NOVA SCOTIA- CANADA- Tar Ponds Reborn-Sydney’s Open Hearth Park opens with party on former toxic site
Tar ponds reborn
Sydney’s Open Hearth Park opens with party on former toxic site
MARY ELLEN MacINTYRE CAPE BRETON BUREAU
mmacintyre@herald.ca @CH_MEMacIntyre SYDNEY — All through the summer months, kids with big , envious eyes have hung around the fence, peering at workers building a spectacular playground on the site of Sydney’s former tar ponds.
"They’re just (champing) at the bit to get in here and try it all out," said Danny MacDonald, site foreman with Municipal Ready-Mix Ltd., one of many contractors who’ve worked for Sydney Tar Ponds Cleanup Inc. over the past decade.
"We put in three kilometres of paved walking trails, exercise equipment, playground equipment, an artificial athletic field," said MacDonald, as he walked around the site Thursday.
"It’s all come together without one day lost through injury," he added proudly.
"But those kids have been waiting for the day they’ll get to play on that equipment and I don’t blame them. We’ve never seen anything like it.
"It’s really high-end."
The kids won’t have to wait any longer because starting tonight, Open Hearth Park is open to the public and the weekend-long celebration begins.
It wasn’t so very many years ago that the thought of children playing in this area would raise alarms.
One hundred years of steelmaking and coking led to the former Sydney steel plant site being called one o f the most contaminated places in North America.
It was a virtual stew of toxic chemicals and sewage.
A place to avoid like the plague.
When federal and provincial discussions on the cleanup began in the late 1980s there were longstanding disputes about technology and safety. Some wanted the 700,000 tonnes of contaminated soil incinerated and others didn’t.
Public meetings were often marked by angry outbursts and sometimes came close to fisticuffs.
"I’ve been with this project for 23 years. I started in 1990 and there were days I’d leave . . . meetings feeling beaten up, thinking it would never be done," said Gary Campbell, president of Nova Scotia Lands, a provincial Crown corporation responsible for remediation and redevelopment of Crown-owned properties.
Years of remediation work — diverting sewers, excavating, cleaning and capping contaminated soil — have resulted in what has been called a miracle by s ome.
Although the north pond of the site won’t be completed until October, the project is mostly finished. Decades of work and $400 million later, it’s a whole new world.
There will be on-going monitoring of the site and groundwater will be monitored for a number of years, with $15 million set aside for the monitoring .
"This is going to be quite the party, and after all this time, the people of Sydney deserve a party," he said.
Called Stronger Than Steel, the celebration begins tonight with a formal ceremony involving politicians and project representatives. The fun starts later in the evening with the outdoor screening of Are You from the Pier, Dear? and Heart of Steel.
Early Saturday evening, there will be a procession of former steelworkers into the site, led by the Men o f the Deeps.
A concert later Saturday night will include the Barra MacNeils, Lennie Gallant, John Gracie, to name a few, and lots of dancers.
Admission is free, including breakfast on both Saturday and Sunday.
House Speaker Gordie Gosse, a former steelworker whose father and grandfather also worked at the steel plant, said he figures it will b e an emotional time.
"I worked at the plant for almost 20 years, my dad for 43 years and my grandfather for 49 years," said Gosse, during a telephone interview Thursday.
"I think o f the camaraderie and the fellows who were injured or died at the plant over the years," he said.
He intends to march in the parade, dressed in an old hard hat and his old heat jacket from his days working in the coke ovens.
"During the war there were about 6,000 people working there and then it went down to 2 ,000 to 3,000 in my day, and finally 700 when the electric arc furnace went in ."
"It’s kind of sad. . . . There were a lot of proud people who worked there over the years."
Those kids have been waiting for the day they’ll get to play on that equipment and I don’t blame them. We’ve never seen anything like it. It’s really high-end.
Danny MacDonald Municipal Ready Mix
photo
Danny MacDonald starts up a water feature in Sydney’s new Open Hearth Park on Thursday. The park officially opens this evening, star ting a weekend-long celebration of the tar ponds cleanup. MARY ELLEN MACINTYRE • Cape Breton Bureau
http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1150690-tar-ponds-reborn
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GETTIN BACK 2 BASICS- 7 billion people in this world- let's help like we used to and heal ourselves on our own Nations... dont'cha think it's time..
NOVA SCOTIANS HELPING-
Threads tie Nova Scotia to orphans worldwide
August 25, 2013 - 7:30pm BY PATRICIA BROOKS ARENBURG STAFF REPORTER
Rugiatu N'doleh shows Mel Boutilier how Sierre Leonese women carry goods at the Parker Street Furniture Exchange. N'doleh, an immigrant from Sierra Leone, is collecting items to be shipped to to her homeland. (TIM KROCHAK / Staff)
The snip of scissors, the huff of steam irons and the whir of sewing machines fill the room at the back of Atlantic Fabrics in the Woodlawn area of Dartmouth.
Nine women take a rainbow of fabrics — pinks, yellows, purples and blues — and work their magic to create dresses with pockets and shorts with drawstrings for children a world away.
