© Larry MacDougal/The Canadian PressProfessor Tom Flanagan in his office at the University of Calgary's Department of Political Science.
Flanagan was a campaign manager and chief of staff for Harper or the Conservative Party at various times before the Conservatives took power in 2006, and has long been a commentator for CBC.
At a seminar at Alberta's University of Lethbridge on Wednesday, he took issue with the Conservative "jihad" on child pornography.
The CBC dumped him as a political commentator and Harper spokesman Andrew MacDougall said his remarks were repugnant and did not reflect the Conservative government's view.
"...you know a lot of people on my side of the spectrum, a certain side of the spectrum, are bent on kind of a jihad against pornography and child pornography in particular, and I certainly have no sympathy for child molesters, but I do have some grave doubts about putting people in jail because of their taste in pictures," Flanagan, a political scientist at the University of Calgary, told the seminar on Wednesday night.
He said there was a real issue as "to what extent we put people in jail for doing something in which they do not harm another person."
Flanagan apologized, but not before the CBC fired him and Alberta's conservative Wildrose Party, for which he was campaign manager last year, said he would have no future role.
CBC News Editor-in-Chief Jennifer McGuire said: "While we support and encourage free speech across the country and a diverse range of voices, we believe Mr. Flanagan's comments to have crossed the line and impacted his credibility as a commentator for us."
MacDougall tweeted: "Tom Flanagan's comments on child pornography are repugnant, ignorant, and appalling."
In a later statement, MacDougall noted Conservative measures to toughen penalties for making or accessing child porn, and said Flanagan had not represented government views for some time.
"The tragic reality is that child pornography hurts children. Pedophiles abuse children, and then trade these pictures on the Internet. Once online, these images haunt victims long after the sexual abuse occurs," MacDougall said.
Flanagan in a statement condemned the sexual abuse of children and the use of children to produce pornography, but drew a distinction between that and the use of porn.
"Last night, in an academic setting, I raised a theoretical question about how far criminalization should extend toward the consumption of pornography," he said.
"My words were badly chosen, and in the resulting uproar I was not able to express my abhorrence of child pornography and the sexual abuse of children. I apologize unreservedly to all who were offended by my statement, and most especially to victims of sexual abuse and their families."
Source: Reuters
Reader Comments
This is the same Tom Flanagan who said that Julian Assange should be executed for exposing the war crimes of the American military.
And guess what? He's a right-wing conservative, with ties to the te Republican party.
As well, he's often described as a supporter of the tea party.
You know, the gay bashers who have been publicly outed for their closet homosexuality, and involvement in child abuse and child pornography.
Not to mention their undying support for Israel and US wars of aggression and torture.
Gotta love the Canadian Conservatives.
Give them enough rope, and without fail they always hang themselves.
It concerns a discussion in the Canadian parliment concerning a parlimentary session in 2011. It discusses a bill related to sexual offenses against children. Two so called experts gave advice on the issue. The bill in question is an ammendment to Bill C 54.
From the post
Bill C-54, an Act to Amend the Criminal Code, seeks to increase or impose mandatory minimum penalties or punishment on sexual offenders of children for particular crimes.
Parliamentary discussion on February 14 centered on the mandatory minimum imprisonment and how offenders respond to treatment. Dr. Vernon Quinsey and Dr. Hubert Van Gijseghem, experts on the issue, were called to witness.
“When we speak of therapy or when individuals get therapy and we feel as though everyone is pacified, the good news is often illusory,” said Van Gijseghem, psychologist and retired professor of the University of Montreal.
“Pedophiles are not simply people who commit a small offence from time to time but rather are grappling with what is equivalent to a sexual orientation just like another individual may be grappling with heterosexuality or even homosexuality,” emphasized Van Gijseghem.
“True pedophiles have an exclusive preference for children, which is the same as having a sexual orientation. You cannot change this person’s sexual orientation.” He added, however: “He may however remain abstinent.”
MP Serge Ménard later praised the witnesses. “Mr. Van Gijseghem and Mr. Quinsey,” said Ménard, “corrected some of our impressions.”
Note that these so called expert witnesses called pedaphilia a sexual orientation. What a sickening mindset these so called witnesses have. Seems to me that there agenda is to legalize pedaphilia
Link to the full post
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Except of course the CHILD being vandalised & destroyed. How can idiots like this even exist and not hung themselves from the nearest tree out of their own personal misery.