David Popescu (politician)

J. David Popescu is a perennial candidate for public office in the Canadian city of Sudbury, Ontario, who has run in several federal, provincial and municipal elections.^[1] He was convicted of willfully promoting hatred against homosexuals in August 2009,^[2] and currently faces charges of advocating or promoting genocide and willful promotion of hatred against homosexuals in his February 2015 by-election campaign.^[3]

Private life and early campaigns

Popescu worked at Inco in his twenties, but quit in 1972 after converting to fundamentalist Christianity. He has said that he does not campaign to win votes, but rather to warn citizens of the judgment he believes will be visited upon them by the Christian God if they do not live their lives in accordance with Biblical commands.^[4]

Popescu believes that the decisions of elected officials have made it difficult for citizens to avoid what he considers to be sinful activity. "The casino, pornography and undoing the Lord's Day are opening the door for sin that destroys," he said in the 2000 municipal election. "If we violate (God's) standards, we're doomed from the start."^[5] On other occasions, he said that popular music stores should be closed because they "promote Satanic music", and that Sudbury's annual Dragon Boat races should be canceled because the boat designs invoke the devil.^[6] Popescu has also said that natural disasters and other catastrophes are divine judgment for earthly sins.^[7]

He has used his political campaigns to distribute a self-produced video, in which he delivers a series of sermons. In 2003, the Sudbury Star noted that this recording contained messages directed against homosexuals. In one sermon, Popescu says, "God burnt five homosexual cities alive, including women and children, as an example of what we are supposed to do to them. Instead, our evil government gives them rights."^[8]

Popescu was charged with assault against his elderly mother in 2003, after a family member reported seeing a large bruise on her arm.^[9] Testifying at a bail court hearing, Popescu said that he had given his mother a "small swat and a light shake" to get her attention during a dispute over the placement of towels in their home.^[3] He expressed remorse for his action, but argued that it was not serious and did not constitute assault. He also testified that he had been violent toward his mother in the past, but said that this abuse had ended more than 25 years earlier. Acting as his own representative at trial, Popescu said that he had committed "unintentional assault" while "disciplining" his mother.^[10] Under cross examination from the assistant crown attorney, he also testified that he had lived with his mother his entire life, had not worked in the community since 1972, and survived off his mother's small pension.^[11]

Popescu, who lived at a Salvation Army men's shelter after being granted bail, was found guilty of assault following a day-long trial. The presiding judge expressed "very grave concerns" about the effect of Popescu's controlling behaviour over his mother. He was sentenced to three years probation, and required to report for a psychological assessment.^[12] He subsequently received part-time work at the Salvation Army, and continued to protest his innocence.^[13]

During the 2007 provincial election, he distributed a DVD entitled Bible Science vs. Evolution Myth.^[14]

2008 election controversy

Statement on homosexuals at debate

At a candidates' debate staged for Sudbury Secondary School students on September 29, 2008, Popescu stated in response to a question on same-sex marriage that "homosexuals should be executed". Following these statements, the Greater Sudbury Police Service announced that he was under investigation for violating Canada's hate laws.^[15] Popescu repeated his previous statements one day after the debate, arguing that they were based on Biblical passages. He said, "I said I believe homosexuals should be executed . . . when I say homosexuals should be executed, I am speaking in terms of government actions. That is the way the Bible puts it."^[15]

Response and criticism

Many students who attended the debate expressed their disapproval of Popescu's remarks, and demanded that his microphone be cut off. At the end of the debate, the school principal personally disavowed Popescu's statement.^[16] The Sudbury Star subsequently printed an editorial entitled "That's enough of Popescu's bile", describing him as "a religious extremist beyond any measured debate" who "contributes nothing to the democratic process", and calling for him to be banned from future debates.^[17]

Gary Kinsman, an advocate for the Sudbury gay and lesbian community, sharply criticized Popescu and his remarks, stating that "He's not simply saying that lesbians or gay men are mentally ill or somehow deviant or criminals. He's saying we should be subject to the death penalty. I think sometimes violence and hatred towards gays and lesbians gets dressed up in sort of a religious guise and is somehow tolerated. I just don't think it should be tolerated at all."^[18]

On October 1, the four major party candidates in the riding — Liberal Party incumbent Diane Marleau, Conservative Party candidate Gerry Labelle, New Democratic Party candidate Glenn Thibeault and Green Party candidate Gordon Harris — announced in a joint statement that they would not participate in any further debates in which Popescu was included.^[19]