Looking up from her sewing machine, Waneta Holmes says: "There’s a need — 18 million orphans with nobody to clothe them."
This is what brings these women back month after month, and what they hope will bring new people into their group.
"More sewers means more dresses," Holmes says.
Holmes and the other women here on Friday, most of whom are retired, make two styles of dresses: a sundress style tied at the shoulders or with a T-shirt top, and plenty of shorts for boys.
The exact lengths, widths, sizes and styles are set out in patterns given to anyone who wants to join in.
The fabrics are either donated or bought by the women themselves, and the T-shirts are nearly new hand-me-downs from grandchildren or bought second-hand at local thrift stores — mostly on half-price days, they say.
The colour combinations are left to the women, who sort through the fabrics with a measuring tape to make every inch count: a square snipped away here is a pocket over there.
"I love cutting up material and sewing it back together," Rita Erskine, 78, says with a laugh.
On this day, she and her friend Noelle Rosario, both of Dartmouth, are making boys’ shorts.
Rosario, 75, originally from India, says drawstrings are better than elastic because elastic "rots in the heat."
Drawstrings, which she often gets at Value Village, allow boys to get more wear out of the shorts as they grow and "they will also pass them from one to another," she says.
Connie Glasgow-White’s favourite projects are the T-shirt dresses, she says. She has even made one for herself and another for a friend’s little girl.
They’re easy to make and "they’re very comfortable," she says.
Some fabrics are folded in piles, already cut and in ready-to-make kits. They’re handed out to those who can’t make the daytime sewing session or taken home by the women already here to return completed in time for the next sewing session on Sept. 27.
"I usually get more work done at home than here because I’m usually answering questions," Joan Embree says.
Embree first started the sewing group out of her Dartmouth home in April 2010. The following month, it moved to Atlantic Fabrics, where Holmes now organizes workspace and sewers, donated fabric and advertising for the sessions, mainly in the Atlantic Fabrics newsletter to customers.
So far, the group has put together more than 1,400 dresses and an unknown but growing number of shorts for boys in places like Malawi, Haiti, Kenya, Jamaica and Rwanda.
The group members used to send their items to Little Dresses for Africa in Michigan, but shipping to the U.S. became too costly, Embree said. Now, they mostly send them along with local church missionaries, like Glasgow-White’s friend, who took a load to children in Rwanda, a country the East Preston woman visited as a missionary herself in 2007 and 2010.
Or Mark Dull and Jennifer ten Wolde-Dull, a Halifax couple volunteering in Kenya through the Canadian charity, InnovativeCommunities.Org Foundation.
The sewing women have already donated 86 dresses to the Parker Street Food & Furniture Bank for a container the Halifax charity is trying to ship to Sierra Leone, with more planned before the vessel departs, Embree said.
The women may never meet the children who wear their creations, but they have photos of some of them.
"You see … the pictures of their smiling faces, and you know, there’s always more you can do," Erskine said.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/novascotia/1149919-threads-tie-nova-scotia-to-orphans-worldwide
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CANADA'S PM HARPER GETS IT RIGHT ON SYRIA- the world is so tired of the $$$TRILLIONS spent on the Muslims hating and killing Muslims in the hard parts of the world- our nations need us... and so does 7 billion folks.... imho
CANADA PM: No strikes on Syria planned
THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — Canada has no plans for a military intervention in Syria but supp or ts its allies who are contemplating forceful action against that country’s regime, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday.
Harper admitted that lack of international action in light o f the apparent use of chemical weapons would set an "extremely dangerous precedent," but added his government has been reluctant to the idea of a western strike.
"Our government has been a very reluctant convert to the idea that there needs to be some western military action regarding the Syrian situation," he told reporters at an event in Toronto on Thursday.
"At the present time the government of Canada has no plans, we have no plans of our own to have a Canadian military mission ."
Harper said the conflict in Syria is "overwhelmingly sectarian in nature" and doesn’t appear to have any "ideal or obvious outcomes" for a solution at present.
He added, however, that Canada stood behind other western powers weighing the possibility of a mission involving Syria.
"We do support our allies who are contemplating forceful action to deal with this."
Syrian President Bashar Assad has said his country "will defend itself against any aggression," signalling defiance to mounting Western warnings of a possible punitive strike.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Barack Obama declared Wednesday that the Syrian government was responsible for a chemical weapons attack on its own people, laying the groundwork for an expected U.S. military strike.
Obama said the U.S. has concluded that Assad’s regime perpetrated an Aug. 21 attack near Damascus, which killed at least 100 Syrians.
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WE WILL NEV-A 4GIVE OUR BELOVED GAY BROTHERS AND SISTERS IF THEY WRECK OUR GLOBAL YOUTH WINTER OLYMPICS/PARALYMPICS OF GLOBALS 4 YEARS OF HARD WORK 2 COMPETE ON WORLD STAGE- and here's the proof walking, talking and facts:
- China's Summer Olympics honoured the world of sports
- Russia's Winter Olympics will also honour the world of sports .... it's time....
