Detective Helen Grus Sent Email to Ottawa Police Service Questioning Vaccine Adverse Effects and Deaths

BREAKING EXCLUSIVE: Read the email that Ottawa Police Detective Helen Grus sent to the Chief of Police and fellow officers in September 2021.

Ottawa Police Detective Helen Grus faces internal ‘Discreditable Conduct’ charges for initiating an investigation into possible connections between nine sudden infant deaths and the COVID vaccine status of the mothers.

Grus, an experienced detective with the Sexual Assault & Child Abuse Section, was initially suspended without pay in January 2022 for refusing to declare her private medical information. The Ottawa Police Service mandated that all employees were to be injected with the experimental mRNA gene therapies commonly known as the ‘COVID vaccine’.

The detective then became the subject of an internal investigation alleging that she “self initiated an unauthorized project” and accessed police records about nine sudden infant deaths. The Ottawa Police formally charged Grus in July, 2022. Her next appearance before the internal court is on September 15, 2022.

After I covered the case on my Twitter feed, numerous sources supplied me with copies of an email purportedly sent by Detective Grus to then-Chief of Police Peter Sloly and many other police colleagues in September, 2021.

I will have much more to say about this case in the coming days, but for now I have satisfied myself that the following email was written and sent by Detective Helen Grus. It is an accurate copy of the words, but I have broken a few of the longer paragraphs into shorter sections for readability, and added ‘(Ottawa City Manager)’ to clarify the role of Steven Kanellakos who is mentioned in the email.

Please credit DonaldBest.CA and link back, or to my Twitter feed: @DonaldBestCA

Following is the text of an email sent by Ottawa Police Detective Helen Grus to her police colleagues in September of 2021.***

Helen Grus #1631

Ottawa Police Service

Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Section

September, 2021

To my dear police family,

Over 18 years ago, I joined OPS and have never regretted the blessed opportunity I was afforded. There is no greater happiness in life than to help those truly in need. I am doubly blessed as I have been granted the good fortune of serving our communities proudly with you.

Being raised by God fearing parents who fled socialistic regimes where citizen’s rights to education, jobs, housing and freedom of travel were restricted based on their religious beliefs and political affiliations.

I was taught life was to be lived with dignity, honour, always seeking the truth and always staying true to and loving your family, your country and God!

Family extends to friends, colleagues, neighbours and the community as a whole. I can say without a doubt, my family has given me strength, happiness and support throughout the years. Never does a day go by that I do not thank God for my family and this life I love!

Canada’s Constitution and our Charter of Rights and Freedoms have made Canada an amazing place to call home. As a police officer, I am honoured to have solemnly sworn to uphold this Constitution, which protects all our citizens’ rights and freedoms. I am a proud Canadian who loves my county.

My faith in God is strong. Everything just fell into place throughout my entire life; family, friends, good health, amazing career, the list is endless. Some call it chance, I consider my life to be blessed by someone much greater than you or I.

This past year and a half has been challenging for everyone. Watching news releases each day I fell back on my investigative skills directing me to seek out the source information in attempts to corroborate the doom and gloom of each day’s news reports on Covid-19 deaths, cases, prevention, transmission etc. I have researched countless peer-reviewed medical studies, government sites providing statistics, documents and data. I further have had extensive discussions with physicians, psychologists, community members who have suffered in result of not only the virus itself but also the crippling effects of the lockdowns; lost employment, mental health, discourse amongst friends, families and communities.

To be clear, I do not deny that people have contracted SARS-CoV-2; with varying outcomes including succumbing to the virus.

I do have serious concerns with the worldwide silencing of doctors, virologists, biologists,

pharmacists, psychologists etc.

Prior to submitting any further disclosure about my informed medical decisions in relation to

SARS-CoV-2 vaccination status, I wish to have OPS or designate answer the following:

  1. What is the probability of fatality from SARS-CoV-2 in Ottawa, Ontario and Canada?
  2. What is the probability of recovery from SARS-CoV-2 in Ottawa, Ontario and Canada?
  3. How do annual death rates compare from 2000 to date in Ottawa, Ontario and Canada?
  4. What is the guidance for certifying deaths from SARS-CoV-2 in Canada and why did the WHO alter the criteria at the onset of the proclaimed pandemic in relation to the guidance for certifying deaths from SARS-CoV-2?
  5. Has OPS reviewed the available databases of material adverse effects reported to date for people who have received the EUA vaccines against SARS-CoV-2?
  6. Is OPS aware of the adverse effects their own membership has experienced upon receipt of the EUA vaccines against SARS-CoV-2?
  7. Can you provide evidence that fully vaccinated persons do not contribute to the transmission of SARS-CoV-2?
  8. Can you provide evidence that increased vaccinations do not contribute to the evolution of the new variants?
  9. Can you provide evidence that the mandated EUA vaccines will be equally effective against newer variants?
  10. Can you provide evidence that conventional pharmaceutical treatments which are fully safety-tested, licenced and approved, like Ivermectin and Hydroxychloroquine, are ineffective?
  11. Are you aware that all vaccine producers; Pfizer/BioNTech, Moderna, Oxford/AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson have been granted indemnity and bear no liability for the consequences of their vaccines which are only in clinical trial phase and being distributed under Emergency Orders?
  12. Will OPS take full legal and financial liability for any injuries, adverse effects and/or death occurring to members following the receipt of any EUA vaccine potentially mandated?

Please understand, I love policing and I love coming to work each and every day. I do not wish to be insubordinate. I do not wish to be accommodated. I feel I can continue my regular duties in SACA safely and effectively without having to disclose my personal medical decision. I maintain my health with nutritious eating, exercise and attempt to acquire proper rest. I monitor my health with medical check-ups and as requested; complete the requested daily screening.

I do not envy the position of our decision makers and policy makers as the public outcry is extensive.

It is my informed opinion that much of the fear-based decision are based on the hear-say of the media’s non-stop narrative.

Having spoken to numerous colleagues at OPS, I do request OPS management, including Health & Safety check on the Mental Health of our members. Many are not only carrying the burden of the past year; responding to the rise in suicides and attempt suicides, seeing the destructive rise of opioid related deaths, overall mental health decline of society.

Most recently, the members that take pride in the rights and freedoms of our great nation are struggling with the strong-arm approach of “Employees who refuse to comply with the requirements of this policy will not be permitted in the workplace and may be subject to a variety of consequences, which can include leave without pay or discipline, up to and including dismissal”, by (Ottawa City Manager) Steven Kanellakos.

This has caused great stress to members, in a time when all members working at OPS have the right to work in an environment that is respectful and free of harassment and discrimination. All members have an individual responsibility to contribute to creating and maintaining a respectful workplace.

I conclude with a request for you to listen to Dr Julie Ponesse’s podcast, professor of Ethics at Western University.

I am proudly committed to protecting the safety, security and quality of life to our communities; side by side with my brothers and sisters in blue.

