Canada, United States Join Hands To Arrest Spread Of Polygamous Groups

Vancouver, Canada (AHN) - The United States and Canada are working together to end the spread of polygamous communities that operate in the two nations, mostly as underground organizations.

According to Harry Reid, Majority Leader in the U.S. Senate, in a correspondence released Thursday, a senior prosecutor from the Deputy Attorney General's office will lead a review committee in consultation with the Attorneys General of Nevada, Arizona and Utah. The group will go over the steps the federal U.S. government could assist state and county authorities address the problem.

British Columbia MP Bill Bennett assured the U.S. of Canadian support after he obtained reports that young American women were sent to Bountiful in British Columbia to marry older Canadian males, while youthful Bountiful women had also been shipped to Colorado City, Arizona and Utah.

"What we need is a cooperative effort by the province, various states and the two federal governments, who have primary responsibility for immigration and customs," Bennett told the Globe and Mail.

While British Columbia's Attorney General Wally Oppal has vowed to take action on polygamous communities, he pointed out there must be a complaint before he could act. Oppal has sent overtures to Bountiful residents, but no one has come forward to complain.

The joint effort between the two countries have been triggered by the April 3 raid by Texas officials on the Eldorado compound of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-day Saints, a breakaway Mormon sect.