James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Provincial voting made more accessible
Regardless of Party affiliation this is a good thing
McGuinty Government Makes Elections Fairer, More Flexible, More Accessible
There would be more ways to vote in provincial elections, greater access for persons with disabilities and stronger election administration, if a new bill is passed by the legislature.
The proposed Election Statute Law Amendment Act, 2009 was introduced today. If passed, it would:
* Allow Ontarians to vote by special ballot
* Provide the province's Chief Electoral Officer with the flexibility to design a voting process that is responsive to the needs of voters
* Give voters with disabilities access to voting equipment that would enable them to independently mark a ballot without the assistance of another person.
The improvements would be in place for the 2011 Ontario election.
QUOTES "We have listened to calls for a more flexible and responsive electoral system in Ontario. If passed, this legislation will provide Ontarians with more opportunities to vote and increase accessibility for all voters."
- Chris Bentley Ontario Attorney General
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
McGuinty Government Makes Elections Fairer, More Flexible, More Accessible
There would be more ways to vote in provincial elections, greater access for persons with disabilities and stronger election administration, if a new bill is passed by the legislature.
The proposed Election Statute Law Amendment Act, 2009 was introduced today. If passed, it would:
* Allow Ontarians to vote by special ballot
* Provide the province's Chief Electoral Officer with the flexibility to design a voting process that is responsive to the needs of voters
* Give voters with disabilities access to voting equipment that would enable them to independently mark a ballot without the assistance of another person.
The improvements would be in place for the 2011 Ontario election.
QUOTES "We have listened to calls for a more flexible and responsive electoral system in Ontario. If passed, this legislation will provide Ontarians with more opportunities to vote and increase accessibility for all voters."
- Chris Bentley Ontario Attorney General
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
I didn't see this coming
Rocco is a great guy and a fine Liberal.
Senior federal Liberal quitting to run for Toronto mayor
The Liberal Party's national director has resigned to run for mayor of Toronto, a move that leaves Michael Ignatieff without his star fundraiser and alters the dynamic of the wide-open contest to lead Toronto.
Rocco Rossi, 47, confirmed in an interview Friday night he will formally announce his intentions Monday at Toronto City Hall.
"I have loved and cherished the time with the Liberal Party and Michael Ignatieff. But while I've been a Liberal since I was 11, I've been a Torontonian since I was born," he said. "I love the city, and I think I bring a unique set of strengths and weaknesses to the job and want to spend a year laying those out to Torontonians."
Senior federal Liberal quitting to run for Toronto mayor
The Liberal Party's national director has resigned to run for mayor of Toronto, a move that leaves Michael Ignatieff without his star fundraiser and alters the dynamic of the wide-open contest to lead Toronto.
Rocco Rossi, 47, confirmed in an interview Friday night he will formally announce his intentions Monday at Toronto City Hall.
"I have loved and cherished the time with the Liberal Party and Michael Ignatieff. But while I've been a Liberal since I was 11, I've been a Torontonian since I was born," he said. "I love the city, and I think I bring a unique set of strengths and weaknesses to the job and want to spend a year laying those out to Torontonians."
Friday, December 11, 2009
Is judicial review a proper mechanism for considering problems in the tendering process for government procurement contracts? Maybe
At the Divisional Court judicial review of a tender process for a government procurement contract was allowed in Bot Construction Limited v. Ontario (Transportation), 2009 ONCA 879.
The Court of Appeal overturned that decision but was careful not to opine on the use of judicial review.
The court says:
[19] We emphasize that we come to this conclusion without expressing any view as to the availability of judicial review as a remedy with respect to the tendering process for government procurement contracts.
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
The Court of Appeal overturned that decision but was careful not to opine on the use of judicial review.
The court says:
[19] We emphasize that we come to this conclusion without expressing any view as to the availability of judicial review as a remedy with respect to the tendering process for government procurement contracts.
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
Hanukkah
Listening to the radio this morning I hear an announcer say, “tonight marks the start of Hanukkah, which is the Jewish celebration of the victory of light over darkness”.
Well, maybe in some Kabalistic text it is a memorial to the victory of light over darkness, but in any other sense, Hanukkah is a very specific memorial to a victory by traditional Jews over Hellenized Jews around 175 BCE.
The traditional view says that under Antiochus IV Epiphanes’ reign Judaism was effectively outlawed. In 167 BCE Antiochus ordered an altar to Zeus erected in the Temple. Pigs were sacrificed on the altar to Zeus. Needless to say, this was contrary to Jewish tradition.
Antiochus's actions provoked a large-scale revolt. Mattathias, a Jewish priest, and his five sons Jochanan, Simeon, Eleazar, Jonathan, and Judah led a rebellion against Antiochus. 165 BCE the revolt was successful. The Temple was rededicated. The festival of Hanukkah was instituted by Judah and his brothers to celebrate this event.
After recovering Jerusalem and the Temple, Judah ordered the Temple to be cleansed, a new altar to be built in place of the polluted one and new holy vessels to be made. Olive oil was needed for the menorah in the Temple, which was required to burn throughout the night every night. But there was only enough oil to burn for one day, yet miraculously, it burned for eight days, the time needed to prepare a fresh supply of oil for the menorah. An eight day festival was declared by the Jewish sages to commemorate this miracle.
An English translation of the Megillat Antiochus follows:
The Greek monarch Antiochus was a powerful ruler; all the kings heeded him. He subdued many provinces and mighty sovereigns; he destroyed their castles, burned their palaces and imprisoned their men. Since the reign of Alexander there had never been a king like him beyond the Euphrates. He erected a large city on the seacoast to serve as his royal residence, and called it "Antioch" after his own name. Opposite it his governor Bagris founded another city, and called it "City of Bagris" after himself. Such are their names to this day.
In the twenty-third year of his reign, the two hundred and thirteenth year after the Temple had been rebuilt, Antiochus determined to march on Jerusalem. He said to his officers: "You are aware that the Jews of Jerusalem are in our midst. They neither offer sacrifices to our gods nor observe our laws; they abandon the king's laws to practice their own. They hope moreover for the day when kings and tyrants shall be crushed, saying: 'O that our own king might reign over us, that we might rule the sea and the land, so that the entire world would be ours.' It is indeed a disgrace for the royal government to let them remain on the face of the earth. Come now, let us attack them and abolish the covenant made with them: Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh and circumcision." The proposal pleased his officers and all his host.
Immediately king Antiochus dispatched his governor Nicanor with a large body of troops. He came to the Jewish, city of Jerusalem and massacred many people; he set up a heathen altar in the Temple, concerning which the G-d of Israel had said to his faithful prophets: "There will I establish my residence forever." In that very place they slaughtered a swine and brought its blood into the holy court. When Yochanan ben Matityahu heard of this deed, he was filled with rage and his face changed color. In his heart he drew a plan of action. He then made himself a dagger, two spans long and one span wide, and concealed it under his clothes. He came to Jerusalem and stood at the royal gate, calling to this gate-keepers: "I am Yochanan ben Matityahu; I have come to appear before Nicanor." The guards informed Nicanor that the high priest of the Jews was standing at the door. "Let him enter!" Nicanor said.
Yochanan was admitted to Nicanor, who said: "You are one of the rebels who-rebel against the king and do not care for the welfare of his government!" Yochanan replied: "My lord, I have come to you; whatever you demand I will do." "If you wish to do as I please," said Nicanor, "then take a swine and sacrifice it upon the altar. You shall wear royal clothes and ride the king's own horse; you shall be counted among the king's close friends." To this, Yochanan answered: "My lord, I am afraid of the Israelites; if they hear that I have done such a thing they will stone me. Let everyone leave your presence, so as not to inform them." Immediately Nicanor ordered everybody out.
At, that moment Yochanan ben Matityahu raised his eyes to heaven and prayed; "My G-d and G-d of my fathers Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, do not hand me over to this heathen; for if he kills me, he will boast in the temple of Dagon that his god has handed me over to him." He advanced three steps toward Nicanor, thrust the dagger into his heart, and flung him fatally wounded into the court of the Temple. "My G-d," Yochanan prayed, "do not count it a sin that I killed this heathen in the Sanctuary; punish thus all the foes who came with him to persecute Judea and Jerusalem." On that day Yochanan set out and fought the enemy, inflicting heavy slaughter on them. The number of those who were slain by him on that day totaled two thousand seven hundred. Upon returning, he erected a column with the inscription: "Maccabee, Destroyer of Tyrants."
When king Antiochus heard that his governor Nicanor had been slain, he was bitterly distressed. He sent for wicked Bagris, the deceiver of his people, and told him: "Do you not know, have you not heard, what the Israelites did to me? They massacred my troops and ransacked my camps! Can you now be sure of your wealth? Will your homes remain yours? Come, let us move against them and abolish the covenant which their G-d made with them: Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh, and circumcision." Then wicked Bagris and his hosts invaded Jerusalem, murdering the population and proclaiming an absolute decree against Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh, and circumcision. So drastic was the king's edict that when a man was discovered to have circumcised his son, he and his wife were hanged along with the child. A woman gave birth to a son after her husband's death and had him circumcised when he was eight days old. With the child in her arms, she went up on top of the wall of Jerusalem and cried out: "We say to you, wicked Bagris: This covenant of our fathers which you intend to destroy shall never cease from us nor from our children's children." She cast her son down to the ground and flung herself after him so that they died together. Many Israelites of that period did the same, refusing to renounce the covenant of their fathers.
Some of the Jews said to one another: "Come, let us keep Shabbat in a cave lest we violate it." When they were betrayed to Bagris, he dispatched armed men who sat down at the entrance of the cave and said: "You Jews, surrender to us! Eat of our bread, drink of our wine, and do what we do!" But the Jews said to one another: "We remember what we were commanded on Mount Sinai: 'Six days you shall labor and do all your work; on the seventh day you shall rest.' It is better for us to die than to desecrate Shabbat." When the Jews failed to come out, wood was brought and set on fire at the entrance of the cave. About a thousand men and women died there. Later the five sons of Matityahu, Yochanan and his four brothers, set out and routed the hostile forces, whom they drove to the coast; for they trusted in the G-d of heaven.
Wicked Bagris, accompanied by those who had escaped the sword, boarded a ship and fled to king Antiochus. "O king," he said, "you have issued a decree abolishing Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh, and circumcision in Judea, and now there is complete rebellion there. The five sons of Matityahu cannot be defeated unless they are attacked by all the combined forces; they are stronger than lions, swifter than eagles, braver than bears. Be pleased to accept my advice, and do not fight them with this small army lest you be disgraced in the sight of all the kings. Send letters to all your royal provinces; let all the army officers without exception come with armored elephants." This pleased king Antiochus. He sent letters to all his royal domains, and the chieftains of various clans arrived with armored elephants. Wicked Bagris invaded Jerusalem for the second time. He broke through the wall, shattered the gateway, made thirteen breaches in the Temple, and ground the stones to dust. He thought to himself: "This time they shall not defeat me; my army is numerous, my hand is mighty." However, the G-d of heaven did not think so.