God Bless and Stay Safe,

Helen Grus #1631

SACA, OPS

*** NOTE from Donald Best about the sources of this email… ***

After I started reporting on the Detective Helen Grus case, I received numerous copies of the above email. For readability, I have broken a few of the longer paragraphs into shorter sections.

To assist those unfamiliar with Ottawa, I also inserted the words ‘(Ottawa City Manager)’ before the name ‘Steven Kanellakos’. The words ‘(Ottawa City Manager)’ were not in the copies of the email that I received.

Should there be any question about the accuracy of the email, I can be reached at [email protected]

Download the .pdf version here… 202109 Helen Grus OPS email corrected

(Note: The original pdf and article split Det. Grus’ Question #4 at ‘WHO…’ This is now corrected. August 16, 2022 21:30hrs. Barrie, Ontario time.)

Twitter: @DonaldBestCA original thread on the Detective Helen Grus case…

 

 

Some lawyers would do well to read Peter A. Allard’s message to new Law School Grads

Here is an inspiring message from Peter A. Allard to this year’s graduates of the law school that bears his name. It’s good reading for all lawyers – and should especially be read by those BigLaw lawyers who long ago lost their way and discarded the Rule of Law in pursuit of money…

Congratulations to the Peter A. Allard School of Law Graduates of 2020!

As you all know, lawyers are involved in and affect every segment of our lives, often behind the scenes. I don’t have to remind anyone that lawyers, besides practicing law, enter into politics, become judges, and pursue a host of other occupations in the private and public sectors.

“Buried deep within each legal strategy or decision must be a social contract and equity that provides for the long term greater good in society, no matter how trivial the task, no matter how small the retainer.”

Peter A. Allard, Q.C.

Many of you know or can expect that the practice of law can be a grind. I have a deep respect for those who “do the grind” year in and year out in their ethical service to society. But I have even greater respect for those who believe that buried deep within each legal strategy or decision must be a social contract and equity that provides for the long term greater good in society, no matter how trivial the task, no matter how small the retainer.

When we do our job well, we see that the Rule of Law is upheld, and we protect our clients, our neighbours, and fellow citizens against the vagaries of unchecked abuses of power and corruption. If we didn’t do this, day in and day out, we would lose our freedom. It is more than eternal vigilance that is the price of freedom but a strong and moral judicial activism to enforce these concepts.

Your hard work, sacrifices, and achievements will open your world to new possibilities. While graduation is a time to celebrate the ending of a chapter, it is also a time to celebrate your achievements and a new beginning.

Here’s to you and your continued success.

Yours truly,

Peter A. Allard, Q.C.

Amazing COVID-19 Virus Decision by Ontario Court of Appeal Sends Warning to Lawyers

Also: Lawyers for Best Buy, Staples, London Drugs and Canada Computers using COVID-19 Virus Delay Tactic

by Donald Best, former Sergeant, Detective, Toronto Police

Today the Court of Appeal for Ontario told the legal profession, litigants, and in fact everyone in Ontario that they cannot use the COVID-19 Virus pandemic as an excuse to delay or obstruct justice.

Using the strongest of language and leaving no uncertainty, Justice David M. Paciocco put all Ontario lawyers on notice – by refusing to adjourn a condominium fees dispute and ordering lawyers to use electronic documents and teleconferencing so the case can proceed as scheduled.

Further, the court will make its decision in the case based upon written submissions already filed and will use teleconferencing to question the lawyers about their submissions. The case will go ahead as scheduled on April 9, 2020.

And what if a lawyer claims that they are “uncomfortable working with electronic documents because they are accustomed to working with paper and is only slowly building up the technical capacity for law firm employees to work remotely” ???

The Ontario Court of Appeal savaged the lawyer and in effect answered “Cry me a river. You will do this – or else.”

“It is not in the interests of justice to overburden the court by adjourning matters that can be dealt with fairly, as scheduled. The backlog that will be created by cases that must be adjourned to protect the public and ensure fair hearings will be imposing and it should not be unnecessarily aggravated.”

Justice David M. Paciocco, Court of Appeal for Ontario. Carleton Condominium Corporation No. 476 v. Wong, 2020 ONCA 244 PDF Here

It must have been truly humiliating for 20-year senior Toronto Bay Street lawyer Newton Wong to petition to the court that he and his entire law firm…

“cannot prepare adequately for an oral hearing because his materials are at his law firm and contain post-its and other endorsements that he would rely upon. He has made the personal choice, that I respect, that he will not risk the health of his employees by sending them into the office to assemble and retrieve this material, and he himself is not capable of doing so without help. He is uncomfortable working with electronic documents because he is accustomed to working with paper and is only slowly building up the technical capacity for his law firm employees to work remotely.”

The court ordered THE OPPOSING LAWYERS to provide to Newton Wong electronic copies of his own materials filed with the courts so that he doesn’t have to attend his office and can work from home. Oh, the shame.

“The appellant’s adjournment request is denied.”

Justice David M. Paciocco, Court of Appeal for Ontario. Carleton Condominium Corporation No. 476 v. Wong, 2020 ONCA 244

The message to lawyers is this… If you have Internet and can receive emails and .pdf documents, you have a duty to advance justice as we face the COVID-19 health crisis.

Lawyers for Best Buy, Staples, London Drugs and Canada Computers using COVID-19 Virus Delay Tactic

In the Super Channel 4Stores anti-piracy case, the opposing lawyers are trying to delay the May 7, 2020 injunction hearing while their clients continue to profit from promoting copyright piracy.

I’m no lawyer, but anyone can see that Justice David M. Paciocco just sent a big message to the legal profession and litigants… Don’t even think about the tactic of using the COVID crisis to delay or obstruct justice if your case can reasonably proceed on schedule.

So Much for The COVID Excuse!

Coming in Part 2: The full details of how lawyers and witnesses on both sides of Super Channel’s 4Stores case recently conducted cross-examinations using video conferencing. Lawyers, witnesses and the court reporter came together online from Vancouver, Toronto, Barrie and Florida.

Learn about Super Channel’s anti-piracy lawsuit against Best Buy, Staples, London Drugs and Canada Computers – ChangeTheCulture.CA

Donald Best Story – TV Documentary in production

Award-winning journalist Aaron Maté let the cat out of the bag during a live interview the other night when he revealed that a TV Documentary is in production about … The Donald Best Story.

In response to so many inquiries from my readers after they watched Aaron’s interview with Ryan Cristian (The Last American Vagabond) – yes, this is an actual TV production for the ‘Untold Stories’ Series. (Watch the excerpt above)

And yes – our American friends will probably be able to see the documentary through some American venues and broadcasters. ‘The Donald Best Story’ is only the working title, and it will likely be called something else by the time it hits the little screen.

The show was filmed across Canada this summer and is largely complete. I am fascinated by the filming and production process and the myriad of details that go into a professionally produced documentary for television.

It all takes time but we are getting ready for editing – which like everything else in the business has to be scheduled months in advance if you want the best. Our editor is among the best in Canada if not further afield.

