Cranbrook, Canada - A Mormon splinter group has invited British Columbia's attorney general and his counterpart from Idaho, among others, to attend what it is calling a polygamy summit next week. Polygamy has been openly practised for more than 60 years in the fundamentalist Mormon community in Bountiful, B.C. The summit will be held in nearby Creston Tuesday.
Last summer, B.C. Attorney General Geoff Plant announced the start of an RCMP investigation into allegations of child abuse, forcible marriage and sexual exploitation. No charges have been laid in the community in southeastern British Columbia.
The Idaho legislature recently formed an interim committee to investigate rumours of Mexican "baby" brides being sold to men in southern Idaho, and allegations of border crossings by young brides for the community in Bountiful.
On its website, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has also invited a representative of the B.C. Teachers' Federation and Audrey Vance of a group called Altering Destiny Through Education to attend the meeting.
A spokesman for Plant said the invitation to attend the meeting has been passed on to Solicitor General Rich Coleman, but he won't be attending because a provincial election formally starts on that day.
Vance, whose group has been critical of the fundamentalist Mormon community, said she might attend. "I'd hate to go and support something that's illegal so I'm still thinking about it."
Winston Blackmore, the self-proclaimed Bishop of Bountiful, declined to discuss the summit in an interview with Cranbrook's Daily Townsman.
But in an e-mail to the newspaper, he indicated the community of 1,000 feels it has been victimized by biased media coverage, which is one of the reasons for the summit. On the church's website, Blackmore denies having 30 wives and fathering 100 children.