Controversy helped spread message, Galloway says
By Joseph Brean and Shannon Kari, National PostMarch 30, 2009
TORONTO — Controversial British MP George Galloway took shots at Immigration Minister Jason Kenney on Monday night as he gave a speech he was not permitted to deliver in person.
"It is poetic justice that the message I would have brought . . . will now be heard and seen by so many more people than Jason Kenney could have imagined," said Galloway.
He was speaking to a Toronto audience by video link after a Federal Court judge declined to issue an injunction that would have allowed him to enter Canada Monday.
Justice Luc Martineau said Galloway has not suffered "irreparable harm" as a result of a finding by Immigration officials that prevented Galloway from entering the country to speak at a series of antiwar and pro-Palestinian rallies this week.
It is just not credible, he said, to suggest he is a threat. The real terrorists, he said, are the "right-wing occupation government in Israel. ... that you (Kenney) seem determined to be an ambassador for."
In his decision, Martineau cited a lack of information.
"A proper factual record and the benefit of full legal argument are lacking at the present time," said the judge in his ruling. "I am not ready to exempt Mr. Galloway from the provisions in the (Immigration and Refugee Protection) Act and Regulations respecting entry and examination," he wrote.
The judge issued his ruling Monday afternoon after a rare Federal Court hearing on the weekend.
Barbara Jackman, who represented Galloway and his supporters, said she was disappointed with the decision.
"The court was asked to do something courageous, to defend free speech," said Jackman, who added that she is not aware of any other British MP ever being denied entry to Canada.
Jackman smiled when asked if the decision to rule Galloway inadmissible has resulted in his receiving more publicity for his causes than if had he been admitted into the country.
"It was Mr. Kenney who brought this up in the first place," she said in reference to federal Immigration minister.
The supporters of Galloway had gone to Federal Court as a result of a letter dated March 20 that he received from a senior Canadian government official.
The letter stated Galloway was inadmissible because of his "material support" for Hamas, which has been listed as a terrorist organization.
While Galloway was informed he could seek a temporary residence permit, "it is unlikely that the application would be successful," said the letter from the Canadian High Commission in London.
After the contents of the letter were made public, Kenney denied that the Conservative government played any role in the decision. The minister indicated he would not take steps to overturn the findings and allow Galloway into the country.
Galloway participated in a convoy of food aid to Gaza earlier this year.
"Support for the Palestinians does not mean you are calling for the destruction of Israel," Jackman said outside court Monday.
Martineau noted it was not for him to decide on the credibility of what he called "hearsay" evidence against Galloway. Instead, the judge explained he was ruling on whether there were grounds for an injunction.
Galloway would have to try to enter the country and be detained, before the court could properly rule on whether immigration officials acted correctly, said Martineau.
National Post
© Copyright (c) Canwest News Service
(The Canadian Government is not only going to control what is being said in Canada- they are going to try control and limit our access to IDEAS. Without access to other people's ideas, we won't learn to analyze and critique; we will have a lower ability to reason and make informed decisions. We have the right to information and ideas; just because the idea isn't popular among them and their friends, doesn't mean they can decide for the rest of us. Last time I checked, I didn't sign myself over to the Government. I have never expressed any concern about my ability to care for myself or educate myself... Why has the Government decided to very blantantly appear to be "over-protectively parenting" us? Do they really think nobody will see beyond their rhetoric? The beauty of freedom is that we all have the choice of what we listen to, where we go, what we read, etc. So if some Canadians don't agree with his message, the answer should be clear: You don't have to listen/read/ see anything about him, unless you freely choose to do so. You can close newspapers, turn off the radio... whatever you want to do. The same should also be true if you want to hear him. Freedom implies that we have a choice. As human beings- we would like ALL of the information BEFORE we choose and we sure as hell don't want others choosing for us without our permission!)-W
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Monday, March 30, 2009
GEORGE ORWELL, for those who don't know
Orwell vs. 2009??
Orwell was BRILLIANT and wrote the novel "1984" in the year 1949. He was speculating at what the world would likely be like in the year 1984 at the current rate of intrusion and oppression. Orwell's book holds several key concepts (written in 1949!) that have appeared in today's society:
Doublethink: is the act of simultaneously accepting as correct two mutually contradictory beliefs. It is related to, but distinct from, hypocrisy and neutrality
The Newspeak term for theEnglish language is Oldspeak. Oldspeak is intended to have been completely eclipsed by Newspeak before 2050.
The genesis of Newspeak can be found in theconstructed language Basic English, which Orwell promoted from 1942 to 1944 before emphatically rejecting it in his essay "Politics and the English Language".[2] In this paper he laments the quality of the English of his day, citing examples of dying metaphors, pretentious diction or rhetoric, and meaningless words – all of which contribute to fuzzy ideas and a lack of logical thinking. Towards the end of this essay, having argued his case, Orwell muses:
“I said earlier that the decadence of our language is probably curable. Those who deny this would argue, if they produced an argument at all, that language merely reflects existing social conditions, and that we cannot influence its development by any direct tinkering with words or constructions.”
Thus forcing the use of Newspeak, according to Orwell, describes a deliberate intent to exploit this degeneration with the aim of oppressing its speakers.
Orwell was BRILLIANT and wrote the novel "1984" in the year 1949. He was speculating at what the world would likely be like in the year 1984 at the current rate of intrusion and oppression. Orwell's book holds several key concepts (written in 1949!) that have appeared in today's society:
Doublethink: is the act of simultaneously accepting as correct two mutually contradictory beliefs. It is related to, but distinct from, hypocrisy and neutrality
According to the novel, doublethink is:
“The power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them....To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed, to deny the existence of objective reality and all the while to take account of the reality which one denies — all this is indispensably necessary. Even in using the word doublethink it is necessary to exercise doublethink. For by using the word one admits that one is tampering with reality; by a fresh act of doublethink one erases this knowledge; and so on indefinitely, with the lie always one leap ahead of the truth."
“The power of holding two contradictory beliefs in one's mind simultaneously, and accepting both of them....To tell deliberate lies while genuinely believing in them, to forget any fact that has become inconvenient, and then, when it becomes necessary again, to draw it back from oblivion for just so long as it is needed, to deny the existence of objective reality and all the while to take account of the reality which one denies — all this is indispensably necessary. Even in using the word doublethink it is necessary to exercise doublethink. For by using the word one admits that one is tampering with reality; by a fresh act of doublethink one erases this knowledge; and so on indefinitely, with the lie always one leap ahead of the truth."
Big Brother: is a fictional character in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, the enigmatic dictator of Oceania, a totalitarian state taken to its utmost logical consequence - where the ruling elite ('the Party') wield total power for its own sake over the inhabitants.
In the society that Orwell describes, everyone is under complete surveillance by the authorities, mainly by telescreens. The people are constantly reminded of this by the phrase "Big Brother is watching you", which is the core "truth" of the propaganda system in this state. The physical description of Big Brother is reminiscent of Joseph Stalin or Lord Kitchener. His moustache is also similar to that of Adolf Hitler.
In the society that Orwell describes, everyone is under complete surveillance by the authorities, mainly by telescreens. The people are constantly reminded of this by the phrase "Big Brother is watching you", which is the core "truth" of the propaganda system in this state. The physical description of Big Brother is reminiscent of Joseph Stalin or Lord Kitchener. His moustache is also similar to that of Adolf Hitler.
Newspeak: is a fictional language in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four. In the novel, it is described as being "the only language in the world whose vocabulary gets smaller every year". Orwell included an essay about it in the form of an appendix[1] in which the basic principles of the language are explained.
Newspeak is closely based on English but has a greatly reduced and simplified vocabulary and grammar. This suits the totalitarian regime of the Party, whose aim is to make any alternative thinking — "thoughtcrime", or "crimethink" in the newest edition of Newspeak — impossible by removing any words or possible constructs which describe the ideas of freedom, rebellion and so on. One character says admiringly of the shrinking volume of the new dictionary: "It's a beautiful thing, the destruction of words."