We must respect countries rules and laws.... and still maintain our dignity and humanity's balance..... in r own souls...... in Russia- how many Gay brothers and Sisters of the Russias are being tortured and beaten and humiliated- because of the GAY RAISING AND BASHING ALL THOSE WHO REFUSE 2 CONFORM 2 OUR VALUES???? (our FEMEN girls have been almost destroyed because of this- so stop and think what u are doing)
OLYMPIC'S
Sport boycotts too often miss the real target
Boycotting the Olympics to score political points or publicize a social message that most of us have already received has proven to be an ineffective and often unfair protest tactic.
Each time I hear about the latest movement to boycott the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics due to Russian laws that discriminate against gays, I have to wonder if we’ve learned anything from past b oycotts.
Look at some of the major ones in recent Olympic history.
The practice got started in a big way with the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal when only 92 of 121 eligible countries competed. Various boycotts were in effect at the time. The most popular ones opposed South Africa’s apartheid policy and a heated dispute b etween China and Taiwan .
Before the 1980 Soviet Olympics, the Americans led a boycott protesting a Soviet attack on Afghanistan . Sixty-two countries refused to go to the Olympics, and that certainly watered down the competition.
It was no surprise when the Soviets returned the favour by boycotting the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The Soviet Union and 14 supporting countries cited concerns ab out athlete safety and accused the United States of anti-Soviet conduct. In the West, most simply saw the boycott as a reply to the American-led pullout four years earlier.
The common result of these protests was that each damaged the Olympic movement and accomplished little.
These boycotts have shown that denying athletes the right to compete is highly detrimental to those in the world of sports, yet the pullouts hardly make a significant statement in the world of international p olitics.
I’ll concede that when countries keep their athletes out of the Olympics, the reasons for the boycott may gain some international attention. But the boycotts are usually about issues that everyone living outside a cave is already aware of.
Also, as is typical in our increasingly desensitized world, attention quickly turns away from the boycotters toward the athletes and countries in attendance.
The one sure thing is that athletes from boycotting countries are denied a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to compete on the world’s biggest athletic stage.
Why should the athletes suffer for something that is out of their control?
Ask Canadian athletes like Nova Scotia boxer Ricky Anderson, who was denied participation in the 1980 Olympics, and I doubt many will say they were in favour of staying home.
Activists can always find a reason to dislike the policies of the country putting on an Olympics. China hosted the 2 008 Summer Games and there was plenty of reason for a boycott based on human rights violations. Heck, a case could probably have been made for boycotting the Vancouver Olympics in 2010 based on our government’s treatment of aboriginal Canadians over the years.
There’s no denying that the Russian government’s stance against gays is deplorable. But instead of a boycott of Sochi, I’d rather see all countries that support gay rights express that support in such a way that the world, especially Russia, gets the mess a ge.
That way, the athletes who have worked so hard to compete at the Olympics will get the chance to do so, and the positive message about gay rights will receive massive exposure on one of the world’s largest platforms
CHRIS COCHRANE SPORTS COLUMNIST
ccochrane@herald.ca @CH_CCochrane
AND... WINTER OLYMPICS SOCHI- RUSSIA 2014
HELL YEAH CANADA!
Speedskaters first to don Olympic jackets
BILL BEACON THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL — Charles Hamelin’s eyes lit up when he saw the red, white and black 2014 Canadian Olympic team jackets neatly folded on a table.
Then the double gold medallist from the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and his Canadian short-track speedskating teammates got to try them on.
"When we receive this jacket, it’s like it’s official — we’re part of the team," Hamelin said Thursday. "Now all we have to do is train, do our best at World Cups to qualify ourselves for the Olympics, and then go to the Olympics and have fun and good resu lts.
"It’s the start of the second phase of our road to the Olympics."
The 10 members of the shorttrack squad were the first athletes o fficially named to the team that will compete at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia, although it’s not quite official just yet.
They need to secure spots in each event for Canada at a pair of World Cup meets in the fall, although that should be a formality. Canada is one of the world’s top short-track countries.
They can place up to three skaters in each of three individual races and qualify a four-person squad in each of the men’s and women’s relays.
They need only to finish in the top-32 in the 500 and 1,000-metre races, and the top-36 in the 1,500 metres. For the relay, it’s top eight.
"In a normal World Cup, we all finish in the top 10 or so," said Hamelin .
"So we’re going there with confidence that we can do great races and make three spots in everything .
"We still have to qualify the relay, but it should be good for us. We are the world champions from last year and the year before, and the (2010) Olympics."
Still, anything can happen in short-track, where even the world’s best sometimes go flying into the barriers from the slightest touch with an opponent. A mishap in qualifying for the men’s 1,000-metres left Canada with only two spots in that race in Vancouver.
Charles Hamelin and his brother Francois, of Ste-Julie, Que., were joined by Olivier Jean of Montreal, Michael Gilday of Yellowknife and newcomer Charle Cournoyer of Boucherville, Que., on the men’s team.
The women’s squad has Marianne St-Gelais of Ste-Julie, Jessica Gregg of Edmonton, Jessica Hewitt of Kamloops, B.C., and Marie- Eve Drolet and Valerie Maltais, both natives of Chicoutimi, Que.
