A Canadian Press story today speaks of a man who was unsuccessfully tasered
(have you noticed the police phrasing for when someone is shot with a taser: 'the directed energy device was deployed'? It sounds like a Space Shuttle launching a satellite. But to this story).
Police say the man was brandishing a knife outside of a home when they responded to a call shortly after 5 a.m. this morning.
Constable Jacqueline Chaput says the suspect was first tasered unsuccessfully, and then shot with a gun by an officer.
Const. Chaput says she's doesn't know why the taser did not subdue the man.
The man later died of his injuries. The death is a sadness for the man who died, and his family, but also for the police officer who tried to avoid killing anyone and thought (hoped?) the taser would work.
I have a client, who admitted was at the time using a variety of drugs, legal and illegal, who was repeated tasered without apparent effect. Another client assures me that a heavy leather jacket will stop a taser cold.
The point here is not to provide 'internet tips on getting around a taser' but rather to note that a taser is not a perfect weapon.
Sometimes it kills the person shot; other times it does little or nothing. That doesn't mean it should be put away (the alternative of shooting someone is also problematic) but rather that the taser's risks and limits should be remembered.
James Morton
1100 - 5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
Saturday, August 2, 2008
Green Shift? Which Policy is right?
It's a pity that the climate is a political issue -- it really should be a technical one. Presumably everyone wants a world we can live in for the long term...
Expert report questions Tory greenhouse-gas claims
By Steve Rennie, The Canadian Press
OTTAWA - The Harper government might be overestimating how much its climate-change plan will lower greenhouse gases, says a federal advisory panel.
Flaws in government calculations could skew projections around the Tories' green policies, the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy says in a report to be released Saturday.
"Some problems persist with how individual policy measures are calculated and with their projected emission reductions," the report says.
Full story here:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080801/national/climate_change_report
Expert report questions Tory greenhouse-gas claims
By Steve Rennie, The Canadian Press
OTTAWA - The Harper government might be overestimating how much its climate-change plan will lower greenhouse gases, says a federal advisory panel.
Flaws in government calculations could skew projections around the Tories' green policies, the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy says in a report to be released Saturday.
"Some problems persist with how individual policy measures are calculated and with their projected emission reductions," the report says.
Full story here:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080801/national/climate_change_report
Perjury and police
Perjury: Is it different for cops?
Interesting story in the Star today – my sense is that police don’t lie very often – they have their own impressions but that’s a different matter. Regardless this is a good story worth reading.
Cases show double standard, critics say
Aug 02, 2008
Betsy Powell Peter Small Staff reporters
A Toronto judge acquits two men of firearms charges, finding that police testimony was "unreliable, likely false." In another courtroom, a judge convicts a prominent community activist of perjury, ruling that she deliberately misled the court.
Full story here:
http://www.thestar.com/article/471623
Interesting story in the Star today – my sense is that police don’t lie very often – they have their own impressions but that’s a different matter. Regardless this is a good story worth reading.
Cases show double standard, critics say
Aug 02, 2008
Betsy Powell Peter Small Staff reporters
A Toronto judge acquits two men of firearms charges, finding that police testimony was "unreliable, likely false." In another courtroom, a judge convicts a prominent community activist of perjury, ruling that she deliberately misled the court.
Full story here:
http://www.thestar.com/article/471623
Torture
How easily the rule of law can be manipulated in a democracy:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/03/books/review/Brinkley-t.html?_r=1&8bu&emc=bua1&oref=slogin
James Morton
1100 - 5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
Interspecies love
Golden retriever adopts tiger cubs at Kansas zoo
Associated PressJuly 30, 2008
CANEY - A dog at a southeast Kansas zoo has adopted three tiger cubs abandoned by their mother. Safari Zoological Park owner Tom Harvey said the tiger cubs were born Sunday, but the mother had problems with them.
A day later, the mother stopped caring for them. Harvey said the cubs were wandering around, trying to find their birth mother, who wouldn't pay attention to them. That's when the cubs were put in the care of a golden retriever, Harvey said.
...
The Safari Zoological Park is a licensed facility open since 1989 and specializes in endangered species.It has leopards, lions, cougars, baboons, ring-tailed lemurs, bears and other animals. It currently has seven white tigers and two orange tigers.Because white tigers are inbred from the first specimen found more than a half-century ago, they are not as genetically stable as orange tigers.The zoo's previous litter of white tiger cubs was born April 23, although one of the three has since gone to a private zoo near Oklahoma City.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080731/...adopted_tigers
Associated PressJuly 30, 2008
CANEY - A dog at a southeast Kansas zoo has adopted three tiger cubs abandoned by their mother. Safari Zoological Park owner Tom Harvey said the tiger cubs were born Sunday, but the mother had problems with them.
A day later, the mother stopped caring for them. Harvey said the cubs were wandering around, trying to find their birth mother, who wouldn't pay attention to them. That's when the cubs were put in the care of a golden retriever, Harvey said.
...
The Safari Zoological Park is a licensed facility open since 1989 and specializes in endangered species.It has leopards, lions, cougars, baboons, ring-tailed lemurs, bears and other animals. It currently has seven white tigers and two orange tigers.Because white tigers are inbred from the first specimen found more than a half-century ago, they are not as genetically stable as orange tigers.The zoo's previous litter of white tiger cubs was born April 23, although one of the three has since gone to a private zoo near Oklahoma City.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080731/...adopted_tigers
Pardons
Yesterday's Supreme Court decision in
Montréal (City) v. Quebec (Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse), 2008 SCC 48 deals with pardons and their effect. As clients often ask what a pardon does the decision, though arising under Quebec human rights legislation is important.
Montréal (City) v. Quebec (Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse), 2008 SCC 48 deals with pardons and their effect. As clients often ask what a pardon does the decision, though arising under Quebec human rights legislation is important.
The case summary follows;
In 1991, N pleaded guilty to a charge of theft in summary conviction proceedings and was conditionally discharged pursuant to s. 730 (then 736) of the Criminal Code. In 1995, she applied for employment as a police officer with the Service de police de la Communauté urbaine de Montréal, but her application was rejected because she did not satisfy the criterion of "good moral character" imposed by the Police Act and the by-law respecting hiring standards adopted pursuant to it. N informed the personnel officer that she had been pardoned. Section 6.1 of the Criminal Records Act grants an automatic pardon once three years have elapsed since a conditional discharge. The SPCUM stood by its decision. N complained to the Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse. She alleged that the SPCUM had, contrary to s. 18.2 of the Charter of human rights and freedoms, refused to hire her owing to the mere fact that she had been found guilty of a criminal offence even though she had been pardoned. The Human Rights Tribunal held that the SPCUM had infringed s. 18.2 of the Charter, and it awarded moral damages. The Court of Appeal affirmed that judgment.
The rejection of N.'s application infringed the Charter. Her statutory pardon is a "pardon" within the meaning of s. 18.2 of the Charter. Since the Quebec legislature has neither defined the scope of its reference to the federal law respecting pardons nor limited that reference in time, neither its use of that word in 1982 nor the legislative history limits the pardon referred to in s. 18.2 to the federal procedure or administrative mechanisms that existed at that time. The 1992 amendments to the Criminal Records Act relating to the pardon resulting from a discharge were dictated by a concern to remove the requirement that discharged persons apply for a pardon in the same way as those who were convicted. This purpose is pursued in the legislation by providing that a pardon has effects that apply to discharged persons as well as to convicted persons: it helps them obliterate the stigma attached to the finding of guilt. Police officers can benefit from the protection of s. 18.2 of the Charter because they hold employment. They are subject to their superiors, to the executive power of the state and to their employer's general supervisory powers.
Under the Police Act, being of good moral character and not having a criminal record are separate criteria. The facts giving rise to a conviction are therefore on their own an insufficient basis for rejecting a candidate for not being of good moral character. However, a pardon does not erase the past. An employer is therefore entitled, in evaluating a candidate, to consider the facts that resulted in a finding of guilt. It can establish that a candidate was rejected or an employee dismissed for not being of "good moral character". However, such a defence requires proof of more than just a connection between the finding of guilt and the employment and may not be raised if the decision was based solely on the fact that the person has been found guilty of an offence. In the instant case, the rejection of N's application was based solely on a review of the file on which the finding of guilt was based. No further inquiry or interviews were conducted that would have made it possible to counter the presumption that the pardon had restored N's moral integrity.
The legislature has, by enacting s. 18.2, created a special rule for the stigma attached to findings of guilt. This rule cannot be disregarded by applying the more general rule in s. 20. The protection of s. 20, which relates to requirements of employment, is broader in several respects than that of s. 18.2. It encompasses occupational requirements that go beyond a person's integrity or character. However, an employer that imposes a requirement that is prima facie discriminatory must prove that it would suffer undue hardship if the requirement were not met. Section 18.2 does not require such proof. Where two different rules exist, a special rule prevails over a general one. To accept that s. 20 allows the employer to base its decision on the mere fact that the person was found guilty without taking the pardon into account would mean that a justification that is not applicable under s. 18.2 can be raised under s. 20.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Happy August Holiday -- Whatever You Call It!
The first Monday in August is a holiday all across Ontario.
But the holiday is called different things in different areas.In fact, the first Monday in August is a municipal holiday.
The Civic Holiday is not designated as an official statutory holiday by provincial legislation. In the past few years, a number of private member's bills have been introduced in the Ontario Legislature attempting to make it official, but none has passed to date.
The concept of a midsummer holiday in Toronto dates as far back as 1869. In Toronto today, the holiday is celebrated as Simcoe Day, but according to recent studies, only 16% of the population actually knows that.
While other Ontario municipalities have chosen to honour a significant local person or organization to help focus the celebration (see a selection in the chronology below), in most municipalities the day is referred to as the August Civic Holiday.
The table below presents a selection of events in the history of the August Civic Holiday in Ontario.
