Excerpt from the STATEMENT BY SVEND ROBINSON MP

For some time now, I have been suffering from severe stress and emotional pain. While continuing to undertake my responsibilities as the federal Member of Parliament for Burnaby-Douglas, and to serve my constituents with dedication and hard work, I have experienced great inner turmoil. The reasons for this are of course intensely personal, and I am not prepared to discuss them, but among others relate to the cumulative pressures of dealing with the emotional consequences of a nearly fatal hiking accident. The past few months have been particularly difficult and painful.

This accumulated stress culminated last Friday in my engaging in an act that was totally inexplicable and unthinkable. While attending a public jewellery sale, I pocketed a piece of jewellery. I did this despite knowing full well that the employees who were there recognized me and did so in a context where I had provided to them my full name and contact information in writing, and that the entire area was under electronic surveillance. Something just snapped in this moment of utter irrationality. Immediately upon leaving the premises I realized that I must return the jewellery.

A couple of things occur to me after reading the above...
If he has been "dealing with the emotional consequences of a nearly fatal hiking accident", he may well have been taking an anti-depressant. I have a very dear friend who experienced a significant personality change after taking a particular anti-depressant (Zoloft (US)/Sertraline (Europe)) -- to the point that for the first (and only) time in her life (she was in her 50s, I think), she shoplifted. I can't help wondering if something similar has happened to this fellow (and, if so, I bet that even though he was brave enough to be open about his homosexuality decades ago, he may not be *quite* brave enough to make it public knowledge that he has been taking ant-depressants). If this is the case, then my heart goes out to him.

(BTW, for those who are wondering, my friend was apprehended as she was leaving the store; spent the night in jail (where she was not even allowed a blanket to help keep warm although she was shivering with cold) and was prosecuted (by a gung-ho public attorney who evidently wanted to earn a reputation for himself as being "tough on crime") -- even though she had written testimony from her doctor that this particular anti-depressant has been known to cause such side effects -- and convicted. She did not have to spend any more time in jail, but paid a large fine and ended up with a "criminal record". She was so traumatized and SO *deeply* ashamed of the entire incident that although it happened over 20 years ago, I only learned about it from her a few months ago, and the only other person she's ever told was her husband (and I don't think she'd have told him if it had been possible not to). She doesn't want her children (all adults now) to ever know about it either. Personally, I'm *appalled* by how she was treated, but there's not much I can do about it now. I can, however resolve to try to be understanding if I ever come across someone else having similar problems. At least she was able to switch to a different medication and -- I'm happy to say -- has never had a similar problem since.)

Cheers,

YY