Outgoing councillor labels sex article slanderous
Malcolm Gorrill
Northern News Services
Inuvik (Nov 03/00) - A controversial article about sex in the North, is still the talk of the town.
Outgoing Inuvik town councillor Derek Lindsay recently talked with and criticized, syndicated sex columnist Josey Vogels during a talkback show.
"They did a show on Talk TV about this sex scandal," Lindsay said.
"They phoned me up and asked me what I thought. I told them in no uncertain terms what I thought," he said.
"It was a panel. They called me up from Ottawa, I think," Lindsay said. "It was radio, and then I heard it was actually a televised show. They just put my telephone conversation over the air."
The article, entitled Northern Reflections, appeared in a dozen alternative downtown rags from Vancouver to New York. The article is based on an interview with CBC North reporter Sally Thomas, who had been working on an assignment about dating in the North.
The article states that Inuvik residents routinely have sex with strangers, and that some have sex in public.
Lindsay recalled that he told Vogels to come up to Inuvik to see for herself how residents live.
"I dared her, (to) see how macho she is," Lindsay explained. "I said (to her) 'if you're the type of journalist who writes on what other people tell you, basically gossip, there's something wrong with your story."
"I said I wouldn't write on something unless I knew it firsthand, experienced it myself," Lindsay said.
"I'd be a little more concerned about where I'm getting my information, or if my source is reliable or what," he said.
"I said it (an incident involving public sex) might have been an isolated incident. I said I'm sure it's something that doesn't happen all the time. I've been here 20 bloody years, I've never once seen it."
Lindsay said, "To me it's just something this town doesn't need. It sure does not promote our tourism as yet."
He said the article is "more slander than anything else."