The Rainbow District School Board later announced that it would not invite Popescu to any further debates. Jean Hanson, the board's director of education, was quoted as saying, "We do not tolerate statements that promote hatred or violence in our schools. Such comments are contrary to what is expected in a civil society. There is no justification for this." Regarding the decision to invite Popescu to the debate in the first place, Hanson stated "We cannot predict what candidates will say in public forums but we can certainly take measures to ensure that what happened at Sudbury Secondary School with this particular candidate never happens again."^[20]

Sudbury police stated on October 7 that they had completed their investigation, and were referring the matter to the Ministry of the Attorney General.^[21]

John Oakley, a talk radio host on Toronto's CFMJ, subsequently interviewed Popescu and Egale Canada executive director Helen Kennedy regarding Popescu's comments. During the interview, Popescu directly stated that Kennedy herself should be executed, leading to a second hate crimes investigation by the Toronto Police.^[22]

Popescu later said that said he stood by all the comments that were attributed to him, and that he was not concerned about facing possible criminal charges.^[21]

Trial and conviction

On March 5, 2009, the Ministry of the Attorney General announced that they had concluded their investigation, and officially charged Popescu with two counts of willful promotion of hatred under section 319(2) of the Criminal Code. Contacted by the Sudbury Star, he again said that he would not retract any of his previous statements.^[23] His trial took place on August 7, 2009. Popescu represented himself, and said that he was "repeating what was in the Bible when he made the comments". The presiding judge disagreed, saying that he was "not at all satisfied with the explanation by Mr. Popescu that his statements are based on his religious beliefs". He said that Popescu "basically picks and chooses what is in his best interest, according to his interpretation of the Bible," and "has clothed his disgraceful attitude to this community of people (gays and lesbians) in a religious context". Popescu was convicted of willfully promoting hatred against homosexuals, and was given a suspended sentence and placed on probation for 18 months.^[2]

Mayoral campaigns

Popescu subsequently stood for office again in the 2010 municipal election, and a brief controversy resulted when he was invited to participate in a debate sponsored by the Greater Sudbury Chamber of Commerce.^[24] Mayoral candidate Marianne Matichuk publicly criticized the Chamber of Commerce for not excluding Popescu from the debate, while candidate Derek Young called Matichuk's move a populist ploy that would both undermine the democratic process and distract from other issues in the debate, and the Chamber of Commerce reiterated that its standing policy when sponsoring political debates was to invite all registered candidates regardless of their personal views.^[24] Popescu had already participated in other mayoral debates during the 2010 election campaign without incident, and none of the candidates for mayor, including Matichuk, opted to boycott the Chamber of Commerce debate over Popescu's inclusion.

He ran for mayor again in the 2014 municipal election, although no major incidents involving him were reported during that campaign.

2015 by-election incident

During the 2015 by-election in the provincial Sudbury electoral district, Popescu was nearly ejected from a candidates' debate for making offensive anti-gay comments attacking provincial premier Kathleen Wynne, who is an openly gay woman.^[3] Several complaints were later filed with the Greater Sudbury Police Service alleging that Popescu was distributing literature advocating genocide of gay people, leading to a police investigation.^[3] The literature was distributed in the form of homemade compact discs and pamphlets left on the windshields of parked cars in various locations across the city.^[25]

On September 2, 2015, Popescu was arrested on charges of advocating or promoting genocide and willful promotion of hatred as a result of the police investigation.^[3] Police later confirmed that the hate speech in the documents again related to LGBT people.^[26]

Electoral record

Federal

Canadian federal election, 2015: Sudbury
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Paul Lefebvre	23,534	47.41	+29.43	–
	New Democratic	Paul Loewenberg	13,793	27.79	-22.13	–
	Conservative	Fred Slade	10,473	21.10	-7.25	–
	Green	David Robinson	1,509	3.04	+0.05	–
	Independent	Jean-Raymond Audet	134	0.27	–	–
	Communist	Elizabeth Rowley	102	0.20	–	–
	Independent	J. David Popescu	84	0.17	-0.09	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			49,629	100.0		$204,828.71
Total rejected ballots			209	–	–
Turnout			49,838	69.61	–
Eligible voters			71,594
Source: Elections Canada[27][28]

Canadian federal election, 2011: Sudbury
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Glenn Thibeault	22,684	49.92	+14.77	–
	Conservative	Fred Slade	12,881	28.35	+2.56	–
	Liberal	Carol Hartman	8,172	17.98	-12.22	–
	Green	Frederick Twilley	1,359	2.99	-4.76	–
	First Peoples National	Will Morin	229	0.50	-0.42	–
	Independent	David Popescu	116	0.26	+0.07	–
Total valid votes/Expense limit			45,441	100.00
Total rejected ballots			180	0.39	-0.05
Turnout			45,621	63.89	+5.38
Eligible voters			71,409	–	–

