Karla Homolka’s Name Sparks Controversy In Run-Up To Local Byelection

When voters in Gerard Kennedy’s old Parkdale-High Park riding head to the polls this Thursday, they may be forced to think about more than just taxes, garbage, transit, crime and the usual local issues.

It all stems from a sermon delivered last year by N.D.P. candidate Cheri DiNovo. In her speech, the United Church minister apparently compared the media’s treatment of Homolka to the persecution of Jesus Christ.

When the Liberals discovered the document, they immediately distributed copies of it, well aware it would incite voters in the riding.

“It allows us to create a scapegoat, remember Jesus was a scapegoat, and just pour all our hatred and frustration on this one woman. How sick is that?” the sermon reads.

DiNovo believes the comments were taken completely out of context, and calls Liberal opponent Sylvia Watson’s actions ‘reptilian’.

And she’s adamant they don’t indicate the point she was really trying to make.

The full speech shows her complaining about the media’s relegating more pressing stories – like multiple deaths in Iraq and the treatment of U.S. P.O.W.s in Cuba – to the back pages to make way for more lurid tales of Homolka’s activities. 

But Watson counters the words and the meanings are accurate and she makes no apologies for letting would-be constituents know about them.

“She compares Karla Homolka to Jesus as being a scapegoat,” the Grit hopeful notes. “And I found that personally a bit troubling…I have not slung any mud, I have not  said anything.”

“You know what it says to me, it’s kind of a backhanded compliment,” DiNovo fires back. “It says they know that I’m winning and they’re desperate, and they’re frightened of losing.”

The Premier has so far refused to wade into the argument, a fact that’s led N.D.P. leader Howard Hampton to remind voters of some other past statements – made by Dalton McGuinty himself.

“He promised to restore faith in the democratic process by raising the tone of debate. Instead, the Liberal party has gone into the gutter,” he rails. “That’s not what Ontarians want.”

And it may not be what voters in the riding want, either. Many are rolling their eyes at the controversy in the longtime Liberal stronghold and are vowing to take it out on both candidates for not sticking to real issues.

“It has nothing to do with that,” snaps Samodor Deragana, who lives in the riding. “They should take care of the homeless people and the crime.”

That’s music to the ears of the P.C. candidate, who is staying above the fray.

David Hutcheon maintains the fracas shows how both parties play dirty tricks on each other and why the voters should support him when they head to the polls this week.

To read DiNovo’s sermon for yourself, click here.