Freedom Flyer 26

By ROBB CRIBB
The London Free Press

It started out pretty innocently - a man mailing some newspaper articles.

But a year later, it has grown into a grassroots crusade against the Canadian justice system.

Following charges against Paul Bernardo and his now ex-wife Karla Homolka in the deaths of Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy last year, Guelph native Gordon Domm started mailing copies of American newspaper articles about the sensational case to anyone who asked for them.

IN THE MAIL: Problem was, the articles Domm was reproducing and distributing through Canada Post were illegal under a publication ban covering all information about the case. "I honestly didn't believe the ban applied to me," Domm said in a speech to members of the Freedom Party of Ontario in London on Saturday night. "I thought the ban only applied to publishers and broadcasters of the information and I didn't believe I fit either of those categories."

Ontario's attorney-general's office sent him a written warning to stop spreading the articles. It was in December, 1993, that Domm found himself standing in front of a mailbox being arrested by two Guelph police officers as he was about to mail a stack of envelopes containing the banned material.

Domm's public defiance of the trial ban resulted in convictions on two counts of contempt of court and a total fine of $4,000. An appeal is pending.

To date, he is the only person to have been charged with a violation of that ban.

Domm, a retired Ontario Provincial Police officer who represents a citizens' group seeking stiffer sentences for criminals, is now one of the most outspoken critics of Homolka's manslaughter conviction in the deaths of French and Mahaffy.

TOO LIGHT: "It's too light a sentence for a double murder charge," he said in spite of legal counsel to refrain from discussing the trial while his own case is still pending. "I felt the (Homolka) ruling would have been harsher if there weren't a publishing ban in place."

Domm found support in London for his attack on the justice system. David Helwig, publisher and founding editor of The Business Times in London, said government secrecy is making it extremely difficult for the media to communicate a great deal of information that should be on the public record.

SECRECY:"When government uses needless secrecy it thwarts democracy," he told the 40-member audience. "If we're going to have a justice system that people are going to have confidence in, it has to be transparent."

Members of the Freedom Party unanimously called on the Canadian government to stop imposing control over trial information.

"What they're banning here is truth," said Robert Metz, a founding member and president of the London-based party which was founded on a platform of protecting individual rights. "Our government is saying it's okay to spread rumors and gossip, but If you tell the truth, by God, we're coming after you."

Domm has collected more than $6,000 in donations from supporters toward court costs for an appeal.

And he remains defiant.