Kevin Wilson
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Feb 06/02) - A territorial court judge's comments about AIDS are raising eyebrows among activists and infectious disease experts.

Judge Michel Bourassa was sentencing a Yellowknife man on a variety of charges. One charge, assaulting a police officer, stemmed from an incident where the convicted man spat in the officer's face while being arrested.

Speaking from the bench, Bourassa called the incident "disgusting and despicable."

He then went on to say, "it is well known that AIDS can be transmitted through bodily fluids like spit."

"Absolutely not," said Wanda White, a communicable disease consultant with the territorial Department of Health.

"There are no studies, no research, no evidence to substantiate such a claim," said White. "It's wrong."

White added that while Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), the virus which causes AIDS, can be present in saliva. However, the only way the virus could be transmitted through spit would be if the spitter had blood in their saliva and the person being spat on had an open wound.

"Say if the person had a sore in their mouth," said White. "Then it might be possible."

Lorne Gushue, president of AIDS Yellowknife, said Bourassa would have been on solid ground if he'd simply characterized the act as "disgusting and despicable."

However, suggesting the officer may have developed AIDS was going too far.

Bourassa shouldn't, "contribute to what's already a terribly misunderstood syndrome," said Gushue.

Bourassa has a policy of not commenting on statements made from the bench. His secretary confirmed that policy when Bourassa was called for comment.