Canada earned five short-track medals at the 2010 Games, and head coach Yves Hamelin — the father of Charles and Francois — says that based on recent world championship results, five or six medals is a reachable goal for Sochi.
"It’s definitely realistic," said Gregg. "We have a really strong team ."
AND...
Sidney Crosby took on Evil Bettman who LOCKED OUT R HOCKEY...... and by God Sidney and Hockey players won- after all.... it's their game.... and Bettman knew he'd gone 2 far..... Sidney Crosby stood up and never backed down - NOT ONCE.... AND WHAT A SEASON OF HOCKEY WE HAD...
SOCHI 2014
Sidney Crosby's support for gay athletes is what leadership is all about
By Morris Dalla Costa, The London Free Press
Those players understand that leadership comes with responsibility that is far greater than putting a puck in the net or hitting a basket.
They recognize that in this day, sports are no longer an entity onto themselves and athletes, with their enormous influence, are no longer mere players. Sports are affected by the same social issues the rest of society deals with. Sports are a large part of our social fabric and, as such, can't ignore or distance itself from whatever affects society in general.
True leaders recognize that.
Sidney Crosby is a leader on the ice for the Pittsburgh Penguins. But one of the best players in the world has proven this week, that he's a leader off the ice as well.
Crosby addressed the issue of Russia's anti-gay law being adopted for the Olympics in Sochi in February.
It's a law that prevents any one from displaying any sort of visible support for gay and lesbian lifestyle in Russia regardless of nationality.
"For me growing up in Canada, my view has always been that way," Crosby said during a news conference as the hockey team began its sorting out for the Olympics. "I think that everyone has an equal right to play and I think we've been supportive of that. With the Olympics and the controversy around that I think those decisions and those laws aren't necessarily something that I agree with personally ... their laws and their views."
Shea Weber, another star NHLer and potential Olympian supported Crosby's views as well.
http://www.wellandtribune.ca/2013/08/27/sidney-crosbys-support-for-gay-athletes-is-what-leadership-is-all-about
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Wharf Rat Rally- Global Bikers (Bikers blessed by Pope Francis in Rome this year) Rally- with brand new Harleys on display- August 30th - September 1st, 2013- Digby Nova Scotia- 9th Anniversary
https://www.facebook.com/wharfratrally
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JUSTICE
NFL to pay $765m in concussion settlement
League admits no wrongdoing in settling thousands of cases
MARYCLAIRE DALE THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
PHILADELPHIA — The NFL has reached a tentative US$765 million settlement over concussionrelated brain injuries among its 18,000 former players, agreeing to compensate sufferers, pay for medical exams and underwrite research.
The agreement, which is subject to approval by a federal ju dge, was announced Thursday after months of court-ordered mediation. It came just days before the start of the 2013 season.
More than 4,500 former athletes — some suffering from dementia, depression or Alzheimer’s that they blamed on repeated blows to the head — have sued the NFL since the first case was filed in Philadelphia in 2011.
They accused the league of concealing the long-term dangers o f concussions and rushing injured players back onto the field, while glorifying and profiting from the kind of bone-jarring hits that make for spectacular highlight- reel footage.
Under the settlement, individual payouts would be capped at $5 million for men with Alzheimer ’s disease; $4 million for those diagnos ed after their deaths with a brain condition called chronic traumatic encephalopathy; and $3 million for players with dementia, said lead plaintiffs’ lawyer Christopher Seeger.
The NFL has insisted that safety has always been a top priority, and in settling the thousands of cases it admitted no wrongdoing . The NFL said commissioner Roger Goodell told pro football’s lawyers to "do the right thing for the game and the men who played it ."
The plaintiffs include Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett, Super Bowlwinning quarterback Jim McMahon and the family of Pro Bowl selection Junior Seau, who committed suicide last year.
Kevin Turner, a former running back with the Patriots and Eagles who has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, thanked the two sides for reaching an agreement that he thought most ex-players would support.
"Chances are … I won’t make it to 50 or 60," said Turner, now 44. "I have money now to put back for my children to go to college and for a little something to be there financially."
All former NFL players are eligible to seek care, screening or compensation. The amounts they receive will be based on their age, condition and years of play.
Players’ lawyers said they expect the fund to cover the exathletes’ expenses for 65 years. Current players are not covered.
Senior U.S. District Judge Anita Brody in Philadelphia announced the proposed agreement and will consider approving it at a later dat e.
The settlement most likely means the NFL won’t have to disclose internal files about what it knew, and when, about concussion- linked brain problems. Some observers had warned that the lawsuits could cost the league $1 billion or more if they were allowed to move forward in court.
"I think it’s more important that the players have finality, that they’re vindicated, and that as soon as the court approves the settlement they can begin to get screening, and those that are injured can get their compensation. I think that’s more important than looking at some documents," said lawyer Sol Weiss of Philadelphia, who filed the first lawsuit on behalf of former Atlanta Falcon Ray Easterling and a few others. Easterling later committed suicide.