The five sons of Matityahu went to Mizpeh in Gilead, where the house of Israel had been saved in the days of Shmuel Hanavi. They fasted, sat in ashes and prayed to the G-d of heaven for mercy; then a good plan came to their mind. These were their names: Yehudah, the firstborn; Shimon, the second; Yochanan, the third; Yonatan, the fourth; Elazar, the fifth. Their father blessed them, saying: "Yehudah my son, I compare you to Yehudah the son of Yaakov who was likened to a lion. Shimon my son, I compare, you to Shimon the son of Yaakov who slew the men of Shchem. Yochanan my son, I compare you to Avner the son of Ner, general of Israel's army. Yonatan my son, I compare you to Yonatan the son of Shaul who defeated the Philistines. Elazar my son, I compare you to Pinchas the son of Elazar, who was zealous for his G-d and rescued the Israelites." Soon afterwards the five sons of Matityahu attacked the pagan forces, inflicting severe losses upon them. One, of the brothers, Yehudah, was killed.
When the sons of Matityahu discovered that Yehudah had been slain, they returned to their father who asked: "Why did you come back?" They replied: "Our brother Yehudah, who alone equaled all of us, has been killed." "I will join you in the battle against the heathen," Matityahu said, "lest they destroy the house of Israel; why be so dismayed over your brother?" He joined his sons that same day and waged war against the enemy. The G-d of heaven delivered into their hands all swordsmen and archers, army officers and high officials. None of these survived. Others were compelled to seek refuge in the coastal cities. In attacking the elephants, Elazar was engulfed in their dung. His brothers searched for him among the living and the dead, and could not find him. Eventually, however, they did find him.
The Jews rejoiced over the defeat of their enemies, some of whom were burned while others, were hanged on the gallows. Wicked Bagris was included among those who were burned to death. When king Antiochus heard that his governor Bagris and the army officers had been killed, he boarded a ship and fled to the coastal cities. Wherever he came the people rebelled and called him "The Fugitive," so he drowned himself in the sea.
The Hasmoneans entered the Sanctuary, rebuilt the gates, closed the breaches, and cleansed the Temple court from the slain and the impurities. They looked for pure olive oil to light the Menorah, and found only one bottle with the seal of the Kohen Gadol so that they were sure of its purity. Though its quantity seemed sufficient only for one day's lighting, it lasted for eight days owing to the blessing of the G-d of heaven who had established His Name there. Hence, the Hasmoneans and all the Jews alike instituted these eight days as a time of feasting and rejoicing, like any festival prescribed in the Torah, and of kindling lights to commemorate the victories G-d had given them. Mourning and fasting are forbidden on Chanukah, except in the case of an individual's vow which must be discharged. Nevertheless, the Hasmoneans did not prohibit work on this holiday.
From that time on the Greek government was stripped of its renown. The Hasmoneans and their descendants ruled for two hundred and six years, until the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash.
And so the Jews everywhere observe this festival for eight days, beginning on the twenty-fifth of Kislev. These days, instituted by Kohanim, Levites and Sages of Temple times, shall be celebrated by their descendants forever.
The Al-mighty Who performed for them a miracle and wonder, may He perform for us miracles and wonders. And we should see the fulfillment of what is written (Michah 7:15) "As in the days when you left the land of Egypt I will show it wonders."
Well, maybe in some Kabalistic text it is a memorial to the victory of light over darkness, but in any other sense, Hanukkah is a very specific memorial to a victory by traditional Jews over Hellenized Jews around 175 BCE.
The traditional view says that under Antiochus IV Epiphanes’ reign Judaism was effectively outlawed. In 167 BCE Antiochus ordered an altar to Zeus erected in the Temple. Pigs were sacrificed on the altar to Zeus. Needless to say, this was contrary to Jewish tradition.
Antiochus's actions provoked a large-scale revolt. Mattathias, a Jewish priest, and his five sons Jochanan, Simeon, Eleazar, Jonathan, and Judah led a rebellion against Antiochus. 165 BCE the revolt was successful. The Temple was rededicated. The festival of Hanukkah was instituted by Judah and his brothers to celebrate this event.
After recovering Jerusalem and the Temple, Judah ordered the Temple to be cleansed, a new altar to be built in place of the polluted one and new holy vessels to be made. Olive oil was needed for the menorah in the Temple, which was required to burn throughout the night every night. But there was only enough oil to burn for one day, yet miraculously, it burned for eight days, the time needed to prepare a fresh supply of oil for the menorah. An eight day festival was declared by the Jewish sages to commemorate this miracle.
An English translation of the Megillat Antiochus follows:
The Greek monarch Antiochus was a powerful ruler; all the kings heeded him. He subdued many provinces and mighty sovereigns; he destroyed their castles, burned their palaces and imprisoned their men. Since the reign of Alexander there had never been a king like him beyond the Euphrates. He erected a large city on the seacoast to serve as his royal residence, and called it "Antioch" after his own name. Opposite it his governor Bagris founded another city, and called it "City of Bagris" after himself. Such are their names to this day.
In the twenty-third year of his reign, the two hundred and thirteenth year after the Temple had been rebuilt, Antiochus determined to march on Jerusalem. He said to his officers: "You are aware that the Jews of Jerusalem are in our midst. They neither offer sacrifices to our gods nor observe our laws; they abandon the king's laws to practice their own. They hope moreover for the day when kings and tyrants shall be crushed, saying: 'O that our own king might reign over us, that we might rule the sea and the land, so that the entire world would be ours.' It is indeed a disgrace for the royal government to let them remain on the face of the earth. Come now, let us attack them and abolish the covenant made with them: Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh and circumcision." The proposal pleased his officers and all his host.
Immediately king Antiochus dispatched his governor Nicanor with a large body of troops. He came to the Jewish, city of Jerusalem and massacred many people; he set up a heathen altar in the Temple, concerning which the G-d of Israel had said to his faithful prophets: "There will I establish my residence forever." In that very place they slaughtered a swine and brought its blood into the holy court. When Yochanan ben Matityahu heard of this deed, he was filled with rage and his face changed color. In his heart he drew a plan of action. He then made himself a dagger, two spans long and one span wide, and concealed it under his clothes. He came to Jerusalem and stood at the royal gate, calling to this gate-keepers: "I am Yochanan ben Matityahu; I have come to appear before Nicanor." The guards informed Nicanor that the high priest of the Jews was standing at the door. "Let him enter!" Nicanor said.
Yochanan was admitted to Nicanor, who said: "You are one of the rebels who-rebel against the king and do not care for the welfare of his government!" Yochanan replied: "My lord, I have come to you; whatever you demand I will do." "If you wish to do as I please," said Nicanor, "then take a swine and sacrifice it upon the altar. You shall wear royal clothes and ride the king's own horse; you shall be counted among the king's close friends." To this, Yochanan answered: "My lord, I am afraid of the Israelites; if they hear that I have done such a thing they will stone me. Let everyone leave your presence, so as not to inform them." Immediately Nicanor ordered everybody out.
At, that moment Yochanan ben Matityahu raised his eyes to heaven and prayed; "My G-d and G-d of my fathers Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, do not hand me over to this heathen; for if he kills me, he will boast in the temple of Dagon that his god has handed me over to him." He advanced three steps toward Nicanor, thrust the dagger into his heart, and flung him fatally wounded into the court of the Temple. "My G-d," Yochanan prayed, "do not count it a sin that I killed this heathen in the Sanctuary; punish thus all the foes who came with him to persecute Judea and Jerusalem." On that day Yochanan set out and fought the enemy, inflicting heavy slaughter on them. The number of those who were slain by him on that day totaled two thousand seven hundred. Upon returning, he erected a column with the inscription: "Maccabee, Destroyer of Tyrants."
When king Antiochus heard that his governor Nicanor had been slain, he was bitterly distressed. He sent for wicked Bagris, the deceiver of his people, and told him: "Do you not know, have you not heard, what the Israelites did to me? They massacred my troops and ransacked my camps! Can you now be sure of your wealth? Will your homes remain yours? Come, let us move against them and abolish the covenant which their G-d made with them: Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh, and circumcision." Then wicked Bagris and his hosts invaded Jerusalem, murdering the population and proclaiming an absolute decree against Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh, and circumcision. So drastic was the king's edict that when a man was discovered to have circumcised his son, he and his wife were hanged along with the child. A woman gave birth to a son after her husband's death and had him circumcised when he was eight days old. With the child in her arms, she went up on top of the wall of Jerusalem and cried out: "We say to you, wicked Bagris: This covenant of our fathers which you intend to destroy shall never cease from us nor from our children's children." She cast her son down to the ground and flung herself after him so that they died together. Many Israelites of that period did the same, refusing to renounce the covenant of their fathers.
Some of the Jews said to one another: "Come, let us keep Shabbat in a cave lest we violate it." When they were betrayed to Bagris, he dispatched armed men who sat down at the entrance of the cave and said: "You Jews, surrender to us! Eat of our bread, drink of our wine, and do what we do!" But the Jews said to one another: "We remember what we were commanded on Mount Sinai: 'Six days you shall labor and do all your work; on the seventh day you shall rest.' It is better for us to die than to desecrate Shabbat." When the Jews failed to come out, wood was brought and set on fire at the entrance of the cave. About a thousand men and women died there. Later the five sons of Matityahu, Yochanan and his four brothers, set out and routed the hostile forces, whom they drove to the coast; for they trusted in the G-d of heaven.
Wicked Bagris, accompanied by those who had escaped the sword, boarded a ship and fled to king Antiochus. "O king," he said, "you have issued a decree abolishing Shabbat, Rosh Chodesh, and circumcision in Judea, and now there is complete rebellion there. The five sons of Matityahu cannot be defeated unless they are attacked by all the combined forces; they are stronger than lions, swifter than eagles, braver than bears. Be pleased to accept my advice, and do not fight them with this small army lest you be disgraced in the sight of all the kings. Send letters to all your royal provinces; let all the army officers without exception come with armored elephants." This pleased king Antiochus. He sent letters to all his royal domains, and the chieftains of various clans arrived with armored elephants. Wicked Bagris invaded Jerusalem for the second time. He broke through the wall, shattered the gateway, made thirteen breaches in the Temple, and ground the stones to dust. He thought to himself: "This time they shall not defeat me; my army is numerous, my hand is mighty." However, the G-d of heaven did not think so.
