(Church of) Scientology History in Toronto, Part One

«The goal of the Department is to bring the government and hostile philosophies or societies into a state of complete compliance with the goals of Scientology. This is done by high level ability to control and in its absence by low level ability to overwhelm. Introvert such agencies. Control such agencies. Scientology is the only game on Earth where everybody wins.» — L. Ron Hubbard, HCOPL, 15 August 1960, "DEPT OF GOVT AFFAIRS"

Reference: http://groups.google.com/group/alt.religion.scientology/msg/2c6f1c2ac6afd9c8
From: cyber1@io.org (x)
Date: 27 Jun 1995 06:57:22 -0400

SCIENTOLOGY HISTORY IN TORONTO, PART ONE

In 1977, the Toronto Globe and Mail newspaper reported:

M.D.'s Worried Scientologists Breaking Law:

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario will be asked to investigate whether members of the Church of Scientology had been practising medicine without a licence.

The Ontario Medical Association Counsel said yesterday some of its psychiatrist members were concerned when told Scientologists had been offering passers-by on Avenue Road personality tests. The psychiatrists felt this constituted practicing medicine without a license.

The Church of Scientology of Toronto then sued the Globe & Mail for libel and slander. While a non-profit corporation can sue for libel, its right depends on whether, as a corporate body, it can exercise the function which it claims was libelled. The decision of the High Court of Justice, reported in volume 19 of Ontario Reports, pages 62-66, was that the corporation could not practice medicine (members could, the corporation could not), and so the statement of claim was struck out, and Scientology lost the case. more

The Church of Scientology decided to infiltrate the offices of the Ontario Medical Association (OMA), and in 1985, after three years of pre-trial motions, a woman was convicted of stealing documents from the OMA at the Church's behest. Here is an article from the Toronto Sun newspaper, dated December 15, 1985:

Church used her to spy:

A woman who was "pressured into crime" by leaders of the Church of Scientology has been given an absolute discharge in provincial court.

Nanna Anderson, 39, of Scadding Court, pleaded guilty to possession of documents belonging to the Ontario Medical Association knowing that they had been stolen. The offence occurred between November 1976 and March 1983.

Judge Lorenzo DiCecco granted the woman an absolute discharge, stating she had suffered enough.

Crown attorney John Pearson had told the court the woman was "pressured into crime by senior representatives of the Church of Scientology of Toronto."

Anderson, who worked for the OMA, admitted taking the documents and giving them to a Scientology member to be photocopied and then returning the file.

Anderson said she was asked to get a file with more "meat" in it, but did not comply with the request.

Often testifying in tears, Anderson testified on "15 years of unbelievable stories" during her association with the Church of Scientology, beginning when she was 17.

In 1979, she said, a doctor who was a member of the church led her to believe she had cancer and asked her to obtain funds from her relatives for medical treatment. She alleged 10% of the money would have gone to him.

After moving to Canada from England, Pearson said she did not work for the church initially. But the church representatives approached her through her husband, a church member, and reminded her she had signed a long-term contract while living in England.

She was hired by the OMA and church representatives said they were interested in obtaining information from the OMA because the association was looking into whether the Church was practising medicine.

While Anderson was employed at the OMA, she received a letter from Herbert Parkhouse, a senior official of the church in England thanking her for the work she was doing, court heard.

Anderson said she divorced her first husband in England in 1974 because Parkhouse had said he was "bad for me." She said she wed Paul Anderson because Parkhouse said Anderson wanted to marry her.

"If they said march, I would march."