1869 - Toronto City Council originated a midsummer holiday for a "day of recreation".
1871 - A Bank Holiday was established by the House of Commons in England. Sir John Lubbock declared that Toronto in Canada had found an August holiday "advisable and satisfactory."
1875 - Perhaps after the precedent set by Sir John Lubbock, Toronto City Council fixed the first Monday in August as a Civic Holiday.
1968 - Toronto City Council officially called the civic holiday Simcoe Day after Major-General John Graves Simcoe, who was appointed the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada on September 12th, 1791. He convened the first Legislative Assembly and established York (now Toronto) as the capital of the province. One of his crowning achievements was to begin the phasing out of slavery in Upper Canada, which officially ended in 1810 - 23 years before it was abolished in the British Empire and 55 years before the Emancipation Proclamation in the United States.
1980 - Burlington celebrates the holiday as "Joseph Brant Day." Joseph Brant was a Mohawk Chief who became known for his treaty negotiations and loyalty to the British.
1982 - The City of Brantford adopted a policy that stated that the civic holiday be named "Founders' Day". Each year, the Brantford Heritage Committee submits a report to City Council with the name or organization that is to be recognized on that day.
1983 - Oshawa City Council passed a resolution to recognize the holiday as "McLaughlin Day" in honour of the late Colonel R.S. McLaughlin, who brought General Motors to Oshawa. See Parkwood Estate and Oshawa - still motoring after 75 years.
1996 - The City of Ottawa passed a by-law proclaiming the Civic Holiday as "Colonel By Day". John By (1779-1836) was a British Lieutenant-Colonel and military engineer. His most noteworthy achievement was the building of the Rideau Canal and Bytown (now Ottawa) was named after him.1998 - Sarnia City Council passed a resolution declaring the holiday "Alexander Mackenzie Day". The Honourable Alexander Mackenzie was Canada's second Prime Minister from 1873-1878.
1999 - The Town of Cobourg proclaimed the holiday as "James Cockburn Day". James Cockburn was a father of Confederation and represented the riding of Northumberland West in the Legislative Assembly of Canada, 1861-67.2006 - Guelph City Council passed a by-law proclaiming the holiday as "John Galt Day" in honour of its founder, Scottish novelist and businessman, who founded the City of Guelph on April 23, 1827 when he was superintendant of the Canada Company.
But the holiday is called different things in different areas.In fact, the first Monday in August is a municipal holiday.
The Civic Holiday is not designated as an official statutory holiday by provincial legislation. In the past few years, a number of private member's bills have been introduced in the Ontario Legislature attempting to make it official, but none has passed to date.
The concept of a midsummer holiday in Toronto dates as far back as 1869. In Toronto today, the holiday is celebrated as Simcoe Day, but according to recent studies, only 16% of the population actually knows that.
While other Ontario municipalities have chosen to honour a significant local person or organization to help focus the celebration (see a selection in the chronology below), in most municipalities the day is referred to as the August Civic Holiday.
The table below presents a selection of events in the history of the August Civic Holiday in Ontario.
1869 - Toronto City Council originated a midsummer holiday for a "day of recreation".
1871 - A Bank Holiday was established by the House of Commons in England. Sir John Lubbock declared that Toronto in Canada had found an August holiday "advisable and satisfactory."
1875 - Perhaps after the precedent set by Sir John Lubbock, Toronto City Council fixed the first Monday in August as a Civic Holiday.
1968 - Toronto City Council officially called the civic holiday Simcoe Day after Major-General John Graves Simcoe, who was appointed the first Lieutenant Governor of Upper Canada on September 12th, 1791. He convened the first Legislative Assembly and established York (now Toronto) as the capital of the province. One of his crowning achievements was to begin the phasing out of slavery in Upper Canada, which officially ended in 1810 - 23 years before it was abolished in the British Empire and 55 years before the Emancipation Proclamation in the United States.
1980 - Burlington celebrates the holiday as "Joseph Brant Day." Joseph Brant was a Mohawk Chief who became known for his treaty negotiations and loyalty to the British.
1982 - The City of Brantford adopted a policy that stated that the civic holiday be named "Founders' Day". Each year, the Brantford Heritage Committee submits a report to City Council with the name or organization that is to be recognized on that day.
1983 - Oshawa City Council passed a resolution to recognize the holiday as "McLaughlin Day" in honour of the late Colonel R.S. McLaughlin, who brought General Motors to Oshawa. See Parkwood Estate and Oshawa - still motoring after 75 years.
1996 - The City of Ottawa passed a by-law proclaiming the Civic Holiday as "Colonel By Day". John By (1779-1836) was a British Lieutenant-Colonel and military engineer. His most noteworthy achievement was the building of the Rideau Canal and Bytown (now Ottawa) was named after him.1998 - Sarnia City Council passed a resolution declaring the holiday "Alexander Mackenzie Day". The Honourable Alexander Mackenzie was Canada's second Prime Minister from 1873-1878.
1999 - The Town of Cobourg proclaimed the holiday as "James Cockburn Day". James Cockburn was a father of Confederation and represented the riding of Northumberland West in the Legislative Assembly of Canada, 1861-67.2006 - Guelph City Council passed a by-law proclaiming the holiday as "John Galt Day" in honour of its founder, Scottish novelist and businessman, who founded the City of Guelph on April 23, 1827 when he was superintendant of the Canada Company.
Remorse and Crime
David Horton points out that whenever there is a court case involving violence the journalists always want to know whether the criminal has shown remorse.
It is part of the package of law reporting (did the victim cry; was the sentence too light - of course it was; did victim's family achieve closure; did the expression on the criminal's face change when the sentence was read out; will the lawyers appeal; did the criminal show remorse) from the media.
Mr. Horton raises this point in another context, but it has some relevance especially with the renewed 'tough on crime' approach the Federal government is taking.
I have little sympathy with the concept of giving criminals endless second chances -- but I also see no point in being tough on crime for ideology only. Crime should be seen as a costly social ill and dealt with in the most effective manner possible. To say "we were elected to be tough on crime and will be regardless of the evidence" is foolish -- government is there to govern. Leave blind faith the credulous religions.
Remorse, in such a context, is mere theatre. In a typical case a criminal is sorry ... that they were caught. And so remorse is artificial at best. To demand it as a normal part of the criminal process (a 'healing' as it is sometimes called) is to mistake theory for reality.
If expressions of remorse make crime less likely to re occur I'm all for them. But otherwise let's treat crime in an evidence based way and impose such measures -- whether punishment or treatment or just plain separation of criminals from society -- as limits crime.
James Morton
1100 - 5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
It is part of the package of law reporting (did the victim cry; was the sentence too light - of course it was; did victim's family achieve closure; did the expression on the criminal's face change when the sentence was read out; will the lawyers appeal; did the criminal show remorse) from the media.
Mr. Horton raises this point in another context, but it has some relevance especially with the renewed 'tough on crime' approach the Federal government is taking.
I have little sympathy with the concept of giving criminals endless second chances -- but I also see no point in being tough on crime for ideology only. Crime should be seen as a costly social ill and dealt with in the most effective manner possible. To say "we were elected to be tough on crime and will be regardless of the evidence" is foolish -- government is there to govern. Leave blind faith the credulous religions.
Remorse, in such a context, is mere theatre. In a typical case a criminal is sorry ... that they were caught. And so remorse is artificial at best. To demand it as a normal part of the criminal process (a 'healing' as it is sometimes called) is to mistake theory for reality.
If expressions of remorse make crime less likely to re occur I'm all for them. But otherwise let's treat crime in an evidence based way and impose such measures -- whether punishment or treatment or just plain separation of criminals from society -- as limits crime.
James Morton
1100 - 5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
Today's solar eclipse
The very first scholarly article I published was on an eclipse in 1978 (?). It came out in an English journal called the Observatory.
The picture here is of people watching a full solar eclipse in a yacht-club on the bank of River Ob in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, this morning, August 1, 2008.
For the thousands who flocked from around the world to Novosibirsk, awe mixed with excitement as day turned into night. They gazed in wonder as an eerie silence descended on the Siberian city and gusts of unusually strong wind tore through the crowd. Birds stopped chirping and the temperature suddenly dropped.
Huge Losses At GM
Maybe A Good Reason For Harper To Have An Election Now Before GM Fails???
GM posts $15.5 billion loss, as sales sputter
DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp posted a $15.5 billion quarterly loss on Friday, as North American sales dropped by 20 percent and plunging prices for SUVs prompted deep charges for its auto finance business.
See story here:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/080801/business/business_gm_col
GM posts $15.5 billion loss, as sales sputter
DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Corp posted a $15.5 billion quarterly loss on Friday, as North American sales dropped by 20 percent and plunging prices for SUVs prompted deep charges for its auto finance business.
See story here:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/080801/business/business_gm_col
Murder In Oshawa -- A Cold Case Freezes Over
The Oshawa cold case has come to an abrupt halt. As usual there is more to the story than at first appears.
The Crown has withdrawn the second degree murder charge laid just four months ago against the former next-door neighbour of Beverly Lynn Smith.
The 22-year-old woman was killed in her north Oshawa home in December 1974 while her 10-month-old daughter slept in the next room.
The Crown attorney told the justice of the peace in an Oshawa courtroom, Thursday, that there is no reasonable prospect of conviction and with that the charge against 56-year-old Alan Smith -- no relation to the victim -- was dropped.
A team of detectives and uniformed officers has reinterviewed dozens of the original witnesses from the 1970's. One of them was Linda Smith, the ex-wife of Alan Smith. They lived together at the time of the murder and she was with him when he found Beverly Smith's body.
And here is where the story gets complex.
Durham police have since charged her with obstruction of justice and while they are not saying why, there are two options.
One, she lied (maybe) to the police and that led to the murder charge.
Or the police messed up and want someone to blame.
Either option is bad -- and if the basis of the charge was a lie that unravelled, why didn't the police unravel the lie before charging?