In court arguments before Brody in April, the NFL asked the ju dge to dismiss the lawsuits and send them to arbitration under terms of the players’ contract. The league argued that individual teams bear the chief responsibility for health and safety under the collective bargaining agreement, along with the players’ union and the players themselves.
But the players’ lawyers accused the NFL o f concealing for decades stu dies linking concussions to neurological problems.
Dorsett said each day is getting harder for him , as he struggles with memory problems.
"It’s frustrating. Frustrating. And to have a 10-year old daughter who says to her mother, ‘Daddy can’t do this because Daddy won’t remember how to do it,’ it’s not a good feeling," he said. "I’m glad to see there’s been . . . acknowledgment that football has had s omething to do with a lot of the issues us players are going through right now."
In recent years, a string of former NFL players and other athletes who suffered concussions have been diagnosed after their deaths with CTE, including both Seau and Easterling. More than 4,500 former players eventually joined the litigation. The number of claims, including spouses and survivors, could top 20,000, the NFL said.
While some of those who sued suffered brain ailments, others were worried about future problems and wanted their health monitored.
The lawsuits and a growing awareness that concussions — once routinely laughed off by football players as "Getting your bell rung" — can have serious long-term effects have already spurred research into better helmets and changed the way the game is played.
The NFL has instituted ru le changes designed to eliminate hits to the head and neck, protect defenceless players, and prevent athletes who have had concussions from playing or practicing until they are fully recovered. Independent neurologists must be consulted before a player can return to action.
One key rule change that takes effect this season bars ball carriers from using the crown of the helmet to make contact with defenders.
"I’m glad to see there’s been . . . acknowledgment that football has had something to do with a lot of the issues us players are going through right now.
Tony Dorsett Hall of Famer
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IN HISTORY...
TODAY IN HISTORY: August 29
On this date:
In 1758, the first U.S. Indian reservation was established in New Jersey. In 1782, nearly 1,100 people drowned when the British warship Royal George sank off Portsmouth while its hull was being repaired.
AND...
JUSTICE 4 RANDY CONNORS- how we wept for Randy and Janet.... and especially 4 our gay brothers and sisters infected and died from the horror of HIV-AIDs way 2 young- still mourn on this day
HIV-AIDS INFECTED BLOOD FROM AMERICAN PRISONERS (bill clinton's Presidency) GIVEN 2 INNOCENT CANADIANS IN BLOOD TRANSFUSIONS-
In 2000 , the last remaining victims to be compensated for hepatitis C infection through tainted blood approved a deal with the Canadian Red Cross.
AND...
Acquittal in tainted blood scandal outrages survivor
Last Updated: Tuesday, October 2, 2007 | 11:54 AM AT
CBC News
Judge acquits 4 doctors in Canada's tainted blood trialCBC ARCHIVES: Canada's tainted blood disasterIN DEPTH: A timeline of the tainted blood scandal
A Nova Scotia woman has vowed to push for an appeal of a court ruling in Canada's tainted blood disaster that killed her husband and left her infected with HIV.
Janet Conners is outraged that a judge on Monday acquitted four doctors and a U.S. pharmaceutical company in connection with the events that infected more than 1,000 Canadians with HIV and up to 20,000 with hepatitis C.
"I heard 'acquitted' and I couldn't even process it," Conners told CBC News, calling the evidence "pretty clear."
Conners's husband Randy, a hemophiliac, was one of the patients given the infected blood-clotting product in the 1980s. He died of AIDS in 1994. She contracted HIV from him.
Dr. Roger Perrault, the Red Cross Society's former national medical director, former Health Canada officials Dr. John Furesz and Dr. Donald Boucher, and ex-Armour Pharmaceutical executive Dr. Michael Rodell were charged with one count each of criminal negligence causing bodily harm and common nuisance endangering the public.
In delivering her verdict in Toronto, Superior Court Justice Mary Lou Benotto said there was "no conduct that showed wanton and reckless disregard." She called the events "tragic," but said to assign blame where none exists would only compound the tragedy.
That astounds Conners.
"She has no idea of what she is talking about. I don't believe she has any idea of the impact of what happened on our lives and of what the impact of this decision is, and I just wonder who she is talking about in terms of tragedy," she said.
Conners said she will encourage the prosecution team to review the judgment to see if an appeal is possible.
She will also be closely watching another court case in Hamilton, where Perrault faces criminal charges stemming from allegations the Red Cross and senior officials failed to take adequate donor screening measures.
But Conners also plans to look out for herself.
"I guess to some degree I will do what I've always done, which is pick myself up, dust myself off and go on," she said.
It's unclear how many people have died as a result of the tainted blood scandal, but in 1997 the toll reached 3,000.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/story/2007/10/02/conners-ruling.html
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NOVA SCOTIA-
WWII- it wasn't just the Nazis who betrayed our Jewish brothers and sisters...
937: Voyage of the doomed
McPhee, Milligan anchor Fringe play about travellers on ship fleeing Nazi Germany but turned away even by Canada. 937 people, mostly Jews, returned to certain death
ELISSA BARNARD ARTS REPORTER
ebar nard@herald.ca @CH_ElissaB
Michael McPhee says 937 is a historical story but als o a call to be vigilant today about human rights.
