Open Letter to PM-Why are we still paying child support?

Connie Brauer and Victor Harris
1061 Mines Rd.
Falmouth, NS B0P 1L0
Canada
Phone and Fax: 902.798.5267
To fax, call first or let ring to set up.
Email: cbrauer@lincsat.com




July 11, 2007

Why are we paying child
support for an adult male, indefinitely

Dear Prime Minister Stephen Harper and family,

We have been paying child support for our nearly, twenty-one year old son, for 20+ years now. He is able bodied and mentally fit so why are we still paying child support to his mother, Paulette Harris of Halifax

We have been before 10 judges to terminate child support for an over the age of majority son, who should have been terminated from support at 19. At 17 , William Harris was working and living on his own in his own apartment, but we were still ordered to pay adult support. He quit school at 15 and refused to go back. He works only when he wants to.

Now he is not working and we are still ordered to pay support to his mother. Neither he nor his mother have ever showed any appreciation or respect despite having supported the whole family in the amount of one million dollars since the marriage and most of it on a meager pension income.

During the marriage, the father, Victor Harris was the sole provider. After divorce, Victor Harris was ordered to pay exorbitant child support payments for three children whom he was seldom allowed to see. A non custodial parent in Canada is stripped of all human and parental rights as soon as a judge declares him a non custodial parent. All benefits go to the custodial parent.

Over the years we have paid for our children’s trips around the world, extended holidays in foreign countries, three apartments for three adults long after they stopped attending schools, one university education, one year living abroad, one 15 year old drop out who quit school and refused to work and two young adults who enrolled in the most expensive boarding school in Canada and then didn’t bother attending it, all by court order of the judges. We have had no rights or freedoms and no parental influence in any of these decisions. They were all decided by many, many judges. Judges have completely interfered in all parental decisions for the last 12 years of our lives.
We finally arrived at the time when the youngest man, who had dropped out of school, was over the age of majority and should finally have child support terminated.

But it wasn’t to be.

A single judge declared that he was mentally retarded, without any mental assessment from a mental health specialist. Instead he relied on the false allegations and testimony of the mother, Paulette Harris who has been using the mental illness excuse to gain all control and financial benefit for herself.

Ten judges later,
we are still paying $3,600 per year in child
support for an undiagnosed
and fraudulent mental illness.

Eight judges have never laid eyes on William Harris, our mentally capable son.

They all followed the same court orders as the previous judges.

Two judges denied our application for an independent psychological assessment, under Civil Procedure Rules 22.01.
(1) Where the physical or mental condition of a party is in issue, the court may, at any time on the application of an opposing party or on its own motion, order the party to submit to a physical or mental examination by a qualified medical practitioner.

Three appeals court judges, found the judge made no error by declaring a grown man mentally incompetent without seeing him and without a mental assessment of any kind proving mental illness. Since when can judges practice psychology from the bench

One judge ordered the mother to pay child support to the young adult, in the amount of $3,600 but made no provisions for her to do so. She makes far more money than we do.

The only one who is actually paying child support is the father.

One Federal court Prothonotary determined that this matter was not a constitutional matter and sent us back to the Supreme Court where we get no positive results and no justice.

Four judges ordered us to pay costs for seeking justice. It is our constitutional right to terminate child support when the child is a man, however, if we go back to court we are ordered to pay costs to the mother. The only way to terminate child support is to go back to court. We were ordered to pay costs four times. Too high a price for no justice.

One judge dismissed our lawsuit against Paulette Harris, for medical fraud and child support fraud entirely. What else is this but medical fraud and a child support scam

Two judges dismissed the testimony of William’s doctor, stating that he didn’t know anything about any mental disabilities.

Seven times we subpoenaed our son William to appear in court and he failed to appear.

At no time was he ever arrested or ordered to appear. At no time was he ever ordered to get a job or even get treatment for this alleged mental incompetence. He is an adult.

He is on a never ending holiday at our expense. To date we have been forced to pay in excess of $21,000 for a man who won’t get out of bed until mid afternoon to look for employment.

