Monday, March 14, 2005
Gay Caswell: Mischief in Northern Saskatchewan
A skewed view of Saskatchewan history is up on an MSN message board.
Gay Caswell was part of Grant Devine's government for one term during the 1980s.
Now she lives in Brabent Lake in northern Saskatchewan and, along with her family, is building a following around the apparitions of the Virgin Mary which have been spotted in frost on a greenhouse window in Ile a la Cross and other far north sightings.
I first met Gay in 1971. Her views on fetus rights were extreme.
During the late 70s she wrote actionable material about Sol Gordon, who sued her. For those who do not know him, Gordon was active in promoting sex education through comic books in New York. These comics were accurate, funny and educational. Planned Parenthood in Saskatoon invited him to come and speak. They booked a free room at the Public Library and Caswell wrote to City Council claiming they should not allow him to speak there because he was a "known pornographer." She published even more defamatory statements about him in The Catholic Messenger. She attributed to him statements that he had not made.
Gordon hired Barry Singer (now a provincial court judge) to file a civil claim against Caswell. This claim was lost after a trial which lasted several weeks. The judge, from Humboldt, ruled that Caswell's remarks about Gordon did not offend community standards and that her placing of quotation marks around statements which Gordon had not made did not constitute defamation.
It was a sad day for Saskatchewan justice.
Caswell has felt free ever since to say anything she pleases about anyone she targets. The article on MSN is particularly offensive because it revives the old red-baiting tactics of the 50s. By slight of phrase she has linked the NDP, communists, Trotskyists and terrorism, eerily bringing Joe McCarthy's tactics into the 21st century.
I was a Trotskyist at the time I first met Gay White. So was John Caswell. I know and they know that Trotsky did not advocate terrorism; Trotsky clearly outlined the elements of fascism and pointed how to resist it through mass mobilizations of people and the deepening of democratic institutions.
Gay Caswell was part of Grant Devine's government for one term during the 1980s.
Now she lives in Brabent Lake in northern Saskatchewan and, along with her family, is building a following around the apparitions of the Virgin Mary which have been spotted in frost on a greenhouse window in Ile a la Cross and other far north sightings.
I first met Gay in 1971. Her views on fetus rights were extreme.
During the late 70s she wrote actionable material about Sol Gordon, who sued her. For those who do not know him, Gordon was active in promoting sex education through comic books in New York. These comics were accurate, funny and educational. Planned Parenthood in Saskatoon invited him to come and speak. They booked a free room at the Public Library and Caswell wrote to City Council claiming they should not allow him to speak there because he was a "known pornographer." She published even more defamatory statements about him in The Catholic Messenger. She attributed to him statements that he had not made.
Gordon hired Barry Singer (now a provincial court judge) to file a civil claim against Caswell. This claim was lost after a trial which lasted several weeks. The judge, from Humboldt, ruled that Caswell's remarks about Gordon did not offend community standards and that her placing of quotation marks around statements which Gordon had not made did not constitute defamation.
It was a sad day for Saskatchewan justice.
Caswell has felt free ever since to say anything she pleases about anyone she targets. The article on MSN is particularly offensive because it revives the old red-baiting tactics of the 50s. By slight of phrase she has linked the NDP, communists, Trotskyists and terrorism, eerily bringing Joe McCarthy's tactics into the 21st century.
I was a Trotskyist at the time I first met Gay White. So was John Caswell. I know and they know that Trotsky did not advocate terrorism; Trotsky clearly outlined the elements of fascism and pointed how to resist it through mass mobilizations of people and the deepening of democratic institutions.
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I couldn't find the article you mentioned. Exactly how did this individual bring Joe McCarthy's tactics into the fray?
Let me get this straight. Some guy wrote explicit comic books depicting sex acts and labels it "sex education," By definition, "pornography" is the explicit depiction of sex. Therefore, this man is a "pornographer." What is shameful is that the courts didn't outright validate her position.
There is no reason for explicit "sex education" pictures other than to arouse sexual impulses in teenagers.
There is no reason for explicit "sex education" pictures other than to arouse sexual impulses in teenagers.
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