The five sons of Matityahu went to Mizpeh in Gilead, where the house of Israel had been saved in the days of Shmuel Hanavi. They fasted, sat in ashes and prayed to the G-d of heaven for mercy; then a good plan came to their mind. These were their names: Yehudah, the firstborn; Shimon, the second; Yochanan, the third; Yonatan, the fourth; Elazar, the fifth. Their father blessed them, saying: "Yehudah my son, I compare you to Yehudah the son of Yaakov who was likened to a lion. Shimon my son, I compare, you to Shimon the son of Yaakov who slew the men of Shchem. Yochanan my son, I compare you to Avner the son of Ner, general of Israel's army. Yonatan my son, I compare you to Yonatan the son of Shaul who defeated the Philistines. Elazar my son, I compare you to Pinchas the son of Elazar, who was zealous for his G-d and rescued the Israelites." Soon afterwards the five sons of Matityahu attacked the pagan forces, inflicting severe losses upon them. One, of the brothers, Yehudah, was killed.
When the sons of Matityahu discovered that Yehudah had been slain, they returned to their father who asked: "Why did you come back?" They replied: "Our brother Yehudah, who alone equaled all of us, has been killed." "I will join you in the battle against the heathen," Matityahu said, "lest they destroy the house of Israel; why be so dismayed over your brother?" He joined his sons that same day and waged war against the enemy. The G-d of heaven delivered into their hands all swordsmen and archers, army officers and high officials. None of these survived. Others were compelled to seek refuge in the coastal cities. In attacking the elephants, Elazar was engulfed in their dung. His brothers searched for him among the living and the dead, and could not find him. Eventually, however, they did find him.
The Jews rejoiced over the defeat of their enemies, some of whom were burned while others, were hanged on the gallows. Wicked Bagris was included among those who were burned to death. When king Antiochus heard that his governor Bagris and the army officers had been killed, he boarded a ship and fled to the coastal cities. Wherever he came the people rebelled and called him "The Fugitive," so he drowned himself in the sea.
The Hasmoneans entered the Sanctuary, rebuilt the gates, closed the breaches, and cleansed the Temple court from the slain and the impurities. They looked for pure olive oil to light the Menorah, and found only one bottle with the seal of the Kohen Gadol so that they were sure of its purity. Though its quantity seemed sufficient only for one day's lighting, it lasted for eight days owing to the blessing of the G-d of heaven who had established His Name there. Hence, the Hasmoneans and all the Jews alike instituted these eight days as a time of feasting and rejoicing, like any festival prescribed in the Torah, and of kindling lights to commemorate the victories G-d had given them. Mourning and fasting are forbidden on Chanukah, except in the case of an individual's vow which must be discharged. Nevertheless, the Hasmoneans did not prohibit work on this holiday.
From that time on the Greek government was stripped of its renown. The Hasmoneans and their descendants ruled for two hundred and six years, until the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash.
And so the Jews everywhere observe this festival for eight days, beginning on the twenty-fifth of Kislev. These days, instituted by Kohanim, Levites and Sages of Temple times, shall be celebrated by their descendants forever.
The Al-mighty Who performed for them a miracle and wonder, may He perform for us miracles and wonders. And we should see the fulfillment of what is written (Michah 7:15) "As in the days when you left the land of Egypt I will show it wonders."
“And how can man die better than facing fearful odds, For the ashes of his fathers and the temples of his gods?”
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
Statement from Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff on the celebration of Chanukah
OTTAWA– Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff made the following statement at the start of Chanukah:"On Chanukah, Jews across Canada and around the world gather to celebrate by spinning the dreidel and lighting the menorah with friends and loved ones.
But the story of the Maccabbees reminds us of a greater achievement, one renewed in our own time: the survival of the Jewish people in the face of adversity and terror.
During Chanukah we recognize that too many people, Jewish and non-Jewish, still live in fear because of who they are and what they believe.
We pledge to build a better world in the face of that adversity. Together, as one people—stronger because of our differences, and not in spite of them.That's the lesson that Canada continues to teach the world—the story we hope to tell our children and grandchildren.
So on behalf of the Liberal Party of Canada and our Parliamentary Caucus, please accept my best wishes for the Festival of Lights. Happy Chanukah."
Video Greeting:
http://www.liberal.ca/en/newsroom/liberal-tv/l5IpboT4ZnE~happy-hanukkah
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
But the story of the Maccabbees reminds us of a greater achievement, one renewed in our own time: the survival of the Jewish people in the face of adversity and terror.
During Chanukah we recognize that too many people, Jewish and non-Jewish, still live in fear because of who they are and what they believe.
We pledge to build a better world in the face of that adversity. Together, as one people—stronger because of our differences, and not in spite of them.That's the lesson that Canada continues to teach the world—the story we hope to tell our children and grandchildren.
So on behalf of the Liberal Party of Canada and our Parliamentary Caucus, please accept my best wishes for the Festival of Lights. Happy Chanukah."
Video Greeting:
http://www.liberal.ca/en/newsroom/liberal-tv/l5IpboT4ZnE~happy-hanukkah
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
Ottawa won't release Afghan documents
I was afraid of this.
Ottawa won't release Afghan documents
December 11, 2009 12:12:54
Susan Delacourt
Ottawa Bureau
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government appears unwilling to hand over documents as ordered in a vote last night in the Commons, setting the stage for a showdown with Parliament and a possible rendezvous with the courts.
International Trade Minister Stockwell Day indicated this morning that the opposition parties would have to go to the courts to get all the information they're seeking on whether Afghan prisoners detained by Canadian forces were subject to torture when handed over to local authorities, and what the government knew about the issue.
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
Ottawa won't release Afghan documents
December 11, 2009 12:12:54
Susan Delacourt
Ottawa Bureau
OTTAWA – Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government appears unwilling to hand over documents as ordered in a vote last night in the Commons, setting the stage for a showdown with Parliament and a possible rendezvous with the courts.
International Trade Minister Stockwell Day indicated this morning that the opposition parties would have to go to the courts to get all the information they're seeking on whether Afghan prisoners detained by Canadian forces were subject to torture when handed over to local authorities, and what the government knew about the issue.
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
MPs order release of Afghan torture documents
This is a good result but I am not sure it will have a significant long term effect. What happens if the materials are not disclosed or are disclosed in a haphazard and disordered fashion? Still the symbolism is significant and (perhaps) release may follow
OTTAWA–Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has lost its iron grip on information about detainee treatment in Afghanistan after a showdown that pitted the power of the ruling party against the power of Parliament.
The Liberals narrowly pushed through a motion in the Commons on Thursday that forces Harper's government to release waves of unedited documents so that Parliament can examine whether Afghan prisoners detained by Canadian forces were subject to torture when handed over to local authorities, and what the government knew about the issue.
The motion passed with a vote of 145-143.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/afghanmission/article/737538--mps-order-release-of-afghan-torture-documents
OTTAWA–Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has lost its iron grip on information about detainee treatment in Afghanistan after a showdown that pitted the power of the ruling party against the power of Parliament.
The Liberals narrowly pushed through a motion in the Commons on Thursday that forces Harper's government to release waves of unedited documents so that Parliament can examine whether Afghan prisoners detained by Canadian forces were subject to torture when handed over to local authorities, and what the government knew about the issue.
The motion passed with a vote of 145-143.
http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/afghanmission/article/737538--mps-order-release-of-afghan-torture-documents
Ontario Realty Corporation
You can't squeeze blood from a stone, but if you squeeze hard enough you'll hurt your own hand.
Government fails to recoup millions spent on fees
http://www.thestar.com/mobile/business/article/737452--government-fails-to-recoup-millions-spent-on-fees
December 11, 2009
Tony Van Alphen
Business Reporter
The Ontario government will fall short again by millions of dollars in its efforts to recover money from a controversial corruption case involving its real estate arm, which cost taxpayers about $23.3 million in legal and consultant fees.
The province had expected to recoup several million dollars in fees from defendants to mitigate some of the heavy spending in the civil case but a judge has ordered them to pay only about $680,000.
The decision by Justice Frank Newbould this week bumps up the amount that the government can gain in costs and its partial victory at trial to almost $6.2 million in the nine-year-old case over allegations of bid rigging, breach of trust, fraud and kickbacks at Ontario Realty Corp.
Newbould of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice had ruled earlier this year that a Vaughan contractor and two partners are liable for about $5.5 million including interest.
The overall amount is substantially below the $23,324,292.65 that the government spent on legal counsel, consultants and experts in the civil case.
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
Government fails to recoup millions spent on fees
http://www.thestar.com/mobile/business/article/737452--government-fails-to-recoup-millions-spent-on-fees
December 11, 2009
Tony Van Alphen
Business Reporter
The Ontario government will fall short again by millions of dollars in its efforts to recover money from a controversial corruption case involving its real estate arm, which cost taxpayers about $23.3 million in legal and consultant fees.
The province had expected to recoup several million dollars in fees from defendants to mitigate some of the heavy spending in the civil case but a judge has ordered them to pay only about $680,000.
The decision by Justice Frank Newbould this week bumps up the amount that the government can gain in costs and its partial victory at trial to almost $6.2 million in the nine-year-old case over allegations of bid rigging, breach of trust, fraud and kickbacks at Ontario Realty Corp.
Newbould of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice had ruled earlier this year that a Vaughan contractor and two partners are liable for about $5.5 million including interest.
The overall amount is substantially below the $23,324,292.65 that the government spent on legal counsel, consultants and experts in the civil case.
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
Mobiles For Gender Empowerment
This is a remarkable story but one that makes sense. The ability to communicate with the broader world empowers people; abused women who can call friends realize they are not as helpless as they might think. In a similar way recent immigrants to Canada may not realize they are not alone and that suggests building links, electronic or otherwise, with the broader community, are valuable.
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=49537
Mobiles For Gender Empowerment
by Gagandeep Johar, New Delhi,
The Indian Government should consider providing mobile phones at a subsidy to women from the bottom of the pyramid since it helps improve their status and welfare, says a recent report.
According to a Stanford University study titled 'The Impact of Mobile Phones on the status of women in India', mobile phones significantly decrease both men and women's tolerance of domestic violence.
"Phones may empower women by giving them better access to social services. Given the privacy of talking on the phone, women can more easily report domestic violence or consult family planning agencies," says the report by Dayoung Lee of the university's department of economics.
