Former Nova Scotia premier Gerald Regan has died at age 91, and while some are celebrating his political contributions, others are more concerned with the darker parts of his life story.
Regan served as premier from 1970 to 1978 and as a federal MP. He was also accused of committing sexual crimes against more than a dozen women, some as young as 14, as far back as the 1950s.
It wasn’t until 1995 that Regan was charged with 19 counts of sexual assault, eight of which went to trial by jury. He was acquitted of all charges.
Despite that, the seriousness and scope of the allegations have led many to question how much attention his political legacy should receive.
In Nova Scotia, flags flew at half-mast and Nova Scotia Premier Stephen McNeil, among others, lauded Regan’s liberal values and vision.
Gerald Regan believed in the potential of Nova Scotia, with a vision for our future prosperity. He governed with a true sense of liberal values - investing in people, creating economic development and ensuring fiscal responsibility.
— Stephen McNeil (@StephenMcNeil) November 27, 2019
“He was a dedicated public servant to his constituents, all Nova Scotians and Canadians,” McNeil posted on Twitter.
Former federal Green Party leader Elizabeth May also tweeted that she was sad to learn of his passing.
Very sad to learn of the passing of former premier Gerald Regan. Without his leadership, Nova Scotia would have been subjected to heavy aerial spraying with toxic chemicals in the 1970s. #GPC
— Elizabeth May (@ElizabethMay) November 27, 2019
The comments received plenty of backlash from some on social media.
Acquittal and accusations
“I can only imagine what it feels like to be (a victim) seeing those flags at half-mast.”
- Maggie Rahr
Award-winning Halifax-based freelance journalist Maggie Rahr, who often reports on sexual assault cases, said she was outraged by McNeil’s failure to mention the allegations and the general public handling of Regan’s life and legacy.
“This is a man who was credibly accused by literally dozens of women. There's a portrait painted of a serial predator, and here's our present-day premier, nearing the end of 2019 using his podium to celebrate that man. What does that say to every single survivor of sexual violence and every perpetrator of sexual violence?”
Rahr said there are broader problems.
“We know that the Canadian justice system is failing to appropriately receive cases involving sexual abuse [...] the numbers tell us that, the data tells us that,” she said.
Sexual assault educator Julie Lalonde said when someone accused of doing heinous things dies, it complicates matters in how they are talked about and how they are remembered, which poses a whole set of questions in the post #metoo era.
“It’s a fruitful conversation but I think it’s an uncomfortable one, especially in a North American context. . .we're weirded out talking about sexual violence, we're weirded out talking about death, and this is a story that combines both,” she said.
Weighting a legacy
“ultimately, the fact that he was a politician or the fact that he was good at his sport or the fact that he was a musician, those things will outweigh the damage that these people did to women.”
- Julie Lalonde
Despite a massive reckoning surrounding sexual violence in recent years, Lalonde said we still have complicated feelings surrounding legacy.
Lalonde has her own experience with these complicated feelings.
“I couldn't talk about being stalked until my abuser died and that fact alone made a lot of people turn against me, because you're not supposed to speak ill of the dead,” she said.
But when abusers are revered posthumously, or their acts are swept under the rug, Lalonde said it can be quite damaging to survivors of sexual violence.
“It sends a message that you're never really going to get justice and nobody really cares about what happened to you because, ultimately, the fact that he was a politician or the fact that he was good at his sport or the fact that he was a musician, those things will outweigh the damage that these people did to women,” she said.
Lalonde said it also sends a message to perpetrators that in death, violent acts can be erased and won’t have any sort of lasting impact on one’s legacy.
That’s why these situations demand special care from journalists and officials to avoid sending these damaging messages, Lalonde said.
“I think you need to talk about the complicated legacies people have. If that means talking about the great things he did for Nova Scotia, I also think it means acknowledging that these are not just rumours, there was a trial, even if he was acquitted this is a very public trial that happened at a time when people were not talking about sexual violence. It was a big part of his story,” she said.
On Wednesday, McNeil told reporters he stood by his comments on Regan’s political career. He said it was his job to comment only on Regan’s capacity as premier, and up to Nova Scotians to decide how they view his legacy.
For Rahr, her concern is for victims.
“I can only imagine what it feels like to be them seeing those flags at half-mast.”
Gerald Regan's life in brief
1928: Born in Windsor, N.S., the son of Walter and Rose Regan
1954: Begins practising law in Windsor
1963: Elected to the House of Commons
1965: Becomes leader of the Nova Scotia Liberal Party
1967: Elected MLA for Halifax- Needham
1970: Becomes premier of Nova Scotia
1978: Regan’s Liberal party loses to John Buchanan’s Conservatives
1980: Elected Liberal MP for Halifax. In Pierre Trudeau’s cabinet he served as minister of labor and amateur sport as well as secretary of state, minister of intenational trade.
1984: Becomes Minister of energy, mines & resources within John Turner’s federal government
1984: Liberal government falls in Ottawa and Regan loses his seat, returning to the private sector in Halifax
1990: Becomes legal counsel to Patterson Palmer law firm, which merged with McInnes Cooper in 2005
1993: RCMP announces that it is looking into accusations of sexual assault against Regan
1998: Nine charges against Regan are tossed out by Michael MacDonald, Associate Chief Justice of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court. He is acquitted by a jury of eight other charges including rape, attempted rape and forcible confinement dating from the mid-1950s
2002: Supreme Court of Canada rules that the judge was wrong to stay the charges in 1998, but Nova Scotia’s Public Prosecutions Service decides not to proceed with the charges
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