VICTORIA - Charges of practising polygamy against two leaders of a fundamentalist religious sect in Bountiful, B.C., will give Canadians an unprecedented look into the controversial lifestyles of one of the most private communities in Canada.
The charges against Winston Blackmore and James Oler will also test the legal boundaries of religious freedom in Canada, says a legal expert.
Blackmore, 52, and James Oler, 44, each face one charge of practising polygamy, a charge that carries a maximum five-year sentence.
Bountiful has been the subject of several investigations involving allegations of polygamy, sexual abuse and trafficking of teenage brides across the Canada-U.S... border to sister communities in the U.S.
The accused are the leaders of two rival factions of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Bountiful, located in Creston, in Kootenay region in southwestern B.C.
Blackmore is accused of having 20 wives and Oler of having two.
The mean are leaders in a breakaway offshoot of the Mormon church. The group has communities in Bountiful, Arizona, Texas and Utah and they adhere to the practice of multiple marriage originated by Mormon founder Joseph Smith but renounced by the mainstream Mormon church more than a century ago as a condition of statehood in the U.S.
The belief is that a man should have at least three wives in order the reach the highest of the three levels in heaven. Women do not have more than one husband.
It is called "celestial marriage" and the rites are performed with the community, by community leaders such as Blackmore and Oler themselves. As a condition of their release from custody, the men have been ordered not to perform any such marriages. During this ceremony, the man and woman are sealed as husband and wife before God, although the marriages are not registered legally with authorities.
In the indictments against Blackmore and Oler, they are accused with one count each of having "practised a form of polygamy, or practised a kind of conjugal union."
Technically, the residents of Bountiful practice polygyny, a polygamous practice of one man being married to more than one woman. Polygamy is not specific about husbands or wives.
For his part, Blackmore calls the charges religious persecution but this critics welcome the action by the B.C. Crown.
"We're ecstatic," said Audrey Vance, a spokeswoman for the Creston-based anti-polygamy group Altering Destiny Through Education.
"We're just so proud of (B.C. Attorney General) Wally Oppal," she said. "This is about equal rights for women in this country."
Oppal ordered three independent legal assessments on Bountiful before charges were approved this week. The other two assessments did not recommend charges, suggesting the law against polygamy may not withstand a Constitutional challenge on the grounds of religious freedom.
University of Victoria Law Prof. Benjamin Berger said religious freedom is a right under the Constitution, but that right does not mean anything goes.
"The central issue in the case is likely to be whether or not this provision (the law against polygamy) is a justified limitation of the accused's freedom of religion," said Berger.
The core Constitutional argument will be deciding whether or not the alleged crime of polygamy limits the religious freedom of the accused, he said.
"It's really testing a criminal law and it's going to be about the boundaries of what we're allowed to enact as criminal law," said Berger. "What are the limitations of the criminal law? What are the boundaries of the criminal law? That's what this case, really, quite uniquely raises."
Vance said her group formed six years ago after some women who left Bountiful said the best way to help the women and children of there was to promote education to open their minds about the outside world.
"We needed to concentrate on the education," she said. "We've had some success. When we first got started they hadn't had a (high school) graduate in 10 years, and I believe last year they had five graduates."