Besides, "unlike other ICT devices, mobile phones do not require literacy or sophisticated skills that many women lack"... . The report further states that mobile phones help increase women's autonomy in mobility and economic independence, but does not have any significant effect on child preferences and other measures of autonomy.
Nilanju Dutta of Jagori, a women's training, documentation, communication and resource centre, corroborates this. The New Delhi-based organisation has done a lot of work in domestic violence and runs a counseling centre. "We have started tracking the phone calls since around three-to-four months back, and almost 50 percent of the calls come from mobile phones."
"My husband beats me regularly. The lady I work for took pity on me and gave me an old mobile phone. She told me in front of my husband that if ever my husband troubles me, I should just call her. I wouldn't say that my troubles have vanished, but the beatings have certainly reduced," says Meena Padhan, 30, a domestic worker who lives in Masudpur village, south Delhi, and works in a middle class neighbourhood.
...
Statistical analysis shows that gender has a significant impact on mobile phone adoption at the bottom of the pyramid in Bangladesh, Pakistan and India. Consequently, in this segment, 12 males have access to mobile phones in comparison to five females.
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
Thursday, December 10, 2009
International Human Rights Day
http://televisionwashington.com/floater_article1.aspx?lang=en&t=2&id=16368
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
We should sentence the criminal and not the crime
A Conservative friend of who is a lawyer said this earlier today -- I agree.
His point, although he favours prison in many cases, is that everyone has a story to tell and fixing sentences by reference to a crime, as opposed to the criminal, is an unproductive idea.
His point, although he favours prison in many cases, is that everyone has a story to tell and fixing sentences by reference to a crime, as opposed to the criminal, is an unproductive idea.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has paid out nearly $7 million to political staffers who have left their jobs over the past two years.
What's wrong with this story? Not what many commentators suggest.
It's not that "extra" money is being slipped to favorites (although that seems to be true). It's that the payments are discretionary.
As a guideline, on severance, a payment of one month for each year is appropriate. But political staffers get half that ... unless their boss tops it up.
Political staffers should get the same deal everyone else in the country gets and what they are entitled to should not be at the whim of their political masters -- that's what's wrong here!
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has paid out nearly $7 million to political staffers who have left their jobs over the past two years.
http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2009/12/09/12089946-sun.html
The amount of "separation pay" that was doled out at the discretion of cabinet ministers is more than twice the amount of "severance pay" the Conservatives were obliged to pay departing political aides under government guidelines.
In a response to a written question tabled in the House of Commons, Treasury Board president Vic Toews revealed that between Oct. 19, 2007, and Oct. 19, 2009, the government handed out $2.01 million to departing aides in severance pay and $4.9 million in separation pay.
The government didn't say how many people received payouts.
Under the government's guidelines for ministers' offices, political staffers are entitled to two weeks of severance pay for each year of service -- regardless of whether they resigned, were laid off or dismissed.
EXTRA SEVERANCE
Those who had previously worked for a member of Parliament or for the public service could be entitled to an extra week of severance pay for each year of service in those roles.
However, cabinet ministers also have the discretion to pay departing staffers separation pay of up to four months salary on top of their severance pay.
For example, if a senior political staffer paid $100,000 a year served for two years, they would be entitled to $7,692 in severance pay but could also pocket up to $30,769 in separation pay.
NDP finance critic Thomas Mulcair, who served as a provincial cabinet minister in Quebec, described the $7-million payout to the Conservative staffers as "an outrage" and an "orgy with public money."
It's not that "extra" money is being slipped to favorites (although that seems to be true). It's that the payments are discretionary.
As a guideline, on severance, a payment of one month for each year is appropriate. But political staffers get half that ... unless their boss tops it up.
Political staffers should get the same deal everyone else in the country gets and what they are entitled to should not be at the whim of their political masters -- that's what's wrong here!
Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government has paid out nearly $7 million to political staffers who have left their jobs over the past two years.
http://www.torontosun.com/news/canada/2009/12/09/12089946-sun.html
The amount of "separation pay" that was doled out at the discretion of cabinet ministers is more than twice the amount of "severance pay" the Conservatives were obliged to pay departing political aides under government guidelines.
In a response to a written question tabled in the House of Commons, Treasury Board president Vic Toews revealed that between Oct. 19, 2007, and Oct. 19, 2009, the government handed out $2.01 million to departing aides in severance pay and $4.9 million in separation pay.
The government didn't say how many people received payouts.
Under the government's guidelines for ministers' offices, political staffers are entitled to two weeks of severance pay for each year of service -- regardless of whether they resigned, were laid off or dismissed.
EXTRA SEVERANCE
Those who had previously worked for a member of Parliament or for the public service could be entitled to an extra week of severance pay for each year of service in those roles.
However, cabinet ministers also have the discretion to pay departing staffers separation pay of up to four months salary on top of their severance pay.
For example, if a senior political staffer paid $100,000 a year served for two years, they would be entitled to $7,692 in severance pay but could also pocket up to $30,769 in separation pay.
NDP finance critic Thomas Mulcair, who served as a provincial cabinet minister in Quebec, described the $7-million payout to the Conservative staffers as "an outrage" and an "orgy with public money."
Simple-minded justice
A fine piece from today's Post by Father Raymond J. de Souza:
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/12/10/father-raymond-j-de-souza-simple-minded-justice.aspx
Father Raymond J. De Souza:
The federal government has a simple approach to criminal justice: more people spending more time in jail. The justice minister has apparently discovered no problem for which mandatory minimum sentences are not the solution. Prison time for first-time, non-violent offenders is to be increased. Parole eligibility is to be narrowed.
Most significant for the future growth of our incarcerated citizenry, the government proposes to eliminate the two-for-one credit for pretrial custody. The logic has been that imprisonment before trial should be treated differently than imprisonment as the result of a guilty verdict. No matter for our jail-happy federal government. Guilt or innocence is not as important as making sure the jails are full.
When queried on the evidence for such measures, or a broader philosophy of the role of incarceration in the criminal justice system, the justice department offers little more than slogans about being "tough on crime" and making sure that "if you do the crime, you do the time." It is not so much simple as simple-minded.
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/12/10/father-raymond-j-de-souza-simple-minded-justice.aspx
Father Raymond J. De Souza:
The federal government has a simple approach to criminal justice: more people spending more time in jail. The justice minister has apparently discovered no problem for which mandatory minimum sentences are not the solution. Prison time for first-time, non-violent offenders is to be increased. Parole eligibility is to be narrowed.
Most significant for the future growth of our incarcerated citizenry, the government proposes to eliminate the two-for-one credit for pretrial custody. The logic has been that imprisonment before trial should be treated differently than imprisonment as the result of a guilty verdict. No matter for our jail-happy federal government. Guilt or innocence is not as important as making sure the jails are full.
When queried on the evidence for such measures, or a broader philosophy of the role of incarceration in the criminal justice system, the justice department offers little more than slogans about being "tough on crime" and making sure that "if you do the crime, you do the time." It is not so much simple as simple-minded.
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
Criminal witchcraft
It should be noted that being a "witch" or practising "witchcraft" is not a crime. It using (or purporting to use) witchcraft to defraud that is illegal. Still, it is a very rare charge -- I have never seen it before -- and perhaps it would be better to just charge simple fraud.
'Witch' was wicked, police say
http://mobile.thestar.com/mobile/NEWS/article/736959
Jesse McLean
staff reporter
Police have dusted off an old chapter of the Canadian Criminal Code and charged a woman with posing as a witch, allegedly to defraud a Toronto lawyer of more than $100,000.
Vishwantee Persaud, 36, is accused of conning veteran criminal lawyer Noel Daley by saying she was the embodiment of his deceased sister, whose spirit would guide him to financial success.
"She told (Daley) that she had a history in her family of them being sort of good witches, or having occult powers, and that she could do a tarot card reading for him," said Det. Const. Corey Jones.
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
'Witch' was wicked, police say
http://mobile.thestar.com/mobile/NEWS/article/736959
Jesse McLean
staff reporter
Police have dusted off an old chapter of the Canadian Criminal Code and charged a woman with posing as a witch, allegedly to defraud a Toronto lawyer of more than $100,000.
Vishwantee Persaud, 36, is accused of conning veteran criminal lawyer Noel Daley by saying she was the embodiment of his deceased sister, whose spirit would guide him to financial success.
"She told (Daley) that she had a history in her family of them being sort of good witches, or having occult powers, and that she could do a tarot card reading for him," said Det. Const. Corey Jones.
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
Condominium corporation approval for hot tub not needed?
The essential feature of a condominium corporation is its mix of private residential units and common space. In the Condominium Act, s. 1(1), the common space is called "common elements" which means "all the property except the units"
Typically, the common elements of a condominium corporation are divided into two categories – areas which can be used by all of the owners (for example, lobbies, driveways, garages and guest facilities) and areas reserved for the use of only one owner (for example, the patio or lawn area immediately contiguous to a unit).
Section 98(1) of the Condominium Act requires that an owner obtain the approval of the condominium corporation's board of directors if the owner seeks to "make an addition, alteration or improvement to the common elements" of the corporation.
Do you need permission to put a hot tub on a common area reserved for your use as an owner?
Apparently not. See Wentworth Condominium Corporation No. 198 v. McMahon, 2009 ONCA 870:
[11] The condominium corporation made an application seeking, inter alia, the permanent removal of the hot tub. The application judge considered the matter in the context of s. 98(1) of the Condominium Act. He reviewed relevant case law and dictionary definitions of "add", "alter" and "improve". This led him to define the pivotal words of s. 98(1) in this fashion:
Therefore, I find that the word "addition" means something that is joined or connected to a structure, and the word "alteration" means something that changes the structure.
I find that the word "improvement" means the betterment of the property or enhancement of the value of the property. I also accept that an "improvement" refers to an improvement or betterment of the property. That is, to be an improvement there must be an increase in the value of the property. If the item increases the enjoyment of the property, but does not increase the value of the property, I find that the item is not an improvement. [Emphasis in original.]
[12] Applying these definitions to McMahon's hot tub, the application judge reached these conclusions:
The hot tub is not an addition as it is not something that sensibly can be seen as being joined to or connected to the structure. It is connected by an electrical cable, but the purpose of the electrical cable is to supply power to the hot tub, not to fix the hot tub to the structure. Furthermore, even though it may take a half-hour and two men to move, the hot tub is still designed to be removed from the property. It is not a permanent fixture on the property.
The hot tub is not an alteration as it does not change the structure of the property. The hot tub may alter the landscape, but any such alteration does not cause any permanent change to the structure.
The hot tub is not an improvement as it does not increase the value of the condominium unit. It is not a fixture that is so attached to the property that it becomes a part of the property. Thus, it cannot increase the value of the property.