Canadian federal election, 2008: Sudbury
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	New Democratic	Glenn Thibeault	15,094	35.15	+3.20	$71,329
	Liberal	Diane Marleau	12,969	30.20	−11.37	$50,177
	Conservative	Gerry Labelle	11,073	25.79	+4.11	$85,730
	Green	Gordon Harris	3,330	7.75	+5.02	$8,704
	First Peoples National	Will Morin	397	0.92		$0
	Independent	David Popescu	80	0.19	+0.08	$148
Total valid votes/Expense limit			42,943	100.00	$82,461
Total rejected ballots			192	0.45	−0.03
Turnout			43,135	58.51	−7.48
Electors on the lists			73,724
Note: italicized expenditure totals refer to data that has not yet been finalized by Elections Canada.

Canadian federal election, 2006: Sudbury
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Diane Marleau	19,809	41.57	−2.62	$78,232
	New Democratic	Gerry McIntaggart	15,225	31.95	+2.09	$38,386
	Conservative	Kevin Serviss	10,332	21.68	+0.63	$73,294
	Green	Joey Methé	1,301	2.73	−1.94	$420
	Progressive Canadian	Stephen L. Butcher	782	1.64	–	$365
	Marxist–Leninist	Dave Starbuck	77	0.16	−0.07
	Communist	Sam Hammond	70	0.15		$280
	Independent	David Popescu	54	0.11	–	$365
Total valid votes			47,650	100.00
Total rejected ballots			228	0.48	−0.07
Turnout			47,878	65.99	+5.91
Electors on the lists			72,552
Sources: Official Results, Elections Canada and Financial Returns, Elections Canada.

Provincial

Ontario provincial by-election, February 5, 2015: Sudbury Resignation of Joe Cimino
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	Liberal	Glenn Thibeault	10,618	41.21	-1.03
	New Democratic	Suzanne Shawbonquit	9,026	35.03	-4.31
	Independent	Andrew Olivier	3,183	12.35	–
	Progressive Conservative	Paula Peroni	1,927	7.48	-6.32
	Green	David Robinson	822	3.19	-0.40
	Pauper	John Turmel	85	0.33	–
	People's Political Party	Jean-Raymond Audet	39	0.15	–
	Independent	J. David Popescu	24	0.09	-0.22
	Independent	Ed Pokonzie	22	0.09	–
	Independent	James Waddell	21	0.08	–
Total valid votes			25,780
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			144	0.56
Turnout			25,911
	Liberal gain from New Democratic		Swing		+1.63
Independent candidate Andrew Olivier lost 27.02 percentage points from the 2014 election, when he ran as a Liberal.
Source(s)  Elections Ontario (2 September 2015). "Unofficial Return from the Records, 088 Sudbury" (PDF). Retrieved 4 September 2015.

Ontario general election, 2014: Sudbury
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%
	New Democratic	Joe Cimino	14,247	42.24	+1.51
	Liberal	Andrew Olivier	13,267	39.34	−3.03
	Progressive Conservative	Paula Peroni	4,653	13.80	+0.23
	Green	Casey J. Lalonde	1,211	3.59	+0.91
	Libertarian	Steven Wilson	242	0.72
	Independent	J. David Popescu	105	0.31	+0.17
Total valid votes			33,725	100.00	+4.03
	New Democratic gain from Liberal		Swing		+2.27
Source(s)  "General Election Results by District, 088 Sudbury". Elections Ontario. 2014. Retrieved June 13, 2014.

Ontario general election, 2011: Sudbury
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Rick Bartolucci	13,735	42.37	−16.40	$ 75,799.82
	New Democratic	Paul Loewenberg	13,204	40.73	+13.60	63,442.20
	Progressive Conservative	Gerry Labelle	4,400	13.57	+5.64	28,741.21
	Green	Pat Rogerson	870	2.68	−2.21	8,357.73
	Family Coalition	Carita Murphy Marketos	164	0.51	−0.39	325.70
	Independent	David Popescu	44	0.14	−0.24	359.01
Total valid votes / Expense limit			32,417	100.00	−1.32	$ 77,509.46
Total rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			112	0.34	−0.27
Turnout			32,529	49.94	−1.17
Eligible voters			65,130		+0.72
	Liberal hold		Swing		−15.00
Source(s)  "Official return from the records / Rapport des registres officiels - Sudbury" (PDF). Elections Ontario. "2011 Candidate Campaign Returns - (CR-1)". Retrieved June 13, 2014.