I suppose that may be holding the police to an overly high standard but this case was hardly breaking news -- caution was appropriate.
The Crown has withdrawn the second degree murder charge laid just four months ago against the former next-door neighbour of Beverly Lynn Smith.
The 22-year-old woman was killed in her north Oshawa home in December 1974 while her 10-month-old daughter slept in the next room.
The Crown attorney told the justice of the peace in an Oshawa courtroom, Thursday, that there is no reasonable prospect of conviction and with that the charge against 56-year-old Alan Smith -- no relation to the victim -- was dropped.
A team of detectives and uniformed officers has reinterviewed dozens of the original witnesses from the 1970's. One of them was Linda Smith, the ex-wife of Alan Smith. They lived together at the time of the murder and she was with him when he found Beverly Smith's body.
And here is where the story gets complex.
Durham police have since charged her with obstruction of justice and while they are not saying why, there are two options.
One, she lied (maybe) to the police and that led to the murder charge.
Or the police messed up and want someone to blame.
Either option is bad -- and if the basis of the charge was a lie that unravelled, why didn't the police unravel the lie before charging?
I suppose that may be holding the police to an overly high standard but this case was hardly breaking news -- caution was appropriate.
Peace, Order and Good Government?
Operation Golden Shield is a massive surveillance system tied into a central database containing photos and information on every Chinese citizen.
This intelligence project will give the Chinese government the unprecedented ability to track the movements and activities of its citizens.
The Chinese city of Shenzhen is serving as the testing grounds for Golden Shield. With more than 200,000 surveillance cameras already installed -- and that number expected to rise to two million cameras in three years, Shenzhen's citizens will likely be the most "watched" people in the world.
Every camera in the city will be networked to one central location that will be armed with the latest facial recognition software from L-1 Identity Solutions. The system will be able to scan a face and match it to a picture from the central database in a matter of seconds.
To supplement the cameras, Chinese citizens will be required to carry electronic national ID cards that are also linked to the central database, giving China an unprecedented ability to track its citizens.
Crime or, for the Chinese government likely more importantly, dissent will be virtually impossible under such watchful eyes.
James Morton
1100 - 5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
This intelligence project will give the Chinese government the unprecedented ability to track the movements and activities of its citizens.
The Chinese city of Shenzhen is serving as the testing grounds for Golden Shield. With more than 200,000 surveillance cameras already installed -- and that number expected to rise to two million cameras in three years, Shenzhen's citizens will likely be the most "watched" people in the world.
Every camera in the city will be networked to one central location that will be armed with the latest facial recognition software from L-1 Identity Solutions. The system will be able to scan a face and match it to a picture from the central database in a matter of seconds.
To supplement the cameras, Chinese citizens will be required to carry electronic national ID cards that are also linked to the central database, giving China an unprecedented ability to track its citizens.
Crime or, for the Chinese government likely more importantly, dissent will be virtually impossible under such watchful eyes.
James Morton
1100 - 5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
Thursday, July 31, 2008
The interpretation of bilingual statutes
Today's Supreme Court of Canada decision in R. v. S.A.C., 2008 SCC 47 deals specifically with the proper interpretation of s. 39(1)(c) of the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
In reviewing the statute the Court had to consider a potential discrepancy between English and French versions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, s. 39.
The specific decision is of limited importance but the issue of interpreting bilingual statutes is broadly important.
All federal and much provincial legislation and regulation is bilingual and discrepancies between the English and French meanings are more common than might be expected (readers may recall that even s. 24(2) of the Charter, surely a document written with great care, varies between the English and French text).
The Court writes:
[14] The interpretation of bilingual statutes begins with a search for the shared meaning of the English and French versions. This Court has on a number of occasions discussed the appropriate approach for determining the shared meaning of English and French legislative provisions: see e.g., R. v. Daoust, 2004 SCC 6 (CanLII), [2004] 1 S.C.R. 217, 2004 SCC 6; Schreiber v. Canada (Attorney General), 2002 SCC 62 (CanLII), [2002] 3 S.C.R. 269, 2002 SCC 62. In those cases, the Court adopted a two-step approach.
[15] The first step is to determine whether there is discordance between the English and French versions of the provision and, if so, whether a shared meaning can be found. Where a provision may have different meanings, the court has to determine what kind of discrepancy is involved. There are three possibilities. First, the English and French versions may be irreconcilable. In such cases, it will be impossible to find a shared meaning and the ordinary rules of interpretation will accordingly apply: Daoust, at para. 27; P.-A. Côté, The Interpretation of Legislation in Canada (3rd ed. 2000), at p. 327. Second, one version may be ambiguous while the other is plain and unequivocal. The shared meaning will then be that of the version that is plain and unambiguous: Daoust, at para. 28; Côté, at p. 327. Third, one version may have a broader meaning than the other. According to LeBel J. in Schreiber, at para. 56, "where one of the two versions is broader than the other, the common meaning would favour the more restricted or limited meaning".
[16] At the second step, it must be determined whether the shared meaning is consistent with Parliament's intent: Daoust, at para. 30. In the penal context, courts must also ensure that any ambiguity is resolved in favour of the accused whose liberty is at stake (Marcotte v. Deputy Attorney General for Canada, 1974 CanLII 1 (S.C.C.), [1976] 1 S.C.R. 108).
James Morton
1100 - 5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
There is water on Mars
JILL SERJEANT
Reuters
Thu, 31 Jul 2008
LOS ANGELES — NASA scientists said on Thursday they had definitive proof that water exists on Mars after further tests on ice found on the planet in June by the Phoenix Mars Lander.
Full story here:
http://m.avantgo.com/ui?ag_url=52616e646f6d4956246a69659f1afca49da1b7f8798ec5ffeb0f1f5781a6f4e83f601f5b78919c2f101443bdae260edf8259e06f1b20e167d232108dd397f22e0bd8fc51b103fc261f2295bd6b871b38&ag_channel=4179&showNav=0&ms=globeandmail
Harper dares Liberals to bring down government
Sabre rattling? Who knows? We have to have an election eventually!
By Bruce Cheadle, The Canadian Press
By Bruce Cheadle, The Canadian Press
OTTAWA - Prime Minister Stephen Harper has set up another election stare-down with the Liberals, warning that he will be holding confidence votes in the Commons this autumn and daring his opponents to bring him down.
A day after challenging Stephane Dion to "fish or cut bait," Harper said Thursday that he'll be providing the Liberal leader a chance to do just that.
Full Story Here:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080731/national/harper_electionEzra Pound
"Any general statement is like a check drawn on a bank. Its value depends on what is there to meet it."
Whatever you think of his time at St. Elizabeths Hospital he was a great thinker.
You can listen to him speak here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/audiointerviews/profilepages/pounde1.shtml
OK, I was wrong
It now seems the killing on the Greyhound was followed by a decapitation.
Apparently the killer started stabbing his neighbor and everyone fled the bus -- no one tried to stop him???
They then locked the killer in with his victim giving him time to finish the butchery.
G-d knows what I would do; but I hope I'd try to stop the killer even if it was too late to save the victim
Apparently the killer started stabbing his neighbor and everyone fled the bus -- no one tried to stop him???
They then locked the killer in with his victim giving him time to finish the butchery.
G-d knows what I would do; but I hope I'd try to stop the killer even if it was too late to save the victim
Administrative Hearings and Disclosure
Today's Court of Appeal decision in 1657575 Ontario Inc. v. Hamilton (City), 2008 ONCA 570 provides useful guidance regarding fairness and the need to make full disclosure.
In short, where there has been a material failure to make full disclosure an administrative determination will be so tainted as to be set aside without considering whether the result would have been the same had there been no unfairness.
The Court writes:
b) Procedural fairness and the disclosure obligation
[24] The extent of the procedural rights encompassed in the duty of fairness depends on the content of the particular statute or regulation and on the nature of the rights affected. The criteria to be considered in determining the content of the duty of procedural fairness include:
(a) the nature of the decision being made and the process followed in making it;
(b) the nature of the statutory schemes and the terms of the statute pursuant to which the body operates;
(c) the importance of the decision to the individual affected;
(d) the legitimate expectations of the person challenging the decision; and
(e) choices of procedure made by the agency itself.
See Baker v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [1999] 2 S.C.R. 817 at paras. 21-27.
[25] Disclosure is a basic element of natural justice at common law and, in the administrative context, procedural fairness generally requires disclosure unless some competing interest prevails. As discussed in Jones & de Villars, Principles of Administrative Law, 4th ed. ( Scarborough, Ont.: Carswell, 2004) at 258:
The courts have consistently held that a fair hearing can only be had if the persons affected by the tribunal's decision know the case to be made against them. Only in this circumstance can they correct evidence prejudicial to their case and bring evidence to prove their position. Without knowing what might be said against them, people cannot properly present their case.
See also May v. Ferndale Institution, [2005] 3 S.C.R. 809 at paras. 92-93.
[26] As noted by Lane J. in Waxman v. Ontario (Racing Commission) (2006), 216 O.A.C. 353 at para. 11 (Div. Ct.), the failure to make proper disclosure has the effect of rendering the process "irretrievably tainted with unfairness from the outset."
[27] In cases involving breaches of procedural fairness, the court will generally set aside the decision without considering whether the result would have been the same had there been no unfairness. This principle was recognized by the Supreme Court in Cardinal v. Director of Kent Institution, [1985] 2 S.C.R. 643 at 661, in which LeDain J. rejected the suggestion by counsel that a relevant consideration in the procedural fairness analysis is whether the holding of a hearing would have persuaded authorities to change their minds on the decision made:
[T]he denial of a right to a fair hearing must always render a decision invalid, whether or not it may appear to a reviewing court that the hearing would likely have resulted in a different decision. The right to a fair hearing must be regarded as an independent, unqualified right which finds its essential justification in the sense of procedural justice which any person affected by an administrative decision is entitled to have. It is not for the court to deny that right and sense of justice on the basis of speculation as to what the result might have been had there been a hearing.
