Minds of young Canadians

Perhaps it is merely a sign of age, a longing for a golden past now lost, but I see a distinct change for the worse in bookstore service.

Competition is good and we ain't got none in bookstores, leastways in the Toronto area.
To my point -- I was looking for the most recent issue of First Things. First Things is a (generally) conservative Catholic magazine dealing with politics and culture. It takes strong (right-wing usually but not always) positions. It is always well written and logically consistent. I could not find it on the shelf so I asked staff where it might be.

As expected they had not heard of the magazine. Generally I find the staff at the monopoly bookstores have a very weak grasp on what they actually sell. They are also, at most 24 years old, but look like they're 15.

But they were game to look.

And indeed they found First Things listed -- under 'New Age' titles! Whoever listed First Things as a 'New Age' title either was totally ignorant of the magazine (it's about as unNew Age as possible) or was a merry prankster, the type to put the Gomery Inquiry Report under 'Fiction - Political Thriller' (well, maybe that was right but, whatever). Regardless the nameless clerk is probably also a late teen overacheiver.

Regardless, I wanted First Things so I asked where is 'New Age' and was told "I'm not sure but it's probably with 'Computers'".

Clearly 'New Age' should not fall under 'Computers'. First Things might, at a stretch, fall into sciences, but the clerk clearly had no idea what 'New Age' meant (or where it was). What's curious is that somebody thought a magazine dealing with religion must be 'New Age' and the clerk thought 'New Age' has to do with computers.

Remember, these children will, in ten years or so, start to take over the country. Perhaps Mark Steyn can write about the menace posted by youth -- remember, they really are going to take over.

Largest mosque in Canada opens in Calgary to political fanfare

JAMES STEVENSON

Canadian Press

July 5, 2008

CALGARY -- Calgary's Ahmadiyya community, an offshoot movement of Islam persecuted in some countries, was to officially open what is believed to be Canada's newest and largest mosque Saturday.

The country's top political leaders, including Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Opposition Leader Stephane Dion, were expected to attend the ceremony.

The mosque complex covers more than 4,300 square metres and includes a community centre, classrooms, office space, children's area, kitchen, dining room and a multi-purpose hall.

The main outward features are its massive steel dome together with a steel-capped minaret tower.

When construction plans for the mosque started 14 years ago, there were no plans to make it Canada's largest, said Safeer Kahn, a spokesman for Calgary's Ahmadiyya community.

"We did not have intention on make it the biggest one. But when we started looking at our needs, we decided to make it for the future, not for the past," he said.

About $8 million was raised by local Calgarians. Ahmadiyya from all over Canada also chipped in.

"People sold their houses and children broke their piggy banks and actually this was a great example of sacrificing," Mr. Kahn said, adding the mosque complex will be open to everyone, whether they belong to Ahmadiyya or not.

"We welcome everyone here, and this mosque will be a symbol of peace. I assure you, Calgarians will be proud of having this building in their city."

Members of the Ahmadiyya faith, which began in India and is now estimated to have about 70 million followers worldwide, call themselves Muslims and follow Islam's main tenets.

But unlike mainstream Muslims, the Ahmadiyya believe that Muhammad was not the final prophet. Instead, they maintain that he was followed by another prophet in the 19th century called Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, who came in the spirit of Christ.

Just last month, thousands of Indonesian Muslims took to the streets of Jakarta calling for the government to ban Ahmadiyya.

The faith is considered non-Muslim in Pakistan's constitution and some consider it heretical.

Kahn said the discrimination in other parts of the world is precisely why the Ahmadiyya are thriving in Canada, where religious freedom is tolerated.

"Anybody can have their own opinion and it does not affect us. We have our own goals and we do not believe in violent jihad and we believe that we are always open to discuss this issue.

"Religion is a personal matter and a person has the right to declare his religion so that's the right that Islam gave us."

Calgarian Imam Sayed Soharwardy, founder of Muslims Against Violence and the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada, said he respects the Ahmadiyya's right to religious freedom, but does not consider them to be Muslim.

"A lot of Muslims do not concede that they are Muslims," he said recently. "They pray like us, they fast, they do everything except this one particular belief.

"They are our Mormons. I call them our Mormons because the Mormons had Joseph Smith and they had Mr. Ahmad. Some people express hate about them, but in my book there is no word hate.' "

OPP notice a change in traffic trends

Saturday, July 05, 2008

By: Shauna Hunt and 680News staff



Toronto - The soaring price of gas appears to be changing the way we drive, according to the OPP.



"We've seen a lot of people get much closer to the speed limit," OPP Sgt. Cam Woolley explained.



And driving the speed limit is the best way to save on gas because  "There's a substantial difference in fuel consumption between 90 km/h and 120- 130 km/h. You'd be saving around 20-25 per cent." Woolley said.



He also said more and more drivers now use the car pool lanes and even appear to be putting off trips to the cottage if the weather is rainy because it's not worth the fuel.



The new street racing law is also partly responsible for less speeders in the GTA.



Meantime, Woolley had a word of advice for drivers who automatically want to save fuel and that is to try some of the province's secondary highways with speed limits of 80 km/h.

Elements of Economic Duress

Last week's Superior Court decision in William L. Rutherford Limited v. Iwaskiw, 2008 CanLII 31814 (ON S.C.)
sets out the test for economic duress quite clearly:

[11] There are two aspects of the test a defendant must meet to establish the defence of economic duress:

(a) Was the defendant's will coerced? and

(b) Was the pressure exerted to coerce the defendant's will illegitimate?

See Stott v. Merritt Investment Corporation [1988] O.J. No. 134(C.A.); Gordon v. Roebuck [1992] O.J. No. 1499 (C.A.); and Sifam Management Sales Limited v. Raznick [2005] O.J. No. 3688 (S.C.J.).

[12] Insofar as the first aspect of the test is concerned, the Court of Appeal has identified and adopted four questions to consider:

(i) Did the defendant protest at the time?

(ii) Was there an effective alternative course open to the defendant?

(iii) Was the defendant independently advised?

(iv) After entering into the contract, did the defendant take steps to avoid it?

James Morton
1100 - 5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4

Police Arrested In Grow Op -- Bail Granted On Strict Terms

"One is forced to consider did these officers have any drug cases and if so should those cases be revisited? Of course the officers are presumed innocent and may well be so -- for all the press there was only a fairly small amount of drugs seized considering how many have been arrested. And even if some are guilty it seems very possible others are not. Nevertheless the arrest of any police officer is very troubling indeed. jcm"

CTV

Officers charged in grow-op raids granted bail

Two Toronto police officers charged in a large-scale drug trafficking operation have each been released from custody on $50,000 bail.

Constables Kevin Bourne and Patrick Lee, who are both in their 30s, are eight- and nine-year veterans of the force.

They were among 20 people charged during a series of pre-dawn raids throughout the Toronto area on Thursday.

The officers, who have been suspended from duty with pay, face various charges including production of a controlled substance, trafficking a controlled substance, obstruction of justice and breach of trust.

A publication ban prevents the media from publishing evidence presented at the hearing.

Three jail guards at the Toronto West Detention Centre and a real estate agent are among those charged in the marijuana grow-op ring, CTV News has learned.

Bourne's wife and Lee's girlfriend are also charged.

During a press conference on Thursday afternoon, Toronto Police Chief Bill Blair said officers had broken up a sophisticated drug operation that was producing and distributing marijuana and other drugs including ecstasy and steroids, and laundering the proceeds.

Police conducted 63 raids on Thursday morning and seized 17 pounds of marijuana, $60,000 in cash and a large amount of drug-making equipment.

Blair said evidence from earlier marijuana grow-op busts in York region allegedly linked the Toronto officers to a larger criminal network. The chief said the majority of the alleged criminal activity occurred in York.

This is the first time Toronto officers have been linked to a grow-op.

Police have laid 115 charges against the accused, who are appearing in a Newmarket court on Friday. One youth is among those charged in the investigation.

The next court appearance for constables Bourne and Lee has been set for Aug. 13.

Death Of Bozo The Clown

"I can imagine the comments this post will generate but seriously, Larry Harmon did bring genuine fun to millions around the world and he deserves to be remembered fondly. jcm"


Bozo the Clown actor dies at age 83



The world will be laughing a little less today after the death of Bozo the Clown.



According to the Associated Press, Larry Harmon, the man who made Bozo famous, has died at the age of 83.



Harmon didn’t create the lovable clown, but he was the first to appear as the real-life version. He later bought the rights for Bozo, tweaked his appearance — adding orange hair, a bulbous red nose and wacky red, white and blue costume — and licensed the clown to others.