The Newspeak term for the
The genesis of Newspeak can be found in the
“I said earlier that the decadence of our language is probably curable. Those who deny this would argue, if they produced an argument at all, that language merely reflects existing social conditions, and that we cannot influence its development by any direct tinkering with words or constructions.”
Thus forcing the use of Newspeak, according to Orwell, describes a deliberate intent to exploit this degeneration with the aim of oppressing its speakers.
all available from Wiki.com by searching for 1984 Orwell.
City reports another sewage spill; Heavy rain dumps 6.2M litres into Ottawa River
City reports another sewage spill
Heavy rain dumps 6.2M litres into Ottawa River
(In case you aren't sure.. Yes, the "M" stands for MILLION!!!)
By DEREK PUDDICOMBE, Sun Media
The mix of snow melting and the weekend rain has forced 6.2 million litres of sewage to spill into the Ottawa River.
City councillors received a memo yesterday on the latest sewage spill which totals about 50 million litres over the last month.
From last Friday into Saturday 2.8 million litres of sewage flowed into the river, while an estimated 3.4 million litres of sewage spilled into the river from Saturday into Sunday.
The city says it has informed the Ministry of the Environment’s Spills Action Centre, the Public Health department and municipal water system operators.
Last week city crews noticed a leak outside a raw sewage pumping station in Richmond Village. The city said two bolts that secured a coupling between two sewage pipes rusted, so the pipe failed and raw sewage spilled into the ground.
With the help of some financial aid from both the provincial and federal governments, the city is installing real-time controls at five downtown sewer discharge locations that will help staff better monitor and report overflows. The real-time control systems are expected to be in operation by the fall.
Ottawa’s combined sewer system allows the sanitary sewer operation to provide capacity for storm water runoff when volumes are high, particularly during a rainstorm.
Normally, raw sewage from homes and businesses flows through a dedicated pipe to a treatment plant. But in a heavy rainfall excess storm is mixed in with the sewage, and when levels are too high for the system to handle, rather than letting it back up onto city streets and into homes, the mixture enters a bypass that overflows into a nearby waterway.
(Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Canada's capital. In case you haven't figured it out yet, I live in Ottawa. Last year we had thousands of dead catfish reported along our river shores. City Officials said it was localized and that it wasn't causing that big of a problem. Let me tell you, I went for a walk along the river in the Parkdale area and there were not only 40-50 dead catfish on the shore (well beyond the geographic area designated by City Officials as "localized") in various stages of decomposition, there were 20-30 dead sea birds littering the shores as well. I can't believe this is STILL happening! We get a lot of snow EVERY YEAR. EVERY YEAR it melts away. This isn't NEWS! WAKE THE FUCK UP! I can't believe this. And we wonder why the world is going to shit? Mayor Larry O'Brien is going to court for election scandals/ corruption; we spew RAW SEWAGE by the shit-load, into our waterways; the Police run around 'above-the-law'- ILLEGALLY beating, detaining, robbing, searching, assaulting, sexually harassing, (personally heard a female officer comment on a 15yrd old boy's genetalia; We filed a formal complaint with the Ottawa Police and we were invited to a meeting and then absolutely ditched at the Elgin police station by the Sgt. in Professional Standards- despite numerous phone calls and station-wide intercom pages) humiliating, intimidating, bullying and violating CHARTER RIGHTS of citizens of this City. This is the most ridiculous place to live... unless you work for the Government and have the same mindset and life style. It's so frustrating to live in this place! It's like screaming at the top of your lungs and then you look around and nobody seems to have ears! It all seems so pointless! MORONS have taken over the world! Welcome to 1984 (Orwell) ) -W
Heavy rain dumps 6.2M litres into Ottawa River
(In case you aren't sure.. Yes, the "M" stands for MILLION!!!)
By DEREK PUDDICOMBE, Sun Media
The mix of snow melting and the weekend rain has forced 6.2 million litres of sewage to spill into the Ottawa River.
City councillors received a memo yesterday on the latest sewage spill which totals about 50 million litres over the last month.
From last Friday into Saturday 2.8 million litres of sewage flowed into the river, while an estimated 3.4 million litres of sewage spilled into the river from Saturday into Sunday.
The city says it has informed the Ministry of the Environment’s Spills Action Centre, the Public Health department and municipal water system operators.
Last week city crews noticed a leak outside a raw sewage pumping station in Richmond Village. The city said two bolts that secured a coupling between two sewage pipes rusted, so the pipe failed and raw sewage spilled into the ground.
With the help of some financial aid from both the provincial and federal governments, the city is installing real-time controls at five downtown sewer discharge locations that will help staff better monitor and report overflows. The real-time control systems are expected to be in operation by the fall.
Ottawa’s combined sewer system allows the sanitary sewer operation to provide capacity for storm water runoff when volumes are high, particularly during a rainstorm.
Normally, raw sewage from homes and businesses flows through a dedicated pipe to a treatment plant. But in a heavy rainfall excess storm is mixed in with the sewage, and when levels are too high for the system to handle, rather than letting it back up onto city streets and into homes, the mixture enters a bypass that overflows into a nearby waterway.
(Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Canada's capital. In case you haven't figured it out yet, I live in Ottawa. Last year we had thousands of dead catfish reported along our river shores. City Officials said it was localized and that it wasn't causing that big of a problem. Let me tell you, I went for a walk along the river in the Parkdale area and there were not only 40-50 dead catfish on the shore (well beyond the geographic area designated by City Officials as "localized") in various stages of decomposition, there were 20-30 dead sea birds littering the shores as well. I can't believe this is STILL happening! We get a lot of snow EVERY YEAR. EVERY YEAR it melts away. This isn't NEWS! WAKE THE FUCK UP! I can't believe this. And we wonder why the world is going to shit? Mayor Larry O'Brien is going to court for election scandals/ corruption; we spew RAW SEWAGE by the shit-load, into our waterways; the Police run around 'above-the-law'- ILLEGALLY beating, detaining, robbing, searching, assaulting, sexually harassing, (personally heard a female officer comment on a 15yrd old boy's genetalia; We filed a formal complaint with the Ottawa Police and we were invited to a meeting and then absolutely ditched at the Elgin police station by the Sgt. in Professional Standards- despite numerous phone calls and station-wide intercom pages) humiliating, intimidating, bullying and violating CHARTER RIGHTS of citizens of this City. This is the most ridiculous place to live... unless you work for the Government and have the same mindset and life style. It's so frustrating to live in this place! It's like screaming at the top of your lungs and then you look around and nobody seems to have ears! It all seems so pointless! MORONS have taken over the world! Welcome to 1984 (Orwell) ) -W
Friday, March 27, 2009
Feds want to end two-for-one credit for criminals
By THE CANADIAN PRESS
SURREY, B.C. — Federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson was preaching to the converted when he made a tough-on-crime announcement in Metro Vancouver, which has been in the throes of a violent gang war for three months.
Legislation introduced by the Conservative government Friday would see criminals doing more time behind bars, wiping out the current two-for-one sentencing credit given to those who spend time in jail before conviction.
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson made the announcement outside the Surrey, B.C., pretrial centre, alongside politicians and Lower Mainland police chiefs who have been trying to calm public fears after more than 40 shootings and 17 fatalities since late January.
“You know the challenges in fighting crime,” Nicholson told the group. “There have been numerous shootings here and in other parts of Canada.
“I want Canada to have confidence in the justice system.”
If the legislation passes, the general sentencing rule would count on a one-for-one basis.
Double time has been given to compensate criminals while they await trial in overcrowded provincial jails which lack rehabilitation programs.
The law would allow for a one-and-a-half-to-one ratio in circumstances where a judge could justify the higher ratio.
