| John Jalsevac Special to The Interim Currently, Rev. Stephen Boissoin, a young Alberta pastor who spearheads a youth ministry that makes hundreds of weekly contacts with at-risk youth, is in the process of learning Arabic so he can better minister to the many Muslim youths he says come to his centres. And with two children of his own, in addition to his full-time ministry, he repeatedly remarked, during an interview with LifeSiteNews.com, that he just doesn’t have a lot of time on his hands. But increasingly these days, the young pastor’s thoughts are set on preparing for an Alberta Human Rights Commission hearing, which he says will likely be heard this month. Without the money to pay for legal representation, Boissoin has no other alternative but to prepare his own defence. “I know nothing about human rights case law,” he says. “I’m trying to learn. Understand this, I work every single day, have two kids … and right in the middle of that, I’m trying to learn human rights law. So, I’ll be very happy when it’s over.” The only problem, he points out, is that when it’s all over, he may very well be in prison. In that letter to the editor, Boisson lamented that, “Children as young as five and six years of age are being subjected to psychologically and physiologically damaging pro-homosexual literature and guidance in the public school system, all under the fraudulent guise of equal rights.” Boissoin, who is himself no stranger to the dangers of homosexual and bi-sexual activity, since many of the youths he works with are involved in such acts, repeatedly expressed his concern that behaviour that is dangerous, and sometimes fatal, is being presented as normative and even healthy to the most impressionable. “I was just writing a letter to the editor, to the heterosexual population,” he says, “saying this is something to be very, very concerned about.” For expressing that view, however, Boissoin has been called a “bigot,” a “hatemonger” and worse. Darren Lund has likened the young pastor to Aryan Nation member Terry Long, a local white supremacist, and James Keegstra, a Holocaust denier. Should Boissoin lose at the hearing before the human rights tribunal, he will be forced to pay $7,000 in fines, with $5,000 going to Darren Lund personally and the other $2,000 to the rabidly pro-gay rights group EGALE Canada, which has received large sums of money in the past from the federal government for its court challenges. In addition, Lund has requested that Boissoin be forced to apologize to his readers in another letter to be published in the Red Deer Advocate. Boissoin, however, says he will not pay those fines, nor will he apologize, even should that mean prison. He is not hopeful about the outcome. A few days ago, he says, he met with an officer of the Human Rights Commission, who indicated that in publishing his letter, Boissoin had gone against the “position” of the commission. “According to what they have decided is the law, I will probably be found guilty,” he admits. Nevertheless, the pastor is carefully preparing for the hearing, asking a number of witnesses to come forward and speak on his behalf. “I feel almost too humble to say this, to be honest with you,” he says about those who are willing to come out in his defence, “but they say they’ve worked with me, and they’ve seen my devotion to teens, bi-sexual and homosexual alike, and they’re hurt that I can be fined, and potentially, if I don’t pay these fines, I can be imprisoned.” “I’m okay with whatever the outcome is,” he concludes. “I’m just going to trust God. I’ve been through a lot in my life … I’m just going to trust Him. He may have me speaking just before the panel and judges and it may touch someone’s heart and minister to them. I’m just going to go in humble and leave the outcome to God.” This article originally appeared Sept. 2 at LifeSiteNews.com and is reprinted with permission. |