[13] Accordingly, the application judge concluded that "McMahon does not require the approval of the board to place the hot tub in the exclusive use common element area on his patio." He dismissed the condominium corporation's application.
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
Peter MacKay
Here's an interesting passage from a piece by Jane Taber this morning:
"For each and every call for Mr. MacKay's firing, the Prime Minister would only say that the military acted correctly and with integrity."
Stephen Harper never seemed very comfortable with Peter MacKay. Perhaps it is dangerous to be seen as a future leader of the Conservatives?
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
"For each and every call for Mr. MacKay's firing, the Prime Minister would only say that the military acted correctly and with integrity."
Stephen Harper never seemed very comfortable with Peter MacKay. Perhaps it is dangerous to be seen as a future leader of the Conservatives?
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
The problem with prisoners
The Afghan conflict poses a special problem regarding prisoners.
Assume Canada detains someone.
What do we do then? Set up POW camps? Bring the prisoner to Canada? Or turn the prisoner over to the Afghan civil authorities who we are trying to support?
Torture is unacceptable. But absent that turning the prisoner over to the Afghans makes sense.
So what do we do when torture is there? Perhaps setting up POW camps is the best idea? But what about Afghan sovereignty. It's a thorny issue.
(And I am aware one answer is leave)
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
Time for a proper inquiry
I'd like to read the transcript of testimony closely.
I doubt he actually did contradict himself -- but only changed what he implied. That said, a major change on the ground -- now it is time for a proper inquiry and even the Conservatives will have a hard time (well, maybe even the Conservatives) denying that.
Canada's top military commander made a stunning turnaround Wednesday, contradicting testimony he made one day earlier about an Afghan detainee who was abused by Afghan police.
http://news.sympatico.ctv.ca/abc/home/contentposting.aspx?isfa=1&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V3&showbyline=True&date=true&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20091209%2fmackay_oconnor_091209
I doubt he actually did contradict himself -- but only changed what he implied. That said, a major change on the ground -- now it is time for a proper inquiry and even the Conservatives will have a hard time (well, maybe even the Conservatives) denying that.
Canada's top military commander made a stunning turnaround Wednesday, contradicting testimony he made one day earlier about an Afghan detainee who was abused by Afghan police.
http://news.sympatico.ctv.ca/abc/home/contentposting.aspx?isfa=1&feedname=CTV-TOPSTORIES_V3&showbyline=True&date=true&newsitemid=CTVNews%2f20091209%2fmackay_oconnor_091209
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Full opportunity defined
Section 715(1) of the Criminal Code provides:
Where, at the trial of an accused, a person whose evidence was given at a previous trial on the same charge, or whose evidence was taken in the investigation of the charge against the accused or on the preliminary inquiry into the charge, refuses to be sworn or to give evidence, or if facts are proved on oath from which it can be inferred reasonably that the person
(a) is dead,
(b) has since become and is insane,
(c) is so ill that he is unable to travel or testify, or
(d) is absent from
And where it is proved that the evidence was taken in the presence of the accused, it may be admitted as evidence in the proceedings without further proof, unless the accused proves that the accused did not have full opportunity to cross-examine the witness. [Emphasis added.]
Today’s decision in R. v. Lewis, 2009 ONCA 874 explains the meaning of “full opportunity” in the following terms:
[68] The better approach, in my view, is to limit consideration of the “full opportunity” requirement to cases where, for example, a witness refuses to answer questions in cross-examination, a witness dies or disappears in the midst of cross-examination, or where the presiding judge curtails cross-examination by imposing improper limitations or restrictions. It should not apply where the failure to cross-examination stems from an accused person’s ignorance of potentially useful information, no matter the cause or reason. Those situations, in my view, are best dealt with under trial fairness, where, as I have indicated, the reason for the missing information can properly be taken into account as a factor.
Zareinu - A good place to donate for the Holiday Season
Zareinu Educational Centre of Metropolitan Toronto is a world-renowned, one-of-a-kind centre that provides unique opportunities for physically and developmentally challenged children and their families.
Only at Zareinu can a parent find all the therapies and special education services that students require under one roof. Open to all we offer children the opportunity to learn about their heritage and background.
It is our mission to ensure that each and every child has the opportunity to live up to her/his full potential. www.zareinu.org
Only at Zareinu can a parent find all the therapies and special education services that students require under one roof. Open to all we offer children the opportunity to learn about their heritage and background.
It is our mission to ensure that each and every child has the opportunity to live up to her/his full potential. www.zareinu.org
HST -- A tough call
The HST is a tough call.
There is no doubt that it is deeply unpopular -- I hear this all the time at townhalls and community meetings.
That said, unifying the provincial and federal sales taxes makes economic sense and has been a Liberal policy for years. Yes, it is unpopular and we will take a hit both federally and provincially for supporting HST but sometimes good policy has to trump politics.
See John Manley in today's Globe:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/ignatieff-made-the-right-call-on-the-hst/article1393379/
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff has come under fire from some members of his own party for supporting the federal government's plan to enable Ontario and British Columbia to harmonize their retail sales taxes with the GST.
At first glance, it might seem the critics have a point. Taxes are never popular. The way some Liberal MPs see it, it would be smarter to let Prime Minister Stephen Harper carry the can for helping to implement the new harmonized sales tax in Ontario and B.C.
But the critics are wrong. In agreeing to support the Conservative government's HST legislation, Mr. Ignatieff made the right choice – for three very sound reasons.
First, the HST bill is fully consistent with long-standing federal Liberal Party policy. After all, in the mid-1990s, it was Jean Chrétien's government that persuaded Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador to harmonize their provincial sales taxes with the GST, just as Ontario and B.C. are proposing to do now.
The Liberal government's policy back then was the same as the Conservative government's today: to encourage the remaining provinces with retail sales taxes to harmonize as a means of improving Canada's ability to compete internationally. For Liberal MPs to turn around and vote against the HST-enabling legislation would therefore represent a significant policy flip-flop.
The second reason Mr. Ignatieff's position makes sense is that retail sales tax harmonization is fundamentally a matter of provincial jurisdiction. The duly elected governments of Ontario and B.C. have decided to reform and streamline the system by which they tax the sale of goods and services. Federal legislation is required to make it happen and to compensate consumers during the transition period. Beyond that, it should be left to the provinces to determine what is in their respective interests.
There is no doubt that it is deeply unpopular -- I hear this all the time at townhalls and community meetings.
That said, unifying the provincial and federal sales taxes makes economic sense and has been a Liberal policy for years. Yes, it is unpopular and we will take a hit both federally and provincially for supporting HST but sometimes good policy has to trump politics.
See John Manley in today's Globe:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/ignatieff-made-the-right-call-on-the-hst/article1393379/
Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff has come under fire from some members of his own party for supporting the federal government's plan to enable Ontario and British Columbia to harmonize their retail sales taxes with the GST.
At first glance, it might seem the critics have a point. Taxes are never popular. The way some Liberal MPs see it, it would be smarter to let Prime Minister Stephen Harper carry the can for helping to implement the new harmonized sales tax in Ontario and B.C.
But the critics are wrong. In agreeing to support the Conservative government's HST legislation, Mr. Ignatieff made the right choice – for three very sound reasons.
First, the HST bill is fully consistent with long-standing federal Liberal Party policy. After all, in the mid-1990s, it was Jean Chrétien's government that persuaded Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador to harmonize their provincial sales taxes with the GST, just as Ontario and B.C. are proposing to do now.
The Liberal government's policy back then was the same as the Conservative government's today: to encourage the remaining provinces with retail sales taxes to harmonize as a means of improving Canada's ability to compete internationally. For Liberal MPs to turn around and vote against the HST-enabling legislation would therefore represent a significant policy flip-flop.
The second reason Mr. Ignatieff's position makes sense is that retail sales tax harmonization is fundamentally a matter of provincial jurisdiction. The duly elected governments of Ontario and B.C. have decided to reform and streamline the system by which they tax the sale of goods and services. Federal legislation is required to make it happen and to compensate consumers during the transition period. Beyond that, it should be left to the provinces to determine what is in their respective interests.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Cost appeals
Fernandes v. RBC Life Insurance Company, 2009 ONCA 864, released today, makes the well known point that appeals of cost orders will seldom succeed. The Court holds:
[23] The jurisdiction of this court to interfere with a trial judge's discretionary costs award is limited. Absent an error in principle or unless the award is plainly wrong, appellate intervention is precluded
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
[23] The jurisdiction of this court to interfere with a trial judge's discretionary costs award is limited. Absent an error in principle or unless the award is plainly wrong, appellate intervention is precluded
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
Careful with that camera!!!
Taking pictures of the Royal Family could end in legal action
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
Timely justice
www.theglobeandmail.com/blogs/andrew-steele/timely-justice/Timely justice
Andrew Steele
The whining pundit longing for debates on matters of substance is a trope long past its due date, but I'm compelled to tread my deep worn tracks once again.
The level of political discourse at Queen's Park last week was well below that found in a three-year-old's birthday party.
Suffice it to say, matters of importance, from Children's Aid Societies to the strike in driving test centres, have been forced to the margins.
For instance, take the Ontario Attorney-General's website, where there is a quiet revolution underway.
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
Andrew Steele
The whining pundit longing for debates on matters of substance is a trope long past its due date, but I'm compelled to tread my deep worn tracks once again.
The level of political discourse at Queen's Park last week was well below that found in a three-year-old's birthday party.
Suffice it to say, matters of importance, from Children's Aid Societies to the strike in driving test centres, have been forced to the margins.
For instance, take the Ontario Attorney-General's website, where there is a quiet revolution underway.
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
Bringing Canadians Home
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/default.aspx
In early 2008, Brenda Martin, a Canadian citizen held in a Mexican prison, was brought back to Canada by Jason Kenney, the Secretary of State for Multiculturalism. The minister actually travelled to the prison where Martin was held to make arrangements for her transfer to Canada. Martin had been convicted of money laundering by a Mexican judge who sentenced her to five years in prison in Mexico without parole.
Brenda Martin never admitted her guilt. She maintained she was a Canadian wrongfully convicted in an unfair trial in Mexico and sentenced to a lengthy sentence for a crime she did not commit. Canadians rallied around her and the Federal government stepped in to secure her transfer to Canada. That was right and proper.
The Conservative government was widely, and rightly, praised for acting strongly to protect a Canadian abroad.