Nicholson said the two-for-one credit sends the wrong message to criminals.
B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal said the new law would give more credibility to the justice system.
“This is very good law, because it addresses the subject of accountability,” he said.
Oppal, who’s a former B.C. Supreme and Appeal Court justice, told reporters he knew of instances where some inmates didn’t bother to apply for bail because the longer they stay in pre-trial, the shorter their sentences would be.
Vancouver Police Chief Const. Jim Chu welcomed the new legislation.
“The Canadian Association of Police Chiefs has long been asking for this. This legislation is important to keep the community safe and it will provide greater deterrence,” Chu said.
Earlier this month Chu admitted the Metro Vancouver area was in the middle of a “brutal” gang war.
Nicholson called on all parties in Parliament to provide unanimous consent for quick passage of the bill.
The Liberals, NDP and Bloc Quebecois have already said they have general support for the aims of the bill, but don’t plan to rubber stamp it.
(The Canadian Criminal justice system is very very slow. The 2 for 1 dead-time rule should be seen as an incentive for the Criminal Justice System to process cases in a timely manner. If a person is going to be incarcerated without a finding of guilt, for any amount of time, they should get 2 for 1. If the Government has a problem with that, hire more Judges, Lawyers etc. Until you have been involved in the System, in any way, you will not fully understand the value of 2 for 1. The abuse is by the System; not the offenders. Before you jump up and back the Tories on this one, please think about the people who have been in jail for over a year... waiting for their trial, but it never comes. The Crown doesn't have enough evidence to get a finding of guilt, so they just keep putting it over... the 'innocent, until proven guilty' person is still sitting in a cell. Taking away 2 for 1 takes away a persons right to a fair and timely trial. Look at what the Tories have been doing to the 'justice system', follow their pattern, KICK THEM OUT OF OFFICE! )-W
By THE CANADIAN PRESS
SURREY, B.C. — Federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson was preaching to the converted when he made a tough-on-crime announcement in Metro Vancouver, which has been in the throes of a violent gang war for three months.
Legislation introduced by the Conservative government Friday would see criminals doing more time behind bars, wiping out the current two-for-one sentencing credit given to those who spend time in jail before conviction.
Justice Minister Rob Nicholson made the announcement outside the Surrey, B.C., pretrial centre, alongside politicians and Lower Mainland police chiefs who have been trying to calm public fears after more than 40 shootings and 17 fatalities since late January.
“You know the challenges in fighting crime,” Nicholson told the group. “There have been numerous shootings here and in other parts of Canada.
“I want Canada to have confidence in the justice system.”
If the legislation passes, the general sentencing rule would count on a one-for-one basis.
Double time has been given to compensate criminals while they await trial in overcrowded provincial jails which lack rehabilitation programs.
The law would allow for a one-and-a-half-to-one ratio in circumstances where a judge could justify the higher ratio.
Nicholson said the two-for-one credit sends the wrong message to criminals.
B.C. Attorney General Wally Oppal said the new law would give more credibility to the justice system.
“This is very good law, because it addresses the subject of accountability,” he said.
Oppal, who’s a former B.C. Supreme and Appeal Court justice, told reporters he knew of instances where some inmates didn’t bother to apply for bail because the longer they stay in pre-trial, the shorter their sentences would be.
Vancouver Police Chief Const. Jim Chu welcomed the new legislation.
“The Canadian Association of Police Chiefs has long been asking for this. This legislation is important to keep the community safe and it will provide greater deterrence,” Chu said.
Earlier this month Chu admitted the Metro Vancouver area was in the middle of a “brutal” gang war.
Nicholson called on all parties in Parliament to provide unanimous consent for quick passage of the bill.
The Liberals, NDP and Bloc Quebecois have already said they have general support for the aims of the bill, but don’t plan to rubber stamp it.
(The Canadian Criminal justice system is very very slow. The 2 for 1 dead-time rule should be seen as an incentive for the Criminal Justice System to process cases in a timely manner. If a person is going to be incarcerated without a finding of guilt, for any amount of time, they should get 2 for 1. If the Government has a problem with that, hire more Judges, Lawyers etc. Until you have been involved in the System, in any way, you will not fully understand the value of 2 for 1. The abuse is by the System; not the offenders. Before you jump up and back the Tories on this one, please think about the people who have been in jail for over a year... waiting for their trial, but it never comes. The Crown doesn't have enough evidence to get a finding of guilt, so they just keep putting it over... the 'innocent, until proven guilty' person is still sitting in a cell. Taking away 2 for 1 takes away a persons right to a fair and timely trial. Look at what the Tories have been doing to the 'justice system', follow their pattern, KICK THEM OUT OF OFFICE! )-W
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Ottawa Police Use Guns to Kill Animals
Cops Use Guns to Kill Animals
By Jon Willing
Ottawa Sun
Ottawa police officers fired their guns 62 times in 2008, 11 more times than the previous year.
Only once last year did an officer fire at a person. It happened at an apartment on Pinecrest Rd. and two people survived being hit by the same bullet.
The Ontario Special Investigations Unit cleared the officer of criminal responsibility.
All other firearm discharges in 2008 were to kill dangerous or injured animals, according to a police use of force report for 2008.
Officers reported 482 incidents in which they used force in 2008, a decrease of about 7% from the previous year.
The number of times police used a Taser, in 2008 more than doubled to 27. Before frontline supervisors received Tasers in November 2007, only the tactical unit carried the weapons. Police used a Taser 12 times in 2007.
There are now 130 frontline supervisors, 34 tactical officers and three professional development instructors trained to use Tasers.
(Maybe we should just put more funding into the Humane Society... I wonder how accurate these statistics are?)-W
By Jon Willing
Ottawa Sun
Ottawa police officers fired their guns 62 times in 2008, 11 more times than the previous year.
Only once last year did an officer fire at a person. It happened at an apartment on Pinecrest Rd. and two people survived being hit by the same bullet.
The Ontario Special Investigations Unit cleared the officer of criminal responsibility.
All other firearm discharges in 2008 were to kill dangerous or injured animals, according to a police use of force report for 2008.
Officers reported 482 incidents in which they used force in 2008, a decrease of about 7% from the previous year.
The number of times police used a Taser, in 2008 more than doubled to 27. Before frontline supervisors received Tasers in November 2007, only the tactical unit carried the weapons. Police used a Taser 12 times in 2007.
There are now 130 frontline supervisors, 34 tactical officers and three professional development instructors trained to use Tasers.
(Maybe we should just put more funding into the Humane Society... I wonder how accurate these statistics are?)-W
Thursday, March 19, 2009
START RECORDING!
Get out your cell phones, video cameras and recording devices- You will soon have a place to post them for all to see and as evidence in your fight against their lawless pursuit of their own greed and self-worth!
Technology is our best weapon!
Sewage spills a national shame: Cullen
Sewage spills a national shame: Cullen
Another 25,500 litres of sewage spilled into the Ottawa River
By DEREK PUDDICOMBE, Sun Media
The city today reported two more sewage spills into the Ottawa River.
The water and wastewater department notified city councillors that over a two-day period this week, about 25,500 litres of sewage spilled into the river as a result of the melting snow.
The city reported that 12,900 litres spilled into the river on Tuesday and another 12,600 litres overflowed on Wednesday.
The city’s combined sewer operation allows the sanitary sewer system to provide capacity for storm-water runoff when volumes are high, particularly during a rainstorm.
When the system isn’t accepting storm water, raw sewage from homes and businesses flows through the same system to a treatment plant. But when a combined system is subjected to heavy rainfall or melting snow, both raw sewage and storm water flow through the same pipe. When levels are too high for the system to handle, rather than letting it back up onto city streets and into homes, the mixture enters a bypass that overflows into a nearby waterway.
Bay Coun. Alex Cullen said he hopes the city is taking the issue seriously and calls the continuing spills into the historic Ottawa River a “national shame.”