I was invited to meet some folks at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) this year and had some excellent conversations with a few visiting doc producers and exhibitors.

Thanks for your good wishes, and I’ll update you when I can.

Donald Best

Hamilton Councillor Sam Merulla ignores invitation to explain Police Investigation of reported Mafia Connections

Sam Merulla mugs for the camera with a custom-made ‘The Councillor’ shirt.

Sam Merulla’s lawyer sends ‘Cease & Desist’ letter to journalist Donald Best.

by Donald Best, former Sergeant, Detective, Toronto Police

So far, neither Sam Merulla nor his lawyer A. Douglas Burns have responded to my reply to their ‘Cease & Desist’ letter emailed to me on June 11, 2019.

In my June 20, 2019 reply to Mr. Burns, I quoted from the cease & desist letter and offered my invitation to interview Councillor Merulla and/or Mr. Burns on camera so that Canadians will have Mr. Merulla’s side of the story for the first time.

To date, I have not received any response to my letter and must presume that Mr. Merulla has declined to be interviewed.

I’m sure that both Mr. Merulla and his lawyer understand that as an elected official, Councillor Merula’s listing in a leaked police document as an associate of members of organized crime is one of those stories that matter to ordinary Canadians.

In that context, I quote from my June 20, 2019 letter here, and provide copies below of both the June 11, 2019 ‘Cease & Desist’ letter and my June 2019 response – as well as links to my previous articles about Mr. Merulla.

Response by Journalist Donald Best to ‘Cease & Desist’ letter

Letter to A. Douglas Burns from Donald Best

June 20, 2019

1/ Councillor Sam Merulla ‘Cease & Desist’ letter, June 11, 2019.

2/ Invitation to Mr. Merulla to be interviewed on camera.

Dear Mr. Burns,

Thank you for your ‘Cease and Desist’ letter of June 11, 2019 on behalf of your client – Hamilton Ward 4 Councillor Sam Merulla, wherein you state:

“We act for Councillor Sam Merulla. In such capacity, we have been provided with a copy of your recent article.

Mr. Merulla is reluctant to respond to you directly but has requested that we write to you on his behalf that you cease and desist publishing articles replete with speculation and lack of fact or merit and that unnecessarily question the character of not only Councillor Merulla but the character of the late Bernie Morelli. Please govern yourself accordingly.”

I am delighted to hear that Councillor Sam Merulla read my articles, and that he asked you to respond on his behalf.

As you know firsthand from your client and after having yourself read my articles concerning Mr. Merulla, as part of my journalistic research and in the interest of accuracy and fairness, I sent article drafts to Mr. Merulla and invited him to respond prior to publishing.

As your letter confirms, Mr. Merulla did not take the opportunity to respond to my news stories or to clarify for the public how it is that he came to be listed in leaked police reports as a “known associate” of various members of organized crime including ‘Ndrangheta Mafia mob figures such as Antonio ‘Tony’ AGRESTA and the recently-murdered Angelo MUSITANO and his brother Pasquale of the Musitano Crime Family. 

I am currently traveling Canada with a professional film crew producing episodes for the forthcoming ‘Canadian Justice’ television series. In the last three weeks we’ve filmed and interviewed lawyers, law enforcement officers and ordinary citizens in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto.

We will be in the Hamilton area in July and hereby offer you and/or Councillor Sam Merulla the opportunity to tell ordinary Canadians how it is that Mr. Merulla’s name is listed on an internal police organized crime report.

As to your intimidating warning to ‘govern myself accordingly’, as a journalist I shall continue to accurately and fairly cover stories that matter – and continue to do so without fear or favour.

I’m sure that you and your client understand that as an elected official, Councillor Merula’s listing in a leaked police document as an associate of members of organized crime is one of those stories that matter to ordinary Canadians.

Please contact me should you or Mr. Merulla agree to be professionally interviewed on camera for the Canadian Justice series.

Yours truly,

Donald Best [email protected]

Previous Articles about Hamilton City Councillor Sam Merulla

Leaked Police Report: Hamilton City Councillor Sam Merulla & Former Police Board Chair linked with Organized Crime, ‘Ndrangheta Mafia.

Hamilton Councillor Sam Merulla embraces police investigation of Mafia connections – with custom Godfather logo.

Notice to readers, including Persons and Entities mentoned in articles

As always, if anyone disagrees with anything published at DonaldBest.CA or wishes to provide a public response or comment, please contact me at [email protected] and I will publish your writing with equal prominence. Comments left on articles are moderated about once a day. Or, of course, you can sue me and serve my lawyer Paul Slansky. You can find Mr. Slansky’s information here.

Photos have been included to put context to the article. Their use is the same as with other Canadian news outlets.

Readers are also encouraged to thoroughly study all the evidence available here at DonaldBest.CA, to perform independent research on the Internet and elsewhere, to consider all sides and to make up their own minds as to the events reported on DonaldBest.CA.

Donald Best
Barrie, Ontario, Canada

Have you ever defended someone who actually was framed?

My answer to the question – originally published at Quora.com…

by Donald Best, former Sergeant, Detective, Toronto Police

I was framed by corrupt lawyers and police – and was forced to self-represent and act as my own lawyer. I can freely tell you everything because what happened to me is a matter of public record – widely published and supported in court records and news media articles available on the internet since 2014.

My website https://donaldbest.ca has all the documents, recordings and other evidence available for public scrutiny – as well as a list of my supporters including lawyers, organizations and a former Commissioner of Police and Canadian Federal Cabinet Minister who filed sworn affidavits in my support.

This is the true story of how several corrupt lawyers from some of Canada’s largest law firms fabricated false evidence, bribed police and lied to the courts to convict me of Contempt of Court in a civil lawsuit costs hearing that I was unaware of and not present for as I was not in Canada.

This is also the true story of how the Canadian legal profession and courts, when confronted with forensically certified telephone recordings and other irrefutable evidence proving the lawyers fabricated evidence and lied to the court to convict me – closed ranks to save the corrupt lawyers, even when that meant knowingly sending an innocent man to prison.

But first a little background…

As a Sergeant (Detective) with the Toronto Police and later in private industry, for over thirty years I hunted organized crime members and their enablers including corrupt police, politicians and members of the legal profession.

Now I’m an independent journalist, documentary filmmaker and an anti-corruption advocate.

I am the sole recipient of the 2018 Ontario Civil Liberties Award for my work in exposing and fighting corruption of the police, the legal profession and the judiciary.

Oh… I also served 63 days incarcerated in a Canadian prison; spending every day in solitary confinement.

Senior Ontario lawyers Gerald Ranking (center), Lorne Silver (right) and junior Sebastien Kwidzinski (left) lied to the courts to convict Donald Best.

The Frame Job

In November of 2009, I was traveling in Asia – but this didn’t stop a group of corrupt Bay Street lawyers from falsely swearing to the court that they had served me in Canada with a certain civil court order and that during a subsequent telephone call with them I admitted to receiving that court order.

