Winston Blackmore

CBC/January 15, 2003

For two decades Winston Blackmore was the Bishop of Bountiful, a secretive and secluded community living in the Creston Valley of British Columbia.

His first wife Jane claims that he has 26 wives and some 80 children. But in an interview with Hana Gartner from the fifth estate, Mr. Blackmore didn't want to confirm any details.

Hana Gartner: WELL, HOW MANY WIVES AND HOW MANY CHILDREN DO YOU HAVE THEN?

Winston Blackmore: Well I'm certainly not here to talk about my private life. I have agreed to say that I have more wives than one.

Hana Gartner: THAT'S YOUR PRIVATE LIFE -- I'VE GOT ONE HUSBAND. I'LL TELL YOU.

Winston Blackmore: Well good for you. And I hope you love him and take care of him and don't criticize him and support him and do all the things that wives should do with their husbands. And I sure would hope you wouldn't sit around here with people and talk about your private life, because I'd scold you for doing that.

Hana Gartner: I BET YOU WOULD.

Winston Blackmore: Yes I would. I'm no more interested in that, than I think that public should be interested in mine.

Hana Gartner: SO, HOW MANY WIVES DO YOU HAVE?

Winston Blackmore: I have enough so that I don't have to worry about anybody else's.

Winston Blackmore, the former Bishop of Bountiful, ten years ago.

Winston Blackmore adheres to the polygamist rule book called "Purity in the New and Everlasting Covenant of Marriage." It explains that plural marriage is the way to become a God. For polygamists it's a holy law that stands above anything else.

He, as the most powerful man in Bountiful, decided who should marry whom, and who deserved additional wives. But he insists that he discourages the younger girls from marrying too soon.

Hana Gartner: HOW COME IN YOUR COMMUNITY OLD MEN MARRY YOUNG GIRLS?

Winston Blackmore: There's not very many people that are much older than I am in our community.

Hana Gartner: BUT THEY DO GET MARRIED AT 14 AND 15.

Winston Blackmore: There's been nobody getting married at 14 to my knowledge.

Hana Gartner: YOU TELL ME THIS SERIOUSLY?

Winston Blackmore: Yes I can. That I know of. There has been at 15 but they have to have their parents consent and they have to have a reason.

Hana Gartner: FIFTEEN IS KIND OF YOUNG DON'T YOU THINK?

Winston Blackmore: Well I certainly do think it is. So, I think it's kind of young.

Hana Gartner: DO YOU DISCOURAGE GIRLS AS YOUNG AS 15?

Winston Blackmore: I discourage them from doing that, yes I do.

Not so, says his ex-wife Jane who insists that girls in Bountiful have been married as young as fourteen.

Winston Blackmore's business interests include renting Biffy in a Jiffys.

Blackmore has accumulated considerable personal wealth to support his growing family. He has business interests in British Columbia, Alberta and Idaho which include grain, cattle farming, forestry and transportation. His estimated worth is more than 15 million dollars.

Blackmore is betting that the Charter of Rights and Freedoms will protect his community's lifestyle. Because his marriages are celestial and not legal he says, he's not really a polygamist, just an adulterer.

Winston Blackmore: Polygamy by the definition, is to have two relationships going at the same time. And there are far more people than we are that to that. I know there are.

Hana Gartner: BUT THE TENENT OF YOUR RELIGION IS THAT POLYGAMY IS A DIVINE INSTITUTION. YOU ENDORSE IT, YOU LIVE IT, YOU ADMIT TO IT. SO I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW HAVING A LOT OF WIVES IS RELIGIOUS FREEDOM.

Winston Blackmore: Well do you understand the Charter's allowance for association?

Hana Gartner: YES

Winston Blackmore: Then you certainly ought to be able to understand the Charters allowance for freedom of religion. And you certainly aught to be able to understand that we all have the right to freely live so long as we honour the code of decency which allows that everybody mind their own business.