McPhee and Alexis Milligan, with Dalhousie theatre students Hilary Adams and Jackson Fowlow, animate coats and use shadows to tell one family’s story aboard the doomed passenger liner St. Louis.
The ship’s 937 passengers, 900 of whom were Jewish, sailed from Germany for Havana in 1939 to flee Nazi persecution.
The half-hour play, opening an eight-show run Friday at the Atlantic Fringe Festival, is about hope, family "and how we can’t let something like that happen again," says McPhee, a Halifax actor, director and writer.
"It’s a really great lesson of how there was hope for these people and how collectively, as a world, we let them down."
After being turned away by Cuba and the United States, the St. Louis was within two days of Halifax Harbour when Ottawa refused to grant the Jewish refugees entry. About 250 of the people on board died in concentration camps. (There is a memorial to the St. Louis at Pier 21.) "It’s so opposite of the way Canada perceives itself," says McPhee, adding that Russia’s anti-gay laws are a new example of the repression of a minority.
"I’m hoping we’re not going to turn a blind eye this time. Canada has at least said we’re going to honour Russian LGBT refugees. We’re not shutting our doors.
"We have to be vigilant. We can’t go soft on human rights."
McPhee spent the summer with Two Planks and a Passion Theatre at the Ross Creek Centre for the Arts near Canning. He starred opposite Milligan’s Rosalind as Orlando in As You Like It and in the ensemble fireside version of The Iliad.
During the day, he and Milligan worked on 937 to develop a show for the Fringe and for a provincially funded tour to schools and theatres this fall.
Ken Schwartz, Two Planks and a Passion’s artistic director, came up with the idea for 93 7 as a 10-minute vignette for the 2012 Nova Scotia Creative Arts Gala in the Brewery Market.
"We had people crying when they were watching it. We knew there was a lot more to it," says McPhee.
The play focuses on one family of Dad, Mum and Boy.
"They have no names. It is largely a story about a father trying to lead his family to safety but also trying to protect the boy from knowing something is wrong .
"It’s interesting to watch because you’ll develop hope for the characters but, if you know the historical tale, you know it doesn’t end happily."
There is no dialogue in 937.
"All we have is the actions. The actions have to be super-specific and each action b ecomes emotionally devastating.
"It’s a challenging form of storytelling . What we fought for is clarity. We want children to understand, but we still demand the audience use their imagination."
McPhee and Milligan, a former puppeteer with Mermaid Theatre and CBC’s Mighty Jungle, first worked together last October when Milligan hired McPhee to act in her Nocturne show, A Study in Time, at Attica. He also performed with her in LunaS ea Theatre’s production of Hannah Rittner’s Estate in Halifax last January.
"We work exceptionally well together," says McPhee. "We both come from a very physical theatre background. We’re both dancers. We both have similar ideals for theatre. We really see eye to eye."
McPhee has often tested out new work at the Atlantic Fringe Festival and wrote last year’s hit, Blood and Quicksilver, produced by the Doppler Effect , the company he runs with Annie Valentina .
"I’m continuing my domination of the Fringe," he jokes.
"Fringe to me is the b est time of the year. It’s my favourite time in Halifax. The city is so alive, there’s so much great stuff."
But 93 7 is not a Doppler Effect show, and Valentina presents her own show, Alien, at this year’s Fringe.
The Doppler Effect pres ents Heartwood, written and performed by Laura Burke and directed by Valentina, in the Neptune Scotiabank Studio Theatre as part of the Open Spaces program in 2014.
McPhee, who has a lead role in Thom Fitzgerald’s upcoming TV mini-series Sex and Violence, is on the verge of launching a transmedia project that features his new play, The Contribution, "a sci-fi love story in a world of population control and eugenics," and an Internet site where people can add to the sci-fi world he has created.
He said he believes in art for art’s sake.
"Art is important beyond dollars and cents. It’s about affecting and changing the world. I’d rather create something special than live comfortably."
Photo
Puppeteers Michael McPhee and Alexis Milligan star in 937, opening Friday at the Neptune Scotia Bank Studio Theatre in Halifax.
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JUSTICE
PM targets child sex crime
Harper: Tougher laws coming to deal with ‘tr uly evil people’ who victimize children
THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced tougher laws for child sex offences on Thursday, trumpeting the proposed legislation as the most comprehensive attack against s ex crimes on kids.
"We’re doing this because every victim matters, because every child matters," Harper said at an event in Toronto.
"Our goal is a Canada where all of our children are safe all the time and everywhere."
The proposed legislation would ensure sentencing takes into account when s omeone has committed offences against multiple children.
The new measures would see those people serve consecutive sentences for each child they have victimiz ed.
"Sadly, there are truly evil people out there. The fact is we don’t understand them and we don’t particularly care to. We understand only that they must be dealt with," Harper said.
"To protect our children we must create a justice system that is more responsive to victims and especially more responsive to children and to the families of children who have been victimized by sexual predators."
Harper’s Conservative government has brought in a number of mandatory minimum penalties for various crimes over the years and this law would increase both minimum and maximum p enalties for child sexual offences.
