Adovcacy News - Randy White's attempt to abandon star role

July 21, 2004

Randy White's attempt to abandon star role
Conservative M.P. threatens action if film is shown

The Conservative MP who shocked Canadians with his extremist views regarding same-sex marriage, is attempting to supress further exhibition of his bigotry. Randy White's alarming but frank discussion about his party's plan to trash constitutional democracy was captured in the documentary Let No One Put Asunder (Vox Veritas Pictures Ltd.).

Randy White: the man who said "the heck with the courts" now threatens sweeping legal action in an attempt to cover-up his appearance in the film Let No One Put Asunder

Mr. White's extraordinary performance in the film was introduced to Canadians at the 11th hour of the election, when polls indicated a Liberal Party defeat and after an arrogant Stephen Harper confidently predicted a majority government for his Conservative Party. White confirmed voters' worst fears that the Conservative Party was a home for extremists and crack-pots. Canadians judged Harper and his party to be unworthy of leadership, and instead, returned a scandal-ridden Liberal government back to power. Canadians thought it was better to lose tax payer's money than to lose tax payer's rights. Mr. White is largely credited with helping Canadians make that decision.

Now Randy White is attempting to censor his words long after they have left is distasteful mouth. In a letter sent to filmaker Alexis Mackintosh, lawyers for Randy White say that his appearance in the film caused the Conservative M.P. "considerable damage to his reputation, not to mention anxiety, embarrassment and consternation."

No kidding. And well deserved, hard-earned as it was.

Ironically, the man who slammed the judicial system and said "the heck with the courts" in the film, "is currently considering the implementation of legal action for defamation against some or all of those involved in this matter," his lawyers write.

No doubt, White has been greeted warmly by his Conservative colleagues for his star role in defeating his own party. In the film, White assures us that his "position and the Conservative Party's position are identical". Canadians believed him, and ran as fast as they could back into the arms of the Liberal party.

White's lawyers say, "He has also requested us to advise you that any comments he may have made only express his own personal views and are not the position of the Conservative Party of Canada."

Sure.

The lawyers are threatening legal action against "any media outlet broadcasting or otherwise distributing this material, and any third parties .... who may have been or become involved in this matter."

This sweeping threat has not deterred the filmaker from moving forward with plans to display the film in its entirety.

"As it stands we are not changing the documentary one iota in response to Mr. White's threats of legal action," Alexis Mackintosh told us on July 19.

White signed a release form that granted permission "to utilize my appearance in connection with the program in any and all manner and media throughout the world in perpetuity" and he agreed to release the filmaker from "all claims which I have or may have for invasion of privacy, defamation or any other cause of action arising out of production, distribution, broadcast, or exhibition of the Program."

Let No One Put Asunder will make its premier August 14 in Vancouver's gay and lesbian film festival Out on Screen (the premier has been moved to a larger theatre, one day earlier than announced in VOX posters, thanks to Mr. White's ongoing promotion of this film).