The Canadian Judicial Counsel found absolutely nothing wrong with multiple judges denying us our constitutional rights. Judges practicing psychology from the bench, without a license and without a patient was no cause for concern.

Each judge violated our parental rights and our Charter Rights but there is no way out of this child support scam. It is endorsed by the judges for the benefit of the mother, Paulette Harris. It does nothing but harm and destruction to William Harris.


We are the only ones who want our son to be financially independent. William, his mother Paulette Harris and the judicial industry are quite content to have us pay child support forever!


Prime Minister, what are you doing about it How can this happen in Canada What have you done to repair the judicial injustice What would you do if this happened to your family?

We demand an immediate and full investigation into this matter.
We demand an end to torture and terrorism and judicial abuse.
We demand our full constitutional rights.
We demand financial compensation.
We demand child support terminated, retroactively to age 19.

Slaves of the child support scam industry,


Connie Brauer and Victor Harris
Parents with no constitutional rights in Canada

P.S.
We just received our court order in the mail. Over one month later.
Attached copy of court order.

Warning! Nova Scotia is not Safe for Families!

Connie Brauer and Vic Harris






Dear Editor,

"What part of we want a public inquiry into the
Finck/VandenElsen case do you not understand, AG Murray
Scott?"

Why are you continuing the evil, cover up of
corruption in Nova Scotia? It is your job to see that
justice is done for the people. So do it! Nothing has changed.
This case is not going away. There are too many unresolved
issues and you along with the previous AG, Michael Baker
have left Nova Scotia wide open for the continued corruption
against families. Every single family in Nova Scotia is at
risk.

Michael Baker is more concerned with his now exposed,
non payment of license and fees for a vacation property than
he was with the unconstitutional, full force police attack and
apprehension of a newborn baby girl in May/04.

Now we have news that the Halifax Regional Police did
nothing wrong in the armed and dangerous, EMT, midnight
battering ram attack of a
family to forcefully remove their newborn child, resulting
in a three day standoff. This resulted in a dead grandmother,
tasered and arrested parents and the permanent apprehension,
(theft) of their child.

Let's go back to the beginning shall we?
These are points that the public may not know and why we
MUST have a public inquiry.

First of all, Dr. Dawn Edger violated her patient's privacy
privileges when she informed the Halifax Children's Aid,
that she was treating Ms. VandenElsen during her pregnancy
and that she was concerned for the coming baby. She based this
opinion solely on the hearsay news that Carline was being
charged with kidnapping her three children from a previous
marriage. She obviously ignored the part that Carline felt
she had to take them out of necessity as the judge in that
case was denying her parental rights and constitutional
rights regarding her raising her triplets. All charges were
later stayed.

The Halifax Children's Aid Society immediately went on the
attack and applied for and received an apprehension order
from the Supreme Court Judge, Debra Smith.

No evidence of criminal behaviour or neglect of any kind
were brought into evidence. There was none. Not one of the
Family and Children's Services apprehension conditions applied.

So why did Debra Smith issue an apprehension order that
violated the family's constitutional and parental rights?
How does this happen in Nova Scotia? Since when do judges
make their own rules?

The mandate of the Children's Aid is to keep families together. They did no
investigation, no in house visit and no consultation with
the family. They just stole their child.

Why did the IWK not issue a birth certificate stating
Carline VandenElsen and Larry Finck were the natural
parents? What is their role in this? Since when can a children's
hospital fail to file legal and statistical information about newborns?
It's their job.

Why has the Dept. of Community Services not investigated the
Halifax Children's Aid Society? It's their job.

How is it possible that a charity organization can hold so
much power over individual people? Who gave them this power?
Who are they? They evolved as an offshoot of the Social Prevention
of Cruelty to Animal. The SPCA.
How can they flaunt all parents' rights and constitutional
rights without any criminal charges laid against them?
Why are taxpayers footing the bill to the tune of over
$600,000 per year for the Halifax Children's Aid legal
bills alone?


