Doctor accused of sexual assault takes the witness stand

The Manitoba doctor accused of sexually assaulting several patients was called to the witness stand during his trial.

On Thursday in Manitoba’s Court of King’s Bench, defence counsel opened its case by calling the accused Dr. Arcel Bissonnette to testify.

Bissonnette, a doctor who worked at the Ste. Anne Hospital and the Seine Medical Centre in Ste. Anne, was charged with 22 counts of sexual assault.

Six of the charges were stayed by the Crown earlier this year. This trial is dealing with six more counts of sexual assault, one of which has been stayed.

Over the past two weeks, the Crown has called five women who were former patients of the doctor to testify in the trial - all of whom the Crown alleges were sexually assaulted by him.

The Crown also called an Ontario-based family doctor to testify as an expert witness regarding family medicine including the conduct of physical examinations.

Bissonnette, 63, told the court on Thursday he started practising family medicine in 1990 at the Seine Medical Centre. There, he testified, he saw up to 1,500 patients of all ages - from newborns to seniors at the clinic.

He testified about 40 per cent of his patients were female. His work with these patients would include conducting breast and pelvic exams, pap smears, STI swabs and pelvic-rectal exams.

During his testimony, Bissonnette described in detail how he conducted these exams, which he testified was consistent with his medical training.

When asked what he would do if a patient were not comfortable with a procedure, Bissonnette said he would not do the exam or at least the part of the exam the patient was uncomfortable with.

“Was there any signage up in the clinic that said if you wish to have a chaperone, one would be provided to you?” Defence counsel Josh Weinstein asked during his direct examination on Thursday morning.

“No,” Bissonnette responded, adding he did not offer chaperones to patients.

“During this time that you were practising in Ste. Anne, were you aware of any requirement that you should be offering a chaperone?” Weinstein asked.

“No,” Bissonnette responded.

“Have you since been made aware that there may be actually such a requirement?” Weinstein asked.

“Yeah,” he responded.

The Crown is expected to begin cross-examination on Friday.

The remaining 10 charges against Bissonnette have not been tested in court and are scheduled to go to trial in February 2024.