Dear Jeff Watson,
I was directed to send this letter to Mr. Peter Mackay and Ms. Françoise Boivin by Joe Comartin. I have done so and am now sending it to you, as suggested by Windsor Lawyer Laura Joy, with the hopes that you could better address my concern.
I’m sure you are getting a few letters concerning support for Bill-C484. Those letters might detail the brutal death of Cassandra Kaake in Windsor Ontario who was carrying a baby who was 9 weeks from being born. Their murder was a tragedy beyond words. It is still hard for me to find words because I am Molly’s father.
Cassie was healthy and round and was as happy to be carrying a baby as you could ever see a woman be. Before this, we didn’t know that a perpetrator of such a heinous crime in Canada was only legally accountable for a crime against the mother. I truly wish I could have remained ignorant on the subject and life could have gone on happily and normally for all of us. But here I am trying to pick up the pieces in the aftermath of this tragedy. Now, I realize that my daughter is not viewed as a person that a crime could be committed against.
I know she had a pink room awaiting her arrival at home. I know she had me and the rest of her family anxiously waiting to meet her in person. I know her mother felt her kicking. I know she had a strong heart. And I know she had developed ears with which she could hear her attacker that horrible night. What I don’t know is why the monster that took her life will not have attached to his name the murder of my daughter, as he will Cassie, for the rest of his life.
I’ve heard it rationalized that this is a domestic violence issue and should be responded to by having more support for woman victims of violence. I’ve heard it rationalized that this would interfere with abortion rights issues. The fact is, it is just wrong to not consider a child at that state of development a person. It is wrong that this aspect of the crime perpetrated will go unacknowledged by those which we put in charge to judge such things.
I understand that there is nothing to do to make this right. I will not get back Cassie and Molly. I understand that is for me and her family to find a way to deal with. The fact that the person responsible for the murder of my daughter will not have his crime eternally attached to his criminal record, and he may not suffer additional consequences because of his actions, I do not understand. It is without logic and compassion that her life, a life that mattered so much to us, will not be accounted for in the charges against the accused. It is difficult to comprehend that the bill that would have prevented this insult, at a time that was already indescribably difficult, was never enacted.
Today, Molly was due to be born. Instead I write to you and plead for your support in the Unborn Victims of Crime Act which is desperately needed in Canada. My nightmare has revealed a flaw in our country’s law. I look to my elected officials for guidance and support in correcting this flaw. Though I understand the nature of the Canadian criminal system is slow and will not likely have an effect on this case, I also have come to realize that such tragedies will happen. Here exists an opportunity for my unborn daughter’s death to create a needed change for future victims of such violence, their family, and those responsible.
Molly should matter. She does to me. She does to the community. Does she matter to you?
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Sincerely, Molly’s Father,
Jeff Durham
– MP Jeff Watson response as it was published in the Windsor Star Feb 24th 2015
