Pamela is NOT guilty

Written by Dr. Arthur Porter



On September 3rd, the Quebec and Canadian authorities stripped Pamela of her freedom and threw her into prison, citing that she had broken her bail conditions because an 'after the fact' investigation questioned the origin of the funds used to provide for her bail and legal fees.

I use the term 'after the fact' for a reason.

When Pamela first asked for bail a year ago, after being taken to Canada, the prosecution did everything possible to thwart her application. First they worked hard to deny her bail completely, claiming she was a flight risk, even though before being detained in Panama, she had absolutely no notification of any charges against her.

Eventually after 10 weeks in prison and an appeal to the Superior Court she was given bail. The highest bail of any of the defendants in the so called McGill construction fraud: $250,000, at least $100,000 more than the others. The prosecution reviewed the origin of all funds to be used in her application for bail and eventually and reluctantly agreed to bail onerous conditions. Her conditions included checking in with the police twice a week, not being able to visit relatives in Ottawa or leave the province of Quebec, and was not allowed to communicate in any way with me, her husband of 32 years, on personal matters like the well being of our children. All those defendants who reside outside Canada were allowed to return to their families or work. All were allowed to travel within Canada - except Pamela.  

Pamela has never liked being in the public eye. We tried to sharply separate my work life and our home life to keep that balance. Pamela believes in family in the true traditional way. Her job was home and hearth, mine was putting food on the table.

We met in Cambridge, England and when we married she knew that my intentions were not to be a 'country General Practitioner'. My career set our homes. First Sierra Leone, then back to England, then to Alberta, Canada, then Ontario, the USA, and then to the Bahamas. As school activities grew in importance, Pamela and I split our duties. Pamela organized the family and I traveled for work. 

When we moved to the Bahamas 12 years ago we decided to make that our main home and base. She was happy there.
  
When McGill beckoned and I accepted, Pamela stayed in the Bahamas and I commuted to work in Montreal, and tried to get home for a long weekend every couple of weeks. 

Pamela never moved to Quebec. Her home, her family, and her social framework was always in Nassau. I remained the workaholic and because of my unique arrangement with McGill was able to work on all my businesses which spanned three continents and several industrial sectors. My job was to manage our family’s finances and Pamela took care of the home. It worked.   

Now Pamela is in prison.   

I wrote a piece about the interference that Canada has placed on Panama as I seek justice. [Rendition letter -
click here to read ] My last line in the piece asks the question, "I wonder what Quebec or Canada will try to do to me or my family next?”. Well, I know now. 

The authorities have now independently made the claim that a small amount of the monies used for Pamela's bail may have come from funds accused of being illegitimate but have not yet been proven so. They have therefore seized all of Pamela's monies and thrown her into prison, thus making it difficult for her to maintain legal representation.  

Is this really justice? Is this really fair? Is this what Quebec and Canada are all about? I have come to accept the daily violations of human rights in Panama, a third world country, but maybe we need to cast the net wider. 

I remember as chairman of Canada's Intelligence and Security Committee I deliberated frequently on human rights, freedoms, innocence until guilt proven, and punishment after conviction, under difficult security situations.

Is Pamela guilty?  

No, the only thing she is guilty of is being my wife, bringing up our wonderful children, managing the home, and supporting her husband. For that she is now in prison in a foreign country, stripped of her resources, awaiting a trial that may be scheduled in 2016!   

This, in my mind, goes against every form of justice that I felt Canada or Quebec professed.     


(Note. Pamela had no input into this piece as I have not spoken to her since May 2013)