Canadian defence attorney Dennis Edney is building a home in the Regal Ridge development on Anarchist Mountain. He represents Omar Khadr, a 24-year-old Canadian who pleaded guilty in October to charges relating to murder and terrorism. Photo submitted - Click on picture for larger image
OSOYOOS TIMES-December 15, 2010
By Paul Everest – Osoyoos Times
With more than 5,000 kilometres separating them, Anarchist Mountain and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, are two places that are unlikely to share a connection.
But with the lawyer of Omar Khadr building a house on the mountain, a new link between the mountain and the bay has been established.
Dennis Edney bought property in the Falcon Place area of the mountain’s Regal Ridge development four years ago and is currently building a home there.
The Scottish-born lawyer lives in Edmonton and for seven years has represented Khadr, a 24-year-old Canadian who pleaded guilty in October to the murder of an American soldier as well as four other terrorism-related charges.
Edney plans to move here once the home is completed by the end of next year.
“Our intention is to have this as essentially a full-time home but we’ll always have a home in Edmonton because that’s where our children are,” he said. “We love the area and we’re excited about moving there.”
Edney said he bought the property “by chance” while vacationing in the area four years ago.
“I had come down to Osoyoos with my wife and my youngest boy because we decided to take some time out. I’d been away from home for a number of months at trial,” he said.
While here, Edney and his family were introduced to John Nett, the operations manager for Regal Ridge, who showed them some properties on the mountain.
“When I looked at what was offered at Regal Ridge with its views and environment, I thought this is the place for me. I’d never been to Osoyoos before.”
Before leaving, Edney bought the property.
“I went against everything I stand for,” he said. “I’m not often very impulsive with money, being Scottish.”
Edney said he and his family were attracted to the beauty and tranquility of the mountain and they want to move here because of the “lack of busyness” in the area as compared to Edmonton.
“I still am trying to escape the urban blight and Osoyoos seemed to offer all that and this whole area offered an escape from all that.”
He added that he had found Kelowna too busy and liked the “slow pace” of the South Okanagan.
Over the past four years, Edney has come to the area about 12 times to check up on his property and to monitor the construction of his home.
He said he stays at the Spirit Ridge Resort and Spa when he visits and he has not yet had a chance to get to know that many people in the area.
But Edney said he hopes that will change.
“I hope to meet people in the Osoyoos area and get to know them and become part of the community.”
Edney has been practising law in the United Kingdom and Canada for 25 years and he anticipates that moving to Osoyoos might offer some downtime from his busy schedule.
In March, he’ll head to Canada’s Federal Court of Appeal to challenge the Canadian government’s involvement in the Khadr saga.
Edney will be arguing that Ottawa violated Khadr’s Charter rights by being complicit with the U.S. in his abuse and torture while the young man was detained at Guantanamo Bay.
Khadr has been in a U.S. detention camp at Guantanamo Bay since 2002 after being captured in Afghanistan at the age of 15.
Due to his guilty pleas in October to the five charges, he is serving one year of an eight-year sentence in Guantanamo Bay before returning to Canada to serve the remainder of his sentence here.
Edney said Khadr will be allowed to seek parole in this country after serving one-third of his sentence.
He added that he plans to make an application that Khadr should be released immediately.
Edney is known for taking on high-profile cases and also had involvement in representing members of the Toronto 18, a group of men charged in 2006 with involvement in terrorism activities.
He has also represented members of the Irish Republican Army.
Edney and his wife, who is employed in the medical field, will keep a condominium in Edmonton to be close to their sons, Duncan, 15, and Cameron, 21.
He doesn’t plan to retire once he moves here, saying that he and his wife will be able to work from home, but he does intend to slow down.
“I hope to go fishing and I hope to putter around on Anarchist Mountain and I hope to be able to do some carpentry work,” he said.
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