Twelve times during that telephone call, I denied receiving the court order and asked that it be sent to me. After the call, the lawyers immediately created a formal ‘Statement for the Record’ document that falsely indicated I had informed them during the call that I had indeed received the court order the day before. This was a deliberate fabrication of evidence, a lie – but they submitted their false statement as evidence to court.

Later, during a hearing that I was not notified of, and was therefore not present for, the lawyers doubled down on their false Statement for the Record by confirming it orally on the court transcript. Further, they submitted a sworn affidavit – falsely stating that they had couriered the order to me at an address in Canada. The judge convicted me of contempt of court upon the lawyers’ false evidence, sentenced me to three months in prison and issued a warrant for my arrest.

The Secret Telephone Recording

The corrupt lawyers didn’t know that I had secretly and legally recorded my telephone conversation with them.

The recording proved they fabricated evidence and lied to the court to convict me.

Evidence from the courier company showed that – contrary to their sworn affidavit – the lawyers had never sent the court order to me in Canada or anywhere else and they couldn’t produce any courier record, tracking number, invoice or receipt for delivery.

They lied to convict me, a self-represented person who did not have a lawyer. They lied because they knew they could, because they had the power, authority and credibility as Officers of the Court and as senior partners of large and respected law firms. They did it because they were corrupt and wanted to win a civil case so badly that they would commit criminal offenses to do so.

Senior Ontario lawyers Gerald Ranking, Lorne Silver and junior Sebastien Kwidzinski placed their false evidence before the court, swore it was true both in writing and orally on the transcript record, convicted me of Contempt of Court and obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs against me based on their false evidence.

Ah… but I had my secret recording of the telephone call that irrefutably proved the lawyers lied to the court in writing and orally on the record. ‘No problem’ I said to myself – I’ll just return to Canada and play the recording for the court, who will overturn my conviction and justly imprison these corrupt lawyers for perjury, obstruct justice and fabricating evidence.

Abandoned by the legal profession and the Law Society of Ontario

When I voluntarily returned to Canada from Asia to appeal my conviction and present my evidence, over one hundred Ontario lawyers refused to represent me even as they acknowledged the veracity and power of my evidence. Many told me that while they personally sympathized with my situation facing injustice and corruption, they feared backlash and opprobrium from the profession if they harmed or even challenged the involved senior lawyers and their large Bay Street law firms.

Even the Law Society of Ontario refused to assist in finding a lawyer to represent me and chose to not investigate the wrongdoing that I reported in writing. The Law Society chose to not seize and preserve evidence from the corrupt lawyers and their law firms. Some Law Society senior benchers actively covered up for their fellow Bay Street cabal members at the highest levels.

So I was forced to represent myself before the court.

Self-Represented in the Ontario Courts

The judges did not allow me to appeal my conviction that was obtained while I was not in court. I was not even allowed to cross-examine the lawyers and other witnesses that the courts relied upon to convict and imprison me.

I was not allowed to cross-examine the corrupt Ontario Provincial Police officer, Jim Van Allen, who worked illegally for the lawyers as an unlicensed private investigator, and whose ‘expert’ evidence was also used to convict and sentence me.

Not Allowed to Cross-Examine Witnesses against me

As a Canadian facing prison, I was not allowed to cross-examine the witnesses who provided the evidence the court used to convict and sentence me.

Let me repeat that: As a Canadian facing prison, I was not allowed to cross- examine the very witnesses who provided the evidence the court used to convict and sentence me.

Right now, many of you are thinking, “That can’t be true. No way. Not in Canada.”

How naïve you are.

Ontario Superior Court Justice J. Bryan Shaughnessy

A Corrupt Judge takes his Revenge

On May 3, 2013 after refusing to even consider my recordings and other new evidence that proved my innocence, and after sending me off to prison and ending court for the day, Justice J. Bryan Shaughnessy went to a backroom.

There in that backroom, off the court record and without a hearing, trial or transcript, Justice Shaughnessy secretly and illegally increased my prison sentence by fifty percent without notifying me. He secretly created a new warrant of committal that he gave only to the prison authorities. He did not file the new secret warrant with the courts or make mention of it anywhere in the records.

Several senior lawyers and a retired Crown Attorney describe the Judge’s misconduct as “despotic”, “disgusting”, “reprehensible”, “malicious” and “worthy of his removal from the bench.”

Later, I was denied the right to appeal my conviction and Justice Shaughnessy’s actions to a higher court because I could not pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in court costs earlier awarded to the other side on the basis of their provably fabricated and false evidence.

Solitary Confinement prison cell very much like the one Donald Best spent 63 days in. Lights on 24 hours a day and the screams of other prisoners never stop.

Solitary Confinement

I spent 63 days in prison – every day in solitary confinement as I am a former Toronto Police Officer. The prison authorities told me that solitary was the only place they could keep me alive – and from what I saw, they spoke the truth. In my solitary cell I had to clean the faeces and blood of previous occupants from the floor and walls. The lights in the cell were on 24 hours a day – but the screams and moans of my fellow prisoners didn’t allow for much sleep anyway.

All this is still celebrated online as a victory by the group of corrupt Bay Street lawyers and their large law firms who wanted to win, and did win, a high-value civil case by any means possible – including fabrication of evidence, perjury, obstructing justice and bribery of police to illegally obtain confidential police records.

How the Courts protect fellow members of The Legal Club

But as disgusting as all that is, there is much worse. The Canadian legal profession, the Law Society of Ontario and the Courts themselves, when confronted with legally made certified voice recordings and other irrefutable evidence proving that the Bay Street lawyers deliberately fabricated false evidence and lied to the court to convict me while I was out of the country…

… when confronted with that irrefutable evidence, the legal profession, the Law Society and the Courts closed ranks to save the corrupt Bay Street lawyers – even when that meant knowingly sending an innocent man – a self-represented person in a civil case – to prison.

In response to my solid evidence of criminal wrongdoing by senior Law Society of Ontario lawyers, the courts refused to consider my evidence, my exhibits and refused to even listen to the voice recordings. In all these years before various levels of courts, no judge has ever listened to the voice recordings – at least officially.

When faced with a choice of ignoring irrefutable evidence of lawyers’ corrupt activities – or of receiving that evidence and then holding accountable senior partners from some of Bay Street’s largest legal firms – the Law Society of Upper Canada, the legal profession and the courts betrayed their duty to Canadians.

Canada’s Legal Profession & Courts cover-up legal system corruption

The worst though, is that my personal story is just one small part of a much larger disaster involving thousands upon thousands of Canadians who have been denied access to justice and justice itself because of systemic failings in our justice system.

Those systemic failings in our justice system include a Canada-wide tolerance by judges and lawyers for corruption in the legal profession.

There is an unwillingness in the Canadian legal profession to even talk about corrupt acts by lawyers and judges. When a lawyer actually presents evidence of corruption in specific terms, naming names… look out! The rest of the pack will turn and attack as my current lawyer and so many other Canadians have discovered.