He trained over 200 people to play the beloved clown across the United States, immortalizing Bozo.



"I felt if I could plant my size 83AAA shoes on this planet, [people] would never be able to forget those footprints," Harmon said in a 1996 interview.



Bozo’s biggest footprint was made in Chicago by Bob Bell, who played the clown on WGN for 40 years. The clown was so popular that the station had to stop taking ticket reservations in 1980 after the wait time reached 10 years. In 1990, when ticket reservations were reopened, it took only five hours to book the next five years.



Though Bob Bell is the most famous for performing as Bozo, Harmon was the real-life personification of the character.



"He was the most optimistic man I ever met. He always saw a bright side; he always had something good to say about everybody. He was the love of my life," said his wife of 29 years, Susan.



Harmon did become Bozo one last time before his death back in 1996, when he donned the suit and marched in the Rose Parade in Pasadena, where the crowd gave him a warm welcome.



"They kept yelling, 'Bozo, Bozo, love you, love you.' I shed more crocodile tears for five miles in four hours than I realized I had," he said in the interview. "I still get goosebumps."



He is survived by his wife Susan Harmon, son Jeff Harmon, and daughters Lori Harmon, Marci Breth-Carabet and Leslie Breth.

The Charter and Health Spending

Today's Court of Appeal decision in Flora v. Ontario Health Insurance Plan, 2008 ONCA 538 clarifies when the Charter will apply to government health spending.

There is no constitutional right to government funding for health care.

So long as government action neither prescribes nor limits the types of medical services available it will not breach the Charter.

The Court holds:

[93] Before this court, Mr. Flora renews his claim that s. 28.4(2) of the Regulation offends s. 7 of the Charter. He argues that: (i) the denial of his OHIP Application deprived him of access to a life-saving medical treatment, thereby violating his s. 7 rights to life and security of the person; (ii) the state also deprived him of his s. 7 rights by amending, in 1992, a predecessor version of the Regulation that would have provided funding for his LRLT on the basis of medical necessity; (iii) in any event, s. 7 imposes a positive obligation on the state to provide life-saving medical treatments, thus obviating the need for a finding of state action amounting to deprivation; and (iv) finally, s. 28.4(2) does not comport with the principles of fundamental justice. For the reasons that follow, I conclude that Mr. Flora's Charter s. 7 claim fails.

[94] In R. v. Beare, [1988] 2 S.C.R. 387 at 401, the Supreme Court of Canada described the requirements for the invocation of s. 7 of the Charter in these terms:To trigger its operation there must first be a finding that there has been a deprivation of the right to 'life, liberty and security of the person' and secondly, that that deprivation is contrary to the principles of fundamental justice.

See also Blencoe v. British Columbia (Human Rights Commission), [2000] 2 S.C.R. 307 at para. 47; Winnipeg Child and Family Services v. K.L.W., [2000] 2 S.C.R. 519 at para. 70; and Chaoulli v. Quebec (Attorney General), [2005] 1 S.C.R. 791, per McLachlin C.J. and Major J. (Bastarache J. concurring) at para. 109.

[95] The Divisional Court concluded that Mr. Flora had failed to demonstrate that the Regulation constituted a deprivation by the state of his rights to life or security of the person and that this deficiency was fatal to his Charter s. 7 claim. I agree.

[96] In Chaoulli, supra the Supreme Court was concerned with a Quebec health care-related statute that limited access to private health services by removing the ability to contract for private health insurance in respect of those services covered by provincial public insurance. Chief Justice McLachlin and Major J. held at para. 104: "The Charter does not confer a freestanding constitutional right to health care. However, where the government puts in place a scheme to provide health care, that scheme must comply with the Charter."

[97] Chief Justice McLachlin and Major J. also held that the potential denial of timely health care for a condition that is clinically significant to a patient's current or future health engages security of the person under s. 7 of the Charter (at paras. 111 and 112). Moreover, "[W]here lack of timely health care can result in death, s. 7 protection of life itself is engaged" (at para. 123). See also the reasons of Binnie and LeBel JJ. at para. 200 and Deschamps J. at paras. 38-40.

[98] In Chaoulli, the pivotal consideration was the fact that the impugned prohibition on private health insurance "conspired" with excessive costs in Quebec's public health care system to force Quebeckers onto the wait lists that pervaded the public system. It was this connection between the statutory prohibition on private health insurance and the delays in the public system that anchored the Chaoulli holding that the wait lists constituted a deprivation of rights protected under s. 7. In other words, the statutory prohibition in issue was directly linked to the harm suffered by Quebeckers who were compelled by the prohibition to rely on the public health care system and to endure the consequences of significant wait lists.

[99] A similar link between state action and delays in accessing health care grounds the Supreme Court of Canada's decision in R. v. Morgentaler, [1988] 1 S.C.R. 30. In that case, the Supreme Court concluded that the s. 7 right to security of the person for women was jeopardized by the mandatory therapeutic abortion committee system established by the Criminal Code, which forced women who sought abortions to suffer significant delays in treatment with attendant physical risk and psychological suffering. Morgentaler at p. 59 per Dickson C.J. and at pp. 105-6 per Beetz J., Estey J. concurring.

[100] To similar effect is the Supreme Court's decision in Rodriguez v. British Columbia (1993), 107 D.L.R. (4th) 342, which holds that governmental interference with a citizen's bodily integrity – such as a criminal law prohibition on assisted suicide – constitutes a deprivation of security of the person under s. 7.

[101] These cases are clearly distinguishable from the case at bar. In contrast to the legislative provisions at issue in Chaoulli, Morgentaler and Rodriguez, s. 28.4(2) of the Regulation does not prohibit or impede anyone from seeking medical treatment. Section 28.4(2) neither prescribes nor limits the types of medical services available to Ontarians. Nor does it represent governmental interference with an existing right or other coercive state action. Quite the opposite. Section 28.4(2) provides a defined benefit for out-of-country medical treatment that is not otherwise available to Ontarians – the right to obtain public funding for certain specific out-of-country medical treatments. By not providing funding for all out-of-country medical treatments, it does not deprive an individual of the rights protected by s. 7 of the Charter.

[102] This conclusion is supported by the recent decision of this court in Wynberg v. Ontario (2006), 82 O.R. (3d) 561. In that case, the claimants asserted a violation of s. 7 in the context of the Ontario government's failure to fund intensive behavioural intervention for autistic children over a certain age. Central to the court's rejection of the s. 7 claim in Wynberg was its conclusion that the impugned legislation did not create a mandatory requirement that school-age children attend public school; nor did it otherwise compel such attendance. As a result, the claimants were free to pursue intensive behavioural therapy in the private sector and their s. 7 rights were not violated. Similar defects apply here in respect of Mr. Flora's s. 7 claim.

Canada ranked 2nd last on World Wildlife Fund G8 Climate Scorecard

BERLIN - A new study suggests Canada ranks second to last among G8 countries when it comes to addressing global warming.

Only the United States scores lower on the Group of Eight Climate Scorecard, released Thursday by the World Wildlife Fund.

The study also found that none of the eight countries are making improvements large enough to prevent drastic temperature increases.

The World Wildlife Fund say none of the G8 countries are even half-way to meeting ideal emissions targets.

It says Britain has done the most to reach emissions targets set out in the Kyoto Protocol, with France and Germany close behind. Following in order are Italy, Japan, Russia, Canada and the United States.

The scorecards were released ahead of next week's gathering of the Group of Eight on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido.

Regine Guenther, director of the World Wildlife Fund Climate Change Program in Germany, told reporters in the German capital that G8 leaders should commit to reducing emissions in their countries by 40 per cent by 2020 and 80 per cent by 2050.

"If we don't achieve that, the world's climate will change in ways that we can't even imagine today," Guenther said.

The scorecard was compiled by Ecofys, a Dutch consulting company, and commissioned by the World Wildlife Fund and insurer Allianz SE.

Joachim Faber, an Allianz board member who helped compile the scorecards, said a global emissions trading market is important to fighting climate change, and that the EU should lead its development.

"The EU-specific trading system we have at the moment must serve as model system for one that we can found outside the EU, for the world economy," he said.

The study also analyzed - but did not rank - five of the world's fastest growing economies: Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa.

"These countries cannot be measured with the same ruler as industrialized countries," the study said.

Khawaja talked with plot leader about detonator: Crown audiotape

le b Mohammad Momin Khawaja discussed how to work an electronic detonation device with the British leader of a foiled bomb plot, according to an audiotape played Thursday by the Crown at his trial in Ottawa.