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
In early 2008, Brenda Martin, a Canadian citizen held in a Mexican prison, was brought back to Canada by Jason Kenney, the Secretary of State for Multiculturalism. The minister actually travelled to the prison where Martin was held to make arrangements for her transfer to Canada. Martin had been convicted of money laundering by a Mexican judge who sentenced her to five years in prison in Mexico without parole.
Brenda Martin never admitted her guilt. She maintained she was a Canadian wrongfully convicted in an unfair trial in Mexico and sentenced to a lengthy sentence for a crime she did not commit. Canadians rallied around her and the Federal government stepped in to secure her transfer to Canada. That was right and proper.
The Conservative government was widely, and rightly, praised for acting strongly to protect a Canadian abroad.
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
“Reason over passion”
Fiorello Laguardia, the mayor of New York in the 1930’s and 40’s said "There is no Democratic or Republican way of cleaning the streets". Laguardia made a profound point in a simple way. Some things are not political. There is a right and wrong way to keep streets clean; it has nothing to do with politics. In the same way, the proper approach to criminal justice ought not to be based on politics but rather on what works.
Unfortunately, rather than turning to evidence and asking “what works” many recent changes to our criminal justice system are based on scoring political points. Punishment for the sake of punishment is pointless. Many years ago Pierre Trudeau called for “reason over passion” and he was right. Being “tough on crime” may appeal to some but it accomplished nothing and bears significant costs. Prison is sometime appropriate, as surgery is sometimes appropriate for disease, but a good doctor does not employ surgery for a head cold.
Michael Ignatieff, who worked with a prison ministry, told me that “I've never been in a prison that didn't leave people worse”. I can say the same thing; prisons as they exist today seldom reform. That does not mean prison has no role to play in the justice system. Someone in prison is (generally) not committing crimes outside of jail (they may well be committing crimes inside jail but that's another story). Deterrence and rehabilitation seem to be qualified failures -- in fact, increasing the use of jail seems to increase crime and makes re offending more common.
In 1999, researchers at the University of New Brunswick examined 50 studies on recidivism that covered more than 300,000 offenders. Considering other factors—such as an inmate's criminal background and age—they found that the longer someone spent in jail, the more likely they were to commit another crime when they got out. The researchers found the impact was most significant for low-risk offenders—suggesting prison may indeed be a "school of crime" that makes people worse, not better.
Indeed since the federal government spends only two percent of its prison budget on offender treatment programs it is hardly surprising that rehabilitation seldom occurs.
A story out of Nova Scotia suggests the attitude of the current administration is to make prison as awful as possible to discourage offenders. As reported, Correctional Service Canada cancelled a unique dog training program at the women's prison in Truro. The Pawsitive Directions Canine Program at the federal Nova Institute for Women had jailed women caring for and teaching obedience to shelter dogs who were eventually paired with disabled clients. The program was a way of training women inmates, building skills and self-esteem, while helping the disabled. As a rehabilitation program Pawsitive Directions made eminent sense; but if prison is to be punishment without rehabilitation it was an unnecessary frill.
The trouble is that trying to deter crime through fear of punishment is misguided. The concept of the criminal as rational actor is wrong (except perhaps for white collar criminals, drug dealers and some impaired drivers). Mental illness is widespread through the criminal system. Drug abuse and psychiatric disorders are such common precursors of crime as to make the concept of the typical criminal as rational actor deterred by punishment absurd.
Crime is largely a reflection of underlying social failings. A recent judgment from Sudbury pointed out the problem:
Poverty is the first fuel that drives crime. It becomes mixed in with the destabilization of families, widespread substance abuse, child abuse, sexual abuse and domestic violence. If you review the pre-sentence reports before Canadian judges in relation to serious crime, you will see this constellation of socio-economic factors that go to the root causes of crime. Most of today's serious criminals were once victims. They patterned their behaviour after the societal forces that shaped them.
As a whole Canada is safe from crime. Violent crime has been generally dropping for years, and was lower in 2007 than at any time in two decades. Similarly property crimes are down - the recent rate is more than 40 per cent below a peak in 1991. The most common criminal charge - about 24 per cent of the criminal court traffic – is for breach of court orders and probation conditions. Those are followed by impaired driving (8.9 per cent); common assault (7.9 per cent); and theft (7.5 per cent). One crime is too many but overall Canada is safer than ever.
There are communities that are in trouble and to address crime we need to address the problems in those communities. First Nations constitute about 3% of the general population but 17% of prisoners in the federal system. This gross over representation is a reflection of deeper problems with the First Nations communities. About one in two hundred non-aboriginal children are cared for by the state compared to the staggering figure of one in ten First Nations children. And yet, First Nation child welfare agencies receive about a fifth less funding than provincial agencies. Poverty and addiction are rampant in First Nations and aboriginal children are far more likely to experience neglect as non-aboriginal children. They need more services but receive less. Fixing the criminal problem in First Nations does not require more jails – it requires social programs that focus on systemic community issues.
Similarly, mental health issues underlie many crimes. Eleven per cent of the federal prison population today were certified as mental patients at the time of incarceration. Spend a day in any criminal court in Canada and the prevalence of mental illness, diagnosed or otherwise, is obvious. The mentally unstable do not respond well to prison and are seldom deterred by the prospect of incarceration.
Prison, regardless of its efficacy, is not cheap. The average annual cost of keeping a federal inmate behind bars last year was $93,030. There are currently 13,581 inmates costing more than $1 billion. American states, such as California, that rely on lengthy mandatory sentences have found crime is not reduced but the state is rendered insolvent. Money spent on jails is money not spent on hospital or schools or roads.
So what is to be done?
First, we have to realize that real crime control requires a social safety net. Children raised in poverty, communities that are alienated from broader society, and untreated mentally unstable individuals all contribute to crime. Such a safety net may seem costly but, in the long run, it will save money by limiting prison costs and creating productive citizens.
Second, we need to study what actually works. Does increasing prison terms actually cut crime? My own experience suggests that prison does deter white collar criminals, some drug dealers and some impaired drivers. Drug addicts and the mentally unstable are not deterred. Can prison actually rehabilitate? Some American research suggests faith based counseling can rehabilitate; but it also leads, sometimes, to a risk of radicalization.
Finally, we should consider what is and what is not criminal. It makes sense to criminalize the sale of addictive poisons. But why are cigarettes legal while a little less than 50,000 Canadians a year are criminally charged with possession of marihuana?
These points are practical. To limit crime in Canada we need to consider what works and not what sounds good in the media. “Reason over passion” is a motto we should apply to Canada’s criminal justice system.
Unfortunately, rather than turning to evidence and asking “what works” many recent changes to our criminal justice system are based on scoring political points. Punishment for the sake of punishment is pointless. Many years ago Pierre Trudeau called for “reason over passion” and he was right. Being “tough on crime” may appeal to some but it accomplished nothing and bears significant costs. Prison is sometime appropriate, as surgery is sometimes appropriate for disease, but a good doctor does not employ surgery for a head cold.
Michael Ignatieff, who worked with a prison ministry, told me that “I've never been in a prison that didn't leave people worse”. I can say the same thing; prisons as they exist today seldom reform. That does not mean prison has no role to play in the justice system. Someone in prison is (generally) not committing crimes outside of jail (they may well be committing crimes inside jail but that's another story). Deterrence and rehabilitation seem to be qualified failures -- in fact, increasing the use of jail seems to increase crime and makes re offending more common.
In 1999, researchers at the University of New Brunswick examined 50 studies on recidivism that covered more than 300,000 offenders. Considering other factors—such as an inmate's criminal background and age—they found that the longer someone spent in jail, the more likely they were to commit another crime when they got out. The researchers found the impact was most significant for low-risk offenders—suggesting prison may indeed be a "school of crime" that makes people worse, not better.
Indeed since the federal government spends only two percent of its prison budget on offender treatment programs it is hardly surprising that rehabilitation seldom occurs.
A story out of Nova Scotia suggests the attitude of the current administration is to make prison as awful as possible to discourage offenders. As reported, Correctional Service Canada cancelled a unique dog training program at the women's prison in Truro. The Pawsitive Directions Canine Program at the federal Nova Institute for Women had jailed women caring for and teaching obedience to shelter dogs who were eventually paired with disabled clients. The program was a way of training women inmates, building skills and self-esteem, while helping the disabled. As a rehabilitation program Pawsitive Directions made eminent sense; but if prison is to be punishment without rehabilitation it was an unnecessary frill.
The trouble is that trying to deter crime through fear of punishment is misguided. The concept of the criminal as rational actor is wrong (except perhaps for white collar criminals, drug dealers and some impaired drivers). Mental illness is widespread through the criminal system. Drug abuse and psychiatric disorders are such common precursors of crime as to make the concept of the typical criminal as rational actor deterred by punishment absurd.
Crime is largely a reflection of underlying social failings. A recent judgment from Sudbury pointed out the problem:
Poverty is the first fuel that drives crime. It becomes mixed in with the destabilization of families, widespread substance abuse, child abuse, sexual abuse and domestic violence. If you review the pre-sentence reports before Canadian judges in relation to serious crime, you will see this constellation of socio-economic factors that go to the root causes of crime. Most of today's serious criminals were once victims. They patterned their behaviour after the societal forces that shaped them.
As a whole Canada is safe from crime. Violent crime has been generally dropping for years, and was lower in 2007 than at any time in two decades. Similarly property crimes are down - the recent rate is more than 40 per cent below a peak in 1991. The most common criminal charge - about 24 per cent of the criminal court traffic – is for breach of court orders and probation conditions. Those are followed by impaired driving (8.9 per cent); common assault (7.9 per cent); and theft (7.5 per cent). One crime is too many but overall Canada is safer than ever.
There are communities that are in trouble and to address crime we need to address the problems in those communities. First Nations constitute about 3% of the general population but 17% of prisoners in the federal system. This gross over representation is a reflection of deeper problems with the First Nations communities. About one in two hundred non-aboriginal children are cared for by the state compared to the staggering figure of one in ten First Nations children. And yet, First Nation child welfare agencies receive about a fifth less funding than provincial agencies. Poverty and addiction are rampant in First Nations and aboriginal children are far more likely to experience neglect as non-aboriginal children. They need more services but receive less. Fixing the criminal problem in First Nations does not require more jails – it requires social programs that focus on systemic community issues.
Similarly, mental health issues underlie many crimes. Eleven per cent of the federal prison population today were certified as mental patients at the time of incarceration. Spend a day in any criminal court in Canada and the prevalence of mental illness, diagnosed or otherwise, is obvious. The mentally unstable do not respond well to prison and are seldom deterred by the prospect of incarceration.