[28] In my view, therefore, the central issue for consideration in this case is the impact that the failure to make disclosure had on the appearance of justice and the fairness of the hearing. I need not consider whether, had full disclosure been provided, the appellant would still have been unable to persuade the licensing committee members to reach a different decision.
Tropical Fish
People from the former Soviet Union are often very fond of tropical fish -- why that is I don't know but an aquarium is almost a cultural icon, at least among the former Soviet Union types I know.Anyway, that introduction given, here is a picture of Anton's fishtank!
Liberal Party of Australia
Here's an interesting website for political junkies:
http://www.liberal.org.au/
The particular policies of the Australian Liberal Party seem pretty well what you'd expect from a centre party. What's of greater interest is the way the website is set up. The opening graphic is very strong and speaks to the concerns of ordinary voters -- gas prices, grocery prices and interest rates. The page then makes suggestions (cutting gas taxes for example).
Whether these are the right specific policies isn't the issue; the issue is how good the website is communicating those policies.
http://www.liberal.org.au/
The particular policies of the Australian Liberal Party seem pretty well what you'd expect from a centre party. What's of greater interest is the way the website is set up. The opening graphic is very strong and speaks to the concerns of ordinary voters -- gas prices, grocery prices and interest rates. The page then makes suggestions (cutting gas taxes for example).
Whether these are the right specific policies isn't the issue; the issue is how good the website is communicating those policies.
BENEDICT XVI'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR AUGUST
VATICAN CITY, 31 JUL 2008 (VIS) - Pope Benedict's general prayer intention for August is: "That the human family may know how to respect God's design for the world and thus become ever more aware of the great gift of God which Creation represents for us".
His mission intention is: "That the answer of the entire people of God to the common vocation to sanctity and mission may be promoted and fostered, with careful discernment of the charisms and a constant commitment to spiritual and cultural formation".
Decapitation reported on bus in Manitoba
This dreadful story sounds like something out of a bad movie.
I suspect there was a brutal murder but doubt the decapitation -- an actual decapitation is extremely difficult (not that I have tried it myself) and is rarely seen outside cinema.
News reports say:
Story here:
I suspect there was a brutal murder but doubt the decapitation -- an actual decapitation is extremely difficult (not that I have tried it myself) and is rarely seen outside cinema.
News reports say:
Decapitation reported on bus in Manitoba
Bradley Bouzane , Canwest News Service Published: Thursday, July 31, 2008
A man was stabbed and decapitated aboard a Greyhound bus Wednesday night near Portage la Prairie, Man., according to reports.
It is believed the victim was stabbed repeatedly as he slept on the bus and later decapitated. A witness reported seeing someone on the bus holding a human head.
Story here:
http://www.canada.com/topics/news/national/story.html?id=7886faf4-e8e9-4217-ac1d-66563d16ec9f
Police Raids
Radio reports this morning say there have been a series of raids across the Greater Toronto Area, perhaps for guns and gangs.
Presumably these raids were long planned and coordinated.
Odd then that they took place on the Thursday before a long weekend -- those arrested will likely not be able to get a bail hearing tomorrow -- especially if guns are involved. Weekend and holiday bail courts generally just adjourn matters so the net result will be bail hearings on Tuesday or Wednesday.
So the accused will have some time to ponder whether they should try to make a deal (and turn Queen's evidence) or exercise their right to silence.
This is a pattern I have seen before -- long planned arrests just before a long weekend. Some might suggest the timing was intended.
Presumably these raids were long planned and coordinated.
Odd then that they took place on the Thursday before a long weekend -- those arrested will likely not be able to get a bail hearing tomorrow -- especially if guns are involved. Weekend and holiday bail courts generally just adjourn matters so the net result will be bail hearings on Tuesday or Wednesday.
So the accused will have some time to ponder whether they should try to make a deal (and turn Queen's evidence) or exercise their right to silence.
This is a pattern I have seen before -- long planned arrests just before a long weekend. Some might suggest the timing was intended.
100 Tyrants
Imagine you are merely a rather mean spirited autocrat -- and you don't make the cut as one of the 100 "most evil despots and dictators" -- picture your disappointment!Wednesday, July 30, 2008
FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin -- A Website For the True Crime Buff
If you are interested in real police stories there's an interesting website maintained by the FBI you might want to look at:
http://www.fbi.gov/publications/leb/2008/leb08.htm
The FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin (ISSN-0014-5688) is published monthly by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is well written and, while clearly aimed at professionals, not jargon filled.
A brief passage from one of the articles in the May issue gives a sense of the bulletin:
"FATAL ENCOUNTERS
In Killed in the Line of Duty, the authors obtained information from forensic evidence, police reports, and interviews with the offenders convicted of killing the officers. In examining the cases involving traffic stops, they found no evidence to suggest that any of the officers realized that they were dealing with anything more serious than a traffic infraction.
One officer was killed prior to exiting his patrol vehicle by an offender who opened fire with a rifle. In another incident, as an officer attempted to exit his cruiser, an offender shot and killed him with a handgun. This offender stated that he deliberately positioned his vehicle in a manner that would afford him the opportunity to shoot the officer. Both offenders had preplanned these attacks because they either were wanted or believed themselves wanted for felony violations."
http://www.fbi.gov/publications/leb/2008/leb08.htm
The FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin (ISSN-0014-5688) is published monthly by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It is well written and, while clearly aimed at professionals, not jargon filled.
A brief passage from one of the articles in the May issue gives a sense of the bulletin:
"FATAL ENCOUNTERS
In Killed in the Line of Duty, the authors obtained information from forensic evidence, police reports, and interviews with the offenders convicted of killing the officers. In examining the cases involving traffic stops, they found no evidence to suggest that any of the officers realized that they were dealing with anything more serious than a traffic infraction.
One officer was killed prior to exiting his patrol vehicle by an offender who opened fire with a rifle. In another incident, as an officer attempted to exit his cruiser, an offender shot and killed him with a handgun. This offender stated that he deliberately positioned his vehicle in a manner that would afford him the opportunity to shoot the officer. Both offenders had preplanned these attacks because they either were wanted or believed themselves wanted for felony violations."
Harper Calls For The Cards?
I'm not sure that the Prime Minister really wants an election but he certainly sounds like he's ready to fight one. Remember he is talking to party faithful but is very aware he will be on national media.
"Either let the current Parliament work and let us get on with our mandate, or the voters themselves will decide," Harper told a crowd of 1,500 supporters in the Quebec community of St-Agapit on Wednesday.
"Mr. Dion must decide to fish or cut bait."
Full Story Here:
http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/abc/home/contentposting.aspx?isfa=1&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V3&showbyline=True&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20080730%2fharper_tories_080730
"Either let the current Parliament work and let us get on with our mandate, or the voters themselves will decide," Harper told a crowd of 1,500 supporters in the Quebec community of St-Agapit on Wednesday.
"Mr. Dion must decide to fish or cut bait."
Full Story Here:
http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/abc/home/contentposting.aspx?isfa=1&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V3&showbyline=True&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20080730%2fharper_tories_080730
Gas Price Alert!
Gas and diesel prices are up sharply tonight at midnight across central Canada.
In the GTA, gas is up 3.1 to 128.4 and diesel is up .7 to 132.2. In Ottawa gas is up 3.1 to 125 and diesel is up .7 to 133.5. In the Montreal area, gasoline is up 3.2 to 138.9 and diesel is up .8 to 146.6.
Do Not Call List
Canadians will be able to register on a "do not call" list to screen out pesky telemarketers starting Sept. 30, the CRTC is expected to announce later today. The real question is will the list be enforced! We'll see ... .
Story:
Story:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080730/national/do_not_call
Parties to an offence
Today's Court of Appeal decision in R. v. Wobbes, 2008 ONCA 567 makes clear the limits on finding a person a party to an offence. These limits are non-trivial. The Court writes:
[29] The authorities make it clear that it is not sufficient that the accused's actions had the effect of aiding the commission of the offence. The appellant must have acted for that specific purpose: see R. v. Barr (1975), 23 C.C.C. (2d) 116 (Ont. C.A. ) and R. v. P.(K.) (2007), 222 C.C.C. (3d) 528 (Ont. C.A. ).
As well, mere awareness of and presence at the scene of an offence does not establish the requisite intent: see R. v. Dunlop and Sylvester (1979), 47 C.C.C. (2d) 93 (S.C.C.).
[29] The authorities make it clear that it is not sufficient that the accused's actions had the effect of aiding the commission of the offence. The appellant must have acted for that specific purpose: see R. v. Barr (1975), 23 C.C.C. (2d) 116 (Ont. C.A. ) and R. v. P.(K.) (2007), 222 C.C.C. (3d) 528 (Ont. C.A. ).
As well, mere awareness of and presence at the scene of an offence does not establish the requisite intent: see R. v. Dunlop and Sylvester (1979), 47 C.C.C. (2d) 93 (S.C.C.).
Turkish court rejects AK party ban
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Turkey's highest court has announced that it will not close down the governing Justice and Development Party (AKP) on charges of undermining the country's secular system. The AK Party was re-elected with 47 per cent of the vote last year and had denied charges of violating the secular constitution. The case first reached the court in March, while final deliberations had begun on Monday. |
Fair Comment As A Defence In Defamation
The elements of the defence of fair comment are summarized in Prud'homme v. Prud’homme 2002 SCC 85 :
[63] In common law, the defence of fair comment may be raised by anyone against whom an action for defamation is brought. Essentially, it consists of establishing that the remarks in issue were made in good faith and without malice, in the public interest. An essential element of the defence is that the facts to which the comments or opinions related must have been true
A key element of the defence is that the statements must be comments or opinions and not false factual statements. Last week’s British Columbia Court of Appeal decision in 567893 B.C. Ltd. v. Aasen, 2008 BCCA 303 makes this clear. The Court holds:
These purported to be factual statements and I do not consider that what was said about the relationship can be characterized as "fair comment". While I agree with the judge concerning the non-viability of any defence of qualified privilege concerning such remarks because this respondent had no particular duty to speak to Mr. Farr, I do not agree with the judge that what was said could be found defensible as "fair comment". Fair comment is a defence which protects defamatory criticisms or expressions of opinion; it does not protect defamatory statements of a factual nature. I consider the statements suggesting a corrupt influence on the mayor by the personal appellant purported to be factual and were defamatory of Mr. Chapman.