Why has the Halifax police failed to follow up on any of our
complaints into the mistreatment of this family? What about
all the other families destroyed by this unconstitutional
and corrupt apprehension and adoption industry? It is
supposed to be monitored by the Minister of Community
Services, who used to be David Morse. It was his job. He did squat!
Why hasn't Community Services Minister Judy Streatch called for an
investigation? It's her job.

Why is the adoption industry such a closed and secret
society? Why can't people apply for the adoption of any
child they want like we wanted to? We applied for custody and
adoption of Mona-Clare. Why is it the Children's Aid who
decides who can adopt whom? Why can the Children's Aid
Society ( society means charity) use public funding to
prevent all contact with them other than their high priced
lawyers like Elizabeth Whelton of Blois, Nickerson and
Bryson? Do all adoptive parents know they may be adopting a
non consensual parent's child? A child who was most
likely stolen from his/her own parents? Where is
Mona-Clare? What happened to her? How many people got paid
when she was stolen? I'll tell you. 28 different groups of people got paid.

Why did Justice Ferguson refuse to give us custody of this
child but left her in the care of the Halifax Children's
Aid Society who destroyed her at birth? She was in clear and
present danger as soon as the CAS preyed upon her. She has
still not been returned to her rightful parents. Profits became more
important than a baby.

Why hasn't the Human Rights Commission investigated as per
our insistence? Why are they completely impotent to
investigate this?
Why hasn't the Ombudsman investigated? Why is he completely
impotent?
I'll tell you why. They are not allowed to investigate the
executive counsel of Nova Scotia, so what good are they?

Why is there no funding for qualified and expert legal
counsel to bring suit against the government of Nova Scotia
for failing to uphold fundamental freedoms and the Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms? How long can this go on?

Why has neither Rodney McDonald or the previous Premier of NS, John Hamm,
been held to account for allowing this on their watch? It's their job.
Why haven't 52 of Nova Scotia's MLA' s insisted on justice being done?
It's their job.

Why has no one except the victims been arrested?
Why is Chief Beazley getting a new contract for another term when he swept the
whole issue under the rug? It's his job to protect the people of Halifax.
It's his job. Who protected this family?


Why do we have a government that is systematically covering up
the crime and corruption of the violation of most basic human rights that
are guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

How do I know all this? I went to the trial and I read all
the court documents. I have been a civil rights activist for
this family and other families for a long time.
I personally know the family. I applied for the care and custody of Mona-Clare.
I wanted to adopt her and raise her in our loving family.
I was denied.

Bring on the Public Inquiry! Bring home Mona-Clare now!



Live Free,

Connie Brauer
Family Rights Activist

Live Free,

Connie Brauer
1061 Mines Rd.
Falmouth, NS B0P 1L0
Canada
Phone and Fax: 902.798.5267 (Office hours 9-8 AT)
Email: cbrauer@lincsat.com
Yahoo IM= libertyprofits
MSN IM= Connie Brauer
Skype Me = connieandvic
www.skype.com
=============================================
Sign the Petition for Canadian Family Law Reform
Stop Judicial Abuse in Canada's Family Law Courts Now!
http://www.gopetition.com/online/13444.html
Your children's future is at stake.
===============================================

Letter to PM Stephen Harper

Media Release- For Immediate Release Open Letter to Prime Minister Harper and Family

Connie Brauer and Victor Harris
1061 Mines Rd.
Falmouth, NS B0P 1L0
Canada
Phone and Fax: 902.798.5267
To fax, call first or let ring to set up.
Email: cbrauer@lincsat.com


Vic Harris and Connie Brauer
You tube message to PM Harper
http://stopchildsupportscams.blogspot.com/

Family Law Reform Petition: http://www.gopetition.com/online/13444.html

July 11, 2007

Why are we paying child
support for an adult male, indefinitely?

Dear Prime Minister Stephen Harper and family,

We have been paying child support for our nearly, twenty-one year old son, for 20+ years now. He is able bodied and mentally fit so why are we still paying child support to his mother, Paulette Harris of Halifax?