The recording, made by the U.K. security service MI-5, indicates Khawaja offered a description of the device to Omar Khyam during a visit to England in February 2004.

In the recording, Khawaja, the first person charged under Canada's Anti-terrorism Act, can be heard outlining the operation of a transmitter and receiver and how to send a signal from one to the other.

"All you need to do is this - if you have detonator wires hooked up - and that will send a charge down the line to whatever you're sending it to," Khawaja is heard saying on the tape.

In a separate recording - one of several made by the MI-5 during Khawaja's three-day visit to Britain using electronic bugs planted in Khyam's car and residence - Khawaja is heard telling Khyam that it would be easy to pass on his knowledge of electronics to others.

"I can teach you the theory of it, cover all the facts and all these other bits," he said. "Then in the summer I'll set up a course together, someone can deliver it to the grunts, of course."

Khawaja was also heard on yet another recording reminiscing about a training camp he attended in northern Pakistan the previous year.

In another development, undercover video footage and still photos shown in court showed Khawaja arriving at London's Heathrow airport on Feb. 20, 2004, where he was greeted by Khyam and his brother, Shujah Mahmood. Maps showing their movements, followed with a GPS tracking system, were also displayed.

However, much of the rest of the evidence presented was unclear or inaudible. At one point, Ontario Superior Court Justice Douglas Rutherford said, "I can't hear a thing," later adding, "I'm saying to myself a little prayer of thanks, at least I have a transcript."

Crown prosecutors have alleged Khawaja built a remote-controlled detonator intended for use in setting off fertilizer-based bombs at various sites across England, including a nightclub and energy facilities.

Khyam and four other men were convicted by a British court in 2007 of participating in the failed bombing plot and sentenced to life in prison.

Khawaja has pleaded not guilty and denies being part of the al-Qaeda-inspired plot.

Khawaja was a software developer working for the federal Foreign Affairs Department when he was arrested at his Ottawa home in 2004 as part of a British and Canadian investigation. He has been held in custody since then.

The trial is expected to run until October or November.

Historic China-Taiwan flights take off

By Ralph Jennings and Sophie Taylor Fri July 4, 2008

TAIPEI/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Historic regular flights between Taiwan and China began on Friday, in a show of conciliation between the long-time rivals that could bring large numbers of mainland Chinese visitors to the island.

The first of the flights, a China Southern Airlines plane, landed at Taipeis Taoyuan airport after leaving Guangzhou in southern China early in the morning.

It was followed a short time later by a flight from the southern city of Xiamen that arrived at Taipeis Songshan city airport. Flights from China will be leaving from a number of cities, including Shanghai.

No such regular flights, aside from a few charters on select holidays, have flown since 1949, when defeated Nationalist forces fled to Taiwan after the Chinese civil war.

The flights are largely the work of new Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou, who took office in May on pledges to revitalize the islands economy with closer trade and transit ties to China. He has estimated that 50 million Chinese want to visit Taiwan.

Since Ma took office, his government has introduced a raft of other reforms as well, many designed to make it easier for Taiwanese to invest in Chinas financial and other markets.

The recent cross-Strait detente contrasts sharply with the tension of only 11 years ago when missiles were splashing into the Taiwan Strait.

The flights represent the first of a step-by-step approach to improve ties but trickier issues remain, such as a peace treaty and the hundreds of missiles Taiwan says China has aimed at the island.

China claims sovereignty over self-ruled Taiwan and has vowed to bring the island under its rule.

For the moment, though, both sides are keen to capitalize on the goodwill generated by the flights.

At Taipeis Songshan airport, passengers on the first flight were greeted by a throng of local media, along with a welcoming ceremony complete with dragon dancers.

"Its so convenient to get here. Since I was very young I always wanted to go to Alishan," said Wang Qi, a 40-year-old Chinese tourist on the Xiamen flight, referring to Taiwans most famous mountain. "So today I feel very happy and warm."

Wang was one of 109 tourists, all wearing pink T-shirts, who came on the first flight to Taipei for a 10-day stay.

PROTESTS

The pageantry was lower key at Pudong airport in Shanghai, home to Chinas largest Taiwanese community, where only an airline counter banner reading "Welcome to Shanghai Airlines cross-Strait weekend charter flights" marked the departure of a morning flight filled with mostly Taiwanese returning home.

The flights were not without some controversy, as a group of about a dozen Tibet independence activists shouting "Welcome to free Taiwan" protested outside the airport over Beijings recent crackdown in Tibetan regions of China.

Representatives of the Fulun Gong spiritual movement, banned by China as a cult, were also expected to organize demonstrations outside famous tourist spots for mainland tourists.

Enthusiasm about an expected boom in cross-Strait tourism helped to push up the tourism index by nearly 3 percent in early Friday trade in Taiwan, even as the broader market fell.

Negotiators from China and Taiwan agreed last month to the Friday to Monday "weekend" flights. They also decided to let as many as 3,000 Chinese tourists a day visit the island, which has viewed them as a security risk but now wants their money.

The 36 round trips per week will eliminate time-consuming Hong Kong or Macau stopovers for Taiwanese, about 1 million of whom live on the mainland. But they will still fly a roundabout route through Hong Kong air space for security reasons.

The flights are expected to hurt Hong Kongs airlines, most notably Cathay Pacific, and to help Taiwans China Airlines and Chinas China Eastern, though the shift in travel patterns should be gradual.

In Beijing, tourism and government officials gave speeches before the departure of an Air China flight with 294 passengers bound for Taiwan.

"Today is a new start in the history of exchanges between the two sides," said Wang Yi, director of Chinas Taiwan Affairs Office, which oversees Taiwan relations. "At present, cross-Strait relations are facing a rare opportunity for development," he said

Twelve airlines, eight Taiwan airports and numerous travel agents have scrambled over the past month to prepare for Fridays flights, which ply between Taiwan and the Chinese cities of Beijing, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Shanghai and Xiamen.

Common Law Entry For Distress 911 Calls

What happens if the police get a 911 call that is cut off? Can they enter the premises from where the call was made? If so, what is the authority on entry?

The recent Ontario Court of Justice decision in R. v. Dutchession, 2008 ONCJ 289 deals with this issue and restates the law as set out nearly a decade ago in R. v. Godoy, 1999 CanLII 709 (S.C.C.). In a nutshell, the police have common law power to enter but only insofar as is necessary to determine if someone is in danger or distress; once that issue is determined, the common law authority to enter ends and the police must leave (or address the issue as presented). As the Supreme Court noted in Goday, “the intrusion must be limited to the protection of life and safety … [The police] do not have permission to search premises or otherwise intrude on a resident’s privacy or property”.

The Court in Dutchession writes:

[14] The scope of the police response to interrupted 911 calls was authoritatively dealt with by the Supreme Court in R. v. Godoy, 1999 CanLII 709 (S.C.C.), [1999] 1 S.C.R. 311. The Court had earlier recognized that the police have a common law duty to preserve the peace, prevent crime and protect life and property. These duties extend to responding to distress calls and, in Godoy, the Court decided that the police have a commensurate common law power to enter homes to investigate such calls. However, the lawful exercise of such power, as said at para. 11, “depends on the circumstances of each case”. Some measure of reasonable necessity appears to be the threshold condition for such entry. As said, at para. 18, of the situation presented in Godoy, “it was necessary for the police to enter the appellant’s apartment in order to determine the nature of the distress call. There was no other reasonable alternative.” (See, also, para. 22 and R. v. Power, 2005 CarswellOnt. 666 (C.J.), at paras. 16-19.)

[15] The exercise of this power inevitably interferes with protected privacy interests. Accordingly, even where justified, its exercise remains closely circumscribed. This is clear from the following passage of the Chief Justice’s reasons (at para. 22):

… the importance of the police duty to protect life warrants and justifies a forced entry into a dwelling in order to ascertain the health and safety of a 911 caller. … However, I emphasize that the intrusion must be limited to the protection of life and safety. The police have authority to investigate the 911 call and, in particular, to locate the caller and determine his or her reasons for making the call and provide such assistance as may be required. The police authority for being on private property in response to a 911 call ends there. They do not have further permission to search premises or otherwise intrude on a resident’s privacy or property.

The principles set out by the Supreme Court in Godoy have since been applied in dozens of cases, although, unlike the instant matter, chiefly in aid of Charter-driven remedies. Much of this authority has been pressed upon me as a result of the industry of counsel. None, to my mind, fundamentally recast the principles and analytical framework worked out in Godoy.

Illegal guns enter Cda from U.S. but police, politicians don't know extent

By Steve Mertl, The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER - It was almost 5 a.m. when a suburban Vancouver police officer nearing the end of his shift watched a car's uncertain journey down a street a few kilometres north of the Canada-U.S. border.