(We have had chemical and biological sewage spills, we have had chemicals released into the water/air which could hurt those living around these Plants...We get no information until days later and they always excuse their actions. And believe it or not- These spills never seem to be toxic... Or so say City Officials. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! WHO IS MAKING THE $$ HERE! Ottawa City Council cannot let this continue! Our Mayor is going to Trial for corruption, our City Councillors are LITERALLY becoming obese right in front of our eyes and they really can't tell up from down!)-W
Another 25,500 litres of sewage spilled into the Ottawa River
By DEREK PUDDICOMBE, Sun Media
The city today reported two more sewage spills into the Ottawa River.
The water and wastewater department notified city councillors that over a two-day period this week, about 25,500 litres of sewage spilled into the river as a result of the melting snow.
The city reported that 12,900 litres spilled into the river on Tuesday and another 12,600 litres overflowed on Wednesday.
The city’s combined sewer operation allows the sanitary sewer system to provide capacity for storm-water runoff when volumes are high, particularly during a rainstorm.
When the system isn’t accepting storm water, raw sewage from homes and businesses flows through the same system to a treatment plant. But when a combined system is subjected to heavy rainfall or melting snow, both raw sewage and storm water flow through the same pipe. When levels are too high for the system to handle, rather than letting it back up onto city streets and into homes, the mixture enters a bypass that overflows into a nearby waterway.
Bay Coun. Alex Cullen said he hopes the city is taking the issue seriously and calls the continuing spills into the historic Ottawa River a “national shame.”
(We have had chemical and biological sewage spills, we have had chemicals released into the water/air which could hurt those living around these Plants...We get no information until days later and they always excuse their actions. And believe it or not- These spills never seem to be toxic... Or so say City Officials. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! WHO IS MAKING THE $$ HERE! Ottawa City Council cannot let this continue! Our Mayor is going to Trial for corruption, our City Councillors are LITERALLY becoming obese right in front of our eyes and they really can't tell up from down!)-W
Cop questioned about faulty memory
Cop questioned about faulty memory
Testimony contained same mistakes as colleague
By TERRI SAUNDERS, Sun Media
A man accused of first-degree murder questioned a police officer this morning as to why mistakes in his recollection of events at the scene were identical to those of another officer.
Wahab Dadshani asked Ottawa police Sgt. Hugh O’Toole about references in the officer’s report to an incident at the Midway Family Fun Park on Sept. 4, 2003.
In those notes, O’Toole refers to two specific elements of the crime scene — that he observed a group of men getting into a black Corvette and that Dadshani was “physically slow” to comply with orders to get down on the ground in the parking lot of the amusement centre.
Both those observations, which have been shown through the use of surveillance video to be incorrect, are also included in the notes of another officer, Const. Rebecca Vanderwater, who testified in court earlier this week.
“Is it a coincidence you both saw things which corroborate each other that never happened?” Dadshani asked O’Toole.
The officer said he was not aware of Vanderwater’s evidence. O’Toole said that after viewing the video surveillance he realized he was wrong about seeing a group of men getting into a black Corvette at the scene, although he suggested his notation regarding Dadshani’s slowness in complying with orders to get down on the ground was more related to the fact the accused continued to talk louldly once he was on the ground.
Dadshani and five other men - Tawab Dadshani, Tarik Echrif, Fahim Payman, Shaun Hulbert, and Mohamed Abed - are on trial for the first-degree murder of Charbel Chaar. Prosecutors have alleged the six men chased Chaar inside the fun park where they murdered him using a sword and a knife.
(Hmmm...)-W
Testimony contained same mistakes as colleague
By TERRI SAUNDERS, Sun Media
A man accused of first-degree murder questioned a police officer this morning as to why mistakes in his recollection of events at the scene were identical to those of another officer.
Wahab Dadshani asked Ottawa police Sgt. Hugh O’Toole about references in the officer’s report to an incident at the Midway Family Fun Park on Sept. 4, 2003.
In those notes, O’Toole refers to two specific elements of the crime scene — that he observed a group of men getting into a black Corvette and that Dadshani was “physically slow” to comply with orders to get down on the ground in the parking lot of the amusement centre.
Both those observations, which have been shown through the use of surveillance video to be incorrect, are also included in the notes of another officer, Const. Rebecca Vanderwater, who testified in court earlier this week.
“Is it a coincidence you both saw things which corroborate each other that never happened?” Dadshani asked O’Toole.
The officer said he was not aware of Vanderwater’s evidence. O’Toole said that after viewing the video surveillance he realized he was wrong about seeing a group of men getting into a black Corvette at the scene, although he suggested his notation regarding Dadshani’s slowness in complying with orders to get down on the ground was more related to the fact the accused continued to talk louldly once he was on the ground.
Dadshani and five other men - Tawab Dadshani, Tarik Echrif, Fahim Payman, Shaun Hulbert, and Mohamed Abed - are on trial for the first-degree murder of Charbel Chaar. Prosecutors have alleged the six men chased Chaar inside the fun park where they murdered him using a sword and a knife.
(Hmmm...)-W
Troubled students forced to fight in cage at Dallas school: report
Troubled students forced to fight in cage at Dallas school: report
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
19 March 2009 02:29
DALLAS - Workers at a Dallas high school staged cage fights among troubled students, making them settle their differences with bare-knuckled brawls in a steel utility cage inside a boys' locker room, school district documents show.
The principal and other employees at South Oak Cliff High "knew of the practice, allowed it to go on for a time, and failed to report it," according to a 2008 report from the Dallas school district's Office of Professional Responsibility.
The documents were obtained by The Dallas Morning News for a story in its Thursday editions.The report describes two instances of cage fighting between 2003 and 2005.Dallas schools Superintendent Michael Hinojosa confirmed that there were "some things that happened inside of a cage" and called the fights "unacceptable."
No criminal charged have been filed in the case.
Former principal Donald Moten denied the allegations, saying he had nothing to comment on because the fights never happened.
"That's barbaric. You can't do that at a high school. You can't do that anywhere," said Moten, who resigned in 2008. "Ain't nothing to comment on. It never did happen. I never put a stop to anything because it never happened."
But a middle school counsellor who was fired from the high school and has filed a whistleblower lawsuit said Moten and members of the school's security staff encouraged the fights."It was gladiator-style entertainment for the staff," said former South Oak Cliff employee Frank Hammond. "They were taking these boys downstairs to fight. And it was sanctioned by the principal and security."
A district spokesman declined additional comment Thursday."This is a personnel matter and we're not authorized to talk about personnel," spokesman Jon Dahlander told The Associated Press.
The report said Hammond didn't see any of the fights. Hall monitor Gary King told investigators he witnessed the head of campus security and an assistant basketball coach place two students in the cage to fight.
District investigators described the cage as an equipment area in the boys' locker room separated by metal lockers and wire mesh.In one incident, a security monitor tried to fight a student in the cage, but Moten broke up that fight. In another incident, Moten told security personnel to put two fighting students "in the cage and let 'em duke it out," according to the report.
The district's report is dated March 17, 2008, and emerged from an investigation into grade-changing allegations that eventually cost South Oak Cliff its 2006 state basketball championship.
Last month, the University Interscholastic League stripped the school of its 2005 title as well because the team used academically ineligible players.
In 2006, Moten accused Hammond of changing a student's grade, and the district placed Hammond on administrative leave. Although an appeals judge reinstated him, he was later fired.
(WHAT?! This is what is POSSIBLE! Believe your kids!)-W
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
19 March 2009 02:29
DALLAS - Workers at a Dallas high school staged cage fights among troubled students, making them settle their differences with bare-knuckled brawls in a steel utility cage inside a boys' locker room, school district documents show.
The principal and other employees at South Oak Cliff High "knew of the practice, allowed it to go on for a time, and failed to report it," according to a 2008 report from the Dallas school district's Office of Professional Responsibility.