My false conviction and imprisonment was possible only because there is a level of tolerance by judges and lawyers for corruption in the legal profession and in the courts. There is strong reluctance to damage the careers of fellow lawyers and judges – or to tarnish the profession itself by acknowledging serious deliberate wrongdoing.

Tolerance of corruption in our justice system is systemic and deep-rooted. It is fed by the low integrity of some individuals in positions of influence and authority, who are empowered by the total lack of courage and the unwillingness of our legal profession to hold fellow Club Members accountable in any meaningful manner.

Not a week goes by that I do not hear from five or ten other Canadians (totalling many hundreds in the past few years) who write to tell me their own stories of lawyers and judges committing serious acts of misconduct with impunity; confident that they will never be held accountable.

Many of the writers are desperate because they cannot afford a lawyer and must represent themselves in court – knowing as they do that the courts are set up to overwhelmingly favour and benefit the legal profession, not to provide justice to ordinary Canadians as purported.

Losing Faith in the Justice System

For a variety of well-founded reasons, ordinary Canadians are fast losing their faith in our justice system. Many believe that justice is now simply unattainable through the courts. This is a dangerous situation, the extent and seriousness of which has yet to be acknowledged by those entrusted with operating our justice system.

Unless individual police officers, lawyers and judges start to act with courage, integrity and a sense of duty towards ordinary Canadians and the Rule of Law – this situation will continue to deteriorate.

Much of the unrest, protests and violent flareups that we see in our cities has origin in the fact that people have lost faith in the professions and institutions charged with upholding the rule of law.

When the police, lawyers and courts are not to be trusted – anything goes.

Donald Best

Barrie, Ontario Canada

Supporting court evidence, documents, news media articles and much more can be found online at DonaldBest.CA | Access to Justice. Anti-corruption.

Twitter: @DonaldBestCA

Read Donald Best’s original answer on Quora.

Court hears of Donald Best story as mobster jailed for threats to murder former Toronto Police Chief Julian Fantino.

Former federal Cabinet Minister Julian Fantino “Abuses in the Donald Best case could undermine public confidence in the administration of justice.”
  • Mobster Delio Manuel Pereira jailed for 18 months for credible threats to murder former federal Cabinet Minister and Police Chief Julian Fantino.
  • Pereira, 66 years old, is a career thug who previously spent years in prison for his role in the 2001 murder of mafia enforcer and boxing champion Eddie Melo.
  • Ontario Judge Elaine Deluzio heard evidence that Pereira tacked news articles about  Julian Fantino on his wall, including one from a December 2017 edition of the Star.
  • That article, headlined “Fantino takes aim at judge, police and lawyers,” described Fantino’s allegations that a Canadian judge, lawyers and several polices forces acted improperly in the conviction of Donald Best on contempt of court charges.

Story of corruption, coverup by Canadian lawyers, police & judges in the news again.

by Donald Best

The ongoing Donald Best case concerning how corrupt lawyers, police and a corrupt judge acted improperly to convict and jail Best received a brief mention in a recent Toronto Star news article by crime journalist and author Peter Edwards.

The Toronto Star article ‘Man sentenced to 18 months for threats to kill former Toronto police chief Julian Fantino’ relates how mobster Delio Manuel Pereira threatened to murder former Toronto Police Chief Julian Fantino.

The court heard how Pereira had a December 2017 Star news story tacked to his wall – ‘Ex-federal cabinet minister Julian Fantino takes aim at judge, cops, lawyers’. That article told of Julian Fantino’s legal efforts to intervene in the case of Donald Best.

Judge Elaine Deluzio

After hearing all the evidence, including about the Toronto Star article pinned to Delio Manuel Pereira’s wall, Ontario Judge Elaine Deluzio sentenced the mobster to 18 months in prison.

The Toronto Star report of Pereira’s trial and sentencing makes no mention of what Judge Deluzio said or thought about Fantino’s accusations of corruption by lawyers, police and judges in the Donald Best case. Here is an excerpt from that article…

Former Federal Cabinet Minister Julian Fantino alleges wrongdoing by Justice J. Bryan Shaughnessy, lawyers & police

Former Conservative cabinet minister and provincial police commissioner Julian Fantino has accused a Canadian judge, lawyers and several police forces of acting improperly and even illegally in the conviction and jailing of a man for contempt of court.

In his submission, Fantino maintains that Justice J. Bryan Shaughnessy convicted Donald Best “upon the presentation by lawyers of provably false evidence.” He also argues that “disturbing” evidence suggests police resources and personnel were “improperly retained, used and co-opted” to help one side in the private civil dispute.

“The court also convicted Mr. Best based upon affidavit evidence that was the product of illegal actions by a serving officer of the Ontario Provincial Police at the time that I was OPP commissioner,” Fantino states. “Had I known about it at the time, I would have immediately ordered an investigation to gather all evidence … with a view to possible provincial and/or criminal charges.”

Fantino, who could not be immediately reached for comment, explains in his 33-page affidavit filed along with 100 exhibits why he wanted to get involved. The “abuses,” he said, could undermine public confidence in the administration of justice.

“I notice that, in this matter, no one represents the people of Canada,” Fantino states. “No one speaks for me and other Canadians who believe in and rely upon fairness, courtesy and honourable treatment within the justice system.” 

… Above from the Toronto Star article Ex-federal cabinet minister Julian Fantino takes aim at judge, cops, lawyers’.

Donald Best story gaining traction in the mainstream & online news media.

With increasing frequency in the mainstream media, the story is being told to the public of how corrupt lawyers Gerald Ranking, Lorne Silver, Sebastien Kwidzinski, corrupt OPP officer Jim Van Allen and corrupt Federal Court Justice J. Bryan Shaughnessy convicted and knowingly sent an innocent Donald Best to prison for Contempt of Court – to protect the corrupt Bay Street lawyers (Ranking, Silver, Kwidzinski) who fabricated provably false evidence and lied to the court.

Donald Best’s story has now been covered by every major Canadian newspaper. His interview on The Jimmy Dore Show attracted international attention by both the public and the news media.

Watch for more public exposure in the coming weeks as Donald Best appears in more video interviews and mainstream press articles.

Further Reading

Summary of Julian Fantino’s September 28, 2017 affidavit.

January 1, 2018 News Media censorship of Julian Fantino’s Canadian Judicial Council intervention crumbles.

Notice to readers, including Persons and Entities mentoned in this article

As always, if anyone disagrees with anything published at DonaldBest.CA or wishes to provide a public response or comment, please contact me at [email protected] and I will publish your writing with equal prominence. Comments left on articles are moderated at least once a day. Or, of course, you can sue me and serve my lawyer Paul Slansky. You can find Mr. Slansky’s information here.

Readers are also encouraged to thoroughly study all the evidence available here at DonaldBest.CA, to perform independent research on the Internet and elsewhere, to consider all sides and to make up their own minds as to the events reported on DonaldBest.CA.

Photos have been included to put context to the article. Their use is the same as with other Canadian news outlets.