"He wasn't certain that perhaps we've got an impaired driver, somebody who is lost...," Const. Sharlene Brooks, spokeswoman for police in Delta, says of the routine traffic stop last Sept. 27.

Instead, a search of the vehicle, triggered by the occupants' suspicious behaviour, turned up several gym bags filled with handguns and an automatic machine pistol. Curtis Coleman had been caught red-handed smuggling a shipment of guns into Canada from the U.S. Again.

With more than three dozen gang-related killings in the Vancouver area in the last year and 11 murders in Toronto in the first six months of 2008, police and politicians say illicit American weapons fuel much of the deadly gun play.

But 10 years and more than a billion dollars after the federal government introduced tough new gun legislation, law enforcement officials admit they don't have a clue how big the smuggling problem is.

Ontario government figures indicate about 70 per cent of the crime guns seized in that province came illegally from the United States.

However, there are no comparable Canadian figures because, despite a legal mandate for one, a national crime-gun database has been on hold for a decade. Federal officials say it may finally be implemented this fall but Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day is non-committal.

"Any regulation that comes up for review, especially one that's been on the books but never implemented for a number of years, is always addressed to make sure it's current," Day says.

"That'll be done over the next few weeks and we'll know if it'll stay in its present form or not."

Canada Border Services Agency seized 662 guns at crossing points last year, three-quarters of them handguns, and confiscated 2,289 guns between 2004 and 2007. But those figures don't tell the whole story.

"Quite simply, you only know about what you catch," says Terry Alverson, one of three Canadian-based agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. "Until the guns actually show up here, we have no idea that they're here."

Firearms experts say the national crime-gun database could at least reveal patterns of gun traffic that would help in what is largely an intelligence battle against smuggled arms.

They've had notable successes but with Coleman, they just got lucky - both times.

The Seattle, Wash., resident is one of a freelance army of gun smugglers who arm the criminals who rule Canada's drug underworld.

Police say most have no firm ties to organized crime but are part of the pipeline that sends Canadian marijuana south and sees hard drugs, cash and weapons come north.

Four years before his arrest last September, RCMP acting on a tip from U.S. border officers grabbed Coleman and an accomplice as they crossed into Canada on foot in a rural stretch south of Vancouver. Mounties found them with backpacks carrying three dozen guns, including two machine pistols, 24 diamonds and US$100,000 cash.

Coleman was convicted of smuggling and possessing prohibited or restricted firearms anddeported after serving most of a two-year sentence.

This time he pleaded guilty to a single count of being in a vehicle with the contraband guns. The judge condemned him for his role in trafficking guns that put the Canadian public at risk and he drew 36 months, less time served awaiting trial.

Officials at Canada Border Services Agency declined interview requests but Dan Leibel of the Canada Customs and Excise Union, which represents border guards, said the number of guns seized at the border is a fraction of what gets across.

"I've heard estimates in the range of we get one to three per cent of what actually is getting through, but that's just rumour," Leibel says.

For now, if you want a national picture of the impact of U.S.-sourced guns in Canada, you have to ask the Americans.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which publishes an annual report tracing crime guns in all U.S. states, now also receives data from Canada and Mexico. The agency has released the information, to The Canadian Press, for the first time.

Last year, 1,399 illegal American firearms were recovered in Canada, about a thousand of them handguns. Ontario and British Columbia were the top two destinations, followed by Quebec and Alberta.

If the federal government finally implements the database - part of the 1998 Firearms Act - it would be mandatory for all police to report details of seized firearms, including the source, if known.

The unused sections of the Public Agents Firearms Regulations would give all law-enforcement agencies a year to report guns they currently hold and 30 days for any newly recovered firearms to the Canadian Firearms Centre, which also handles the federal gun registry.

There is an Oct. 31 deadline for the regulations to come into force - two years after the last scheduled implementation date, which had already been put back from September 2005.

Implementation this fall hinges on a final review by Day's department.

One of Canada's top firearms investigators is keen to get access to such a reporting system, which he says would make it easier to see patterns that could identify traffickers.

Supt. Geoff Francis, who heads the RCMP's Firearms Support Services Directorate in Mississauga, Ont., says in the past it took up to a year to process information on seized guns and even then there was no central repository for the data. A smuggler might make several runs across the border in that time.

"If you get at the smugglers early enough, you prevent distribution of the firearm," says Francis, who pushed for the database along with the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police.

There's an alphabet soup of police agencies responsible for countering the illegal gun trade in Canada, including national and provincial branches of RCMP, the Mounties' border-integrity units and border services' own intelligence unit.

While he appreciates all the police work, Ontario Attorney General Chris Bentley thinks Ottawa could do more. The federal government is in charge of the border and should step up security, says Bentley, who met with Day in March to discuss the problem.

In a follow-up letter sent in May, Bentley proposed the government implement measures Canada agreed to several years ago requiring gun makers to put additional markings on weapons to make them easier to trace.

Ontario also wants Ottawa to close what it says is a loophole on importing unfinished gun frames that are then assembled into firearms, and to share federal prosecutors with the province's guns and gangs task force.

"They're all relatively either no-cost or low-cost initiatives," says Bentley.

Duty of Solicitor in Preparing an Affidavit of Documents

The very recent British Columbia Court of Appeal decision in Henriques v. Spraggs, 2008 BCCA 282 (CanLII) contains a useful summary of the duty of a solicitor in preparing an affidavit of documents:

[230] Boxer v. Reesor (1983), 43 B.C.L.R. 352, a decision of Chief Justice McEachern, sets out the responsibility of a solicitor in the preparation of his client's list of documents. He said at p. 357:

The responsibility of a solicitor in connection with the preparation of a list of documents has often been stated. I regard the following extract from The Conduct of Civil Litigation in British Columbia, Fraser & Horn, 1978, vol. 1, pp. 276-77, to be an accurate statement of the law except that in this province we do not require an order for production and lists of documents are no longer verified by affidavit:

Nowhere in civil procedure is the responsibility of the lawyer greater than in the area of discovery of documents.

This is partly because the lawyer's concept of relevancy is ordinarily more extensive than that of the client. It seems rarely to occur to a litigant that such things as cancelled cheques, receipts, birthday cards, telephone bills and the like might have a bearing on the case. A kind of documentation which a client notoriously fails to produce, unless specifically asked to do so by his lawyer, is the interoffice memo, sometimes a rich and critical source of information.

Additionally, the litigant, owing no special duty of loyalty to the integrity of the judicial system, may be unenthusiastic about disclosing the existence of documents harmful to his case. As an officer of the Court, the lawyer has the responsibility to police the conscience of his client in this area.

The process of discovery of documents tends to pinch most, as one might expect, where the party from whom discovery is sought has numerous records to go through. The task of persuading a client to undertake this duty faithfully can be considerable.

Careful attention should be paid to - and the client questioned about - documents which have, either innocently or corruptly, passed out of his possession, by destruction or otherwise.

The lawyer's duty was canvassed in the House of Lords, where Lord Wright put the matter as follows:

'The order of discovery requires the client to give information in writing and on oath of all documents which are to have been in his corporeal possession or power, whether he is bound to produce them or not. A client cannot be expected to realize the whole scope of that obligation without the aid and advice of his solicitor, who therefore has a peculiar duty in these matters as an officer of the court carefully to investigate the position and as far as possible see that the order is complied with. A client left to himself could not know what is relevant, nor is he likely to realize that it is his obligation to disclose every relevant document, even a document which would establish, or go far to establish, against him his opponent's case. The solicitor cannot simply allow the client to make whatever affidavit of documents he thinks fit nor can he escape the responsibility of careful investigation or supervision. If the client will not give him the information he is entitled to require or if he insists on swearing an affidavit which the solicitor knows to be imperfect or which he has every reason to think is imperfect, then the solicitor's proper course is to withdraw from the case. He does not discharge his duty in such a case by requesting the client to make a proper affidavit and then filing whatever affidavit the client thinks fit to swear to.' (Myers v. Elman, [1940] AC. 282 at 322, [1939] 4 All E.R. 484 (H.L.)).

James Morton
1100 - 5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4

Italy starts controversial fingerprinting of Gypsies, including children

ROME - Italian authorities have started fingerprinting tens of thousands of Gypsies living in nomad camps across the country - adults and children alike - brushing aside accusations of racism by human rights advocates and international organizations.

Interior Minister Roberto Maroni told parliament this week the move was needed to fight crime and identify illegal immigrants for expulsion, but also to improve the lives of those legally living in the makeshift, often unsanitary camps.