The documents were obtained by The Dallas Morning News for a story in its Thursday editions.The report describes two instances of cage fighting between 2003 and 2005.Dallas schools Superintendent Michael Hinojosa confirmed that there were "some things that happened inside of a cage" and called the fights "unacceptable."
No criminal charged have been filed in the case.
Former principal Donald Moten denied the allegations, saying he had nothing to comment on because the fights never happened.
"That's barbaric. You can't do that at a high school. You can't do that anywhere," said Moten, who resigned in 2008. "Ain't nothing to comment on. It never did happen. I never put a stop to anything because it never happened."
But a middle school counsellor who was fired from the high school and has filed a whistleblower lawsuit said Moten and members of the school's security staff encouraged the fights."It was gladiator-style entertainment for the staff," said former South Oak Cliff employee Frank Hammond. "They were taking these boys downstairs to fight. And it was sanctioned by the principal and security."
A district spokesman declined additional comment Thursday."This is a personnel matter and we're not authorized to talk about personnel," spokesman Jon Dahlander told The Associated Press.
The report said Hammond didn't see any of the fights. Hall monitor Gary King told investigators he witnessed the head of campus security and an assistant basketball coach place two students in the cage to fight.
District investigators described the cage as an equipment area in the boys' locker room separated by metal lockers and wire mesh.In one incident, a security monitor tried to fight a student in the cage, but Moten broke up that fight. In another incident, Moten told security personnel to put two fighting students "in the cage and let 'em duke it out," according to the report.
The district's report is dated March 17, 2008, and emerged from an investigation into grade-changing allegations that eventually cost South Oak Cliff its 2006 state basketball championship.
Last month, the University Interscholastic League stripped the school of its 2005 title as well because the team used academically ineligible players.
In 2006, Moten accused Hammond of changing a student's grade, and the district placed Hammond on administrative leave. Although an appeals judge reinstated him, he was later fired.
(WHAT?! This is what is POSSIBLE! Believe your kids!)-W
Friday, March 6, 2009
Armed Robberies- One with the Ottawa Police in the PARKING LOT!!
March 6, 2009
Gun-toting bandit follows through on threat
Robs Carling Ave. store for second time ... as cop car sat parked outside
By BETH JOHNSTON, Sun Media
As a city police cruiser sat parked outside, a brazen gunman walked into a Carling Ave. store early this morning and robbed the clerk at gunpoint. It is the fifth time in four weeks the store has been robbed.
The clerk at Food Frenz, on Carling Avenue, said the robber walked in the front door as an Ottawa Police Service cruiser sat parked in the parking lot. Once inside, the man pulled out a large silver handgun on the clerk, telling him he'd shoot him if he alerted the police.
"He said 'I told you I'd be back,'" owner Alice Jadon said.
The last time the store was robbed, last week, the thief threatened he'd be back again.
He took cash, lottery and bus tickets and cigarettes and fled. Two police officers chased with a dog, but he escaped. ( He escaped dogs and cops? How long was his head start? How long did it take the Ottawa Police to put it together? I bet the shop owners had to go outside and tell the officer they were robbed. See, here's the part nobody thinks about when it comes to law enforcement: They don't prevent crime; they just do their 'very best' to solve a crime after the damage has been done. They don't prevent murders, they simply investigate them after the murder has been attempted. Even with a cop in the parking lot the store was robbed- ARE YOU KIDDING? I wonder if that speaks to the level of competency found with in the Ottawa Police Service? I guess Ottawa is a pretty good place to be if you're looking to do anything illegal. The cops just can't figure shit out. If their militaristic, brutal tactics were effective- would this be happening? I wonder if Police Chief Vince Bevan is proud of his squad of incompetent goons? Knowing that this is the type of protection being offered by the Ottawa Police, vigilantism will spread like wildfire! Protect yourself, because the Ottawa Police Service just can't handle the job! I'm sure that's what this article was about ;) Please start asking them questions, holding each and every officer accountable. )- W
Jadon, 63 and her husband Sam Jadon, 66, are fed up. The couple, originally from Palestine, have run convenience stores and food markets in Ottawa and Newmarket for two decades but this location is turning into a problem.
"I feel I've lost my freedom in this country," Alice Jadon said.
"This is not right, this is not fair - not in Ottawa, man," Sam Jadon said.
Technicians were installing colour video cameras today, and they're looking into hiring a private security guard.
Police were unavailable for comment this morning. (Hmmm... Wonder why the Ottawa Police weren't available?! They are not a model force, by any means! WHERE IS THE ACCOUNTABILITY?! They can't even produce an answer for the public; WHY DIDN'T YOU PROTECT THEM? WHAT WERE YOU DOING? Is there an issue with officer training? If they were going to tell anything even remotely close to the truth, it would not take this long to release a statement... Would it?)-W
The suspect is described in an Ottawa Police Service press release as a black male, 5-ft.-9 to 5-ft.-10, wearing a green winter jacket and blue jeans.
The robbery was one of two armed thefts within an hour of each other this morning in Ottawa.
In the first incident a lone man armed with a gun robbed an Esso gas station on the 3500 block of Strandherd Road around 3:30 a.m. Brandishing a gun, he demanded the clerk hand over the money.
There were no injuries and the robber made off with an undisclosed amount of cash.
The suspect is described as a white male, in his mid 20s, 5-ft.-6 to 5-ft.8, stocky build, with short hair and wearing a puffy green jacket.
(Do you the think owner would feel reassured if the Ottawa Police offered to post an officer outside their store for protection?)-W
Gun-toting bandit follows through on threat
Robs Carling Ave. store for second time ... as cop car sat parked outside
By BETH JOHNSTON, Sun Media
As a city police cruiser sat parked outside, a brazen gunman walked into a Carling Ave. store early this morning and robbed the clerk at gunpoint. It is the fifth time in four weeks the store has been robbed.
The clerk at Food Frenz, on Carling Avenue, said the robber walked in the front door as an Ottawa Police Service cruiser sat parked in the parking lot. Once inside, the man pulled out a large silver handgun on the clerk, telling him he'd shoot him if he alerted the police.
"He said 'I told you I'd be back,'" owner Alice Jadon said.
The last time the store was robbed, last week, the thief threatened he'd be back again.
He took cash, lottery and bus tickets and cigarettes and fled. Two police officers chased with a dog, but he escaped. ( He escaped dogs and cops? How long was his head start? How long did it take the Ottawa Police to put it together? I bet the shop owners had to go outside and tell the officer they were robbed. See, here's the part nobody thinks about when it comes to law enforcement: They don't prevent crime; they just do their 'very best' to solve a crime after the damage has been done. They don't prevent murders, they simply investigate them after the murder has been attempted. Even with a cop in the parking lot the store was robbed- ARE YOU KIDDING? I wonder if that speaks to the level of competency found with in the Ottawa Police Service? I guess Ottawa is a pretty good place to be if you're looking to do anything illegal. The cops just can't figure shit out. If their militaristic, brutal tactics were effective- would this be happening? I wonder if Police Chief Vince Bevan is proud of his squad of incompetent goons? Knowing that this is the type of protection being offered by the Ottawa Police, vigilantism will spread like wildfire! Protect yourself, because the Ottawa Police Service just can't handle the job! I'm sure that's what this article was about ;) Please start asking them questions, holding each and every officer accountable. )- W
Jadon, 63 and her husband Sam Jadon, 66, are fed up. The couple, originally from Palestine, have run convenience stores and food markets in Ottawa and Newmarket for two decades but this location is turning into a problem.
"I feel I've lost my freedom in this country," Alice Jadon said.
"This is not right, this is not fair - not in Ottawa, man," Sam Jadon said.
Technicians were installing colour video cameras today, and they're looking into hiring a private security guard.
