XPost: can.politics, tor.general   
   From: Panca@nyet.ca   
      
   The PR firm that CBC and Ghomeshi hired charged $600 an hour.  I wonder how   
   much Touchwood PR will be charging this woman.  And who, exactly, will be   
   paying the bill.   
   ___________________________________   
      
   By Joe Warmington, Toronto Sun Monday, November 03, 2014   
      
      
   Trailer Park Boys actress has no regrets about making Ghomeshi complaint   
      
      
   Overwhelmed and besieged Lucy DeCoutere says she has hired a well known public   
   relations firm to “help me navigate this going forward.”   
      
   The brave and courageous actress and military person was the first to publicly   
   identify herself when coming forward with allegations against CBC radio host   
   Jian Ghomeshi and, as it turns out, one of those who went to police with a   
   formal complaint.   
      
   Although it was been a wild six days for her, the Trailer Park Boys actress   
   says she has no regrets.   
      
   Though she has been through “a lot,” she said it has not been all negative.   
      
   “It has been a blender,” she added. “But a warm blender. One with   
   bubbles.” She   
   said people have been “very supportive” and respectful, noting “no one   
   has been   
   mean.”   
      
   As reported by the Toronto Star’s Kevin Donovan and freelance journalist   
   Jessie   
   Brown, DeCoutere described being “choked” and ”slapped” in   
   Ghomeshi’s Toronto   
   home after a dinner on the Danforth.   
      
   DeCoutere called me back from a message I left with her at her workplace last   
   week. She encouraged me to deal with her media person, Andrea Grau, of   
   Touchwood PR.   
      
   She said “Andrea is amazing” and dealt with the case of John Greyson and   
   Tarek   
   Loubani who were held in an Egyptian prison in 2013.   
      
   “We are helping Lucy manage the media response after she came forward,”   
   said Grau.   
      
   DeCoutere seems like a very friendly person and was talkative in the several   
   minutes that we spoke.   
      
   It’s clear this ordeal has been taxing on her and I let her know that I —   
   and   
   people I am close with — admire her courage — the same feeling we have for   
   lawyer and author Reva Seth who also spoke out.   
      
   DeCoutere said she appreciated that and is back to work at her day job at CFB   
   Gagetown as an Royal Canadian Air Force captain.   
      
   She said she reached out to Toronto Police to lay the complaint but did not   
   leave Fredericton to do so. Lucy also said “it is a problem” that victims   
   of   
   sexual assault and violence need to lay a complaint before police will   
   investigate.   
      
    From my point of view, it’s a positive that Toronto Police investigators are   
   now on this.  It’s best for the alleged victims and for Mr Ghomeshi, who has   
   declared his innocence.   
      
   Professional investigators will know the right approach to take here.   
      
   I do not share the view of some that people like Lucy taking their complaints   
   to Kevin Donovan or social media was wrong.  That they did is reflective of   
   today’s reality and the common theme of so many of them has been they   
   didn’t   
   feel like they would be taken seriously.   
      
   Once the Ghomeshi probe is completed, it might be wise for traditional policing   
   and the court system to take a look at why so many women had stories to tell   
   but did not go to police.   
      
   There is nothing wrong with trying to learn and improve.   
      
   Lucy said she went into police because “they called for people to do that.”   
      
   So to follow up my last column on this matter, I think we have to offer a pat   
   on the back to Chief Bill Blair for his efforts last week to encourage women to   
   bring police their story.   
      
   In the end, the important thing is alleged victims are going to get a chance to   
   tell their story to the professionals who are trained to deal with such things.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)