"We intend to make a census to see who lives in Gypsy camps, who has a right to stay and to live in humane conditions. Those who don't have a right to stay will be repatriated," he said.

More than 700 encampments have been built, mainly around Rome, Milan and Naples, populated almost entirely by Gypsies, also known as Roma.

The measure by Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's conservative government, part of its crackdown on street crime, has provoked a storm of protests at home and abroad. Officials have spoken recently of a "Roma emergency" in Italy's big cities, blaming them for rising crime.

Maroni, a leading member of the anti-immigrant Northern League party, said the census will be completed in October. Critics, including the centre-left opposition, claim the measure is not a census and is unfairly singling out a minority. Italy has an overall population census every 10 years that does not include fingerprinting.

The Interior Ministry said prints will only be taken from people who do not have a valid Italian or European Union document, which would exempt Gypsies who come from EU member Romania. Maroni said Red Cross members would be present to ensure that the rights of the Roma are respected.

Maroni contended the fingerprinting would be especially beneficial to Roma children whose parents send them to beg or steal instead of going to school. He said those children will be removed from their parents' custody.

Charges of discrimination have rained in from international groups including the United Nations Children Fund and the Council of Europe. The Italian chapter of Amnesty International called the move "discriminatory, disproportionate and unjustified."

"Checks targeting a specific minority and affecting that minority, including its most vulnerable members, are discriminatory," the organization said.

Italian newspapers published photos of gloved officials taking prints from the ink-stained hands of Gypsies living in Naples - and reported Thursday that fingerprinting would begin in Rome next week.

Some authorities were also identifying those fingerprinted by their religion and ethnicity. A Catholic lay organization, the Sant'Egidio Community, distributed what it said were census papers from Naples on Thursday, which included fields listing religion and ethnicity.

"I won't call it a racist measure, but the fact that a country that belongs to the G8 and the European Union is discriminating against people on the basis of ethnicity is unacceptable," Marco Impagliazzo, Sant'Egidio's president, told a news conference.

The EU parliament will debate the issue next week, but EU officials have been cautious in their comments.

"I don't fully understand all aspects of the Italian proposals," EU Social Affairs Commissioner Vladimir Spidla said Wednesday. "However, it is clear that in Europe it would be impossible to grant rights to certain citizens and not grant them to others based on their ethnic origin."

Italians, and others in Europe, have a long history of distrust of Gypsies.

In Naples, camps had to be evacuated in May after attackers set huts on fire and angry residents in neighbouring areas protested against the alleged attempt by a Gypsy woman to kidnap a baby.

Authorities in Rome have raided camps to check for proper papers and tear down illegal housing.

Power to Strike or Dismiss For Failure to Pay Interlocutory Costs Constitutional

Rule 57.03(2) allows a court, albeit in extreme cases (Rasekhi-Nejad v. General Accident Assurance Co. of Canada, [2004] O.J. No. 4225 (Ont. S.C.J.) ), to strike a defence or stay or dismiss a claim for failure to pay interlocutory costs.

The recent Prince Edward Island appeal decision in Ross v. City of Charlottetown 2008 PESCAD 06 considers whether the Rule offends the Charter as being discriminatory against the poor (PEI’s Rules are identical to Ontario’s).

The Court, after careful review, decided not concluding:

[34] I conclude Rule 57.03(2) of the Rules of Civil Procedure does not violate the Charter, specifically ss. 15 and 7. Poverty is not one of the enumerated grounds in s. 15(1), nor is it analogous to any of these grounds. (Polewsky v. Home Hardware Stores Ltd. 1999, Can LII 14906 (Ont. S.C.)) As to s. 7, that section protects bodily integrity, not economic integrity. Finally, even if Rule 57.03(2), as applied to impecunious litigants, violated some section of the Charter, the discretion given by the Rule to dismiss the actions of litigants who fail to pay costs on interlocutory matters is a reasonable limitation on the rights and freedoms guaranteed by the Charter, and can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society. Specifically, no litigant rich or poor should be entitled to bring unsuccessful interlocutory motions and appeals, and then be immune to the consequences of failing to pay costs awarded against that litigant. Exposing some litigants to endless expense and litigation so that other litigants may enjoy unlimited access to the courts does not right a wrong, it creates an unfettered right to abuse the rights of others.

Conservatives Slip In Polling

Tories lose crucial ground with women, Quebecers, Ontarians, poll suggests

OTTAWA - A new poll suggests the federal Conservatives have lost key support amongst women, Quebecers and Ontario voters.

The Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey indicates the Tories and Liberals are tied at about 31 per cent of national support.

The telephone poll of just over 1,000 people suggests the Tory government lost ground with strategic groups during the last session of Parliament.
The poll suggests the Liberal advantage among women living in cities has increased to 10 percentage points over the Tories from five since December.
In Quebec, the poll suggests Tories lost a 15-point lead with voters who say they're neither federalist nor separatist - and are now tied with the Liberals.

And in Ontario, it indicates Conservative support has dipped outside the greater Toronto area and especially in the 613 area code.

Pollster Bruce Anderson says the Tory numbers may rebound now that Parliament is on summer break.

The poll was conducted June 26-29 and is considered accurate to within 3.1 percentage points 19 times in 20.

The government has seen its share of recent gaffes, including the security breach that forced Maxime Bernier to resign as foreign affairs minister.

Texas man gets 4,060 years in prison for sex abuse

"Let's see, with early release he should get out in 800 years. More seriously preposterous sentences like this make a mockery of the seriousness of the offence. jcm"



THE ASSOCIATED PRESS



WEATHERFORD, Texas - A man was sentenced to more than 4,000 years in prison Wednesday for sexually assaulting three teenage girls over two years.



A day after finding James Kevin Pope guilty, jurors sentenced him to 40 life prison terms - one for each sex assault conviction - and 20 years for each of the three sexual performance of a child convictions.



At the request of prosecutors, state District Judge Graham Quisenberry ordered Pope to serve the sentences consecutively, adding up to 4,060 years.



"We believe it was a just result," prosecutor Robert DuBoise said, adding that he was "overwhelmed" with the judge's decision to stack the sentences.



Pope, 43, of Springtown, abused the girls for nearly two years. It came to authorities' attention earlier this year after Pope made several inappropriate comments to a friend, who notified Child Protective Services.



During the trial, the teens testified about the abuse, and their sexually explicit photographs were shown as evidence.



But Rick Alley, Pope's defense lawyer, told jurors in closing arguments that the victims were incapable of understanding what happened, the Weatherford Democrat reported in its Wednesday online edition.



"If it was as traumatic as they indicate, they would be able to give you (specific dates and times of the incidents). Simply because it's shocking doesn't make it true," Alley said.



During the sentencing phase of the trial, a U.S. Secret Service agent testified that while examining Pope's home computer, he found more than 200 images of child porn.



Later Wednesday, some jurors said the case was difficult because of the subject matter.



"We were careful not to make any mistakes in viewing and evaluating the evidence," said juror Dale Lewis.

Magisterium, Punishment, Death Penalty and the Value of Life -- From Evangelium Vitæ ("The Gospel of Life") 1995

"From man in regard to his fellow man I will demand an accounting for human life" (Gen 9:5): human life is sacred and inviolable

53. "Human life is sacred because from its beginning it involves ?the creative action of God', and it remains forever in a special relationship with the Creator, who is its sole end. God alone is the Lord of life from its beginning until its end: no one can, in any circumstance, claim for himself the right to destroy directly an innocent human being". With these words the Instruction Donum Vitae sets forth the central content of God's revelation on the sacredness and inviolability of human life.
Sacred Scripture in fact presents the precept "You shall not kill" as a divine commandment (Ex 20:13; Dt 5:17). As I have already emphasized, this commandment is found in the Deca- logue, at the heart of the Covenant which the Lord makes with his chosen people; but it was already contained in the original covenant between God and humanity after the purifying punishment of the Flood, caused by the spread of sin and violence (cf. Gen 9:5-6).
God proclaims that he is absolute Lord of the life of man, who is formed in his image and likeness (cf. Gen 1:26-28). Human life is thus given a sacred and inviolable character, which reflects the inviolability of the Creator himself. Precisely for this reason God will severely judge every violation of the commandment "You shall not kill", the commandment which is at the basis of all life together in society. He is the "goel", the defender of the innocent (cf. Gen 4:9-15; Is 41:14; Jer 50:34; Ps 19:14). God thus shows that he does not delight in the death of the living (cf. Wis 1:13). Only Satan can delight therein: for through his envy death entered the world (cf. Wis 2:24). He who is "a murderer from the beginning", is also "a liar and the father of lies" (Jn 8:44). By deceiving man he leads him to projects of sin and death, making them appear as goals and fruits of life.