Police were unavailable for comment this morning. (Hmmm... Wonder why the Ottawa Police weren't available?! They are not a model force, by any means! WHERE IS THE ACCOUNTABILITY?! They can't even produce an answer for the public; WHY DIDN'T YOU PROTECT THEM? WHAT WERE YOU DOING? Is there an issue with officer training? If they were going to tell anything even remotely close to the truth, it would not take this long to release a statement... Would it?)-W
The suspect is described in an Ottawa Police Service press release as a black male, 5-ft.-9 to 5-ft.-10, wearing a green winter jacket and blue jeans.
The robbery was one of two armed thefts within an hour of each other this morning in Ottawa.
In the first incident a lone man armed with a gun robbed an Esso gas station on the 3500 block of Strandherd Road around 3:30 a.m. Brandishing a gun, he demanded the clerk hand over the money.
There were no injuries and the robber made off with an undisclosed amount of cash.
The suspect is described as a white male, in his mid 20s, 5-ft.-6 to 5-ft.8, stocky build, with short hair and wearing a puffy green jacket.
(Do you the think owner would feel reassured if the Ottawa Police offered to post an officer outside their store for protection?)-W
A lot of Ontario gangsters are moving to Calgary and Edmonton and Vancouver—a sort of ‘Go West, Young Man’ movement of gangsters.
“A lot of Ontario gangsters are moving to Calgary and Edmonton and Vancouver—a sort of ‘Go West, Young Man’ movement of gangsters.”
Mar 5, 2009 by Nancy Macdonald
Macleans.ca
Canada’s only national weekly current affairs magazine.
Q: The body count in B.C. is nearing the double digits. Have we reached a tipping point?
A: There’s still a perception that, as long as gangsters are shooting other gangsters, nobody’s going to give a damn. The majority of what you’ve seen has affected those that have chosen the lifestyle of gangster or drug dealer. For many people there’s this sense that a Darwinian game is being played out on the streets, and that’s fine.
Q: Yet some innocent bystanders have been caught in the fray?
A: Winnipeg had Philippe Haiart. Hobbema had Asia Saddleback. Vancouver had Ed Schellenberg [and Chris Mohan]. In Toronto, Jane Creba was our rallying point. It certainly has crossed over into the general population, so people are very concerned. As a result you get this high degree of activity to mollify an ill-informed population. Vancouver is going through what Toronto did in 2006 and 2007.
Q: What was that?
A: It crossed over. All of a sudden, all hell broke loose: We saw massive investments in front-line officers, investments in getting officers to work in collaboration with the Crown, gang sweeps, which began to choke the criminal justice system—dozens of gangsters arrested, hundreds and hundreds of charges—money thrown at gang prevention programs. That’s what we’re going to start to see in Vancouver, as the community confronts the size and scope of the problem.
Q: In the last round of violence in Vancouver, two women were shot. Has a line has been crossed?
A: There is a code on the street: it shouldn’t affect women, it shouldn’t affect kids, and it shouldn’t affect people who haven’t chosen the lifestyle. Today’s gangsters are doing things a previous generation would not consider okay. The general level of violence has increased, the level of firearm power on the street has increased, and the stakes are higher, in terms of money from the drug trade. Those lines are being crossed. Not only are more kids going to join, but we’re going to see more violence than we have really considered possible in Canada—that we tend to think of as “American.”
Q: What’s happened in Vancouver over the past two months? Was it a case of reprisal and counter-reprisal that’s dominoed?
A: When there is an increasing competition for a very lucrative drug trade, there are bad dealers or bad deals. If a gang recognizes that a rival gangster’s been very successful, he’s perceived as being a walking ATM—so we have drug rip-offs. For the successful, gang-affiliated drug dealer in Vancouver, his primary threat is not the police: it’s another gang that wants his share of the drug trade and the cash in his pocket. When one gang goes after the other, there’s a reciprocation, back and forth, back and forth, before it gets so hot that even these guys say, “We’ve got to cool our jets.” You get these peaks and valleys. What you’re seeing right now is not the start of a trend: This is just a spike in activity.
Q: Why does Vancouver’s gang problem appear to have exploded in the past two years?
A: Although it’s been very, very lucrative for organized crime, they’ve tended to keep quiet about their business—and made a lot of money as a result. Now, we have more and more street-level gangsters: Those are the ones producing the violence you’re seeing. On top of all that, we’re facing the massive growth and demand for illicit drugs—from which B.C. is the No. 1 starting point.
Q: The perfect storm conditions?
A: You also have trans-border trade in Canadian-made drugs for American guns, and cocaine and heroin from [places] further south, like Mexico and Peru, and the inter-provincial movement of gangsters trying to escape police heat in Montreal and Toronto. Put all that into the mix, what’s going to result? Violence. It’s not just Vancouver. Gang violence in Alberta has gone through the roof in lockstep with the vibrancy of their resource trade. There’s a lot of young guys making a lot of money: They like their girls, they like their booze, and they like their drugs. Because of the perceived richness of the drug trade, a lot of Ontario gangsters are moving to Calgary and Edmonton and Vancouver—a sort of “Go West, Young Man” movement of gangsters.
Q: What’s the difference between street gangs and organized crime?
A: Young gangsters become street gangsters; if they’re good at their business and they don’t get thrown into jail, they become tomorrow’s organized crime members. It’s like a hockey team: you start in Pee Wee, then Midget, Bantam, Junior A, American Hockey League then you make it to the big leagues: the NHL. That’s organized crime.
Q: Did Harper serve notice to B.C.’s gangsters?
A: Gangsters didn’t wake up with a pit in their stomach and say, “Boy, the federal government’s getting tough on crime: I should change my ways.” Those sanctions don’t really enter into the mind of a young gangster who has an exaggerated sense of self, an exaggerated risk-taking profile, and who has gotten a taste of the gang business—a lot of money, drugs, and access to women. You think gangsters are going to be really concerned that if they kill somebody in the commission of a gang crime, that, instead of being a second-degree charge, it’s going to be a first-degree? The other day, I talked to 10 reformed gangsters, including one in witness protection. I asked them what they thought of the law. It’s not going to make a difference, they said. That’s where the disconnect lies.
Q: Was this a purely political response?
A: What we’re seeing in Vancouver, if you really want to get cynical about it, is: “okay, we have to curry favour to people who are concerned about a growing gang problem.” It’s convenient: They’ll say, “This is the product of the soft-on-crime Liberals over the last 20 years.” Our approach to tackling violent crime is not a strategy: it’s a patchwork quilt of policy prescriptions, which aren’t particularly well thought out. They’re modeled on a tough on crime, U.S.-style policy arc that has proven to be very ineffective. Despite a get-tough approach and a $1-trillion investment, they have a gang problem that’s 10 times as large as when they started. What I think we’re dealing with right now is the triumph of rhetoric over reason. [Harper] needs to be seen as doing something really big and tough on crime. As long as the frame of reference for politics is three or four years, they’re not really concerned about effective long-term solutions.
Q: You posit that Canada has a 10-year window before its gang problem becomes a “full-blown epidemic”?
A: If we assume that the next three to five years are going to be very challenging economically in North America, and we know that petty crimes tend to spike in hard times, it’s going to be a very challenging 10 years. I can’t tell you how disturbing it is when I go across the country and I see eight and nine-year-old drug-dealers.
Q: Big city crime appears to have declined since the ‘90’s. Is that perception or reality?
A: We think of the New York miracle: Giuliani, 40,000 plus cops on the street. Did it change the dynamics of the incidence of murders in New York? Yeah, but in other big cities, like San Francisco, where this wasn’t implemented, they had even a larger drop in crime and victimization. Then we started to wonder: Why is Newark, N.J. the murder capital of the U.S.? Because we’re seeing a displacement—a suburbanization of gangsters. I’ve got clients who are in Niagara Falls, St. Catharines, Peterborough—communities that, all of a sudden, have gangsters. It’s not just a Vancouver-Downtown Eastside problem. It is Abbotsford. It is Kelowna.
