I don’t believe it. Ron Leroux is in there testifying without a lawyer!! Once upon a time his lawyers for the inquiry were the London-based law firm Ledroit Beckett. Somewhere along the line, perhaps a year or so ago after some sort of internal dispute, John Swales left Ledroit Beckett and went to Harrison Pensa, another London-based law firm. Ron, it seems, has moved to Harrison Pensa.
And here we are today, Ron, a key witness with a multitude of statements and interviews whose every word and action will be parsed, dissected and analyzed, has taken the stand and he has John Swales in the Weave Shed to provide victim support: period. That’s it! For whatever reason John Swales and Harrison Pensa decided there is no need for Ron to have a lawyer in the lion’s den!!!
This transcends the heights of utter foolishness. I don’t know what’s going on now or what politics are at play but it smells to high Heaven. It has the makings of an absolute disaster. I am still shaking my head in sheer disbelief.
That aside, this morning Jos Van Diepen (sp?), a probation officer applied for and received limited standing to defend his interests. He has been identified as one of the individuals seen at Ken Seguin’s home. There seem to be indicators that Van Diepen learned Ron Leroux may give testify which implies criminal activity on Diepen’s behalf in that he, Van Diepen, may have known that probationers were being sexually abused and did nothing. We will have to wait and see where that goes.
Hearings resume at 2 pm.
Enough for now,
Sylvia
(cornwall@theinquiry.ca)