News

Polygamous religious leader Winston Blackmore says he is the victim of religious persecution by a government with an eye on the next provincial election.

"This is not about polygamy," he told reporters yesterday at the Mormon Hills elementary school outside Creston, B.C.

"Tens of thousands of polygamists, among many different cultures, are hiding in plain sight all across Canada. They are known by their neighbours, police, legislators and the media just as we are," he said.

Those polygamists are accepted as active, valued members of the communities in which they live, he said.

"But they are not fundamentalist Mormons. To us, this is about religious persecution. And persecution has always been about politics. Whatever else is involved in this, it is still all about politics."

A former bishop of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, Mr. Blackmore said Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees every person the right to freedom of religion. "I guess now every person, except those of us who are fundamentalists, believing in practising Mormonism," he said.

Mr. Blackmore did not speak specifically about the many wives he is alleged to have or the tenets of his religion that encourage multiple marriages. However, he said he was upholding his faith.

"I am what I am and we are what we are. We are descended from a long line of Mormon-believing people. My family did not make up our faith, nor did we establish the fundamental teachings of Mormonism," Mr. Blackmore said.

(The FLDS left the mainstream Mormon church in the 1930s over polygamy, which the mainstream church had abandoned in 1890. Although Mr. Blackmore describes himself as a fundamentalist Mormon, the Mormon church says the FLDS is not part of the Mormon faith.)

Mr. Blackmore also said he was not surprised he was arrested in the months before the May 12 B.C. election. The media began drawing attention to the polygamous community 19 years ago, he said.

After his eight-minute statement, Mr. Blackmore refused to respond to questions from the media on the advice of his lawyer. Jim Oler, a rival leader in the religious sect who is also charged with polygamy, was not available yesterday.

B.C. Attorney-General Wally Oppal said earlier this week that Mr. Oler and Mr. Blackmore had each been charged with one count of polygamy. He said he disagreed with those who say that people of consenting age ought to have the right to enter into polygamous relationships under religious principles.

Saying he was concerned about sexual exploitation of women, Mr. Oppal said the government intended to uphold provisions of the Criminal Code that prohibit polygamy and that it is the job of the courts to rule on whether the section was trumped by the Charter's protection of freedom of religion.

Linda Price, an anti-polygamist activist, said she was disappointed the B.C. government did not proceed with charges of sexual exploitation. A provision of the Criminal Code prohibits sexual touching of boys and girls under 18 by someone in a position of trust or authority over them or with whom they are in a dependent relationship.

"Both Jim Oler and Winston Blackmore are people in position of authority," Ms. Price said yesterday. "If they were not living in Bountiful, they would be charged with having sex with people under the age of 18."

Police said earlier this week one of the alleged polygamists' wives may have been as young as 15 at the time of the religious marriage ceremony.

Police did not identify the woman or her husband.

A charge of sexual exploitation could have circumvented the constitutional issues, Ms. Price added.