Category: Bountiful

A polygamous sect in Bountiful, B.C. under scrutiny for its treatment of women has used its young men and women as a cheap source of labour, according to court documents and a former church member.

Dozens of young people – some from the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints sect in Bountiful but others from the United States – were sent to Sundre, Alta. to work for a post, timber and logging operation.

Canada’s ban on polygamy invites the state into the bedrooms of consenting adults, says a B.C. civil rights group that is siding with a controversial religious sect in a landmark court case on the federal law barring multiple marriage.

While it, too, is concerned about allegations of child abuse and sexual interference, it argues the government should stay out of the bedroom — but investigate and prosecute criminal activity.

The evidence phase in the B.C., Canada constitutional reference case regarding polygamy has ended.

A polygamist woman from Bountiful on Tuesday said she had suffered bias and prejudice from mainstream society and called for Canada’s law against plural marriage to be decriminalized.

On Monday, the B.C. court case examining Canada’s law against polygamy will hear from women involved in polygamy who want the law tossed out.

A B.C. Supreme Court judge examining the constitutionality of Canada’s anti-polygamy law has spent nearly two months hearing about the alleged harms of polygamy.

The isolated polygamous commune of Bountiful, B.C., is a “cult” where religion is used to control residents and take away their rights, says the brother of one the community’s leaders.

Water torture of babies is one way some members of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day instil fear of authority, a former member testified Wednesday.