Pubdate: Sat, 30 Jul 2011 Source: Winnipeg Free Press (CN MB) Copyright: 2011 Winnipeg Free Press Contact: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/send_a_letter Website: http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/502 Author: Gordon Sinclair Jr. ALL WE CAN OFFER JANET GOODIN IS A SINCERE APOLOGY You never know where the next column is lurking. Or who will lug it to your door. Paul "Willy" Williamson, the Free Press's big Buddha of an auto writer, dropped by my newsroom cubicle this week with an idea that sounded like it had wheels. Until the brakes were applied. Initially, Willy's idea seemed doable. If the Canadian government won't say it's sorry for the humiliating and unnecessarily punitive way Warroad, Minn., grandmother Janet Goodin was treated last spring, maybe Canadians can apologize in a collective way for the way she was strip-searched and cuffed at the border, then tossed in jail for 12 days on suspicion of smuggling heroin in a jar. And Willy really did mean apologize in a collective way. He wanted to take up a collection that would cover the $5,000 in legal fees the 66-year-old ran up before the Crown stayed drug trafficking and possession charges. At first I thought it must have been Canada Border Services Agency mistaking motor oil for liquid "black heroin" that got our car guy's attention. But Willy's concern went way deeper than a dipstick or the series of dipstick-like decisions that trailed from the Sprague crossing where a flawed field test reportedly indicated the motor oil was heroin, right through the bail hearing that left Goodin locked up at the Winnipeg Remand Centre. Willy's idea came primarily from something Goodin said this week in reference to her treatment and the money she didn't have, but had to find, to pay a lawyer. "An apology would be nice," Goodin said, "and I would like to be able to pay back the relative that I borrowed money from." There you have it. But what really got to Willy -- the spark that connected his head with his heart -- was seeing a photo in Wednesday's paper of the grandmother figure leaning over the counter in her house trailer. "She totally reminded me of Babba," Willy said as he leaned over my desk. Babba is Willy's mother-in-law. "I thought, 'Oh my god, imagine if they did that to Babba.' " Clearly, that's the sentiment that has motivated the intense public interest in Goodin and her treatment. It could have happened to anyone. Apparently, even a trace of chocolate can set off a false positive in one of the CBSA quick-tests. And like lots of us, Babba likes to make the occasional cross-border trip, which is what she was trying do last Easter when she left home to visit her daughters in Manitoba and play a little bingo. Only to be pulled over at the border when Canadian border agents found a jar of dark liquid they obviously suspected was "black heroin." Eventually, she was carted off to jail until more thorough testing of the old motor oil in the back of her vehicle proved it was, surprise, old motor oil. "I'm just horrified to think that if I left some used motor oil in the trunk of her car, she could have been erroneously accused of smuggling heroin into the U.S. or into Canada on her return," mused Willy. "I can't imagine Babba locked up in the Winnipeg Remand Centre." Actually, Willy can definitely imagine a jail scenario. Once upon another career, he was a corrections officer at the remand centre. "And as a citizen of man," Willy said, "and a former law-enforcement officer, this story completely and utterly disgusted me." He's not alone in being outraged. I get the sense that even Public Safety Minister Vic Toews feels sorry. Thus far, though, the Canadian government hasn't apologized or agreed to compensate her financially. So Goodin is suing. In the meantime, Willy's plan would address at least part of both of those issues on behalf of individual Canadians. But before we opened a bank account where people could donate to her defence fund, Free Press editor Margo Goodhand thought it might be prudent to ask Goodin if she wanted financial help. On Friday, I contacted Goodin's Winnipeg lawyer, Kerry L. UnRuh, and, after listening to the proposal, he contacted her. Goodin's reaction? A polite and grateful thanks. But no thanks. UnRuh explained Goodin was grateful for the overwhelming outpouring of public support. But she's uncomfortable with receiving donations from the public. What's changed? UnRuh won't say but I can guess. The law firm has decided to work on a contingency basis. Oh well, we can still say a collective Canadian "sorry." Although, when the Free Press did an online poll that generated more than 5,000 votes, only 57 per cent said Goodin deserved an apology. The rest must be ingesting something that should get them arrested if they tried to smuggle it across the border. Of course, that leaves me no choice but to say sorry again to Janet Goodin. Sorry that more of us won't say we're sorry. I know saying sorry for not being sorry enough may sound a bit excessive. But, sorry. I am Canadian. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.