We have been before 10 judges to terminate child support for an over the age of majority son, who should have been terminated from support at 19. At 17 , William Harris was working and living on his own in his own apartment, but we were still ordered to pay adult support. He quit school at 15 and refused to go back. He works only when he wants to.

Now he is not working and we are still ordered to pay support to his mother. Neither he nor his mother have ever showed any appreciation or respect despite having supported the whole family in the amount of one million dollars since the marriage and most of it on a meager pension income.

During the marriage, the father, Victor Harris was the sole provider. After divorce, Victor Harris was ordered to pay exorbitant child support payments for three children whom he was seldom allowed to see. A non custodial parent in Canada is stripped of all human and parental rights as soon as a judge declares him a non custodial parent. All benefits go to the custodial parent.

Over the years we have paid for our children’s trips around the world, extended holidays in foreign countries, three apartments for three adults long after they stopped attending schools, one university education, one year living abroad, one 15 year old drop out who quit school and refused to work and two young adults who enrolled in the most expensive boarding school in Canada and then didn’t bother attending it, all by court order of the judges. We have had no rights or freedoms and no parental influence in any of these decisions. They were all decided by many, many judges. Judges have completely interfered in all parental decisions for the last 12 years of our lives.

We finally arrived at the time when the youngest man, who had dropped out of school, was over the age of majority and should finally have child support terminated.

But it wasn’t to be.

● A single judge declared that he was mentally retarded, without any mental assessment from a mental health specialist. Instead he relied on the false allegations and testimony of the mother, Paulette Harris who has been using the mental illness excuse to gain all control and financial benefit for herself.

●Ten judges later,
we are still paying $3,600 per year in child
support for an undiagnosed
and fraudulent mental illness.

● Eight judges have never laid eyes on William Harris, our mentally capable son.
● They all followed the same court orders as the previous judges.

● Two judges denied our application for an independent psychological assessment, under Civil Procedure Rules 22.01.
● (1) Where the physical or mental condition of a party is in issue, the court may, at any time on the application of an opposing party or on its own motion, order the party to submit to a physical or mental examination by a qualified medical practitioner.

● Three appeals court judges, found the judge made no error by declaring a grown man mentally incompetent without seeing him and without a mental assessment of any kind proving mental illness. Since when can judges practice psychology from the bench?

● One judge ordered the mother to pay child support to the young adult, in the amount of $3,600 but made no provisions for her to do so. She makes far more money than we do.

● The only one who is actually paying child support is the father.

● One Federal court Prothonotary determined that this matter was not a constitutional matter and sent us back to the Supreme Court where we get no positive results and no justice.

● Four judges ordered us to pay costs for seeking justice. It is our constitutional right to terminate child support when the child is a man, however, if we go back to court we are ordered to pay costs to the mother. The only way to terminate child support is to go back to court. We were ordered to pay costs four times. Too high a price for no justice.

● One judge dismissed our lawsuit against Paulette Harris, for medical fraud and child support fraud entirely. What else is this but medical fraud and a child support scam?

● Two judges dismissed the testimony of William’s doctor, stating that he didn’t know anything about any mental disabilities.

● Seven times we subpoenaed our son William to appear in court and he failed to appear.
● At no time was he ever arrested or ordered to appear. At no time was he ever ordered to get a job or even get treatment for this alleged mental incompetence. He is an adult.

● He is on a never ending holiday at our expense. To date we have been forced to pay in excess of $21,000 for a man who won’t get out of bed until mid afternoon to look for employment.

●The Canadian Judicial Counsel found absolutely nothing wrong with multiple judges denying us our constitutional rights. Judges practicing psychology from the bench, without a license and without a patient was no cause for concern.

●Each judge violated our parental rights and our Charter Rights but there is no way out of this child support scam. It is endorsed by the judges for the benefit of the mother, Paulette Harris. It does nothing but harm and destruction to William Harris.