Q: Whose police force is doing things right?
A: One of the most effective and informed police agencies in the country is the Ottawa Police Service. They’ve identified roughly 600 street gang members, and have the DART team—the “direct action response team”—a militaristic, in-your-face approach to known gangsters, enforcing bail conditions, and the like. We know through some of the chatter, that this has made a big impact—so much so, that the Ledbury-Banff Crips—mostly Ethiopian and Somali kids—got out of dodge.
(I live and work in Ottawa- right in teh eye of the storm. Let me clear this up for all of you. DART is targeting YOUTH; NOT known gangsters. They utilize BRUTE FORCE, INTIMIDATION, HARASSMENT and VIOLENCE on kids as young as 14yrs old! They slander people's reputations, disrupt pro-social activities, fabricate stories, assault people and generally feel that they are above the law. In fact, there is an overall lack of respect shown to these officers because they have extreme biases; they appear to be racially motivated; they make suspects and "persons of interest" out of regular people; they blantantly disregard the Rule of Law; ignore Due Process; Question, search and intimidate Young Offenders without parental consent or presence; and they do not generally identify themsevles to community members as DART officers. They are definately militaristic in nature, yet they are POLICE OFFICERS?! RESPECT and EQUALITY go a long way. If every DART officer enforced the Rule of Law fairly, across the board, they would be more respected by EVERYONE! They are BULLIES! In 2008, the Federal Government introduced legislation to prevent violence in the workplace- It requires employers to develop policies and programs dealing with such issues as bullying, teasing and other harmful behaviour- WHY is this policy not applicable to Municipal Employees? BULLYING IN THE WORKPLACE IS ILLEGAL- but perfectly acceptable from the DART squad on the streets of Ottawa. Put funding into Youth Programs; into community centres; increase minimum wage; stop giving youth bullshit charges when they're young, for dumb offences. When they catch a case as a youth and then realize that almost every job requires a clean criminal record check, they can't secure meaningful employment so they continue their cycle. Courts mandate youth to get jobs- What are they to do when nobody will hire them? The adults in this country are creating a vicious cycle of crime, poor self-image, poverty, violence and despair for our youth, and yet we expect them to just break free. WE HAVE ALLOWED A SYSTEM TO REMAIN IN PLACE THAT PUTS OUR CHILDREN AT A DISADVANTAGE AND ALLOWS THEM TO BE MISTREATED AND BRUTALIZED BY THE FORCE THAT WAS MEANT TO PROTECT THEM! Now, you tell me, is DART or this ridiculous Harper Government really going to put a dent in crime/ gangs? Or are they exacerbating the situation and exploiting youth, families and communities for profit?)-W
Q: Where’d they go?
A: Calgary
Q: You advocate a combined program of suppression and prevention to combat street gangs. Suppression involves putting more police on the streets, and engaging in frequent and visible gang sweeps—which, in your book, you say is akin to “ridding your lawn of dandelions by snipping off their heads.” What is prevention?
A: In Toronto, we’d say, the gangsters are here, let’s sweep ‘em all up, and throw them into jail, only to find that, for every one you take off the street, there’s another one that’s more than happy to play that role. I advocate a five-pillar approach: suppression and enforcement at the one end, and prevention, intervention and diversion at the front end. If we want to be effective we have be open rather than take the default position: more cops on the street. It’s not an either-or proposition, but everything’s being set-up to be. When you start talking about prevention and intervention, you’re called a soft-on-crime lefty. That is insulting.
Q: Harper’s proposed legislation would affect criminals after conviction Should we have considered more proactive laws—that would help police make arrests?
A: And all of a sudden, we have a whole new class of law for drive-by shootings; I can count the number of drive-by shootings we had in Canada last year on one hand. We missed the opportunity to bring in some really innovative legislation. In the U.S., 95 per cent of gang crimes feature witness intimidation. If I cooperate, or even talk with a cop, it could result in the loss of my life, or of my child. Why not new laws around witness intimidation? Why not beef-up our contempt of court laws, or obstruction of justice charges—rather than just implementing what Americans did, which was an utter failure. He’s taking the lazy way out. He’s looking at the vote-getting route. I think that’s a lost opportunity.
(Some how, I don't believe that any opportunity was lost- Mr. Harper's Government would have had access to the research and statistics to back up the approach talked about above- They chose not to listen, they chose to follow the failures of the USA, they chose to make arrests profitable (in the long run), they chose this legislation. The conservative government does not see this as a lost opportunity. They see this as the opportunity they have been waiting for! I didn't vote for them!)- W
Mar 5, 2009 by Nancy Macdonald
Macleans.ca
Canada’s only national weekly current affairs magazine.
Q: The body count in B.C. is nearing the double digits. Have we reached a tipping point?
A: There’s still a perception that, as long as gangsters are shooting other gangsters, nobody’s going to give a damn. The majority of what you’ve seen has affected those that have chosen the lifestyle of gangster or drug dealer. For many people there’s this sense that a Darwinian game is being played out on the streets, and that’s fine.
Q: Yet some innocent bystanders have been caught in the fray?
A: Winnipeg had Philippe Haiart. Hobbema had Asia Saddleback. Vancouver had Ed Schellenberg [and Chris Mohan]. In Toronto, Jane Creba was our rallying point. It certainly has crossed over into the general population, so people are very concerned. As a result you get this high degree of activity to mollify an ill-informed population. Vancouver is going through what Toronto did in 2006 and 2007.
Q: What was that?
A: It crossed over. All of a sudden, all hell broke loose: We saw massive investments in front-line officers, investments in getting officers to work in collaboration with the Crown, gang sweeps, which began to choke the criminal justice system—dozens of gangsters arrested, hundreds and hundreds of charges—money thrown at gang prevention programs. That’s what we’re going to start to see in Vancouver, as the community confronts the size and scope of the problem.
Q: In the last round of violence in Vancouver, two women were shot. Has a line has been crossed?
A: There is a code on the street: it shouldn’t affect women, it shouldn’t affect kids, and it shouldn’t affect people who haven’t chosen the lifestyle. Today’s gangsters are doing things a previous generation would not consider okay. The general level of violence has increased, the level of firearm power on the street has increased, and the stakes are higher, in terms of money from the drug trade. Those lines are being crossed. Not only are more kids going to join, but we’re going to see more violence than we have really considered possible in Canada—that we tend to think of as “American.”
Q: What’s happened in Vancouver over the past two months? Was it a case of reprisal and counter-reprisal that’s dominoed?
A: When there is an increasing competition for a very lucrative drug trade, there are bad dealers or bad deals. If a gang recognizes that a rival gangster’s been very successful, he’s perceived as being a walking ATM—so we have drug rip-offs. For the successful, gang-affiliated drug dealer in Vancouver, his primary threat is not the police: it’s another gang that wants his share of the drug trade and the cash in his pocket. When one gang goes after the other, there’s a reciprocation, back and forth, back and forth, before it gets so hot that even these guys say, “We’ve got to cool our jets.” You get these peaks and valleys. What you’re seeing right now is not the start of a trend: This is just a spike in activity.
Q: Why does Vancouver’s gang problem appear to have exploded in the past two years?
A: Although it’s been very, very lucrative for organized crime, they’ve tended to keep quiet about their business—and made a lot of money as a result. Now, we have more and more street-level gangsters: Those are the ones producing the violence you’re seeing. On top of all that, we’re facing the massive growth and demand for illicit drugs—from which B.C. is the No. 1 starting point.
Q: The perfect storm conditions?
