injusticebusters 1998 > > Bad Lawyers and Demagogs

Kickbacks, favors and more corruption as sleazy Saskatchewan's secrets are uncovered. How many careers have been built on the "Scandal of the Century?"

This case is still going on because a whole string of lawyers perpetrated a fraud upon the Saskatchewan court. See also Prosecutors from hell

Greg Walen acted for Sgt. (now Superintendent) Brian Dueck, Department of Social Services, the Ministry of Social Services, and all three Ross children in 1996 during Richard Klassen's criminal defamation trial (he won). Walen was removed as lawyer from all these files after a complaint was finally taken seriously by the Saskatchewan Law Society. He was rewarded in 2000 with an appointment as Queen's Council. Walen is in the same law office as Barry Singer who was rewarded with the QC title five years ago after losing a string of important cases.

The next lawyer on Dueck's file was Barry Rossmann who withdrew from the file in January after successfully getting a quasi-gag order on Richard Klassen. When exams for discovery resumed June 25, a new lawyer represented Dueck: Young Gun Gerrand, a brash piece of work who quizzed Klassen extensively on the claims in the lawsuit, asking for seven examples of each allegation. (Klassen undertook to provide these examples and is ready to hand them over). Gerrand then interrogated Klassen about private details from his past.: Isn't it true you were a member of AA? What was your sponsor's name? Tell me about psychiatrists you saw when you were in jail. Etc.

This would be disgusting enough if he was just another lawyer, but our Young Gun is not just any lawyer. He is son of Big Gun, Gerald Gerrand , of whose law firm he is also a member. Big Gun holds the appointed positions of Privacy ($105,000) and Conflict of Interest ($122,000) commissioners which net him $105,000 a year beside his law practice. Nothing like having inside information to give your business that extra edge! The stipends don't hurt, either!

Gerrand has access to details of Klassen's past which Klassen cannot himself get under the privacy act!

The Gerrand firm in Regina is retained by the government of Saskatchewan and the Saskatoon Board of Police of Commissioners, two of the main defendants in the lawsuit which was launched in January, 1994.

This information was reported by Sheila Cameron on CBC in August, 2001.

As the last indicted officials from the Devine regime work their way out of court and jail, are we going to be going through another set of trials of corrupt officials?

We will have to live through whatever it takes to get justice in Saskatchewan. Part of this process will be facing up to some hard truths, which injusticebusters will continue to post.

Bad Lawyers & Demagogs

The most powerful lawyer in Saskatchewan is Roy Romanow | Social Services Lawyers: A Special unethical breed? | Crown Prosecutors | Most judges were lawyers |
Of course, most Saskatchewan lawyers are home trained. Visit their university site to get a feel for the attitude. The training is all about keeping knowledge in the hands of lawyers so people will have to pay for anything they get. The recruitment package urges them to come and enjoy elite privileges while they train! Not all law schools are like this. There are many places which try to include non-lawyer people by making simple information available and not being so fearful of people defending themselves in court.
We're still advising you to defend yourselves and refer you to our court tips. The Martensville nine all had lawyers. 99% of the inmates of Saskatchewan jails had lawyers. Most of them have never seen the crown's disclosure against them. Many accepted plea bargains without ever having been made aware of exculpatory evidence, especially in drug cases. When you hear a defense lawyer complain about heavy workload, don't you wonder why? They are highly trained professionals whose law degrees are subsidized by the tax payers. The Criminal Code of Canada provides many good defenses. Yet over and over again they go before a judge, hand in hand with the prosecutor, to present a "joint agreement" which sells their clients out. Be sure to send us reports of bad lawyers you have direct experience with, or web reports.

Roy Romanow: Premier of Saskatchewan

Romanow advised his minister of justice, Bob Mitchell, to proceed against the Sterlings in Martensville, although he knew this was a case built on 100% hysteria and no evidence. Ten years earlier, prosecution of such cases had been thoroughly discredited in California and Minnesota. Nonetheless, some politicians had furthered their careers during the height of the hysteria there. Never mind that hundreds of lives had been ruined. When a clever lawyer like Roy jumps into such a slough, knowing that the charges are preposterous, and advises his ministers to jump in with him, some questions are raised regarding their motives. Click Premier Roy Romanow's picture to find out more.

Greg Walen has variously represented the children in the Foster Parent's case, Sgt. Brian Dueck, and Social Services, sometimes all at the same time. He didn't see any conflict. We should point out that he is no longer handling all these files but it was an uphill battle to have him withdrawn as Dueck's counsel in the civil claim.

Walen self-importantly strode into the courtroom and informed the judge that he had "Orders from the Minister (of Social Services)" to stop any attempts to produce them before Rick Klassen received the go-ahead from Queen's Bench Judge Peter Dielschnieder to have the Ross children produced for his criminal defamation trial

This imperious form of lawyering works with some judges, but most know that Canada is no longer a colony and that the courts are independent of the legislature.

Apparently it works like a damn with his peers. Greg Walen was just made Queen's Counsel in 2000. We have to wonder how many careers are going to be made out of unethical lawyering in the Scandal of the Century. At the rate the race is going, it might even beat David Milgaard. The province is run almost entirely by people who rose to their present positions -- including the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal -- by mishandling Milgaard. The Foster Parent Scandal and Martensville would seem to have provided similar stepping stones for the next generation of dishonest administration.

Roger Kergoat:

Roger Kergoat was in court in January, 1999 to defend previously convicted pedophile Gordon Cole against charges of indecent assault and gross indecency.
The complainant was connected to the original Foster Parent Case as a falsely accused person against whom charges were later stayed.
In the Foster Parent Case, Kergoat was defense counsel for, Don R. who eventually won a new trial from the Supreme Court of Canada. No thanks to Kergoat who provided a tepid defense, to put the kindest reading on it!
His defense of Gordon Cole is vigorous, enthusiastic -- and unethical. He draws on material he could have learned only during his stint as counsel in the Foster Parent Case.
He attempted a character assassination on the witness, extracting from the complainant his kinship to the only person convicted in that case, twice referring to the witness as "the accused" and even bringing in our website as evidence of some kind of pathological stress syndrome causing him to make allegations against his client!
He went so far as to say that community standards of 1974 tolerated grown men sneaking up on thirteen year old boys in their beds to stroke their penises!
The Crown was obviously ambushed by Kergoat's vitriolic attack but wisely waited until Kergoat settled down. The judge was not impressed, either, and ordered Cole to stand trial on both charges.
Kergoat clearly had a vendetta against the Crown witness in this proceeding. He brought in injusticebusters' publishing the whereabouts of Michael Ross as evidence of -- what? That had nothing to do with his client's case!