54. As explicitly formulated, the precept "You shall not kill" is strongly negative: it indicates the extreme limit which can never be exceeded. Implicitly, however, it encourages a positive attitude of absolute respect for life; it leads to the promotion of life and to progress along the way of a love which gives, receives and serves. The people of the Covenant, although slowly and with some contradictions, progressively matured in this way of thinking, and thus prepared for the great proclamation of Jesus that the commandment to love one's neighbour is like the commandment to love God; "on these two commandments depend all the law and the prophets" (cf. Mt 22:36-40). Saint Paul emphasizes that "the commandment ... you shall not kill ... and any other commandment, are summed up in this phrase: ?You shall love your neighbour as yourself' " (Rom 13:9; cf. Gal 5:14). Taken up and brought to fulfilment in the New Law, the commandment "You shall not kill" stands as an indispensable condition for being able "to enter life" (cf. Mt 19:16-19). In this same perspective, the words of the Apostle John have a categorical ring: "Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him" (1 Jn 3:15).
From the beginning, the living Tradition of the Church-as shown by the Didache, the most ancient non-biblical Christian writing-categorically repeated the commandment "You shall not kill": "There are two ways, a way of life and a way of death; there is a great difference between them... In accordance with the precept of the teaching: you shall not kill ... you shall not put a child to death by abortion nor kill it once it is born ... The way of death is this: ... they show no compassion for the poor, they do not suffer with the suffering, they do not acknowledge their Creator, they kill their children and by abortion cause God's creatures to perish; they drive away the needy, oppress the suffering, they are advocates of the rich and unjust judges of the poor; they are filled with every sin. May you be able to stay ever apart, o children, from all these sins!".
As time passed, the Church's Tradition has always consistently taught the absolute and unchanging value of the commandment "You shall not kill". It is a known fact that in the first centuries, murder was put among the three most serious sins-along with apostasy and adultery-and required a particularly heavy and lengthy public penance before the repentant murderer could be granted forgiveness and readmission to the ecclesial community.

55. This should not cause surprise: to kill a human being, in whom the image of God is present, is a particularly serious sin. Only God is the master of life! Yet from the beginning, faced with the many and often tragic cases which occur in the life of individuals and society, Christian reflection has sought a fuller and deeper understanding of what God's commandment prohibits and prescribes. There are in fact situations in which values proposed by God's Law seem to involve a genuine paradox. This happens for example in the case of legitimate defence, in which the right to protect one's own life and the duty not to harm someone else's life are difficult to reconcile in practice. Certainly, the intrinsic value of life and the duty to love oneself no less than others are the basis of a true right to self-defence. The demanding commandment of love of neighbour, set forth in the Old Testament and confirmed by Jesus, itself presupposes love of oneself as the basis of comparison: "You shall love your neighbour as yourself " (Mk 12:31). Consequently, no one can renounce the right to self-defence out of lack of love for life or for self. This can only be done in virtue of a heroic love which deepens and transfigures the love of self into a radical self-offering, according to the spirit of the Gospel Beatitudes (cf. Mt 5:38-40). The sublime example of this self-offering is the Lord Jesus himself.
Moreover, "legitimate defence can be not only a right but a grave duty for someone responsible for another's life, the common good of the family or of the State".Unfortunately it happens that the need to render the aggressor incapable of causing harm sometimes involves taking his life. In this case, the fatal outcome is attributable to the aggressor whose action brought it about, even though he may not be morally responsible because of a lack of the use of reason.

56. This is the context in which to place the problem of the death penalty. On this matter there is a growing tendency, both in the Church and in civil society, to demand that it be applied in a very limited way or even that it be abolished completely. The problem must be viewed in the context of a system of penal justice ever more in line with human dignity and thus, in the end, with God's plan for man and society. The primary purpose of the punishment which society inflicts is "to redress the disorder caused by the offence". Public authority must redress the violation of personal and social rights by imposing on the offender an adequate punishment for the crime, as a condition for the offender to regain the exercise of his or her freedom. In this way authority also fulfils the purpose of defending public order and ensuring people's safety, while at the same time offering the offender an incentive and help to change his or her behaviour and be rehabilitated.
It is clear that, for these purposes to be achieved, the nature and extent of the punishment must be carefully evaluated and decided upon, and ought not go to the extreme of executing the offender except in cases of absolute necessity: in other words, when it would not be possible otherwise to defend society. Today however, as a result of steady improvements in the organization of the penal system, such cases are very rare, if not practically non-existent.
In any event, the principle set forth in the new Catechism of the Catholic Church remains valid: "If bloodless means are sufficient to defend human lives against an aggressor and to protect public order and the safety of persons, public authority must limit itself to such means, because they better correspond to the concrete conditions of the common good and are more in conformity to the dignity of the human person".

57. If such great care must be taken to respect every life, even that of criminals and unjust aggressors, the commandment "You shall not kill" has absolute value when it refers to the innocent person. And all the more so in the case of weak and defenceless human beings, who find their ultimate defence against the arrogance and caprice of others only in the absolute binding force of God's commandment.
In effect, the absolute inviolability of innocent human life is a moral truth clearly taught by Sacred Scripture, constantly upheld in the Church's Tradition and consistently proposed by her Magisterium. This consistent teaching is the evident result of that "supernatural sense of the faith" which, inspired and sustained by the Holy Spirit, safeguards the People of God from error when "it shows universal agreement in matters of faith and morals".
Faced with the progressive weakening in individual consciences and in society of the sense of the absolute and grave moral illicitness of the direct taking of all innocent human life, especially at its beginning and at its end, the Church's Magisterium has spoken out with increasing frequency in defence of the sacredness and inviolability of human life. The Papal Magisterium, particularly insistent in this regard, has always been seconded by that of the Bishops, with numerous and comprehensive doctrinal and pastoral documents issued either by Episcopal Conferences or by individual Bishops. The Second Vatican Council also addressed the matter forcefully, in a brief but incisive passage.
Therefore, by the authority which Christ conferred upon Peter and his Successors, and in communion with the Bishops of the Catholic Church, I confirm that the direct and voluntary killing of an innocent human being is always gravely immoral. This doctrine, based upon that unwritten law which man, in the light of reason, finds in his own heart (cf. Rom 2:14-15), is reaffirmed by Sacred Scripture, transmitted by the Tradition of the Church and taught by the ordinary and universal Magisterium.
The deliberate decision to deprive an innocent human being of his life is always morally evil and can never be licit either as an end in itself or as a means to a good end. It is in fact a grave act of disobedience to the moral law, and indeed to God himself, the author and guarantor of that law; it contradicts the fundamental virtues of justice and charity. "Nothing and no one can in any way permit the killing of an innocent human being, whether a fetus or an embryo, an infant or an adult, an old person, or one suffering from an incurable disease, or a person who is dying. Furthermore, no one is permitted to ask for this act of killing, either for himself or herself or for another person entrusted to his or her care, nor can he or she consent to it, either explicitly or implicitly. Nor can any authority legitimately recommend or permit such an action".
As far as the right to life is concerned, every innocent human being is absolutely equal to all others. This equality is the basis of all authentic social relationships which, to be truly such, can only be founded on truth and justice, recognizing and protecting every man and woman as a person and not as an object to be used. Before the moral norm which prohibits the direct taking of the life of an innocent human being "there are no privileges or exceptions for anyone. It makes no difference whether one is the master of the world or the 'poorest of the poor' on the face of the earth. Before the demands of morality we are all absolutely equal".

Dion Challenges Harper to Debate

Dion wading into deep Western waters over carbon tax proposal

OTTAWA -- Accusing the prime minister of indulging in "low blow politics and character assassination," Liberal Leader Stephane Dion challenged Stephen Harper on Wednesday to a one-on-one carbon tax policy debate in Calgary, the Conservative PM's riding and energy capital of Canada.

Mr. Harper dismissed Mr. Dion's challenge for a leaders' duel on his home turf over "which plan - his plan or my plan - on climate change is the best, both for climate change and for the energy sector."

"Mr. Dion hasn't even realized that the debate started weeks ago," Mr. Harper's spokesman Dimitri Soudas said.

Mr. Dion believes he can convince Albertans that his "greenshift" proposal to tax carbon consumers and cut income and corporate taxes is superior to the government's regulatory plan to limit industrial carbon emissions. He rejected Mr. Harper's parliamentary secretary Jason Kenney's attack on his plan as regionally divisive.