Freedom of Speech on Campus?
Sometimes I agree with Barbara Kay and sometimes I don't -- I suppose that is proof she is worth reading. Anyway, today she writes on the curious story of a faculty member at Wilfrid Laurier University who lost his job because of being scientifically right but politically wrong. If true (and I am sure there is another side to the story -- on the other hand WFU paid damages) it makes WLU sound like a two-bit college in rural America.
Anyway, here is part of the story and a link to the rest:
Mr. diCarlo's subsequent crime was to stand his intellectual ground. It wasn't a moral issue or a contentious empirical debate: One side represented the best of what we know from science, the other was demonstrably untrue. Nevertheless, the "offended" students knew their "rights": They complained.
And hey, presto, before you can say "craven university administration," diCarlo had lost the tenured job for which he was already short-listed. (He has since won damages in a grievance and is happily tenure-bound at a school that appreciates him.)
Link here:
http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=3a3f45ca-d747-4ab5-8843-7d3a16133e90Lottery Tickets -- Forget the "Scandal"
A story today, see below, describes a lottery vendor in Northern Ontario who claimed 160 prizes totalling more than $1 million in just nine years. That does seem pretty darn fishy -- granted, random odds tend to turn up counterintuitive results but ... .
Anyway, the Opposition is calling out for yet another investigation and, specifically, the NDP "warned that people will start to lose faith in the lottery system if the people who sell the tickets are seen to have an unfair advantage over everyone else."
My problem with that concept is that people ought not to have any faith in the system anyway!
Not because the system is corrupt -- my sense is the system is generally fair (with a few problems) -- but rather because the odds are so long you might as well burn your money if you are looking to win.
Specifically, your odds of becoming a millionaire are approximately 1 in 14 million.
CBC story here:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080729/national/lottery_insider_wins
Anyway, the Opposition is calling out for yet another investigation and, specifically, the NDP "warned that people will start to lose faith in the lottery system if the people who sell the tickets are seen to have an unfair advantage over everyone else."
My problem with that concept is that people ought not to have any faith in the system anyway!
Not because the system is corrupt -- my sense is the system is generally fair (with a few problems) -- but rather because the odds are so long you might as well burn your money if you are looking to win.
Specifically, your odds of becoming a millionaire are approximately 1 in 14 million.
That's like pretty long odds. So long, in fact, that you are more likely to:
- Be killed in a terrorist attack while travelling (1 in 650,000).
- Die - during an average lifetime - of flesh-eating disease (1 in one million).
- Be killed by lightning (1 in 56,439).
You are three times more likely to be killed in a traffic accident driving 16 kilometres to buy your ticket than winning the jackpot.
So, if you want (or need) money don't buy a lottery ticket -- if you want a little fun, and social networking through an office pool, and perhaps doing a good work or two, go ahead and buy a ticket. But don't bet on winning!CBC story here:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080729/national/lottery_insider_wins
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Ontario's NDP calling for law presuming automatic consent for organ donation
NDP members Peter Kormos and Cheri DiNovo plan to introduce - for the third time - a bill calling for a system that assumes people want to donate their organs when they die.
There is no doubt that a presumption of consent would increase the number of organs available. And that would save lives.
Religious leaders are trying to explain this -- see Rabbi Reuven Bulka's piece in the Thursday, 17 July 2008 Canadian Jewish News.
http://www.cjnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15035&Itemid=86
See CBC story here:
http://news.sympatico.msn.cbc.ca/Ontarios+NDP+calling+for+law+presuming+automatic+consent+for+organ+donation/Local/ON/ContentPosting?isfa=1&newsitemid=on-organ-transplant&feedname=CBC_LOCALNEWS&show=False&number=0&showbyline=True&subtitle=&detect=&abc=abc&date=True
There is no doubt that a presumption of consent would increase the number of organs available. And that would save lives.
Religious leaders are trying to explain this -- see Rabbi Reuven Bulka's piece in the Thursday, 17 July 2008 Canadian Jewish News.
http://www.cjnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=15035&Itemid=86
See CBC story here:
http://news.sympatico.msn.cbc.ca/Ontarios+NDP+calling+for+law+presuming+automatic+consent+for+organ+donation/Local/ON/ContentPosting?isfa=1&newsitemid=on-organ-transplant&feedname=CBC_LOCALNEWS&show=False&number=0&showbyline=True&subtitle=&detect=&abc=abc&date=True
Self Incrimination and Recognition of Foreign Judgments
Yesterday's Court of Appeal decision in King v. Drabinsky, 2008 ONCA 566 dealt with the recognition of a foreign judgment. In considering the issue the Court dealt with the admissibility in a Canadian criminal case of foreign evidence given in a civil proceeding.
The moving parties argued they were facing criminal charges in Canada and civil claims in America. To defend the American claims they had to give evidence which might be used against them in Canada. As a result they did not give evidence in America which led to (what the moving parties said was) a unfair civil finding against them.
As a result the moving parties asked the American judgment not be recognized in Canada.
The Court of Appeal did recognize the American judgment suggesting the judgment was not unfair and that American evidence, if given, would be subject to exclusion in a Canadian criminal case under the Charter, s. 13.
The Court held:
[10] Foreign judgments are generally recognized on the basis of the rules of comity. LaForest J. described comity in Morguard Investments Ltd. v. De Savoye, [1990] 3 S.C.R. 1077 at 1096 as "grounded in the need in modern times to facilitate the flow of wealth, skills and people across state lines in a fair and orderly manner", a principle of particular importance in times of increasing transnational commerce. In extending comity to international commerce, Major J. in Beals v. Saldanha, [2003] 3 S.C.R. 416 adapted the "real and substantial connection" test for the recognition of foreign judgments. There is no question that the test was met in this case both because the registration statement named New York as the appropriate jurisdiction and because the appellants attorned to the jurisdiction by participating extensively in that proceeding.
[11] Beals also established the available defences of fraud, public policy or lack of natural justice. The list of available defences is not closed. Major J., writing for the majority, recognized, at para. 42, that "[u]nusual situations may arise that might require the creation of a new defence". However, he also cautioned, at paras. 41 and 42, that the defences, including any new defences, should be applied narrowly.
...
[13] Since the basis for the appellants' argument rests on the different jurisdictions' approaches to self-incrimination, I begin with Arbour J.'s description, at paras. 21-22, in R. v. Noël (2002), 168 C.C.C. (3d) 193 (S.C.C.):In the United States, a different arrangement is in place: faced with the prospect of self-incrimination, the witness can claim the Fifth Amendment, and refuse to provide the incriminating answer. The state then has to dispense with his evidence altogether. …Under the regime of the Canada Evidence Act, and now also under the Charter, a different bargain is struck. When a witness provides evidence in any proceeding, whether voluntarily or under legal compulsion, he or she cannot refuse to answer a question that may tend to incriminate the witness, but is offered protection against the subsequent use of that evidence.
[14] Thus, under the Fifth Amendment, a defendant who is facing both civil litigation and criminal charges in the U.S. has the option either to waive his or her right to silence and to testify in the civil proceeding or to refuse to testify and run the risk of an adverse inference. In Canada , the testimony of a person who chooses to testify in a civil proceeding cannot be used as part of the prosecution's case against that person as an accused in any later criminal proceeding. However, any evidence that same person voluntarily gives in the civil proceeding may be used to cross-examine that person on a prior inconsistent statement should he or she testify as an accused at the subsequent criminal trial. See R. v. Henry (2005), 202 C.C.C. (3d) 449 (S.C.C.).
[15] Levy is the seminal decision regarding the impact of the different approaches on the recognition of a U.S. judgment in Ontario. In that case, the Canadian defendants argued that their Fifth Amendment right to silence precluded them from testifying in the U.S. summary judgment motion. The U.S. court in Levy drew an adverse inference from the defendants' failure to testify. Such an adverse inference is available in the U.S. system: Baxter v. Palmigiano, 425 U.S. 308 (1976). The defendants argued that this violated their Canadian constitutional right to silence and rendered recognition of the U.S. judgment against them in Canada offensive to our concepts of public policy and natural justice. I note parenthetically that the U.S. court in this case, given the weight of the evidence, found it unnecessary to, and accordingly did not, draw an adverse inference against the appellants, which made their argument regarding the U.S. charges even weaker than the defence raised in Levy.
...
24] Section 13 of the Charter provides:A witness who testifies in any proceedings has the right not to have any incriminating evidence so given used to incriminate that witness in any other proceedings, except in a prosecution for perjury or for the giving of contradictory evidence.
[25] The application of this section raises two issues in this case: first, whether "proceedings" where a witness testifies could include the U.S. proceedings and, second, when the determination is made that the evidence is "incriminating".
[26] First, in regard to "proceedings", s. 13 would likely protect the appellants, in the context of this criminal proceeding, by protecting any incriminatory statements made in the U.S. civil proceeding from being used in the Canadian criminal proceeding. I say this because s. 13 refers broadly to "any proceedings". ssuming that the appellants' affidavit and deposition evidence would be considered evidence in the U.S. proceeding, [2] s. 13 may be construed to extend its protection to that evidence. I find support for this position in R. v. Stratton, (1978), 42 C.C.C. (2d) 449, which considered s. 12 of the Canada Evidence Act, R.S.O. 1970, c. E-10. Section 12 provides that a witness may be asked whether he (or she) has been "convicted of any offence". In Stratton, Martin J.A. interpreted this provision to mean that a witness may be asked about foreign convictions, provided that the foreign offence "would constitute a conviction under Canadian law." Applying this reasoning to s. 13 of the Charter, a witness in any foreign proceeding would be protected against self-incrimination to the extent the foreign proceeding would constitute "proceedings" under Canadian law.
