[97] I accept the evidence of the Nikityuks that life in the house became miserable. Almost every aspect of their financial life was controlled by the Danilovs. I accept that the atmosphere in the house was worsening over time under circumstances where the Nikityuks were being abused financially, if not emotionally, by the Danilovs. The capital that they had built over a lifetime in Russia was lost in improvident trading in the stock market almost immediately after they came to Canada. They did not agree to such investments and were never properly informed about this loss. They had a strong desire to live independently. It was always part of the discussion and it was outlined in Pavel’s e-mail inducement offer. It indicated that they would have a separate apartment. They moved into the Innisfil house by themselves under circumstances where they assumed it was purchased with their money and registered in their name. The Danilovs moved in with them with no notice, offering them no choice in the matter, no explanation about the financial pressure that the Danilovs were under was offered; financial pressure which was created solely by the improvident stock market trading by Mr. Danilov.
No Your Honor. Nikityuks were lying. Their life was not miserable by any standards, and atmosphere in the house was not worsening over time, until in 2011 Yana Skybin broke into the family like a bull in a china shop, and she had her angle. There were more than enough evidence of that presented, you just ignored them all. Why, your Honor?
When verbal testimony of one party contradicts another party, the judge, in my opinion, must find other sources of information to confirm one side or another, he cannot just blindly accept one side and totally deny the other because he doesn’t like the other by some reason. What’s important, finding supporting evidence is not a problem in this case because there are plenty of documents, all presented at the Trial but completely ignored by Justice Mulligan, whatever his reasons are.
Let’s take a look, for instance, at some pictures taken in 2009-2011, period when Nikityuks’ life was most “miserable”, according to their testimony. Mr. Mae submits that people smile on photos with no reason. Well, may be he does, but Russians don’t. There is a Russian saying “смех без причины – признак дурачины”, which literally means “smile with no reason is a sign of an idiot”. In our case no one is an idiot, and the reason of people smiling on the photos is very simple – they were happy. Still in doubt? Let’s look at more pictures taken by Valentin himself.
You still think that maybe “atmosphere in the house was worsening over time”? OK, let’s take a look back at 2011, when in October Nikityuks “escaped the abusive home” because “nobody can live like that”, in reverse chronological order:
- October 2, 2011 – Killbear park with Yulia Malicheva – this is by the way where “witness” Yulia Malicheva “saw” alleged bruises on Alla, the same bruises Yana “saw” on August 23, 6 weeks before.
- September 17, 2011 – Nikityuks are enjoying Barrie water front. – at this point Nikityuks already knew that they would have to make a scene soon and “escape”.
- August 20, 2011 – Yana’s birthday party – you can see Alla wearing short sleeves, and Yana admits at the oral examination that she did not see any bruises and everyone was happy at the party. One month later she writes in YMCA letters to all kinds of organizations that on the same day Danilovs’ daughter saw bruises on her grandma and was in shock.
- Lena, Valentin’s daughter visiting from Russia
- August 8, 2011 Blueberry farm
- August 6, 2011 Collingwood
- August 5, 2011 Royal Botanical Gardens
- August 4, 2011 African Lion Safari
- August 2, 2011 Midland cruise
- August 1, 2011 Simcoe County museum
- July 31, 2011 Toronto and Bass Shop Pro
- July 30, 2011 Hippodrome
- July 26, 2011 Niagara Falls
- July 23, 2011 Barrie – during this excursion Valentin showed his daughter the apartment building where they would live soon (a month before “abuse”!)
Let’s also take a look how that “atmosphere was worsening” by looking at some greeting cards given by Alla and Valentin to Danilovs in 2008-2011. They are in Alla’s writing in Russian, her native language. Translations are here. “Pashenka! Happy birthday! We want to see you always healthy, successful, happy. Thank you for your good attitude towards all of us. Hugs and kisses, Alla Alexandrovna, Valentin Andreyevich. February 2011” – this must be a zenith of that “worsening”.
Also interesting are TD Visa statements of summer 2011, “MR VALENTIN NIKITYUK” section specifically: Marineland, African Lion Safari, Niagara, Simcoe County museum, Toronto tour, Midland cruise, African Lion Safari, Scenic caves, all in one summer – not too chubby for “miserable life”, huh? On the contrary, Valentin by all means is trying to impress his visiting daughter with the high quality of his life in Canada.
Emails sent by Nikityuk to friends and relatives – look at email #2 for instance, it’s of April 4, 2011, and it’s Valentin’s email to his brother in Russia:
Slava, as for your website. The kids don’t need it, they have enough on their plates for now. Pasha is employed by a solid company, with Sveta working from home. They turned their basement into office. Regarding us, me and Alla, we are not in need of anything, and I am not planning to make any commitments. So let’s drop the issue.
In some cultures life when you are “not in need of anything”, probably, can be considered miserable. Danilovs just had no idea that Nikityuks belong to that kind of culture.