Kudos to Chretien!

In 1995, Winnipeg MP John Harvard arranged for Joyce Milgaard to meet with then Prime Minister Jean Chretien and Justice Minister Allan Rock. Although David had been released from prison in 1992 based on the landmark Supreme Court decision, his innocence had not been formally established. Joyce told Chretien what an adverse effect this was having on her son and her family.

Consequently, he turned to Rock and said "'Whatever you can do for this lady, I want you to help her in whatever way you can. Do you understand?", Betty Ann Adam of the Star Phoenix reported.

This paved the way for Rock to agree to test Gail Miller's clothes for DNA. It took two years for this process to be completed but the results were stunning. David was finally exonerated after 28 years of struggle!

Joyce was living in Ottawa in the early to mid-1990s and I was seeing her socially and involved with her case and that of other wrongly convicted people. How well I remember her visits to Chretien and Rock. By the time the DNA test came back, Joyce had already relocated back to Winnipeg. I still miss our evenings out at the Colonnade pizza parlor!

Sigrid Mac