Donald Best
Barrie, Ontario, Canada

Donald Best is a former Toronto Police Sergeant (Detective) who is now an independent journalist, documentary filmmaker and an anti-corruption advocate. He is the recipient of the 2018 Ontario Civil Liberties Award, and has been called “One of Canada’s most methodical and well documented whistleblowers.”

Famed NSA whistleblower William Binney to be honoured by Allard Prize March 14, 2019

All invited to open forum at Allard School of Law at University of British Columbia.

William Binney, NSA whistleblower

In the late 1990s William Binney, a top US National Security Agency (NSA) intelligence official, led the development of ThinThread, a sophisticated signals intelligence system with built-in encryption technology allowing the NSA to collect and analyze communications data without violating privacy laws. Around the time of the September 11 attacks, ThinThread was shelved in favour of the Trailblazer Project, a wasteful, inefficient alternative with no privacy protections.

Binney left the NSA and blew the whistle in an effort to hold the agency accountable for waste and corruption, as well as for illegal and unconstitutional spying on the US population. For doing so, he was harassed and undermined, and further development of his technologies was suppressed.

Today, he advocates worldwide for the adoption of “smart selection,” a disciplined, focused intelligence method that protects citizens’ privacy rights.

Hear Bill Binney speak at free noon-hour forum

Don’t miss this Thursday March 14, 2019 noon-hour event honouring legendary whistleblower William Binney – at Franklin Lew Forum, Allard Hall at the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia. (RSVP here)

An audience Q&A will follow Binney’s telling of his fascinating and troubling story of the surveillance state, individuals’ rights to privacy, and what it means to blow the whistle on a powerful government agency.

FBI Raid on William Binney’s home

After retiring from the NSA, Binney founded, together with fellow NSA whistleblower J. Kirk Wiebe, Entity Mapping, LLC, a private intelligence agency to market their analysis program to government agencies

In September 2002, Binney, along with J. Kirk Wiebe and Edward Loomis, asked the U.S. Defense Department Inspector General (DoD IG) to investigate the NSA for allegedly wasting “millions and millions of dollars” on Trailblazer, a system intended to analyze mass collection of data carried on communications networks such as the Internet.

Binney was one of several people investigated as part of an inquiry into a 2005 The New York Times exposé on the agency’s warrantless eavesdropping program. Binney was cleared of wrongdoing after three interviews with FBI agents beginning in March 2007, but in early July 2007, in an unannounced, armed, early morning raid, a dozen agents armed with rifles appeared at his house, one of whom entered the bathroom and pointed his gun at Binney, who was taking a shower.

The FBI confiscated a desktop computer, disks, and personal and business records. The NSA revoked his security clearance, forcing him to close a business he ran with former colleagues at a loss of a reported $300,000 in annual income. The FBI raided the homes of Wiebe and Loomis, as well as House Intelligence Committee staffer Diane Roark, the same morning.

The Edward Snowden Connection

Several months later the FBI raided the home of then still active NSA executive Thomas Andrews Drake who had also contacted DoD IG, but anonymously with confidentiality assured. The Assistant Inspector General, John Crane, in charge of the Whistleblower Program, suspecting his superiors provided confidential information to the United States Department of Justice (DOJ), challenged them, was eventually forced from his position, and subsequently himself became a public whistleblower. The punitive treatment of Binney, Drake, and the other whistleblowers also led Edward Snowden to go public with his revelations rather than report through the internal whistleblower program. (Above sections starting with ‘FBI Raid on William Binney’s Home’ copied from Wikipedia Binney Article)

Did Superior Court Judge interfere with St. Michael’s College School sex assault investigation to protect his football coach son?

St. Michael’s College School teacher & football coach Kevin Shaughnessy with his father Ontario Superior Court Justice J. Bryan Shaughnessy in promotional video.
  • Legal experts say an Ontario Superior Court Justice should not have involved himself in the ongoing sex-assault investigation at St. Michael’s College School.
  • Judge’s son is a teacher & football coach of students charged with gang sexual assault & making / distributing child porn video of the attack.
  • Two sources say that in November 2018, Justice J. Bryan Shaughnessy attended St. Michael’s College School meetings during the sexual assault investigation where he called for the firing of principal Greg Reeves and school president Father Jefferson Thompson. The two school officials subsequently resigned on Thursday, November 22, 2018.
  • A source states that one of the meetings was ‘open’, but the other was a small private meeting that included various school board members, respected senior alumni and advisors who discussed with Justice Shaughnessy options in handling the scandal.
  • Justice Shaughnessy’s son Kevin Shaughnessy is a ten-year teacher at the school and was one of the teachers / coaches of the now-dismantled football team whose students were videoed in the school locker room (allegedly) sexually assaulting a boy with a broom handle.
  • Justice Shaughnessy is a St. Michael’s College School alumnus (1968) who has remained heavily involved in school affairs including law classes and mock trials. He founded and donated two longstanding student awards. His three sons also graduated from the school where one, Kevin, is employed as a teacher.
  • In May 2018 Justice Shaughnessy appeared in a promotional video for the school, associated with his receiving the ‘Order of St. Michael’. The video makes revelations about his involvement with other organizations, some of which are also involved with the courts and law enforcement in Durham Region where the judge sits on the bench – raising further questions about potential and/or perceived conflicts of interest.
  • Did Justice Shaughnessy have any contact whatsoever with law enforcement personnel concerning the St. Michael’s College School matter?
  • In an unrelated civil case, there are four known improper police involvements associated with Justice Shaughnessy. This raises strong suspicions of Shaughnessy’s improper use of, and relationship with, law enforcement. In 2017 Durham Regional Police launched major investigation into Donald Best immediately after Best’s lawyer filed legal documents about Justice Shaughnessy’s misconduct in a civil case. In 2009, a Durham Regional Police officer assigned to Justice Shaughnessy’s courthouse improperly conducted a secret investigation into Donald Best “in aid of the court”.
  • Justice Shaughnessy is already embroiled in separate litigation concerning his corrupt behaviour in a matter outside the St. Michael’s investigation. In the Donald Best civil case, Justice Shaughnessy – in a backroom after court closed – secretly and illegally doubled Best’s prison time for Contempt of Court without informing Best or placing any record of the judge’s secret order into the court record. Only the prison was notified of the increased sentence.
  • In the same Donald Best civil matter Justice Shaughnessy also backdated a court order by ten days to assist the opposing lawyers – and then convicted and imprisoned Donald Best for failing to deliver business records to opposing lawyers two days before Shaughnessy made and signed the backdated order that required Best to present the business records. (Yes, you read that correctly.)
  • Several senior lawyers and a retired Crown Attorney call Justice Shaughnessy’s behaviour in the Donald Best civil case “despotic”, “disgusting”, “reprehensible”, “malicious” and “worthy of his removal from the bench.” His corrupt actions earned Bryan Shaughnessy the monikers ‘Backroom Bryan’ and ‘Canada’s Backroom Judge’ with both the public and (quietly) in the legal community.
Ontario Superior Court Justice J. Bryan Shaughnessy in May 2018 promotional video for St. Michael’s College School.