●We are the only ones who want our son to be financially independent. William, his mother Paulette Harris and the judicial industry are quite content to have us pay child support forever!

Prime Minister, what are you doing about it? How can this happen in Canada? What have you done to repair the judicial injustice? What would you do if this happened to your family?

We demand an immediate and full investigation into this matter.
We demand an end to torture and terrorism and judicial abuse.
We demand our full constitutional rights.
We demand financial compensation.
We demand child support terminated, retroactively to age 19.

Slaves of the child support scam industry,

Connie Brauer and Victor Harris
Parents with no constitutional rights in Canada


Sign Petition for Family Law Reform
http://www.gopetition.com/online/13444.html

Nine Judges in a row order child support for 20 year old son

No Jusice in Canada!
It has now been nine judges who have ordered the continued child support of our 20 year old son.
The reason stated is that the son is "mentally disabled and unable to sustain the necessities of life"
However, no mental assessment is required, no doctor's report, no job search is ordered.


It is all hearsay. Hearsay rules in Canada. Unsubstantiated hearsay is what judges make their civil decisions by. Nothing has to be true or accurate.

We are the parents and we know that there is nothing wrong with our son, except he is extremely lazy and really doesn't want to work.

Justice is a myth in Canada.


Our judicial system is completely corrupt and barbaric.


Does anyone else have this problem?

Canadian Judges Decide Who Can Be Parents and Who Can't!

Canadian Judges Decide Who Can Be Parents and Who Can't!

Child Support Scam Video

Why Are these parents paying child support for
20 year old man, not to him, but his mother???






Because 6 judges ordered it so and the mother and son
are collaberating in a bizarre child support scam.

Watch the video, now.

Judges Implement Never Ending Child Support Scam

20 Year Old, Capable Man, William Harris, stays in bed all day and his mother, Paulette Harris -Teacher, collects $4,000 per year in child support from Dad (tax free) and has done so for the last 6 years.






● Mother /teacher allows Will to stay home, in bed all day.
● He gets up mid afternoon.
● He doesn’t work or look for work.
● He doesn’t go to school.
● He doesn’t do chores.
● He does only what he wants.
● Judges continue to order child support from pensioner, Dad and teacher-Mom.
● Dad’s, (Victor Harris) payment goes to mom, mom’s payment goes to mom. Tax Free!
● Dad can’t get William Harris up and out working by long distance.
● Mother sabotages every attempt to get Will off child support.
● His own Doctor testifies there are no mental disabilities.
● Mother claims Will is mentally disabled- Provides no proof! No medical intervention.
● Will has above average intelligence.
● Will has no physical handicaps.
● Will has been allowed to do whatever he wants since he was 14.
● Mom/Teacher allows kid to drop out of school at 14 and do absolutely nothing.
● Will lies to Dad about taking classes, going to work and job hunting.
● Will fails to respond to any attempt to get him working full time.
● Dad as gone before 6 judges to terminate child support of adult!
● Mother continues to give hearsay testimony of mental illness. We don’t want to pay child support for an able bodied man for the rest of our lives.
● Mother wants to collect child support forever.
● We need your help!
● We are launching a Legal Defence Fund to terminate child support for an able bodied and mentally fit adult, who refuses to look for employment.
● Pensioner Dad has paid $24,000 to date, by court order, for man to do nothing,!!!
● Would you allow your children to do this?

“Help Get 20 Year Old William Harris Off Child Support”
Donate to: Brauer and Harris
1061 Mines Rd. Falmouth,
NS B0P 1L0
Phone 902.798.5267

Paypal Donations = cbrauer@lincsat.com
HELP STOP CHILD SUPPORT EXTORTION SCAM!