The government is also looking to ensure the spouse of a person charged with child pornography offences could be obliged to testify in cour t .
Harper said the proposed legislation would overhaul a system that had become "very unbalanced" when it came to protecting child sex abuse victims.
He singled out the case of Gordon Stuckless as an example.
The 64-year-old — who was once an usher at Toronto’s Maple Leaf Gardens — was originally convicted in 1997 for sex assaults on 24 boys while he worked at the famed hockey arena between 1969 and 1988.
Harper pointed out that Stuckless was originally s entenced to two years less a day, a sentence which led to the suicide o f the victim who brought the sex abuse scandal to light.
Stuckless’s sentence was later increased to five years and he was out on parole in 2001 after serving two-thirds of it.
He now faces nearly 100 fresh charges, all laid in the past year, which relate to alleged offences that took place decades ago.
"There have been gaps in our justice system," said Harper.
"These gaps show that the system did not properly value our most precious and valuable treasures — our children."
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CANADA'S TORY MAJORITY GOVERNMENT- NAILING THE EVIL BASTARDS WHO HURT AND DESTROY OUR PRECIOUS BABIES...... - no more- thx Tory Majority Govt... for be real, raw, righteous and right in stepping up 4 our children, our youth, and the vicious ugliness and pure evil of PAEDOPHILES...
God bless Canada 4 actually walking the talk on child abuse -r kids matter
Further protection for children from sexual offenders
August 29, 2013-Toronto, Ontario
In Canada, over 3,900 sexual violations against children were reported to police in 2012, an increase of 3 percent from 2011. The same increase was seen from 2010 to 2011.
Our Government is committed to strengthening measures that will protect communities from child sexual offenders, including punishing offenders to the full extent of the law and ensuring that the justice system is more responsive to children who have been victimized and to their families.
To this end, our Government will bring forward new measures this fall that build on the work that has already been done to combat child sexual exploitation. The proposed new measures to amend the Canadian legislation would include:
" Requiring those convicted of child pornography and related offences to serve their sentences consecutively - one after another. This would apply particularly to offenders who have victimized multiple children;
" Increasing maximum and minimum penalties for child sexual offences;
" Increasing penalties for violation of conditions of supervision orders;
" Ensuring that if a crime was committed while on parole or statutory release, it would be a mandatory factor in sentencing; and,
" Ensuring that the spouse of a person charged with child pornography offences could be obliged to testify in court.
Since 2006, our Government has taken action to better protect children, including:
" Putting in place, through the Safe Streets and Communities Act, new mandatory minimum penalties for seven existing Criminal Code sexual offences, including assault, assault with a weapon, and aggravated assault (where the child is under 16 years);
" Making it illegal for anyone to provide sexually explicit material to a child for the purpose of facilitating the commission of an offence against that child - this process is often referred to as "grooming";
" Making it illegal to use computers or other means of telecommunications to agree or make arrangements with another person to commit an offence against a child;
" Strengthening the sex offender registry;
" Increasing the age of protection - the age at which a young person can legally consent to sexual activity - from 14 to 16 years of age;
" Putting in place legislation to make the reporting of child pornography by Internet Service Providers mandatory; and,
" Strengthening the sentencing and monitoring of dangerous offenders.
Broader measures that our Government has taken to help young victims of crime include:
" Providing over $10 million for new or enhanced Child Advocacy Centres (CAC) since 2010. So far, CAC projects have been funded in 20 cities or municipalities across Canada. Teams of professionals at these centres help young victims and witnesses cope with the trauma they've experienced and to navigate the criminal justice system;
" Launching GetCyberSafe.gc.ca, the Government of Canada's public awareness website on online safety. The site contains information for parents on how to protect their children from people who go online with the purpose of exploiting, manipulating or abusing children;
" Joining the Global Alliance Against Child Sexual Abuse Online in June 2013. The goal of the Global Alliance is to strengthen international efforts to fight Internet predators and child abuse images online. It focuses on identifying and helping victims, prosecuting offenders, increasing public awareness and reducing the availability of child pornography online;
" Consulting with the public and stakeholders to better understand the various views of what rights should be recognized and protected by a federal Victims Bill of Rights. These consultations are critical in identifying and recognizing how to better entrench the rights of victims into a single law at the federal level, as part of the Government's commitment to victims of crime; and,
" Allocating more than $120 million since 2006 to respond to the needs of victims of crime through programs and initiatives delivered by the Department of Justice Canada.
http://www.pm.gc.ca/eng/media.asp?category=5&pageId=48&id=5640
________________________________________
and... EVIL PAEDOPHILES-.... CANADA IS CHANGING THE WORLD BY PROTECTING OUR CHILDREN- One Billion Rising- breaking the chains...... nailing, jailing and hunting... each and every damm day.... all around the world.... millions and millions of us hunting.... and God Bless Anonymous...
Court told how boys used for sex
THE CANADIAN PRESS
SAINT JOHN, N.B. — A former city councillor in Saint John, N.B., used cash to lure boys into his home where he had them carry out s ex acts, the Crown said Thursday at the sentencing hearing for Donnie Sno ok.
