The confession that overturned a law
Questioned about arson, a confession, then indefinite detention: the case that shook Canada.
On 24 August 1965, Everett George Klippert stood in a courtroom in Fort Smith in the Northwest Territories. The sentence: three years in prison on four counts of "gross indecency". His offence consisted of having had consensual sex with four men.
It had all begun eight days earlier with a fire. On the morning of 16 August, the Mounted Police were investigating arson in the mining settlement of Pine Point and turned their attention to Klippert, a 39-year-old mechanic's helper. In the afternoon the officers took him to Hay River. Within a few hours it was clear that he had nothing to do with the fire. But under questioning he had talked about his sex life.
The judge did not stop at three years. He applied to have Klippert classified as a "dangerous sexual offender", because he considered him incapable of controlling his sexual urges. Two psychiatrists described him as a friendly, gentle man who posed no threat of physical violence to anyone. At the same time they stated that he would probably reoffend after release. What they meant was that he would go on having sex with men. In March 1966, Judge J. H. Sissons declared him a dangerous sexual offender and ordered indefinite detention. All appeals failed.
The case became a political issue. When the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal on 7 November 1967, the MP Bud Orange called the situation ridiculous in an interview with the CBC. Six weeks later, Justice Minister Pierre Trudeau introduced a bill decriminalising private consensual homosexual acts between people over 21. In 1969 it became law.
Klippert himself was not released until July 1971. He is regarded as the last Canadian to be imprisoned for consensual homosexual acts. He died in 1996 at the age of 69. A full pardon was announced a good twenty years after his death by another Prime Minister Trudeau: Justin, the son.