Goudge Inquiry: Sucked in by Dr. Smith's Sincerity And Religious Goodness: A Seductive but Dangerous Explanation;

Dr. James Cairns testified Tuesday that he was not the only one to place Dr. Charles Smith on a pedestal.

"Having read many court transcripts, I feel my opinion was shared by many defence lawyers and Crown attorneys; by many judges; and by many in the media," he told Commissioner Stephen Goudge.

But there is one very important difference between Dr. Cairns who served and the others he suggests were also blinded to Dr. Smith's faults:

Dr. Cairns had the direct responsibility of protecting the public from the actions of those under him - the others did not.

We are being asked to believe that Dr. Smith was some sort of Svengali who had almost supernatural powers which he used to prevent his superiors from exercising their important responsibilities

This is a seductive, but dangerous explanation.

It should not be allowed to detract from the positions of public trust Dr. Cairns and other officials of the Chief Coroner's office occupied.

Nor should it stop us - and the Goudge Inquiry - from attempting to discern if there are any other reasons why Dr. Smith was not brought to account.

This Blogster has a pet theory - which may or may not be borne out by the evidence.

As the the list of Charles Smith disasters began piling up in the late-1990's, the Coroner's office woke up to the distressing fact that it had allowed Dr. Smith to handle virtually every serious suspicious death of a child case since 1991 - and had placed him on the "pedestal" that Dr. Cairns referred to in his evidence.

In short, they had placed all their eggs in one basket.

Once word got out about Dr. Smith's disastrous performance in any one case - his performance in every case he had been involved in would come into question.

From that point on, the media would be up in arms, the government would feel the heat, there would be endless civil lawsuits and criminal appeals, and, worse, the work of the Chief Coroner's office over these years when the miscarriages were piling up, would come under intense, critical scrutiny.

Ironically, because no action was taken against Smith, this is precisely what eventually took place; Former Chief Coroner, Dr. Barry McLellan ordered his independent review of 45 suspicious death cases to restore "public confidence" in the chief coroner's office; Attorney General Michael Bryant established the public inquiry now under way; civil cases against the police, the government and the coroner's office abound; and the Ontario Court already has so many appeals it could set up its own Charles Smith courtroom.

I underline the point that this is just a theory - not backed up by any evidence called thus far at the inquiry.

But it makes more sense to me than the explanation that Dr. Smith hoodwinked so many powerful people into thinking he was God and overlooking evidence staring them in the face that he was in utterly over his head, and leaving behind an ever-growing trail of miscarriages of justice.

Harold Levy; hlevy15@gmail.com;