A: You also have trans-border trade in Canadian-made drugs for American guns, and cocaine and heroin from [places] further south, like Mexico and Peru, and the inter-provincial movement of gangsters trying to escape police heat in Montreal and Toronto. Put all that into the mix, what’s going to result? Violence. It’s not just Vancouver. Gang violence in Alberta has gone through the roof in lockstep with the vibrancy of their resource trade. There’s a lot of young guys making a lot of money: They like their girls, they like their booze, and they like their drugs. Because of the perceived richness of the drug trade, a lot of Ontario gangsters are moving to Calgary and Edmonton and Vancouver—a sort of “Go West, Young Man” movement of gangsters.
Q: What’s the difference between street gangs and organized crime?
A: Young gangsters become street gangsters; if they’re good at their business and they don’t get thrown into jail, they become tomorrow’s organized crime members. It’s like a hockey team: you start in Pee Wee, then Midget, Bantam, Junior A, American Hockey League then you make it to the big leagues: the NHL. That’s organized crime.
Q: Did Harper serve notice to B.C.’s gangsters?
A: Gangsters didn’t wake up with a pit in their stomach and say, “Boy, the federal government’s getting tough on crime: I should change my ways.” Those sanctions don’t really enter into the mind of a young gangster who has an exaggerated sense of self, an exaggerated risk-taking profile, and who has gotten a taste of the gang business—a lot of money, drugs, and access to women. You think gangsters are going to be really concerned that if they kill somebody in the commission of a gang crime, that, instead of being a second-degree charge, it’s going to be a first-degree? The other day, I talked to 10 reformed gangsters, including one in witness protection. I asked them what they thought of the law. It’s not going to make a difference, they said. That’s where the disconnect lies.
Q: Was this a purely political response?
A: What we’re seeing in Vancouver, if you really want to get cynical about it, is: “okay, we have to curry favour to people who are concerned about a growing gang problem.” It’s convenient: They’ll say, “This is the product of the soft-on-crime Liberals over the last 20 years.” Our approach to tackling violent crime is not a strategy: it’s a patchwork quilt of policy prescriptions, which aren’t particularly well thought out. They’re modeled on a tough on crime, U.S.-style policy arc that has proven to be very ineffective. Despite a get-tough approach and a $1-trillion investment, they have a gang problem that’s 10 times as large as when they started. What I think we’re dealing with right now is the triumph of rhetoric over reason. [Harper] needs to be seen as doing something really big and tough on crime. As long as the frame of reference for politics is three or four years, they’re not really concerned about effective long-term solutions.
Q: You posit that Canada has a 10-year window before its gang problem becomes a “full-blown epidemic”?
A: If we assume that the next three to five years are going to be very challenging economically in North America, and we know that petty crimes tend to spike in hard times, it’s going to be a very challenging 10 years. I can’t tell you how disturbing it is when I go across the country and I see eight and nine-year-old drug-dealers.
Q: Big city crime appears to have declined since the ‘90’s. Is that perception or reality?
A: We think of the New York miracle: Giuliani, 40,000 plus cops on the street. Did it change the dynamics of the incidence of murders in New York? Yeah, but in other big cities, like San Francisco, where this wasn’t implemented, they had even a larger drop in crime and victimization. Then we started to wonder: Why is Newark, N.J. the murder capital of the U.S.? Because we’re seeing a displacement—a suburbanization of gangsters. I’ve got clients who are in Niagara Falls, St. Catharines, Peterborough—communities that, all of a sudden, have gangsters. It’s not just a Vancouver-Downtown Eastside problem. It is Abbotsford. It is Kelowna.
Q: Whose police force is doing things right?
A: One of the most effective and informed police agencies in the country is the Ottawa Police Service. They’ve identified roughly 600 street gang members, and have the DART team—the “direct action response team”—a militaristic, in-your-face approach to known gangsters, enforcing bail conditions, and the like. We know through some of the chatter, that this has made a big impact—so much so, that the Ledbury-Banff Crips—mostly Ethiopian and Somali kids—got out of dodge.
(I live and work in Ottawa- right in teh eye of the storm. Let me clear this up for all of you. DART is targeting YOUTH; NOT known gangsters. They utilize BRUTE FORCE, INTIMIDATION, HARASSMENT and VIOLENCE on kids as young as 14yrs old! They slander people's reputations, disrupt pro-social activities, fabricate stories, assault people and generally feel that they are above the law. In fact, there is an overall lack of respect shown to these officers because they have extreme biases; they appear to be racially motivated; they make suspects and "persons of interest" out of regular people; they blantantly disregard the Rule of Law; ignore Due Process; Question, search and intimidate Young Offenders without parental consent or presence; and they do not generally identify themsevles to community members as DART officers. They are definately militaristic in nature, yet they are POLICE OFFICERS?! RESPECT and EQUALITY go a long way. If every DART officer enforced the Rule of Law fairly, across the board, they would be more respected by EVERYONE! They are BULLIES! In 2008, the Federal Government introduced legislation to prevent violence in the workplace- It requires employers to develop policies and programs dealing with such issues as bullying, teasing and other harmful behaviour- WHY is this policy not applicable to Municipal Employees? BULLYING IN THE WORKPLACE IS ILLEGAL- but perfectly acceptable from the DART squad on the streets of Ottawa. Put funding into Youth Programs; into community centres; increase minimum wage; stop giving youth bullshit charges when they're young, for dumb offences. When they catch a case as a youth and then realize that almost every job requires a clean criminal record check, they can't secure meaningful employment so they continue their cycle. Courts mandate youth to get jobs- What are they to do when nobody will hire them? The adults in this country are creating a vicious cycle of crime, poor self-image, poverty, violence and despair for our youth, and yet we expect them to just break free. WE HAVE ALLOWED A SYSTEM TO REMAIN IN PLACE THAT PUTS OUR CHILDREN AT A DISADVANTAGE AND ALLOWS THEM TO BE MISTREATED AND BRUTALIZED BY THE FORCE THAT WAS MEANT TO PROTECT THEM! Now, you tell me, is DART or this ridiculous Harper Government really going to put a dent in crime/ gangs? Or are they exacerbating the situation and exploiting youth, families and communities for profit?)-W
Q: Where’d they go?
A: Calgary
Q: You advocate a combined program of suppression and prevention to combat street gangs. Suppression involves putting more police on the streets, and engaging in frequent and visible gang sweeps—which, in your book, you say is akin to “ridding your lawn of dandelions by snipping off their heads.” What is prevention?
A: In Toronto, we’d say, the gangsters are here, let’s sweep ‘em all up, and throw them into jail, only to find that, for every one you take off the street, there’s another one that’s more than happy to play that role. I advocate a five-pillar approach: suppression and enforcement at the one end, and prevention, intervention and diversion at the front end. If we want to be effective we have be open rather than take the default position: more cops on the street. It’s not an either-or proposition, but everything’s being set-up to be. When you start talking about prevention and intervention, you’re called a soft-on-crime lefty. That is insulting.
Q: Harper’s proposed legislation would affect criminals after conviction Should we have considered more proactive laws—that would help police make arrests?
A: And all of a sudden, we have a whole new class of law for drive-by shootings; I can count the number of drive-by shootings we had in Canada last year on one hand. We missed the opportunity to bring in some really innovative legislation. In the U.S., 95 per cent of gang crimes feature witness intimidation. If I cooperate, or even talk with a cop, it could result in the loss of my life, or of my child. Why not new laws around witness intimidation? Why not beef-up our contempt of court laws, or obstruction of justice charges—rather than just implementing what Americans did, which was an utter failure. He’s taking the lazy way out. He’s looking at the vote-getting route. I think that’s a lost opportunity.
(Some how, I don't believe that any opportunity was lost- Mr. Harper's Government would have had access to the research and statistics to back up the approach talked about above- They chose not to listen, they chose to follow the failures of the USA, they chose to make arrests profitable (in the long run), they chose this legislation. The conservative government does not see this as a lost opportunity. They see this as the opportunity they have been waiting for! I didn't vote for them!)- W
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