VandenElsen sent back to prison; McDonald's restaurant killer gets passes

Hi All:

Here is an article that Rick Howe wrote in the Daily News:

COLUMNS Last updated at 8:27 AM on 02/03/07 Parole board's priorities puzzling VandenElsen sent back to prison; McDonald's restaurant killer gets passes RICK HOWE The Daily News As the National Parole Board prepares to let back into the community a man involved in one of Nova Scotia's most notorious crimes, it has slammed the door shut again on a petite woman whose only crime was to try to hang on to her young baby - and hopes to be a mother to her daughter again some day. Carline VandenElsen not only had her temporary pass from prison yanked this week, but the parole board threw her back into prison, saying she hasn't yet learned her lesson. Variety of charges VandenElsen had been sentenced to three years on a variety of charges including child abduction, assault with a weapon and obstructing police after a three-day standoff on Shirley Street in Halifax in May 2004. The confrontation with heavily armed police began with a midnight knock on her apartment door to serve a child-protection order. It ended some 67 hours later with VandenElsen and her husband, Larry Finck, under arrest, Finck's mother dead from natural causes and the couple's infant daughter taken by the Children's Aid Society. VandenElsen had been released on a temporary pass about a month ago and was doing volunteer work at a Halifax church. She's kept herself out of trouble and kept her mouth shut - reining in a weakness that compounded some of her earlier problems with the legal system. But despite a positive recommendation for parole from Corrections Canada officials, the board said no this week and ordered her return to the Nova Scotia Institute for Women in Truro to serve out the remainder of her sentence - which expires later this year. Connie Brauer of Falmouth has long been a supporter of VandenElsen and her fight to keep her baby daughter. She was prepared to take VandenElsen into her home to live if she'd been granted parole. But apparently the arrangement was one of the board's issues. Brauer has also been a vocal critic of the justice system, and a board member says they were troubled with the mix. Pat O'Brien said in the board's oral decision: "It doesn't make sense. The risk is not manageable." Brauer is outraged and calls the parole board's decision "barbaric, medieval and cruel." Brauer says corrections officials visited her home three times, and there was never a problem. "The gave us a good report," she told me this week. Brauer says the parole board has it out for VandenElsen because she won't admit any guilt and wants her baby back. "She's being punished for two or three years for what? What's she supposed to say? 'I'm sorry you took my child?' She's an innocent person. They took her child for no reason. The fix was in. There was no way they were going to give her parole." It is truly difficult to imagine how VandenElsen could be considered any kind of a risk, to herself or to society. Is she odd? Yes. But since when did eccentricity become a crime? Out-spoken and angry at her run-ins with Children's Aid and the legal system? Without a doubt. Are we not, however, guaranteed freedom of opinion? But a risk? Certainly not. She has already served more than two years. This woman should not spend another minute in prison. The National Parole Board's stand is all the more puzzling, considering its decision to give Darren Muise 16 temporary passes from prison - where he's been serving a life sentence with no parole for 20 years for his second-degree murder conviction. Muise was one of three young men involved in the triple murders of late night employees at a McDonald's restaurant in Sydney in May 1992. Shocking crime Muise, 18 at the time, slit the throat of employee Neil Burroughs. It was a crime that shocked Nova Scotians, who naively believed such violence could never happen here. Under escort, Muise will be permitted to visit a girlfriend and attend some family functions. He has another six years to serve before he's eligible for full parole. Burroughs's sister Cathy says her family's very upset with the decision. "He has not shown any remorse," she told CTV News anchor Steve Murphy Wednesday night. She says Muise has duped the board into believing he's changed. "He's a good actor." A mother's efforts to one day be reunited with the child she bore keep her in jail, while a man who, in cold blood, ended the life of a young father earns some freedom. Is it just me, or is something not right here? rhowe@chumhalifax.com Rick Howe is the host of the radio talk show Hotline, weekdays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on AM 920 CJCH, and on the Internet at cjch.ca.

---

One Care: free Trial Version Today!

Board denies VandenElsen parole again

10:20 AM 2/28/2007




Board denies VandenElsen parole again
Woman convicted in standoff improving but still deemed a risk
By MARY ELLEN MacINTYRE Truro Bureau

TRURO — Carline VandenElsen has done so well in prison she’s on early release at a Halifax halfway house but she hasn’t done well enough to get full parole.