[27] Second, the time for the determination of whether a statement is "incriminatory" is not at the time when the statement was made. Rather, the relevant time for the application of the Charter is at the time of the attempted introduction of the statements at the Canadian criminal trial. This was established by the Supreme Court of Canada in R. v. Dubois (1985), 22 C.C.C. (3d) 513, which specifically considered the Charter's s. 13 protection against self-incrimination. The sole issue in that case was whether s. 13 prevented the Crown from adducing testimony given by the appellant in his first trial at his second trial on a charge of second degree murder.
[28] In considering whether the evidence from the first trial was "incriminating" in the second trial, Lamer J., for the majority, concluded, at p. 536, that "s. 13 does not require that the incriminating character of the evidence be evaluated in the first proceedings as well as in the second"; rather, "whether evidence is incriminating or not can only be properly assessed at the time it is being used in the subsequent proceedings, at the time when the Crown seeks to make use of the evidence".
[29] Lamer J. wrote at p. 533: "As s. 13 guarantees the right of a person against self-incrimination, rather than the rights of a witness giving testimony, it inures to an individual only at the moment an attempt is made to use previous testimony to incriminate its author". He confirmed at p. 534 that the "focus of the right is on the second proceedings, the time at which the previous testimony is sought to be used, rather than the time at which it is given".
[30] It follows from this that the applicability of the protection depends on whether the evidence would be incriminating at the time it is sought to be adduced at the criminal trial, not whether it was incriminatory at the time of the summary judgment motion.
[31] On the basis of Dubois, it would be open to the appellants to argue that the evidence they gave in the U.S. civil proceeding would constitute "incriminating evidence", if and when tendered as part of the Crown's case, and thus, should be excluded pursuant to s. 13 in the Canadian criminal proceeding. See also R. v. Henry, supra.
[32] The appellants distinguish Dubois and Henry on the basis that they concerned domestic proceedings only and argue that Charter protection would not be available in Canada for evidence given in the U.S.
[33] The decision in R. v. Hape (2007), 220 C.C.C. (3d) 161 (S.C.C.) is helpful on this issue. The court in Hape considered the extraterritorial application of the Charter to searches conducted by Canadian officers in the Turks and Caicos relying on that jurisdiction's requirements for a legal search. LeBel J., writing for the majority, held that the Charter did not apply to the searches. Yet he also observed at para. 96: "there is no impediment to extraterritorial adjudicative jurisdiction pursuant to which evidence gathered abroad may be excluded from a Canadian trial, as this jurisdiction simply attaches domestic consequences to foreign events". This important observation applies to this case. LeBel J. made it clear, referring to Harrer, that the rights of an accused in Canada are still respected at the trial stage. As he said at para. 100: "Where the Crown seeks at trial to adduce evidence gathered abroad, the Charter provisions governing trial processes in Canada ensure that the appropriate balance is struck and that due consideration is shown for the rights of an accused being investigated abroad."
[34] Thus, I take two things from Hape. First, Hape supports the reasoning in Dubois, that when considering the protection provided by s. 13 of the Charter, the "timing" of the Charter application is concerned with the moment when the incriminating evidence is to be adduced at the criminal trial. Second, the Charter can have "extraterritorial adjudicative jurisdiction" particularly where the application of that jurisdiction results in purely domestic consequences and does not interfere with the jurisdiction of the foreign country. This supports my view that the term "any proceedings" under s. 13 of the Charter is not necessarily restricted to a proceeding that occurs in Canada ; a court will have the jurisdiction to consider "any proceedings" in the context in which they occurred.
Federal Advertising Up
Today's Globe on-line says that the Federal government's advertising budget doubled to more than $80-million in the first full year of the Harper government.
This was the first rise in marketing spending since the start of the sponsorship scandal in 2002.
This was the first rise in marketing spending since the start of the sponsorship scandal in 2002.
This could be very important, or not.
Certainly it is proper for the Federal government to spend significant money on making the public aware of government programs. Moreover, $80-million is, in the context of federal spending, little more than a rounding error.
That said, if the spending is focused less on federal programs and more on making the government look good (and there's a fine line there, especially in Quebec) the spending may be a sign of an election to come. This is especially so if the trend line is increasing.
Don't forget India and Pakistan
Don't forget India and Pakistan. These nuclear armed neighbors are far from friends.
The recent bombings in India (which Islamic extremists have claimed responsibility for) can only heighten tension.
In this atmosphere the recent gun fight between India and Pakistan is quite dangerous. That said, I doubt there is stomach for a war just now so I think (hope?) cooler heads will prevail.
India, Pakistan trade fire along Kashmir frontier
AIJAZ HUSSAIN
Associated Press Tue, 29 Jul 2008 09:23
EDT SRINAGAR, India
Indian and Pakistani soldiers traded fire across the heavily armed Kashmir frontier for more than 12 hours overnight and into Tuesday in what the Indian army called the worst violation of a 2003 cease-fire agreement between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
The night-long gun battle came after one Indian soldier and four Pakistanis were killed Monday along the heavily armed frontier that divides Indian- and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, the Indian army said. Pakistan denied its soldiers were killed.
Full story here:
http://m.avantgo.com/ui?ag_url=52616e646f6d495661b47412449452575c7b397ab5f36935b1d2388476e83af4bcbed942a1bf82dc110d5fe4508ed69febeacb047577be7df53dc309b1a4e1ee88e2a0c90fab6c7adca7bd83fb688773&ag_channel=4179&showNav=0&ms=globeandmail
The recent bombings in India (which Islamic extremists have claimed responsibility for) can only heighten tension.
In this atmosphere the recent gun fight between India and Pakistan is quite dangerous. That said, I doubt there is stomach for a war just now so I think (hope?) cooler heads will prevail.
India, Pakistan trade fire along Kashmir frontier
AIJAZ HUSSAIN
Associated Press Tue, 29 Jul 2008 09:23
EDT SRINAGAR, India
Indian and Pakistani soldiers traded fire across the heavily armed Kashmir frontier for more than 12 hours overnight and into Tuesday in what the Indian army called the worst violation of a 2003 cease-fire agreement between the nuclear-armed neighbours.
The night-long gun battle came after one Indian soldier and four Pakistanis were killed Monday along the heavily armed frontier that divides Indian- and Pakistani-controlled Kashmir, the Indian army said. Pakistan denied its soldiers were killed.
Full story here:
http://m.avantgo.com/ui?ag_url=52616e646f6d495661b47412449452575c7b397ab5f36935b1d2388476e83af4bcbed942a1bf82dc110d5fe4508ed69febeacb047577be7df53dc309b1a4e1ee88e2a0c90fab6c7adca7bd83fb688773&ag_channel=4179&showNav=0&ms=globeandmail
TWO HUNDRED DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS FOR LATIN AMERICA
(Reproduced with authority)
VATICAN CITY, 29 JUL 2008 (VIS) - The administrative council of the "Populorum Progressio" Foundation, which met in Guadalajara, Mexico, from 9 to 12 July, has approved 2,108,300 dollars of financial aid for 200 new development projects in support of poor indigenous mixed race and Afro-American rural communities of Latin America and the Caribbean,according to a communique released by the foundation yesterday.
"Indigenous peoples and 'campesinos' represent a high percentage of the population of Latin America. The rapid process of urbanisation of the continent and the imposition of a post-modern culture have isolated these peoples from the social context and from the development to which others have had access. Thus they have been largely marginalised and lack protection, on many occasions unjustly losing ownership of their lands. The efforts of the ecclesial community to defend and assist these peoples have been broadly supported by recent Popes: from Paul VI to Servant of God John Paul II to Benedict XVI. And one sign of such concern is the Pontifical
'Populorum Progressio' Foundation", established on 13 February 1992.
This year the countries that presented the greatest number of projects were Brazil (39), Colombia (35), Peru (27) and Ecuador (18). A large part of the money distributed is the fruit of the generosity of the Italian Church and the Italian Episcopal Conference, although "Populorum Progressio" is examining the possibility of involving benefactors from the American content
in order to increase and diversify its sources of income. From its inception to the present, the foundation has raised more than 24 million dollars, distributed to more than 2,200 projects.
"The projects presented to the foundation - prepared by the various ecclesial communities and by pastoral groups within dioceses - are first approved by diocesan bishops then examined by the administrative council", the communique explains. "They are all aimed at the integral development of peoples and involve the following sectors: 29.9 percent to agriculture,
livestock and small businesses; 33.2 percent to public service infrastructures such as the supply of drinking water, fencing, toilets and communal halls; 19.46 percent to the building of schools, houses and health centres; 12.3 percent to professional training, communication, tools and
publications; 5.14 percent to healthcare: medical equipment and staff training".
At the end of the meeting, a new president and vice president of the administrative council were elected, respectively, Cardinal Juan Sandoval Iniguez, archbishop of Guadalajara, Mexico, and Archbishop Edmundo Luis Flavio Abastoflor Montero of La Paz, Bolivia.
Sad News: Former judge Frank Olmstead dies; Remembered as 'compassionate, very fair and well respected'
Owen Sound Sun Times (ON)
Byline: BY SCOTT DUNN SUN TIMES STAFF
A funeral mass was to be held this morning for retired judge Frank W. Olmstead, who died Friday in Owen Sound.
Mr. Olmstead, 77, died in Georgian Heights Nursing Home of renal failure. He had been ill for the last few years.