Ontario general election, 2007: Sudbury
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Rick Bartolucci	19,307	58.77	−10.21	$ 65,502.20
	New Democratic	Dave Battaino	8,914	27.13	+13.13	38,488.63
	Progressive Conservative	Louis Delongchamp	2,605	7.93	−6.26	12,594.00
	Green	David Sylvestre	1,608	4.89	+2.07	1,520.11
	Family Coalition	Carita Murphy-Marketos	293	0.89		3,118.15
	Independent	David Popescu	124	0.38		17.90
Total valid votes / Expense limit			32,851	100.0	−8.00	$ 69,838.20
Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			201	0.61	−0.15
Turnout			33,052	51.11	−4.84
Electors on the lists			64,665		+0.56
	Liberal hold		Swing		−11.67
Note: Percentage changes are factored for redistribution.
Source(s)  "General Election Poll by Poll Results – Electoral District 088 Sudbury" (PDF). Elections Ontario. "2007 Annual Returns, Candidate and Constituency Associations". Retrieved June 13, 2014.

Ontario general election, 1999: Sudbury
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	∆%	Expenditures
	Liberal	Rick Bartolucci	21,732	58.71	+18.05	$ 52,531.80
	Progressive Conservative	Mila Wong	10,948	29.58	+2.93	61,776.00
	New Democratic	Paul Chislett	3,891	10.51	−18.12	Not Available
	Natural Law	Bernard Fram	184	0.50	−0.54	0.00
	Independent	Ed Pokonzie	159	0.43	+0.02	Not Available
	Independent	David Popescu	103	0.28		123.60
Total valid votes / Expense Limit			37,017	100.0	+21.87	$ 64,227.84
Rejected, unmarked and declined ballots			245	0.66	−0.66
Turnout			37,262	55.69	−6.41
Electors on the lists			66,904		+34.99
Note: Percentage change figures are not factored for redistribution.
Source(s)  "General Election of June 3 1999 – Summary of Valid Ballots by Candidate". Elections Ontario. "General Election of June 3 1999 – Statistical Summary". Retrieved June 13, 2014. "1999 Candidate and Constituency Associations – Candidate Campaign Return (CR-1)".

Municipal

2014 Greater Sudbury municipal election, Mayor of Greater Sudbury

Candidate	Total votes	% of total votes
Brian Bigger	27,303	46.32
Dan Melanson	11,345	19.25
John Rodriguez	10,243	17.38
Ron Dupuis	5,176	8.78
Jeff Huska	2,584	4.38
Richard Majkot	1,412	2.40
Jeanne Brohart	494	0.84
Jean-Raymond Audet	256	0.43
David Popescu	67	0.11
Ed Pokonzie	65	0.11
Total valid votes	58,945	100.0

2010 Greater Sudbury municipal election, Mayor of Greater Sudbury

Candidate	Total votes	% of total votes
Marianne Matichuk[29]	25,042	46.1
(x) John Rodriguez[30]	19,819	36.5
Ted Callaghan[31]	7,298	13.4
Derek Young	1,432	2.6
Zack Gauthier	390	0.7
Dennis Gorman	167	0.3
Ed Pokonzie[32]	102	0.2
David Popescu	96	0.2
Total valid votes	54,346

2006 Greater Sudbury municipal election, Mayor of Greater Sudbury

Candidate	Total votes	% of total votes
John Rodriguez	28,419	51.89
(x)David Courtemanche	16,600	30.31
Lynne Reynolds	8,996	16.42
David Chevrier	429	0.78
Marc Crockford	159	0.29
Ed Pokonzie	92	0.17
David Popescu	76	0.14
Total valid votes	54,771	100.00

2003 Greater Sudbury municipal election, Mayor of Greater Sudbury

Candidate	Total votes	% of total votes
David Courtemanche	19,152	35.56
Paul Marleau	11,360	21.10
Colin Firth	8,096	15.03
Louise Portelance	5,645	10.48
John Caruso	4,693	8.71
Tom Boyuk	1,930	3.58
Brian R. Gatien	1,280	2.38
Richard Doyon	667	1.24
Mary Fournier Pagnutti	405	0.75
David Chevrier	271	0.50
Yvonne Neison	141	0.26
Robert Maurice	102	0.19
Ed Pokonzie	67	0.12
David Popescu	42	0.08
Total valid votes	53,851	100.00

2000 Greater Sudbury municipal election, Mayor of Greater Sudbury

Candidate	Total votes	% of total votes
Jim Gordon	44,220	81.0
Mary Fournier Pagnutti	3,923	7.2
Rick Doyon	3,668	6.7
Carl St. John	1,955	3.6
Ed Pokonzie	472	0.9
David Popescu	339	0.6

Popescu also ran in a 1998 municipal by-election to become Regional Municipality of Sudbury Chair. He received 83 votes. The winner was Frank Mazzuca.