Prison, regardless of its efficacy, is not cheap. The average annual cost of keeping a federal inmate behind bars last year was $93,030. There are currently 13,581 inmates costing more than $1 billion. American states, such as California, that rely on lengthy mandatory sentences have found crime is not reduced but the state is rendered insolvent. Money spent on jails is money not spent on hospital or schools or roads.
So what is to be done?
First, we have to realize that real crime control requires a social safety net. Children raised in poverty, communities that are alienated from broader society, and untreated mentally unstable individuals all contribute to crime. Such a safety net may seem costly but, in the long run, it will save money by limiting prison costs and creating productive citizens.
Second, we need to study what actually works. Does increasing prison terms actually cut crime? My own experience suggests that prison does deter white collar criminals, some drug dealers and some impaired drivers. Drug addicts and the mentally unstable are not deterred. Can prison actually rehabilitate? Some American research suggests faith based counseling can rehabilitate; but it also leads, sometimes, to a risk of radicalization.
Finally, we should consider what is and what is not criminal. It makes sense to criminalize the sale of addictive poisons. But why are cigarettes legal while a little less than 50,000 Canadians a year are criminally charged with possession of marihuana?
These points are practical. To limit crime in Canada we need to consider what works and not what sounds good in the media. “Reason over passion” is a motto we should apply to Canada’s criminal justice system.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Pearl Harbor Day
The attack on Pearl Harbor was an unannounced military strike conducted by the Japanese navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on the morning of December 7, 1941. It resulted in the United States entry into World War II. The attack was intended as a preventive action to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from influencing the war the Empire of Japan was planning in Southeast Asia against Britain and the Netherlands, as well as the U.S. in the Philippines. The attack consisted of two aerial attack waves totaling 353 aircraft, launched from six Japanese aircraft carriers.
The attack sank four U.S. Navy battleships (two of which were raised and returned to service later in the war) and damaged four more. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, and one minelayer, destroyed 188 aircraft, and caused personnel losses of 2,402 killed and 1,282 wounded. The power station, shipyard, maintenance, and fuel and torpedo storage facilities, as well as the submarine piers and headquarters building (also home of the intelligence section) were not hit. Japanese losses were minimal, with 29 aircraft and five midget submarines lost, and 65 servicemen killed or wounded. One Japanese sailor was captured
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
The attack sank four U.S. Navy battleships (two of which were raised and returned to service later in the war) and damaged four more. The Japanese also sank or damaged three cruisers, three destroyers, and one minelayer, destroyed 188 aircraft, and caused personnel losses of 2,402 killed and 1,282 wounded. The power station, shipyard, maintenance, and fuel and torpedo storage facilities, as well as the submarine piers and headquarters building (also home of the intelligence section) were not hit. Japanese losses were minimal, with 29 aircraft and five midget submarines lost, and 65 servicemen killed or wounded. One Japanese sailor was captured
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
Another wrongful conviction
If Canadian courts sometimes wrongly convict then perhaps foreign courts do the same? That's why saying Canadians abroad convicted and sentenced to prison must admit guilt before being allowed to apply to return to Canada is wrong:
http://mobile.thestar.com/mobile/NEWS/article/735273
The Ontario Court of Appeal has exonerated a Trenton woman in the 1996 death of her infant son, acknowledging she was wrongly prosecuted with flawed evidence from notorious pathologist Dr. Charles Smith.
Smith had ruled that Sherry Sherret's four-month old son Joshua had been smothered. She was convicted of infanticide and spent almost a year in jail. Child protection authorities put her older son in foster care and Sherret was later forced to give him up for adoption.
"Fresh evidence has shown she was the victim of a miscarriage of justice," Justice Marc Rosenberg said Monday in overturning her conviction.
This was the second wrongful conviction involving Smith, who has retired and lives in Victoria. William Mullins-Johnson, who had been convicted of murdering his niece on the strength of Smith's evidence, was acquitted last year.
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
http://mobile.thestar.com/mobile/NEWS/article/735273
The Ontario Court of Appeal has exonerated a Trenton woman in the 1996 death of her infant son, acknowledging she was wrongly prosecuted with flawed evidence from notorious pathologist Dr. Charles Smith.
Smith had ruled that Sherry Sherret's four-month old son Joshua had been smothered. She was convicted of infanticide and spent almost a year in jail. Child protection authorities put her older son in foster care and Sherret was later forced to give him up for adoption.
"Fresh evidence has shown she was the victim of a miscarriage of justice," Justice Marc Rosenberg said Monday in overturning her conviction.
This was the second wrongful conviction involving Smith, who has retired and lives in Victoria. William Mullins-Johnson, who had been convicted of murdering his niece on the strength of Smith's evidence, was acquitted last year.
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
Corruption charges stayed
Police cases seem to fail frequently.
http://mobile.thestar.com/mobile/NEWS/article/735247
Corruption charges against Toronto police officers stayed
December 7, 2009
Peter Small
Courts Bureau
A judge has thrown out corruption charges against retired Det.-Const. William McCormack, son of a former Toronto police chief, and Rick McIntosh, one-time head of the police union.
Superior Court Justice Bonnie Croll stayed the charges against the two men, along with Const. George Kouroudis, on Monday, ruling that their fair trial rights had been breached by excessive delays.
This is the second major Toronto police corruption case in two years thrown out because of Crown delays. In January 2008, Ontario Superior Court Justice Ian Nordheimer stayed charges against six former members of an elite police drug squad. That ruling was overturned on appeal in October.
McCormack, 50, and McIntosh, 55, were charged with soliciting and accepting bribes from nightclub owners in downtown Toronto's Entertainment District. Charges included influence peddling and breach of trust.
The probe began in 2003, when investigators working on Project ORA, a multi-police force probe into drug and mob activity in Greater Toronto, stumbled upon allegations that police officers were allegedly taking bribes from downtown clubs.
Records showed that bars like Peel Pub and Distrikt nightclub, whose owners allegedly paid bribes, had fewer charges than those who refused.
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
http://mobile.thestar.com/mobile/NEWS/article/735247
Corruption charges against Toronto police officers stayed
December 7, 2009
Peter Small
Courts Bureau
A judge has thrown out corruption charges against retired Det.-Const. William McCormack, son of a former Toronto police chief, and Rick McIntosh, one-time head of the police union.
Superior Court Justice Bonnie Croll stayed the charges against the two men, along with Const. George Kouroudis, on Monday, ruling that their fair trial rights had been breached by excessive delays.
This is the second major Toronto police corruption case in two years thrown out because of Crown delays. In January 2008, Ontario Superior Court Justice Ian Nordheimer stayed charges against six former members of an elite police drug squad. That ruling was overturned on appeal in October.
McCormack, 50, and McIntosh, 55, were charged with soliciting and accepting bribes from nightclub owners in downtown Toronto's Entertainment District. Charges included influence peddling and breach of trust.
The probe began in 2003, when investigators working on Project ORA, a multi-police force probe into drug and mob activity in Greater Toronto, stumbled upon allegations that police officers were allegedly taking bribes from downtown clubs.
Records showed that bars like Peel Pub and Distrikt nightclub, whose owners allegedly paid bribes, had fewer charges than those who refused.
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
Fisher order accounts subject to assessment
Hamalengwa v. Ontario (Attorney General), 2009 ONCA 859, released online today, makes clear that "Fisher" order accounts are subject to assessment. The Court writes:
[1] The Attorney General was required under the term of the "Fisher" order to pay the appellants' legal bills. That order also provided that Legal Aid Ontario would "vet and approve" the bills. In our view, that provision, obviously introduced into the order because the Attorney General could not review the bills during the criminal prosecution, does not preclude the operation of s. 9 of the Solicitors Act, which contemplates assessments of bills at the request of "third party" payors. The fact that the appellants' bills may have been vetted and approved by Legal Aid may figure in the assessment, but does not remove this case from the reach of the assessment process.
[2] We agree with the motion judge that "special circumstances" within the meaning of s. 11 of the Solicitors Act exist in this case. In particular, the strong comments of the experienced trial judge referred to by the motion judge, and the practical inability of the Attorney General to move for an assessment before the trial was complete constitute "special circumstances".
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
[1] The Attorney General was required under the term of the "Fisher" order to pay the appellants' legal bills. That order also provided that Legal Aid Ontario would "vet and approve" the bills. In our view, that provision, obviously introduced into the order because the Attorney General could not review the bills during the criminal prosecution, does not preclude the operation of s. 9 of the Solicitors Act, which contemplates assessments of bills at the request of "third party" payors. The fact that the appellants' bills may have been vetted and approved by Legal Aid may figure in the assessment, but does not remove this case from the reach of the assessment process.
[2] We agree with the motion judge that "special circumstances" within the meaning of s. 11 of the Solicitors Act exist in this case. In particular, the strong comments of the experienced trial judge referred to by the motion judge, and the practical inability of the Attorney General to move for an assessment before the trial was complete constitute "special circumstances".
James Morton
1100-5255 Yonge Street
Toronto, Ontario
M2N 6P4
416 225 2777
Anti-Muslim views grow in Europe
I thank Ahmed Hussen for drawing this to my attention. Ahmed is the President of the Canadian Somali Congress and a great force for bringing people together.
Ideas such as the “integration contracts” like the one proposed by Germany’s integration commissioner last month, headscarf bans and other “legal condescension” do not achieve this purpose, he said. Instead they are “damaging populist activism.”While Muslims are regularly accused of an unwillingness to integrate or engage in dialogue, the majority of European society does “very little” to be hospitable or respectful, he said.
http://www.thelocal.de/national/20091202-23675.html
Jewish leader says Swiss vote shows Europe's growing anti-Muslim views
Published: 2 Dec 09 17:43 CETOnline:
http://www.thelocal.de/national/20091202-23675.html
An official from the German Jewish Council warned on Wednesday that Switzerland’s vote to ban mosques with minarets was an expression of Europe's deep-seated aversion to Islam that was aggravating the integration of Muslims.
ADVERTISING
Westerwelle defends Swiss after minaret ban - Politics (5 Dec 09)
Director Fatih Akin boycotts Switzerland after minaret ban - Society (4 Dec 09)
Thou shalt not shop - Analysis & Opinion (3 Dec 09)
The council's general secretary, Stephan Kramer, said that the referendum in the Alpine country on Sunday could be “neither euphemised nor re-interpreted.”“With relative certainty, there's not a single country (in Europe) that doesn’t have more or less similar fears of Muslims and they would have had similar results in a referendum,” he said. Kramer encouraged a more open discussion about how such a referendum on basic rights could even come to a popular vote. The Swiss, Germans and others were not "born to hate foreigners or fundamentally against Muslims," he said, adding Europeans were not engendering an atmosphere of trust.“Those who want integration instead of assimilation, and really means it, must create a climate of mutual respect, acknowledgement and trust,” he said.Ideas such as the “integration contracts” like the one proposed by Germany’s integration commissioner last month, headscarf bans and other “legal condescension” do not achieve this purpose, he said. Instead they are “damaging populist activism.”While Muslims are regularly accused of an unwillingness to integrate or engage in dialogue, the majority of European society does “very little” to be hospitable or respectful, he said. “A climate of trust can only happen if Muslims are naturally entitled to the right to their own religion, culture and language, and cultural diversity is considered to be a benefit and enrichment to our country and not a threat or burden,” Kramer said.