How Involved is Teacher & Football Coach Kevin Shaughnessy?

by Donald Best, former Sergeant, Detective, Toronto Police

The scandal at St. Michael’s College School exploded in November 2018 and is only partially about the horrific behaviour of some members of the school’s football team who (allegedly) sexually assaulted a fellow student with a broomstick, videoed the attack and then distributed the child pornography.

Seven students now stand criminally charged involving multiple incidents on school property over a number of months.

In a breach of professional ethics and perhaps even the criminal code, for at least two days senior school administrators (and probably some teachers, board members and parents) failed to report the horrific sex attack and existence of the child-sex video to the police or Children’s Aid. Some possessed copies of the child-sex video during this time and distributed it to others.

It was not until the police were notified by the news media and came to the school that principal Greg Reeves surrendered the video to the police and informed them of the sexual attack – some two days after he knew and first possessed the child-sex video.

Why did so many senior members of the St. Michael’s College School community fail to report the existence of the child-sex video and horrific sex-attack to the police? 

Were the school staff and board members honestly just overwhelmed and unprepared to deal with such events? Were they naïve about their duty to protect a child at risk?

Or… was it an attempted cover-up? Were the staff and board trying to find some way out to protect the international reputation of the school? Did the worldwide revelations about child sexual abuse and coverups by the Catholic Church and clergy influence the St. Michael’s College School individual and corporate decisions?

Roster showing Kevin Shaughnessy as a football coach with St. Michael’s College School. From the OFSAA Team Rosters – St. Michael’s vs Cardinal Newman

What did Justice Shaughnessy know and when did he know it?

It would be only natural for Justice Bryan Shaughnessy and his son Kevin Shaughnessy to discuss the sexual assaults the moment either of them learned of the events. 

As a ten-year St. Michael’s teacher and football coach, Kevin Shaughnessy might have been worried about the school image and about his own career. He would naturally inform and ask advice of his father who is both a senior justice in the Ontario Superior Court and a respected member of the St. Michael’s College School community.

“(There should be) a full accounting of coaches, clergy and staff members assigned to sports teams. Where were they when that kid was screaming for help?”

Toronto Sun journalist Joe Warmington November 23, 2018

Both Justice Shaughnessy and his son Kevin would have known that public questions were bound to be asked about the school’s athletic and football team culture, why the assault was not prevented and when each staff member became aware of the assaults and videos. The public and parents would also want to know if anyone had knowledge of this type of behaviour happening in the past and what the response of the school was at the time. (Note: At least one former student has gone public claiming that hazing and assaults at the school have been part of the school culture for decades.)

Justice Shaughnessy should have recused himself from any involvement whatsoever.

In this situation, it would be a natural instinct for senior school officials, staff, board members and parents to contact Justice Shaughnessy for advice – perhaps not even considering that contacting a senior judge during a criminal investigation was improper. 

Bryan Shaughnessy, however, is no ordinary person, no ordinary alumnus or parent – ‘Bryan’ is Ontario Superior Court Justice J. Bryan Shaughnessy whose public and private statements on anything carry real influence and the heavy credibility of a senior judge. 

Further, Justice Shaughnessy’s son Kevin is a teacher and football coach and therefore directly involved at the very least as a witness – and potentially as the subject of investigations into the school’s staff and football culture.

“It was up to Justice Shaughnessy to recuse himself from the picture, but instead he deliberately chose to become involved.

Upon learning of the sexual assault at the school, as a sitting Ontario Superior Court Justice who is the father of an involved teacher and football coach, Bryan Shaughnessy should have immediately recused himself from any discussion, communication or any role at all in the school.

Further, he had a duty imposed by law to report any incidents himself unless he was absolutely sure they had already been properly reported.” (Senior Law Society of Ontario lawyer to Donald Best.)

There are recognized limitations on what a judge may or may not do both officially and in private life. According to several senior lawyers and a law professor I consulted with during the writing of this article, Justice Shaughnessy crossed the line when he made recommendations to the school in the middle of a criminal investigation – whether he made those recommendations in public at the general meeting or in private with school officials.

As a senior Ontario Superior Court Justice, Bryan Shaughnessy should not have involved himself in any way in a criminal matter likely to go before the courts.

According to the senior lawyers, Justice Shaughnessy’s actions during the criminal investigation crossed the line even before considering the obvious conflict of interest created by his son’s employment as a teacher and involved football coach at the school. 

Parents, staff and members of the public would naturally wonder if Justice Shaughnessy’s recommendation that St. Michael’s College School fire principal Greg Reeves and president Father Jefferson Thompson was intended to take the heat away from Shaughnessy’s son and his son’s fellow teachers and football coaches.

Too many unanswered questions.

Did Justice Shaughnessy’s teacher-son have a copy of the video or know of it and not report it to the police? Did anything that Kevin Shaughnessy do or failed to do influence his father to call for the firing of the school principal and director?

Exactly when and how did Justice Shaughnessy learn of the sexual assaults and of the existence of the video? Did he immediately call the police to report the crime himself? Did Justice Shaughnessy see or possess a copy of the child-sex video?

When sitting judges insert themselves or allow themselves to be inserted into criminal investigations – at the very least this causes public doubt about the judiciary and the rule of law. At worst, such actions bring the administration of justice into disrepute.

Add to that the fact that Justice Shaughnessy’s own son is at the very best a potential witness and at the worst an involved teacher and football coach.

Justice Shaughnessy made a deliberate choice to insert himself into an ongoing criminal investigation despite his obvious conflicts of interest.

He knew or should have known that his involvement had the potential to cause doubt about the integrity of both the internal and police investigation and to bring both his personal judgment and the administration of justice into disrepute.

Yet, Justice J. Bryan Shaughnessy chose to become involved in the St. Michael’s College School scandal.

Coming in Part II…

  • Update on the St. Michael’s College School criminal charges, including known timeline.
  • Analysis of the Justice J. Bryan Shaughnessy promotional video for St. Michael’s College School.
  • Discussion of what public activities are permissible for sitting judges. Is fundraising for organizations permitted? What if the organizations have an acknowledged role with the police or the courts in the judge’s jurisdiction?
  • Details of all police involvement associated with Justice J. Bryan Shaughnessy in the Donald Best civil case.

Further Reading

CBC Toronto, Nov 22/18 St. Michael’s College School principal and president resign amid student sex assault scandal

Toronto Star, Dec 19/18 What we know and don’t know about the scandal at St. Michael’s College School — and what we can’t report

Dec 2/15 Ontario Superior Court Justice J. Bryan Shaughnessy secretly increased prisoner’s jail sentence – in a backroom, off the court record, without informing the prisoner.

Jan 1/18 News media censorship of Julian Fantino’s Canadian Judicial Council Intervention Crumbles as Toronto Star Publishes bombshell article.