Mr. Dion said Mr. Harper's plan is much delayed, full of loopholes, cumbersome and bureaucratic, while his carbon tax plan is simple, standard across the country and "I won't have to hire a single civil servant" to implement it.

"His plan will pass on tax to families with no tax cuts," Mr. Dion added. "People want to do the right thing. They just want to be able to pay their bills at the end of the month as well. We've come with a plan which addresses those two realities that are true as much for a family in Alberta as a family in Nova Scotia or British Columbia or Ontario or in Quebec."

Mr. Dion issued the debate challenge during an interview with Canwest News Service as he prepares to sell his carbon tax proposal during a four-day visit beginning Friday to Alberta, where Mr. Harper and other critics have cast the carbon tax as a new version of the federal Liberals' 1980s national energy program. The NEP, compounded by a collapse in world oil prices, damaged Alberta's economy for a decade.

Mr. Dion is scheduled to attend Calgary Stampede events on the weekend and plans to speak at a town hall meeting in Edmonton on Monday.

Mr. Dion said his plan has nothing to do with the NEP.

"It's only a game that Mr. Harper is playing," he said. " It's only Mr. Harper's partisanship that is creating this confusion."

Mr. Dion said the NEP "was an attempt to change the world price [of oil] to accommodate nine provinces," referring to the Trudeau government setting a lower price for oil in Canada than the world price, siphoning revenue from Alberta to subsidize imported oil prices, notably in Ontario.

"To the contrary, we are bringing Canada's practices closer to the expectation of the world," Mr. Dion said. He argued the world expects carbon pricing in a developed economy such as Canada and predicted the plan would attract investment in emissions reduction technology to Western Canada.

Mr. Harper's spokesman said in an e-mail that Mr. Dion's debate challenge "is a bit rich" since the Liberal leader has missed question periods in the House of Commons during the last week before the summer recess, the week that Mr. Dion announced the carbon tax plan.

"Mr. Dion hasn't even realized that the debate started weeks ago," said Soudas. "We will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and Mr. Dion didn't get it done when he had the chance. He now wants to impose a carbon tax on everything. This green shaft will have the consequence of increasing prices on everything people buy."

Mr. Dion rejected critics who say the carbon tax would collect a disproportionate share of tax revenues from Alberta, because it has heavy industrial emissions, and shift much of the revenue in the form of tax breaks outside the province.

Since the tax will be imposed at the wholesale level, Mr. Dion said, the level of taxation will depend on consumption of energy, not on production. He noted that 46% of industrial emissions in 2002, the last year calculated by Statistics Canada, were on goods and services exported from Canada. That means a lot of carbon tax would be passed onto foreigners, not Canadian consumers, he said.

Altered Photos On Fox -- From Huffington Post

Fox News airs altered photos of NY Times reporters

During a segment in which Fox & Friends co-hosts Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade labeled New York Times reporter Jacques Steinberg and editor Steven Reddicliffe "attack dogs," Fox News featured photos of Steinberg and Reddicliffe that appeared to have been digitally altered -- the journalists' teeth had been yellowed, their facial features exaggerated, and portions of Reddicliffe's hair moved further back on his head.

On the July 2 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, co-hosts Steve Doocy and Brian Kilmeade labeled New York Times reporter Jacques Steinberg and editor Steven Reddicliffe "attack dogs," claiming that Steinberg's June 28 article on the "ominous trend" in Fox News' ratings was a "hit piece." During the segment, however, Fox News featured photos of Steinberg and Reddicliffe that appeared to have been digitally altered -- the journalists' teeth had been yellowed, their facial features exaggerated, and portions of Reddicliffe's hair moved further back on his head. Fox News gave no indication that the photos had been altered.

After putting up the photos of Steinberg and Reddicliffe, Fox & Friends also featured a photograph of Steinberg's face superimposed over that of a poodle, while Reddicliffe's face was superimposed over that of the man holding the poodle's leash.

Below is a screenshot of Fox & Friends featuring the photo it used of Steinberg, with the original photo on its left. Comparing the two photos, it appears that the following changes have been made: Steinberg's teeth have been yellowed, his nose and chin widened, and his ears made to protrude further.

Similarly, a comparison of the photo of Reddicliffe used by Fox News and the original photo suggests that Reddicliffe's teeth have been yellowed, dark circles have been added under his eyes, and his hairline has been moved back.

From the July 2 edition of Fox & Friends:

DOOCY: And before we go today, something's been bugging me. A couple of days --
KILMEADE: Well, go back outside.
DOOCY: We will. A couple of days ago, when most newspapers in America were doing these positive stories about how Fox News Channel, once again, number one --
KILMEADE: Like the LA Times.
DOOCY: -- for many, many years. There was a hit piece by somebody in The New York Times. The writer was a fellow by the name of Jacques Steinberg, and he's been doing a bunch of attack stories on Fox News Channel. Well, there's some backstory to it, and that is this: His boss, the guy who assigned him to this, is a fellow by the name of Steven Reddicliffe, and Mr. Reddicliffe actually used to work for this company. He worked -- I think he was the editor in charge of TV Guide until circulation went down under his tenure --
KILMEADE: Right.
DOOCY: -- something like, 40 percent. So, he got fired, and according to Radar Online, this guy has had an ax to grind.
KILMEADE: Yeah, he does, because, I think, Steve, according to reports -- according to Radar and another online magazine -- he was making close to a million dollars here, and now with his new job --
DOOCY: Yeah.
KILMEADE: -- he's making significantly less. How about a tenth of that?
DOOCY: So, anyway, Radar says he's had an ax to grind, and that's why he sends his attack dog Jacques Steinberg out -- that fellow right there, the writer for The New York Times -- to do these hit pieces. So, he essentially is his attack dog. His -- his poodle, if you will.
KILMEADE: So --
DOOCY: Oooh! Very, very nice.
KILMEADE: -- Radar Online has unlocked the mystery. And there you go, because that story was oddly in the Arts section of The New York Times, in the Sunday Times.
DOOCY: Anyway, we just thought we'd -- cute. I wonder if he's going to show him at Westminster this year.
KILMEADE: I'm not really sure. We know a beagle won last year, and this -- he's dressed as a poodle.

WOOF!

Canadian embassy in Washington apologizes for controversial Canada Day invite

"Surely someone else likes poutine? While not exactly good for you it really is soul food. jcm"

July 2, 2008

Peter Rakobowchuk, THE CANADIAN PRESS

MONTREAL - The Canadian embassy in Washington is apologizing after it sent out a Canada Day invitation which showed Samuel de Champlain, the founder of Quebec City, holding a plate of poutine.

Jean-Paul Perreault, the president of Imperatif francais, a group that defends and promotes the French language, called the embassy's behaviour "contemptuous and unacceptable."

"It's ridiculous, it's a.....lack of respect towards the Canadian identity which proudly includes French-speaking communities," he said in an interview Wednesday.

Poutine is a popular Quebec dish that consists of french fries topped with fresh cheese curds and covered with brown gravy.

"If it was a joke, it was a joke in bad taste which we can't allow as part of the activities of a (Canadian) embassy," he added.

Perreault said several citizens also complained to Imperatif francais about the invitation.

The Canada Day invitation was placed on the embassy's website and about 2,000 people showed up for the July 1 party in the U.S. capital.

Perreault pointed out that this year marks the 400th anniversary of the July 3 founding of Quebec City by Champlain.

The event will be celebrated Thursday with various events in the provincial capital.

Tristan Landry, a spokesman for the Canadian embassy, says the online invite was eventually changed and the plate of poutine was removed from Champlain's right hand.

"It was obviously not intended to offend anybody and we apologize if it offended anyone," he told The Canadian Press.

Landry also said changes would be made internally to the process when invitations are sent out.

Perreault wants Prime Minister Stephen Harper to offer "sincere" apologies nationally and internationally because the invitation appeared on the Internet.

"The way the Canadian government, through its embassy, treats the francophone aspect of Canadian identity has been seen internationally," he said.

Perreault also said Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson and the ambassador in Washington should resign.

"There should also be disciplinary measures towards the employees who created an unacceptable and ridiculous situation on the website," he added.

Landry would not comment when asked if any disciplinary measures are being considered.

Challenge for Cause -- Criminal Jury Trial

In the United States jury selection is a very significant part of a serious criminal trial. Close questioning of jurors is not uncommon.

Such questioning is almost unheard of in this country. This is because of our process for jury challenges -- Canada presumes jurors to be impartial unless an evidentiary basis is established showing otherwise. More generally, questions of jurors are limited to the bare minimum required to determine partiality.