Mr. Olmstead grew up in Owen Sound and was called to the bar in 1957. He practised law in Owen Sound with George Gardner in a firm that later became Olmstead, Salhany and Greenfield.
In 1973, Mr. Olmstead was appointed to be a provincial court judge in Bruce County. He remained sitting on the bench in Walkerton until the spring of 1997, when Justice George Brophy was appointed to the same position.
Mr. Olmstead moved to Walkerton in 1974, where he and his wife, Patricia Olmstead, raised their four children.
He was known socially as "Skip," a nickname acquired in high school. Patricia Olmstead said her husband loved classical music and enjoyed playing bridge and socializing. He also enjoyed the family cottage.
Mr. Olmstead, a big political supporter of the Liberals, was appointed by a Progressive Conservative government when Eric Winkler held the local seat provincially after years in federal politics.
When Mr. Olmstead was first appointed, his wife sat in on court a few times for support. She went with school classes too.
"He was very . . . he wasn't harsh with people. He was very considerate. People often said he was kind," she said in a telephone interview. "I think he would want to be remembered as just or fair or a good person."
Don Greenfield appeared before his former law partner occasionally. He remembers Judge Olmstead to have been "very fair" and "careful" in his research before giving his judgments.
Janet King, president of the Bruce Law Association, canvassed some lawyers and she said the general consensus
was that Judge Olmstead was "compassionate, very fair and well respected."
A funeral mass was scheduled for St. Mary's Church at 10:30 a. m. today.
James Morton
1100 - 5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
Byline: BY SCOTT DUNN SUN TIMES STAFF
A funeral mass was to be held this morning for retired judge Frank W. Olmstead, who died Friday in Owen Sound.
Mr. Olmstead, 77, died in Georgian Heights Nursing Home of renal failure. He had been ill for the last few years.
Mr. Olmstead grew up in Owen Sound and was called to the bar in 1957. He practised law in Owen Sound with George Gardner in a firm that later became Olmstead, Salhany and Greenfield.
In 1973, Mr. Olmstead was appointed to be a provincial court judge in Bruce County. He remained sitting on the bench in Walkerton until the spring of 1997, when Justice George Brophy was appointed to the same position.
Mr. Olmstead moved to Walkerton in 1974, where he and his wife, Patricia Olmstead, raised their four children.
He was known socially as "Skip," a nickname acquired in high school. Patricia Olmstead said her husband loved classical music and enjoyed playing bridge and socializing. He also enjoyed the family cottage.
Mr. Olmstead, a big political supporter of the Liberals, was appointed by a Progressive Conservative government when Eric Winkler held the local seat provincially after years in federal politics.
When Mr. Olmstead was first appointed, his wife sat in on court a few times for support. She went with school classes too.
"He was very . . . he wasn't harsh with people. He was very considerate. People often said he was kind," she said in a telephone interview. "I think he would want to be remembered as just or fair or a good person."
Don Greenfield appeared before his former law partner occasionally. He remembers Judge Olmstead to have been "very fair" and "careful" in his research before giving his judgments.
Janet King, president of the Bruce Law Association, canvassed some lawyers and she said the general consensus
was that Judge Olmstead was "compassionate, very fair and well respected."
A funeral mass was scheduled for St. Mary's Church at 10:30 a. m. today.
James Morton
1100 - 5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
Smoking Dope -- Not A Trifle
A human interest story out of Burlington today may be more important than first seems.
It appears that a bar has been told (ordered or not isn't clear) by the Ontario Human Rights Commission (or Tribunal -- again the story was played for humor and isn't clear) to allow patrons to smoke medical marijuana on the smoking patio.
The bar has refused saying to allow this would risk its liquor licence. And so the bar has sought a declaration from the Superior Court as to what governs.
Therein lies the importance. Does an administrative tribunal have the power to overturn other legislation? What about Charter rights?
A seemingly silly case may be far from silly.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Freedom of thought and expression on campus
The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education ("FIRE") is an interesting group. They seem to be leading a charge in American schools to defend academic freedom against limitations imposed by speech codes and political conformity.
According to FIRE, colleges and universities should be promoting free thought and expression, not censoring it. In saying this FIRE is right.
Certainly the problem of political censorship on campus is not limited to the United States. Politically unpopular thought is stifled on campus, often with a stunningly open attitude of 'no-nothing'. The recent position of the York student federation on discussing abortion laws in Canada -- the debate is over so no discussion -- is illustrative regardless of what position you hold on abortion.
A refusal to countenance dissent or debate bespeaks a rather brutal arrogance. As Cromwell once said to Parliament, "consider that it is possible you may be wrong". The belief that my belief is beyond discussion is, in itself, frightening.
The FIRE website is worth a look:
http://thefire.org/
According to FIRE, colleges and universities should be promoting free thought and expression, not censoring it. In saying this FIRE is right.
Certainly the problem of political censorship on campus is not limited to the United States. Politically unpopular thought is stifled on campus, often with a stunningly open attitude of 'no-nothing'. The recent position of the York student federation on discussing abortion laws in Canada -- the debate is over so no discussion -- is illustrative regardless of what position you hold on abortion.
A refusal to countenance dissent or debate bespeaks a rather brutal arrogance. As Cromwell once said to Parliament, "consider that it is possible you may be wrong". The belief that my belief is beyond discussion is, in itself, frightening.
The FIRE website is worth a look:
http://thefire.org/
Canadian Troop Increase In Afghanistan
The increase in Canadian ground troops in Afghanistan mentioned today by the government -- there does not seem to be a formal announcement -- is likely needed. The increase will, inevitably, be accompanied by more accidential civilian deaths (as we saw today; so long as the Taliban hide among civilians they put ordinary Afghans in terrible danger) and losses of Canadian solidiers. Each such loss is a tragedy, but that does not make the loss a waste, at least not if a good cause is served.
The brutal anti-woman, anti-Christian, anti-gay, frankly anti-almost everything Taliban are an enemy so bad as to be implausible in fiction -- these are people who destroy thousand year old temples for spite.
The losses of life, while tragic, are a necessary part of defeating the Taliban; one can only hope that no one tries to make political hay out of the sacrifices made.
An increase to Canada's troop commitment in Afghanistan to 2,700 would represent the additional boots on the ground needed to run aerial drones and six Chinook helicopters, said Defence Minister Peter MacKay.
Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson was in Afghanistan on the weekend for his first visit since taking on the portfolio.
While there, he said Canada may boost its numbers in the south by 200 "as more equipment arrives," appearing to link the troops to a new squadron of helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) expected to be in place early next year.
See here for a full report from CTV:
http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/abc/home/contentposting.aspx?isfa=1&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V3&showbyline=True&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20080728%2fafghanistan_mackay_AM_080728
The brutal anti-woman, anti-Christian, anti-gay, frankly anti-almost everything Taliban are an enemy so bad as to be implausible in fiction -- these are people who destroy thousand year old temples for spite.
The losses of life, while tragic, are a necessary part of defeating the Taliban; one can only hope that no one tries to make political hay out of the sacrifices made.
An increase to Canada's troop commitment in Afghanistan to 2,700 would represent the additional boots on the ground needed to run aerial drones and six Chinook helicopters, said Defence Minister Peter MacKay.
Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson was in Afghanistan on the weekend for his first visit since taking on the portfolio.
While there, he said Canada may boost its numbers in the south by 200 "as more equipment arrives," appearing to link the troops to a new squadron of helicopters and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) expected to be in place early next year.
See here for a full report from CTV:
http://news.sympatico.msn.ctv.ca/abc/home/contentposting.aspx?isfa=1&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V3&showbyline=True&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20080728%2fafghanistan_mackay_AM_080728
Dog in court for breaching peace
By Amarnath Tewary
BBC News, Patna
A dog has appeared in court in the eastern Indian state of Bihar accused of breaching the peace. Police demanded severe action against the dog for biting people. Its owner says it has only attacked burglars.
The dog, named Chhotu, has been in trouble with the law before. In 2003, a magistrate sentenced Chhotu to death. Neighbours complained he had gone mad and bitten several people. But animal rights activists managed to get the decision reversed.
Sole protector Chhotu made his latest appearance in a crowded court on Thursday in the town of Purnea. "The court was compelled to issue a summons to the dog since the police found that it was a threat to peace and feared that it might create a law and order problem," district official Rajiv Ranjan said.
In court Chhotu appeared to have been on best behaviour. "Despite the presence of so many people in the courtroom the dog did not bite or bark at anyone," the canine's lawyer Dilip Kumar Deepak said in defence of his client.
The case continues and Chhotu has been ordered to appear in court again on 5 August, together with his owner, childless widow, Rajkumari Devi.
Full story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/7528199.stmPub
BBC News, Patna
A dog has appeared in court in the eastern Indian state of Bihar accused of breaching the peace. Police demanded severe action against the dog for biting people. Its owner says it has only attacked burglars.
The dog, named Chhotu, has been in trouble with the law before. In 2003, a magistrate sentenced Chhotu to death. Neighbours complained he had gone mad and bitten several people. But animal rights activists managed to get the decision reversed.
Sole protector Chhotu made his latest appearance in a crowded court on Thursday in the town of Purnea. "The court was compelled to issue a summons to the dog since the police found that it was a threat to peace and feared that it might create a law and order problem," district official Rajiv Ranjan said.
In court Chhotu appeared to have been on best behaviour. "Despite the presence of so many people in the courtroom the dog did not bite or bark at anyone," the canine's lawyer Dilip Kumar Deepak said in defence of his client.
The case continues and Chhotu has been ordered to appear in court again on 5 August, together with his owner, childless widow, Rajkumari Devi.
Full story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/7528199.stmPub
Johnny Cash
A rose looks grey at midnight but the flame is just asleep
And steel is strong because it knew the hammer and white heat
These things shall pass and life be sweeter
When love and faith are strong they cannot long endure.