It is possible that this list is not complete.

References

1. Chris Polehoykie, "Gordon the favourite in historic election", Sudbury Star, 14 October 2000, A1.
2. "Popescu guilty of promoting hatred", Sudbury Star, August, 2009.
3. "Radical fringe candidate faces charges of promoting hate, genocide". Northern Life, September 3, 2015.
4. Chris Polehoykie, "Candidates a sincere, but inexperienced, group", Sudbury Star, 12 November 2000, A3; Harold Carmichael, "Gordon 'deserved to win,' rival says", Sudbury Star, 14 November 2000, A8; "Candidate wants to spread God's word", Sudbury Star, 17 January 2006, A4.
5. Chris Polehoykie, "Gordon promises to cut taxes in new city", Sudbury Star, 20 October 2000, A1.
6. Bob Vaillancourt, "Mayoral candidates talk roads, God", Sudbury Star, 18 October 2003, A1; Laura Stradiotto, "Mayoral candidate blasts debate", Sudbury Star, 7 November 2003, A3.
7. Chris Polehoykie, "Candidates a sincere, but inexperienced, group", Sudbury Star, 12 November 2000, A3. Following the 2000 election, Popescu said that victorious candidate Jim Gordon "deserved to win" for the work he had done for the city. See Harold Carmichael, "Gordon 'deserved to win,' rival says", Sudbury Star, 14 November 2000, A8.
8. Rob O'Flanagan, "The Bible guides candidate's campaign", Sudbury Star, 24 October 2003, A3.
9. "Law and morals candidate accused of assaulting mother", National Post, 13 June 2003, A8.
10. Denis St. Pierre, "'I wanted her to feel it ... to get her to listen'", Sudbury Star, 23 October 2003, A1; Rob O'Flanagan, "The Bible guides candidate's campaign", Sudbury Star, 24 October 2003, A3.
11. Denis St. Pierre, "Bible-thumping candidate charged with hitting mother", Sudbury Star, 13 June 2003, A1; Denis St. Pierre, "Comments appear to have 'crossed the line,' police say", Sudbury Star, 30 September 2008, accessed 3 October 2008.
12. Lara Bradley, "No jail time for mayoral candidate", Sudbury Star, 25 October 2003, A3.
13. "Candidate wants to spread God's word", Sudbury Star, 17 January 2006, A4.
14. Harold Carmichael, "Working outside the mainstream", Sudbury Star, 8 October 2007, A6.
15. Sudbury police investigate independent candidate over gay comments, Canwest News Service, October 01, 2008. When the investigation concludes, the case will be forwarded to a local Crown prosecutor and then to Ontario's Attorney General for a decision on whether or not criminal charges will be laid.
16. Brian Macleod, "To print ... was the only choice", Sudbury Star, 4 October 2008, A10.
17. "That's enough of Popescu's bile" [editorial], Sudbury Star, 1 October 2008, accessed 3 October 2008.
18. Kill gays, candidate says by Angela Scappatura, Sun Media, October 1, 2008 (retrieved on October 11, 2008).
19. "Candidates want Popescu barred", Sudbury Star, October 2, 2008.
20. Rainbow Board bans Popescu from events, Sudbury Star, 3 October 2008, accessed 3 October 2008.
21. Election candidate in Sudbury, Ont., faces second probe for anti-gay remarks, Canadian Press (reprinted on Yahoo News), October 7, 2008.
22. "Sudbury candidate probed after second anti-gay remark", ctv.ca, October 8, 2008.
23. "Popescu charged for comments on gays". Sudbury Star, March 6, 2009.
24. "Debate participation sparks controversy". Sudbury Star, October 9, 2010
25. "David Popescu facing charges for sharing offensive material in Sudbury". CBC News, September 3, 2015.
26. "Fringe candidate Popescu arrested". Sudbury Star, September 3, 2015.
27. Elections Canada – Confirmed candidates for Sudbury, 30 September 2015
28. Elections Canada – Preliminary Election Expenses Limits for Candidates
29. "Former city bureaucrat enters mayoral race". Northern Life, September 9, 2010.
30. Municipal election starting to take shape. Sudbury Star, January 15, 2010.
31. "Callaghan enters race for mayor's seat". Northern Life, June 23, 2010.
32. "Mayor's race getting pretty crowded". Sudbury Star, August 18, 2010.