjics inc. Model 7 Speakers Good val at , . MUST BE HEARD s76995 •tends optional Good Value at $1095.90 VR-2000 AM/FM RECEIVER (9PIOIMEEIT PL-4 TURNTABLE Not exactly as shown • 25 Watts per channel (M) PIONEER INTRODUCING 4 New Models ** Come In And See The New DYNATR0NIC Exclusive Canadian Distributor lor Magnadyn# ^PIONEER CAR STEREOS CAR & HOME STEREOS AM/FM In dash cassettes Starting at MANY MORE IN STORE SPECIALS STEREO SOUND ..USTGN TO US 1244-4th Ave. $179»5 PL-4 TURNTABLE • Direct Drive semi-auto • Almost “Shockproof” Good Value at $209.95 NOW / )