Ideas such as the “integration contracts” like the one proposed by Germany’s integration commissioner last month, headscarf bans and other “legal condescension” do not achieve this purpose, he said. Instead they are “damaging populist activism.”While Muslims are regularly accused of an unwillingness to integrate or engage in dialogue, the majority of European society does “very little” to be hospitable or respectful, he said.
http://www.thelocal.de/national/20091202-23675.html
Jewish leader says Swiss vote shows Europe's growing anti-Muslim views
Published: 2 Dec 09 17:43 CETOnline:
http://www.thelocal.de/national/20091202-23675.html
An official from the German Jewish Council warned on Wednesday that Switzerland’s vote to ban mosques with minarets was an expression of Europe's deep-seated aversion to Islam that was aggravating the integration of Muslims.
ADVERTISING
Westerwelle defends Swiss after minaret ban - Politics (5 Dec 09)
Director Fatih Akin boycotts Switzerland after minaret ban - Society (4 Dec 09)
Thou shalt not shop - Analysis & Opinion (3 Dec 09)
The council's general secretary, Stephan Kramer, said that the referendum in the Alpine country on Sunday could be “neither euphemised nor re-interpreted.”“With relative certainty, there's not a single country (in Europe) that doesn’t have more or less similar fears of Muslims and they would have had similar results in a referendum,” he said. Kramer encouraged a more open discussion about how such a referendum on basic rights could even come to a popular vote. The Swiss, Germans and others were not "born to hate foreigners or fundamentally against Muslims," he said, adding Europeans were not engendering an atmosphere of trust.“Those who want integration instead of assimilation, and really means it, must create a climate of mutual respect, acknowledgement and trust,” he said.Ideas such as the “integration contracts” like the one proposed by Germany’s integration commissioner last month, headscarf bans and other “legal condescension” do not achieve this purpose, he said. Instead they are “damaging populist activism.”While Muslims are regularly accused of an unwillingness to integrate or engage in dialogue, the majority of European society does “very little” to be hospitable or respectful, he said. “A climate of trust can only happen if Muslims are naturally entitled to the right to their own religion, culture and language, and cultural diversity is considered to be a benefit and enrichment to our country and not a threat or burden,” Kramer said.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Iran chokes off Internet on eve of student rallies
The Czech revolution took place without the internet... .
Iran chokes off Internet on eve of student rallies
Government also warns foreign journalists to stay in their offices for the next three days
Ali Akbar Dareini
Tehran— The Associated Press
Former Prime Minister and presidential election candidate Mirhossein Mousavi looks on as he speaks to his supporters at an election campaign at a cultural centre in southern Tehran in this May 30, 2009 file photo.
On the eve of student demonstrations planned for Monday, Iran choked off Internet access and warned journalists working for foreign media to stick to their offices for the next three days.
The measures were aimed at depriving the opposition of its key means of mobilising the masses as Iran's clerical rulers keep a tight lid on dissent. Government opponents are seeking, nonetheless, to get large numbers of demonstrators to turn out Monday and show their movement still has momentum.
Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi threw his support behind the student demonstrations and declared that his movement was is still alive. A statement posted on his Web site said the clerical establishment cannot silence students and was losing legitimacy in the Iranian people's minds.
"A great nation would not stay silent when some confiscate its vote," said Mr. Mousavi, who claims President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stole the June 12 election victory from him by fraud.
Iran chokes off Internet on eve of student rallies
Government also warns foreign journalists to stay in their offices for the next three days
Ali Akbar Dareini
Tehran— The Associated Press
Former Prime Minister and presidential election candidate Mirhossein Mousavi looks on as he speaks to his supporters at an election campaign at a cultural centre in southern Tehran in this May 30, 2009 file photo.
On the eve of student demonstrations planned for Monday, Iran choked off Internet access and warned journalists working for foreign media to stick to their offices for the next three days.
The measures were aimed at depriving the opposition of its key means of mobilising the masses as Iran's clerical rulers keep a tight lid on dissent. Government opponents are seeking, nonetheless, to get large numbers of demonstrators to turn out Monday and show their movement still has momentum.
Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi threw his support behind the student demonstrations and declared that his movement was is still alive. A statement posted on his Web site said the clerical establishment cannot silence students and was losing legitimacy in the Iranian people's minds.
"A great nation would not stay silent when some confiscate its vote," said Mr. Mousavi, who claims President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stole the June 12 election victory from him by fraud.
Sudbury Steelworkers Hall decision
R. v. P. (Z.) 2009 ONCJ 580, the Sudbury Steelworkers Hall case is difficult to get. It is not available, yet, on CanLII. While the entire case is worth reading, perhaps the most striking sections follow:
6:2 Protection of the Public
45 Before dealing with this particular sentencing, I will digress to several factors that either detract from or aid the public protection. This will help to put this particular sentence in a proper context.
46 There are two pillars to the protection of the public. The first is public social and economic policy that targets the root causes of crime. It recognizes the need to minimize the people coming into the criminal justice system in the first place. The second pillar is judicial sentencing practices. By far, the first pillar is the most important in protection of the public.
47 So how has Canada done in public policy to target the root causes of crime? Canada lags behind most western democratic countries. A barometer of public policy targeting the root causes of crime is the incarceration rate.
48 At one end of the spectrum are Sweden and other Scandinavian countries with well less than one hundred people in jail for every one hundred thousand population. The United States is at the other end of the spectrum. It has now broken through the one thousand barrier- one thousand people in jail for every one hundred thousand population. For decades, Canada had the second highest incarceration rate, though far behind the United States, in a range of 120 to 150 per one hundred thousand population. Most European countries have incarceration rates lower than Canada.
49 The Scandinavian countries have lower crime rates on a per capita basis, far fewer people in jail on a per capita basis and a better rate of recidivism - compared to Canada. Many European countries outperform Canada.
50 Why such a discrepancy? Because Scandinavia has figured out the best protection of the public is a sound socio-economic policy. It pours funds and resources into the root causes of crime. When people do come into the criminal justice system, including the youth justice system, they do not simply respond with the mantra of jail; they effectively fund rehabilitative services and utilize creative and enlightened rehabilitative strategies. The bottom line is they have the societal and political will to take this approach. They view judicial sentencing practices as supplementary to public policy and understand the inherent limitations of judicial sentences.
51 What about the American experience? They have by far the most punitive sentencing practices in the democratic world. Does this better protect the public? It does not.
52 Take for instance capital punishment. When it came back into use, the prevailing thinking was it was required as a deterrence to prevent murder. It has not worked. The American murder rate is hundreds of percentage points above Canada. The deterrent argument has been an abject failure. Americans no longer pretend to justify capital punish-ment as a deterrent penalty. It is a purely punitive penalty.
53 Most of the people that commit murder in the United States are so hardened because of socio-economic circumstances that the logic of deterrence is lost on them. The American rate of violence is worse than ours. Torontonians may complain about guns and gun violence, however, it does not even come close to the per capita gun violence in the United States. Putting people in jail more frequently and for longer periods of time creates an illusion of safety. The public may be protected while they are in jail but what kind of condition are they in when they get out. The more punitive the sentence is, the worse they will be and the more likely they will continue to commit serious crime.
54 The balance between public policy to target the root causes of crime and judicial sentence practices has been tipped too heavily toward punitive sentence practices. The Americans have failed to target the socio-economic causes of crime.
55 For those in this country who would like to see an American style approach to judicial sentencing practices, which usually involves frequent, harsh and lengthy jail sentences, I can point out that the United States stands alone in the democratic world with their approach. They are roundly criticized by the British common law countries, European countries and Scandinavia. They are considered to be a model for failure. No democratic country in the world is emulating their practices.
56 A further argument against the American approach is the staggering cost to the public treasury of incarcerating one thousand people per one hundred thousand population. On a per capita basis, most American states spend far more than Ontario on their penal and correctional system. This money is going into warehousing people and not enough into rehabilitation. For all practical purposes, California is now broke, contributed greatly by the cost of their prison system. If those in Canada and Ontario want this kind of an incarceration system, which caters to punitive instincts, the cost will be adding billions of dollars annually to the federal and Ontario budget. Is the public pre-pared to pay for this? When you do a cost benefit analysis, how is society better off and protected with this approach?
57 In Canada, we do a far better job of protecting the public from crime than the United States, though we incarcerate people significantly less. However, the United States should not be the standard of measurement. We should be looking at public policy in most other western democratic countries, who perform better than we do.
58 Understanding the causes of crime is not difficult. It starts with poverty. This has a domino impact on other so-cial and psychological factors, such as substance abuse. Twenty years ago this week, Parliament voted unanimously to eliminate child poverty within a decade. It is not come close to happening. The most recent statistics, from 2007, before the recession hit, indicate 9.5% of Canadian children are living in poverty. For a mature civilized democracy, this is a shameful performance. Canada has fared poorly in United Nations and other international reports as to its management of child poverty.
59 Poverty is the first fuel that drives crime. It becomes mixed in with the destabilization of families, widespread substance abuse, child abuse, sexual abuse and domestic violence. If you review the pre-sentence reports before Ca-nadian judges in relation to serious crime, you will see this constellation of socio-economic factors that go to the root causes of crime. Most of today's serious criminals were once victims. They patterned their behaviour after the societal forces that shaped them.
Regarding Christmas trees
As some readers may recall, I am fine with public Christmas trees.
My sense is that public spaces should reflect holidays and so I am also good with the giant public menorahs of Chabad and whatever other symbols of holidays people want to put up.
Always on the basis that the displays are inclusive rather that exclusive.
A good argument for keeping, say, Christmas trees down is that, in specific cases, they may alienate already "at risk" people. So I understand keeping all such displays out of the Toronto Jarvis Street court where young children, many of whom are the victims of violence, are often of Muslim background. For those kids a Christmas tree in the very courthouse where they are taken during a family dispute where they may lose a parent might not have an inclusive effect but quite the opposite.
For what it's worth, Old City Hall in Toronto is full of Christmas trees... .
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