David Stephan's appearance at Calgary Health Show cancelled

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Michael Franklin Web Producer

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A former southern Alberta man accused of failing to provide the necessaries of life for his young son won't be appearing for a pair of scheduled talks at a health show in the city this weekend.

David Stephan was supposed to be speaking about brain health at the Calgary Health Show this weekend but posted recently that he would not be appearing.

He didn’t explain exactly what happened but some exhibitors, who were supposed to be set up during the weekend at the BMO Centre, shed a bit of light on the issues.

Joanne Schmidt, marketing director at Lakeview Bakery, says the company first learned about Stephan’s appearance at the Health Show when a customer emailed them.

“They asked us if we were aware that David Stephan was going to be speaking and, if so, what was our response and were we going to still support the show as an exhibitor.”

Once they learned that news, Schmidt says they made the decision to pull their support because it would have been condoning his actions.

David and his wife Collet were found guilty of failing to provide the necessaries of life for their 19-month-old son Ezekiel in 2016.

The boy died of bacterial meningitis at the Alberta Children’s Hospital back in 2012.

The court heard that Ezekiel had contracted a lung infection that soon progressed into meningitis when his parents’ home remedies of garlic, onion and horseradish did nothing to slow the illness.

However, a Supreme Court of Canada ruling eventually overturned the conviction and ordered a new trial, but many people are still shocked by the allegations.

“We felt like his actions resulted in harm to another person. We just didn’t want to be connected in any way or associated in any way to that lifestyle choice,” Schmidt said.

She knows that the allegations are still before the courts but that also means David hasn’t been found innocent.

“He has not apologized or even taken responsibility or tried to change his ways, he just seems to continue on.”

While the Calgary Health Show refused to make a formal comment, they did tell CTV News that they had cancelled Stephan's appearances.

Stephan has not said anything about future speaking appearances.

The couple’s next court date will be on June 3.

(With files from Stephanie Wiebe)

RELATED IMAGES David Stephan speaks to reporters outside court on Friday, January 18, 2019.