Notice to readers, including Persons and Entities mentoned in this article

As always, if anyone disagrees with anything published at DonaldBest.CA or wishes to provide a public response or comment, please contact me at [email protected] and I will publish your writing with equal prominence. Comments left on articles are moderated at least once a day. Or, of course, you can sue me and serve my lawyer Paul Slansky. You can find Mr. Slansky’s information here.

Readers are also encouraged to thoroughly study all the evidence available here at DonaldBest.CA, to perform independent research on the Internet and elsewhere, to consider all sides and to make up their own minds as to the events reported on DonaldBest.CA.

Photos have been included to put context to the article. Their use is the same as with other Canadian news outlets. With the exception of Kevin Shaughnessy who is a legitimate subject of this news article, all other members of Justice Shaughnessy’s family have been edited out of the photos.

Donald Best
Barrie, Ontario, Canada

Donald Best is a former Toronto Police Sergeant (Detective) who is now an independent journalist, documentary filmmaker and an anti-corruption advocate. He is the recipient of the 2018 Ontario Civil Liberties Award, and has been called “One of Canada’s most methodical and well documented whistleblowers.”

News media shuns award winning corrupt ex-cop.

How Corruption destroyed a Police Officer’s Retirement Career.

Fasken Martineau lawyer Gerald Ranking (left) illegally hired OPP Sergeant Jim Van Allen to perform an illegal investigation to benefit Ranking’s clients.
by Donald Best, former Sergeant, Toronto Police

For almost two decades expert criminal profiler, behavioural analyst and threat specialist Jim Van Allen was the go-to expert for Canada’s largest news organizations. His prestigious Order of Merit of the Police Forces award practically guaranteed a lucrative post-retirement career.

As a Detective Sergeant in charge of the elite Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) Criminal Profiling Unit and continuing after his retirement, Van Allen made hundreds of appearances on television, radio and in the newspapers commenting on serial killers, stalkers and workplace violence. Crime writers, authors and professors published Van Allen’s expert opinions, quotes and interviews. He was a featured speaker on the lecture circuit and by all accounts was skilled at capturing an audience’s attention by entertaining as well as informing.

In his September 28, 2017 sworn affidavit, former OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino eviscerated Jim Van Allen’s integrity, character and professional standing…

News media Career Killer.

All that media attention started to vanish when the story of Jim Van Allen’s corruption as a police officer began to surface in filed court evidence during the Donald Best civil cases. A Google search doesn’t reveal any Van Allen interviews for several years, starting just around the time when the story of his corruption gained traction.

Then came further revelations from the Toronto Star’s investigative reporter Harold Levy that during the Goudge Inquiry into disgraced pathologist Dr. Charles Smith, Detective Sergeant Jim Van Allen’s evidence as an ‘expert witness’ in statement analysis was seen as a factor in falsely charging two innocent mothers with the deaths of their children. One mother, Louise Reynolds, spent two years in prison charged with murdering her daughter and was forced to give up her remaining daughter for adoption. All charges were dropped after the truth surfaced.

Van Allen’s Corruption in Police Service.

OPP Commissioner Julian Fantino was Detective Sergeant Jim Van Allen’s top boss.

“Had I known of (Jim Van Allen’s) transgressions, I would have acted immediately as OPP Commissioner to deal with his rogue conduct… 

“In no small way, Detective Sergeant Jim Van Allen violated his oath of office.

“Had I known about it at the time, I would have immediately ordered an investigation …with a view to possible provincial and/or criminal charges against Van Allen.”  

… former Ontario Provincial Police Commissioner Julian Fantino, September 28, 2017

The ‘coup de grâce’ to Van Allen’s news media career was the September 28, 2017 affidavit of Van Allen’s boss at the time of his corrupt acts in 2009 & 2010, former Commissioner of the Ontario Provincial Police Julian Fantino.

In his September 28, 2017 sworn affidavit, former OPP Commissioner Fantino eviscerated Jim Van Allen’s integrity, character and professional standing, saying…

  • “In no small way, Detective Sergeant Jim Van Allen violated his oath of office.”
  • “Detective Sergeant Van Allen’s conduct and behavior in relation to this case occurred while I was OPP Commissioner. Had I known about it at the time, I would have immediately ordered an investigation to gather all evidence to determine the details, extent and duration of his activities with a view to possible provincial and/or criminal charges against Van Allen and, potentially, charges against other involved persons.”
  • “The prosecuting lawyers hired and submitted an affidavit from Mr. Van Allen. They claimed that he was a private investigator and failed to disclose that he was a serving police officer with access to police resources. This police officer obtained confidential information not available to the public which was then used by the Judge to convict, sentence and imprison Mr. Best for contempt.”
  • “Although the lawyers regularly referred to Van Allen as a ‘private investigator’ in their legal documents and on the court record in verbal submissions and discussions with the Judge, Jim Van Allen was not a licensed private investigator. James ‘Jim’ Arthur Van Allen, was in fact a serving Ontario Provincial Police Detective Sergeant and manager of the OPP’s Criminal Profiling Unit who was working secretly and illegally as an unlicensed private investigator.”
  • “From my examination of the evidence that is already filed in court and was easily available to the courts and the CJC had they examined it, it is reasonable to conclude that OPP Detective Sergeant Jim Van Allen’s inappropriate employment as a private investigator, his access to confidential information and the distribution of the same, and the very creation of his affidavit in order to benefit private parties in a civil lawsuit, represents a flagrant violation of various Provincial and Federal laws including the Police Services Act, the Private Security and Investigative Services Act, the Criminal Code and the Freedom of Information Act.”
  • “It is inconceivable that all the involved lawyers and Judge were unaware that ‘private investigator’ and expert witness Jim Van Allen was an OPP police officer. Considering many factors, including Detective Sergeant Van Allen’s high public profile, the rules and normal vetting practices by lawyers and judges concerning Expert Witnesses, and the fact that Van Allen’s affidavit and redacted invoices were clearly suspect on their face to any ordinary person let alone lawyers and judges, it is unbelievable that nobody in that courtroom knew the truth about Van Allen or otherwise cared to find out.”
  • “I notice that Van Allen’s two redacted invoices are numbers 11 and 12 for the year 2009, which to me raises serious questions about how many other illegal investigations he had performed and which lawyer clients might have retained him previously. Had I known of his transgressions, I would have acted immediately as OPP Commissioner to deal with his rogue conduct.”

Court Documents – Redacted Identity Information (signatures, etc)

In .PDF format for downloading. Size indicated.

Notice to readers, including Persons and Entities mentoned in this article

As always, if anyone disagrees with anything published at DonaldBest.CA or wishes to provide a public response or comment, please contact me at [email protected] and I will publish your writing with equal prominence. Comments left on articles are moderated at least once a day. Or, of course, you can sue me and serve my lawyer Paul Slansky. You can find Mr. Slansky’s information here.

Photos have been included to put context to the article. Their use is the same as with other Canadian news outlets.

Donald Best
Barrie, Ontario, Canada

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