Last week's Superior Court decision in R. v. Aziga, 2008 CanLII 29780 (ON S.C.) sets out the process for challenge for cause well:

THE LAW RELATING TO CHALLENGE FOR CAUSE

[8] Our criminal law is premised on the ability of 12 jurors to do their job with indifference as between the Crown and the accused. We do not start with the idea that it is up to the potential juror to demonstrate his or her impartiality. Our procedures in this respect differ from the American approach. In this country, people called for jury duty benefit from a presumption that they will do their duty without bias or partiality. In R. v. Spence, [2005] S.C.J. No. 74, Binnie J., on behalf of the Court, concluded:

Our collective experience is that when men and women are given a role in determining the outcome of a criminal prosecution, they take the responsibility seriously: they are impressed by the jurors' oath and the solemnity of the proceedings; they feel a responsibility to each other and to the court to do the best job they can; and they listen to the judge's instructions because they want to decide the case properly on the facts and the law.

Reference: R. v. Spence, [2005] S.C.J. No. 74, at paras. 21 to 22

[9] The presumption of impartiality may be rebutted by satisfying the trial judge that on a ground sufficiently articulated in the application, there is in the case of some potential jurors a realistic potential for...partiality (R. v. Sherratt, 1991 CanLII 86 (S.C.C.), [1991] 1 S.C.R. 509). In Sherratt, the articulated ground was pre-trial publicity. The Court stated the rule as follows:

The threshold question is not whether the ground of alleged partiality will create such partiality in a juror, but rather whether it could create that partiality which would prevent a juror from being indifferent as to the result. In the end, there must exist a realistic potential for the existence of partiality, on a ground sufficiently articulated in the application, before the challenger should be allowed to proceed. (Emphasis added)

Reference: R. v. Sherratt, 1991 CanLII 86 (S.C.C.), [1991] 1 S.C.R. 509, at 536

[10] Establishing a realistic potential for juror partiality generally requires satisfying the court on two matters:

(1) that a widespread bias exists in the community; and

(2) that some jurors may be incapable of setting aside this bias, despite trial safeguards, to render an impartial decision.

Reference: R. v. Find, [2001] S.C.J. No. 34, at para. 32

[11] The two components of the test involve distinct inquiries. They are not watertight compartments, but rather guidelines for determining whether on the record before the court, a realistic possibility exists that some jurors may decide the case based on preconceived attitudes or beliefs, rather than the evidence placed before them. Reference: R. v. Find, supra at para. 33.

Iran plays downs talk of attack, says another Mideast war would be 'crazy'

"Crazy yes but that doesn't mean it won't happen. jcm"

July 2, 2008

John Heilprin, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK - Iran's foreign minister Wednesday dismissed talk of a U.S. or Israeli attack against his country, calling the prospect of another war in the Middle East "craziness."

He spoke as President George W. Bush also sought to tamp down speculation of any military action to stop Iran from developing its nuclear program.

Manouchehr Mottaki said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday that he does not believe Israel or the United States would act while the U.S. economy is suffering and the United States is bogged down in wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

"We do not foresee such a possibility at the moment. The Israeli government is facing a political breakdown within itself and within the region, so we do not foresee such a possibility for that regime to resort to such craziness," he said. "The United States, too, is not in a position where it can engage in, take another risk in the region.

"Of course, there are people in the United States who are interested in that. But we think that the rational thinkers in the United States will prevent from that action being taken, and will prevent the imposition of another adventuresome act that would put pressure on the American taxpayers."

However, Mottaki pointedly did not rule out trying to restrict oil traffic in the strategic Strait of Hormuz if Iran was attacked. "In Iran we must defend our national security, our country and our revolutionary system and we will continue to do so," he said.

Mottaki said Iran would prefer a diplomatic route, but if confronted with military action that could change. In that case, he said, "politicians must step aside a bit and allow the military to make decisions."

Iran's top diplomat is in New York for talks at the United Nations. He hinted there has been diplomatic progress on easing tensions with the West at a time of heightened concern that Israel might be preparing a military strike on Iran's nuclear enrichment facilities.

His visit also comes on the heels of a report by Seymour Hersh in The New Yorker that the United States has stepped up covert action intended to destabilize Iran's religious leadership.

Last month, the U.S. and its partners offered a package to Iran that included assistance for its civil nuclear program and development aid in exchange for an agreement by Iran to end nuclear enrichment. Iran claims that program is for peaceful purposes; western powers say they suspect its true aim is to develop nuclear weapons.

The European Union's foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, presented the package on behalf of the permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany.

Mottaki said Iran's was still examining the proposal and would respond shortly. Alluding to news reports that Iran's answer would come in two weeks, he added: "Maybe even sooner."

He also praised as "very constructive" Solano's response to Iran's proposals on the subject. Mottaki said he saw "significant capacities" being explored in the latest round talks that were not present earlier.

Mottaki, in the interview conducted in New York, struck a generally conciliatory tone toward the United States, saying political and diplomatic solutions were Iran's preference and that he sees improvements in the U.S. tone recently as well as in some recent diplomatic offerings to Iran.

But if Iran is attacked, he said, it would respond as "any independent country."

He also blamed the recent rise in oil prices globally in part on political tensions in the Middle East.

In Washington, Bush said all options are on the table with regard to Iran and its nuclear program, but said military action would not be his first choice in the months remaining in his presidency.

"I have made it very clear to all parties that the first option ought to be solve this problem diplomatically," Bush said. "And the best way to solve it diplomatically is for the United States to work with other nations to send a focused message - and that is, you will be isolated, and you will have economic hardship, if you continue to enrich."

In Madrid, Iran's oil minister warned Wednesday that an attack on his country would provoke a fierce response "that nobody can imagine." Minister Gholam Hossein Nozari said, however, that Tehran would not cut oil deliveries and would continue supplying the market even if struck by Israel or the United States.

A senior U.S. military commander said Wednesday that Washington would not permit Iran to choke off the Strait of Hormuz.

Vice Admiral Kevin Cosgriff, commander of the 5th Fleet, said any such attempt by Iran would be "saying to the world that 40 per cent of oil is now held hostage by a single country."

"We will not allow Iran to close it," he told reporters.

Mottaki said he believes Iran is misunderstood and misrepresented, and again denied any ambition by Tehran for nuclear weapons. He held out the possibility of exchanging interest sections with the United States and with direct flights between Iran and the United States.

"Both discussions can be examined by both countries and people," he said.

Security for Costs in Civil Appeals

Security for costs on appeal will be ordered rarely. The provisions of Rule 61.06 are quite restrictive and the Court will hesitate to risk stifling an otherwise meritorious appeal by ordering costs. In Ontario the fairly recent decision in Chuang v Royal College (2005), 77 O.R. (3d) 280 makes it clear that an unpaid cost award will not, by itself, justify security, but where that is combined with bad conduct relating to the case security for costs may well be appropriate.

The recent Nova Scotia Court of Appeal decision in Smith v. Michelin North America (Canada) Inc., 2008 NSCA 52 (CanLII) reflects a similar approach:

[33] To obtain an order for security, the applicant generally must demonstrate that special circumstances exist to justify it. This usually requires showing more than a risk that the appellant will be unable to pay a costs award made on appeal. It is usually necessary for respondents to show that an appellant has acted in an insolvent manner towards them such as, for example, by failing to pay an award of costs made at trial: see, e.g. Leddicote v. Nova Scotia (Attorney General), 2001 NSCA 152 (CanLII), 2001 NSCA 152, 198 N.S.R. (2d) 101 (C.A. Chambers); Branch Tree Nursery and Landscaping Ltd. v. J & P. Reid Developments Ltd., 2006 NSCA 131 (CanLII), 2006 NSCA 131, 250 N.S.R. (2d) 35 (Chambers); Williams Lake Conservation Co. v. Halifax (Regional Municipality), 2005 NSCA 44 (CanLII), 2005 NSCA 44, 231 N.S.R. (2d) 320 (C.A. Chambers); Frost v. Herman (1976), 18 N.S.R. (2d) 167 (N.S.S.C.A.D. Chambers); Arnoldin Construction & Forms Ltd. v. Alta Surety Co. 1994 CanLII 4089 (NS C.A.), (1994), 134 N.S.R. (2d) 318 (C.A. Chambers).

[34] In exercising the discretion to make an order for security, the court proceeds with caution because of the risk that the order may effectively stifle the appeal: 2301072 Nova Scotia Ltd. v. Lienaux, 2007 NSCA 28 (CanLII), 2007 NSCA 28, 252 N.S.R. (2d) 193 (C.A. Chambers) at para. 6.