NDP Threats of a Fall Election
Today Jack Layton said the NDP would do everything it could to bring down the Federal Government this Fall.
Somehow I doubt it.
If the Liberals have a lot of thinking to do before causing a Fall election -- and we do, not that it should not be done but it should not be done lightly -- the NDP has even more to think on.
Unless the NDP has a remarkable breakout they will, at the next election, continue their slow slide to oblivion; perhaps to be replaced by the Green Party as the third or fourth party in Canada.
Now, that said, a breakthrough for the NDP in the coming by-elections could change everything -- look at what happened in Quebec last time. But for now I would take the NDP threats of causing an election with a grain of salt.
Full Story See Here:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080728/national/layton_byelections
Somehow I doubt it.
If the Liberals have a lot of thinking to do before causing a Fall election -- and we do, not that it should not be done but it should not be done lightly -- the NDP has even more to think on.
Unless the NDP has a remarkable breakout they will, at the next election, continue their slow slide to oblivion; perhaps to be replaced by the Green Party as the third or fourth party in Canada.
Now, that said, a breakthrough for the NDP in the coming by-elections could change everything -- look at what happened in Quebec last time. But for now I would take the NDP threats of causing an election with a grain of salt.
NDP using every tool to 'put an end' to the Harper government: Layton
By The Canadian PressOTTAWA - NDP Leader Jack Layton says his party has used every tool in the Parliamentary kit to put an end to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government and will try again this fall.
Full Story See Here:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080728/national/layton_byelections
Relevance of Evidence
Today’s Court of Appeal decision in R. v.
[69] The threshold for relevance is a modest one. It is enough that an item of evidence proffered for reception could reasonably show that the fact sought to be established by its introduction is slightly more probable (or improbable) than the fact would be without the evidence. 1 McCormick on Evidence (6th ed.) at § 185, p. 733. Evidence is relevant if, as a matter of logic and common experience, it renders the existence or non-existence of a material fact in issue more or less likely. R. v. Truscott (2006), 213 C.C.C. (3d) 183 (Ont.
Fallout from the BCE deal -- job losses
This was a concern raised during the BCE hearings -- and a real concern it seems. That said, Bell was in such shape that the job losses were perhaps inevitable.
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080728/national/bell_canada_cuts
Bell Canada to cut 2,500 jobs to lower operating costs ahead of takeover
By The Canadian PressMONTREAL - Bell Canada (TSX:BCE) plans to cut 2,500 jobs, or six per cent of its workforce, as the telecom giant streamlines management to lower operating costs just ahead of its impending takeover by a private equity consortium.
The changes announced Monday include a 30 per cent reduction in executive jobs revealed earlier this month. Together, the cuts will help save about $300 million in annual costs, Bell Canada parent BCE Inc. said in a release.
Full Story Here:http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080728/national/bell_canada_cuts
False Allegations -- Crimes That Weren't
False accusations do exist.
How rare they are is open to question, some suggesting perhaps a third of assaults being concocted. My own sense is that the rate is much lower but certainly not zero.
Today's story from Quebec suggests that some care needs to be taken:
How rare they are is open to question, some suggesting perhaps a third of assaults being concocted. My own sense is that the rate is much lower but certainly not zero.
Today's story from Quebec suggests that some care needs to be taken:
Quebec girl, 12, won't face charges for kidnap hoax
Quebec police say they will not press charges against a 12-year-old girl who sparked a manhunt by falsely claiming she had been kidnapped.The girl called police Friday, saying she had just escaped from a man who had forced her into his car in Saint-Sauveur. She claimed she got away when the suspect pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant.
Full Story Here:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/cbc/080727/canada/canada_kidnap_hoaxGreen Shift Raises Dion's Profile
Green shift or not, everyone should already be making choices to reinvent their lives in ways that use less carbon sourced energy, send less money to dangerous foreign tyrants, and do less harm to the environment. Sadly, because individuals can shrug off their duty and leave it to others to cut oil use (the free rider problem) only government driven reduction in use will work.
If people took on the shift from carbon on themselves, government action wouldn't be needed. We can argue over whether the Green Shift is the right approach or not (there are other approaches that might work), but recognizing the free rider issue it is up to government to impose what should otherwise be a voluntary civic duty.
Regardless, the Green Shift is a workable approach and something to take very seriously.
Carbon tax plan boosts Dion's image, if not Liberal fortunesBy Joan Bryden, The Canadian Press
OTTAWA - Stephane Dion's risky proposal to impose a carbon tax hasn't rocketed the Liberal party to the top of Canada's political charts, but it does seem to have given the leader's image a much-needed boost.
Full Story Here:
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/080727/national/dion_summer_tour
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Tragedy In Knoxville -- Is Religion To Blame?
Agence France Presse reported today on a Church shooting in Knoxville.
One person was killed and several wounded on Sunday when a man armed with a shotgun opened fire in a church in Knoxville, Tennessee.
One person died and five were in critical condition after a man with long blond hair who appeared to be in his 40s indiscriminately opened fire on parishioners at a Unitarian Church service Sunday morning.
Some will suggest that the shooting is more proof that religion is violent and a danger to society.
In truth, many religious people do seem rather dangerous world wide at the moment (just look at current Fatah-Hamas tensions in Gaza, both sides being, at least in theory, religious).
Such a view is, while plausible, wrong. In the specific tragedy in Knoxville the killer seems to have been a stranger to the Church (and may have been a deranged atheist). In broader terms some religious people are indeed dangerous, but the danger is generally not really religion based (yes, in some cases it is; as Elizabeth I realized some do kill over religious 'trifles'). But usually religion is merely a cover for something else.
Thus the current battles with radical Islam are not so much religious wars as cultural wars. The St. Bartholomew's day massacre was political. The unrest in Ireland was only nominally religious (a joke illustrates -- a Jew is grabbed by an armed gang while walking in Belfast. He is asked, and his life will depend on his answer, 'are you Protestant of Catholic?' The Jew replies 'I'm Jewish' to which the gang members say 'well, that's fine but are you a Protestant Jew or a Catholic Jew?').
All that said, there is an element of some religious beliefs that can instill violence -- if my god is a jealous god then my god better be treated right or else. Perhaps caring over much about religion is dangerous -- it may be the best we can do is accept we can never judge what is truly important but that G-d knows and that's enough.
One person was killed and several wounded on Sunday when a man armed with a shotgun opened fire in a church in Knoxville, Tennessee.
One person died and five were in critical condition after a man with long blond hair who appeared to be in his 40s indiscriminately opened fire on parishioners at a Unitarian Church service Sunday morning.
Some will suggest that the shooting is more proof that religion is violent and a danger to society.
In truth, many religious people do seem rather dangerous world wide at the moment (just look at current Fatah-Hamas tensions in Gaza, both sides being, at least in theory, religious).
Such a view is, while plausible, wrong. In the specific tragedy in Knoxville the killer seems to have been a stranger to the Church (and may have been a deranged atheist). In broader terms some religious people are indeed dangerous, but the danger is generally not really religion based (yes, in some cases it is; as Elizabeth I realized some do kill over religious 'trifles'). But usually religion is merely a cover for something else.
Thus the current battles with radical Islam are not so much religious wars as cultural wars. The St. Bartholomew's day massacre was political. The unrest in Ireland was only nominally religious (a joke illustrates -- a Jew is grabbed by an armed gang while walking in Belfast. He is asked, and his life will depend on his answer, 'are you Protestant of Catholic?' The Jew replies 'I'm Jewish' to which the gang members say 'well, that's fine but are you a Protestant Jew or a Catholic Jew?').
All that said, there is an element of some religious beliefs that can instill violence -- if my god is a jealous god then my god better be treated right or else. Perhaps caring over much about religion is dangerous -- it may be the best we can do is accept we can never judge what is truly important but that G-d knows and that's enough.
Mugabe -- Time's Up?
Thabo Mbeki, president of South Africa, has told Robert Mugabe that he can no longer shield him from being charged by the International Criminal Court for the crimes he has committed during 28 years in office. Mbeki, who has been criticized for supporting Mugabe in the past, told Mugabe to give up power.
More:
We Need More Nuclear Power?
(Left is the Pickering Nuclear Plan)We need ongoing and secure energy sources. Oil, at least from unstable foreign sources, is not secure and may not be ongoing.
There is little alternative to nuclear -- yes solar and wind power are helpful and may, eventually, be a major, or even the major, source for energy but for the immediate future we need to employ Canada's proven CANDU technology.
This view, albeit from a rather different perspective, is accepted by James Lovelock, probably the world's best known and most respected environmental scientist.
Lovelock is the inventor of the Gaia theory (that the earth behaves like a living organism and actively sustains its climate and chemistry to keep itself habitable). He argues that the Earth to have reached a dangerous condition. `Green lobbies,' he says, `are well-intentioned, but ... they recommend inappropriate remedies and action. Wind turbines and bio-fuels alone will not cure the Earth's sickness.'
Lovelock recommends that nuclear energy, as part of a portfolio of energy sources. . Lovelock, a strong believer in global warming, suggests that by the time Greenland's icy mountains have melted the sea will have risen seven metres, making low lying cities such as
`We must stop gaining energy from fossil fuels in a way that emits greenhouse gases to the air,' says Lovelock. `And we must do it in the next decade.'
Green concepts of sustainable development and renewable energy are beguiling dreams that can lead only to failure. `I cannot see the
The unavoidable truth is that wind and solar energy are, at least until storage capacity is vastly improved, temporary sources of energy. They work when you have wind or sun. So only people who are happy to read, use their computer or watch TV only when the wind is blowing or the sun is shining will be happy to rely on wind and solar energy for their electricity. For better or worse (and that's a matter of your views on development and energy use) we need nuclear power.
A very different view, from Richard Posner, who is a man worth listening to, is here:
http://www.becker-posner-blog.com/archives/2005/05/nuclear_powerpo.html
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