by Leslie Robinson
When it seems like the USA is saturated with Christian fire-and-brimstone folks categorically consigning gays to hell, take heart: other countries are stuck with them, too.
Canadian David Popescu is running for office and running amok in Sudbury, Ontario. He has just announced that he wants gays killed. How's that for an inspiring platform?
Popescu, in his early 60s, has run in a passel of elections at the municipal, provincial and federal levels, always earning just a smattering of votes. He's known as a fringe candidate with stark religious opinions. This year he's running for Canada's parliament, which is why he was included in a federal candidates' discussion at Sudbury Secondary School.
The high school students got an education in just how daft adults can be.
Popescu blamed environmental damage and economic travails on society's wickedness, and said "God would hurt" anyone who had an abortion. When a student asked his view of gay marriage, which has been legal in Canada since 2005, he responded gays should be executed.
During a phone interview later that day with the Sudbury Star, the candidate did anything but backpedal. "A young man asked me what I think of homosexual marriages and I said I think homosexuals should be executed," Popescu said. "My whole reason for running is the Bible and the Bible couldn't be more clear on that point."
No wishy-washy politician here. This fella sticks to his guns – or guillotines or gallows or whatever form of execution he favors.
On Oct. 2, two days after the candidates' discussion, Popescu spoke from Sudbury with a Toronto radio show host whose other guest was Helen Kennedy, the executive director of Egale Canada, the country's prominent gay rights group.
Sounds like the big-time to me. Perhaps Popescu realized he'd accidentally or on purpose found a way to get attention from the major media. He should've thought of this execution thing sooner!
After the radio show, Kennedy recounted it for the Toronto Sun. The fun began with the host John Oakley asking Popescu "if in fact that he said what he said, and he said 'yes,' that he had said it, that all gays should be executed and public execution by government is what we should be looking at."
Sounds like the Canadian government will need a new Minister of Gay Executions. The number of bureaucrats required will be simply astounding.
Kennedy said that Oakley then noted that "Helen Kennedy represents a gay and lesbian organization, Egale Canada, do you think Helen Kennedy should be executed? And he said 'yes.'"
After the show, Kennedy filed a hate crimes complaint with the Toronto police. The Sudbury police had already launched an investigation into what Popescu said to the high school students, so the candidate quickly notched two hate crimes investigations. If he had started this sort of hate-mongering earlier, he could've tied up every police force in Ontario.
Popescu told The Canadian Press he isn't fretting over possible prosecution. "I can defend myself very well," he said. "It doesn't bother me."
He also said he stands by the statements that have been attributed to him. The man has been given ample opportunities to deny having called for gays to be killed. On each occasion he fesses right up. The next time a reporter asks, I expect Popescu to respond, "Yes, I said it! Believe me already! Now let me tell you how Satan goes to Toronto Maple Leafs games hidden in the Zamboni!"
Police and Ontario's attorney general now get to sort out whether Popescu's words constitute an infringement of Canada's hate crimes statutes. And Popescu will discover whether advocating mass murder gets him in good with voters.