"The risk is not manageable — application denied," Pat O’Brien of the National Parole Board said during a hearing at Nova Institution for Women on Tuesday.

Ms. VandenElsen has been a prisoner at the institution since her conviction in June 2005 on charges from a highly publicized three-day standoff with Halifax police in 2004.

The standoff began when police officers attempted to carry out a child apprehension order for her five-month-old daughter. Ms. VandenElsen’s husband, Larry Finck, was also sentenced to prison for his part in what has been called a bizarre and tragic situation.

After holding police at bay for three days, the couple left the home carrying Mr. Finck’s dead mother on an improvised stretcher, a shotgun and the baby.

Ms. VandenElsen was convicted of careless use of a shotgun, using a shotgun while committing an indictable offence and threatening to use a shotgun in committing an assault on police.

They were both convicted of abducting the baby in contravention of a child custody order, obstructing a police officer, possessing an unregistered shotgun and possessing a shotgun dangerous to the public peace.

Mr. Finck is being held at the Atlantic Institution in Renous, N.B., and is scheduled for release in March.

Ms. VandenElsen struggled to hold back tears when she heard the news Tuesday morning.

Corrections staff had recommended the 43-year-old gain full parole.

"She never picked up one charge here and never gave us any indication she was a risk," said her caseworker, Rod MacDonald.

"But she does have a difficult time trusting authority figures."

The caseworker said Ms. VandenElsen seemed to have a lot of sympathetic supporters and she planned to eventually live in the Annapolis Valley with a couple who have taken up her cause.

For the past month, she has been on what’s called a 60-day unescorted temporary absence, living at a halfway house in Halifax and volunteering at local churches. When she walked into the institution Tuesday morning, inmates hollered out to her, offering her good luck on her application.

Ms. VandenElsen was composed, well-spoken and agreeable during the hearing.

However, when a member of the board asked what she would do differently if she could go back to the time of the standoff, Ms. VandenElsen was unable to single out any one thing.

"It was the most harrowing, horrifying and traumatic experience in my life," she said of the event.

"Had I known this would transpire, I wouldn’t have had a baby," she said.

Mr. O’Brien told Ms. VandenElsen she is one of a kind.

"I’ve never seen a standoff with such drama — you’re unique," he said.

"I know what happens to children in foster care — I didn’t want a child of mine in foster care," she responded.

"I had a baby. I wanted to keep it and it was just a miserable, tragic situation all around," she said.

Asked what she wanted to do in the future, Ms. VandenElsen said she wanted to get on with her life.

"Just collect all these little bits and pieces of my life — I would like to reunite with my family — it’s a very primal feeling."

In delivering the board’s decision, Mr. O’Brien said members were not convinced Ms. VandenElsen understands what she did wrong.

"We never got the sense that at a fundamental level you think you ever did anything wrong."

( mmacintyre@herald.ca)

Stop the Rigged Elections in the Liberal Party

Dear Editor,

Stephane Dion's campaign to take "extraordinary measures" to boost the ranks of

women candidates in the next election, including barring men from seeking

nominations in some ridings is unconstitutional and barbaric!

Doesn't anyone read the The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms?

Section 28 guarantees equal rights to both men and women. In order to make

a particular section of the Charter, exempt it has to be passed by Parliament or a legislature.

However, a law that limits Charter Rights under the notwithstanding clause

expires after five years. This clause is used very rarely.

How can he even think that running women only elections campaigns is OK?

Section 3 of the Charter guarantees all citizens the right to run for office.

How many more of our Charter Rights do we have to lose in this country?

Already, they are being violated by all governents, every day!

People, don't accept government intrusion into your lives.

We deserve freedom and liberty and it is guaranteed in

our Charter of Rights.

Kick Dion out now! The only election is a fair election.

I have 1000 Charter books and will share them with anyone who wants one.

Just call 902.798.5267

Live Free!

Sincerely,
Connie Brauer