Sno ok, who has pleaded guilty to nearly four dozen charges including child pornography and sexual assault, sat quietly in the prisoner’s box with his head down as lawyer Karen Lee Lamrock outlined the evidence against him .
After p olice arrested him in January, they seized his computers and found 14,457 photos and another 620 videos of child pornography, Lamrock said. She showed provincial court Judge Alfred Brien what she described as a "representative sample" of the photos and videos s eiz ed. They included images of various child s ex acts, she said.
She later told the court that Snook, 41, provided money to boys to perform sex acts in his suburban home and allowed them to consume alcohol and marijuana there.
"It was a permissive atmosphere," she said.
Snook helped run a local lunch program for kids, where he met one b oy who he victimiz ed for about seven years, Lamrock said. "Almost half his life."
Lamrock said Snook was involved with another boy for five years. She read from a statement Snook gave to police after his arrest in which he said, "If ever I felt like a predator, it was now. I was ready to go."
Lamrock said when investigators tried to question the boy, he curled up in a ball and didn’t resp ond.
Another of the boys Snook abused was a child who was in his care for a time, court heard.
Lamrock said very few of the boys provided victim impact statements.
Snook pleaded guilty in May to 46 charges including sexual assault and possessing, distributing and making child pornography. He was arrested by the RCMP after an investigation that began in 2011 involving the Saint John and Toronto police.
AND...
WE WANT INQUIRY IN2 NOVA SCOTIA HOME 4 COLOURED CHILDREN'S BLACK ON BLACK SYSTEMIC CHILD ABUSE MOST HORRIBLE...
Nova Scotia Home 4 Coloured Children- 1921- We want an inquiry
BruceMacKinnon- NOVA SCOTIA NDP Majority Government REFUSES- Inquiry into rampant Paedophile Child Abuse in NS School 4 Coloured Children- black on black abuse - it's time
AND..
Peter MacKay says justice system maltreats victims of crime
Justice minister holding roundtable discussions across the country
VIDEO
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/story/2013/08/27/nl-peter-mackay-victims-crime-827.html
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Proving it doesn't matter your politics if u do right by the people who elect u in trust, dignity and the belief that we come first over the ugly games of political bullshit and beans in our often ugly $$$ world...
Hell Yeah
NOVA SCOTIA'S PREMIER DEXTER GETS IT RIGHT ON-
Overhaul planned for assistance services
Changes to affect seniors and people with disabilities, mental health issues
MICHAEL LIGHTSTONE STAFF REPORTER
mlightstone@herald.ca @CH_Lightstone
After many years of providing institution-oriented services, the Nova Scotia government says it is modernizing an antiquated system of assistance for seniors, people with disabilities or those with mental health issu es.
Planned changes are intended to eventually replace a stale, oldfashioned model of care with an updated one that offers individuals and their families more community- bas ed living options, Premier Darrell Dexter said Thursday in Dartmouth.
The New Democrats said the changes were prepared after much public consultation with Nova Scotians. An advisory committee made recommendations to government.
Family members with adult relatives with special needs said after the announcement at an area furniture maker they welcomed the policy shift.
"What I heard is there are going to be a lot more viable options for persons with a disability," said Dartmouth resident Gus Brushett, whose 38-year-old daughter is intellectually challenged and living indep endently, with support, not too far from her family.
"There were no specifics as to exactly what they are, but it sounds like" encouraging news about a worthwhile endeavour, Brushett said.
"When it all comes out, it’ll be easier" to assess and "say whether it’s a great program or not," he said.
The policy makeover could take 10 years to implement fully, although the province announced three immediate measures linked to the government’s goals: a single entry point will be set up for people in continuing-care programs and for s ervices for disabled folks, a temporary project is to be established to help selected families choose and develop their own housing s olutions and new legislation is being drafted to take the place of the Homes for Special Care Act.
Dexter was light on details about the policy changes; a government news release said "action plans" will be released in the coming months.
The premier told a crowd at LakeCity Woodworkers that a modernized system of help for seniors and people with special needs will place "a greater focus on social and economic inclusion" in lo cal communities.
"There is much that still needs to be done (and) it’s going to take time," said Dexter.
LakeCity began in the 1970s as a drop-in centre for clients of mental health support services, its website said. It is a non-profit organization whose workers make solid wood furnishings for sale.
Workers took an extended break to take in the proceedings, which were broadcast on the Internet and staffed by several government communications employees. Reporters were given a not-for-attribution background briefing before Dexter’s prepared speech.
According to a government handout, the province spends close to $1 billion annually on people who have disabilities, mental health issu es and other special needs. The government said once a new system is in place, the cost to the taxpayer will b e less.
Sheila Henman of Waverley has a 59-year-old sister with Down syndrome who lived with her and her family for 21 years. Her sister is now retired and residing in a supervised centre close to her.
"The message that is here, today, is it’s going to give people hope that when they reach the point where they know their loved ones require more care and they need to go someplace else, that they will have real input," Henman said.
"And maybe they’ll be able to find solutions within their own communities."
Dexter made the announcement at an election campaignstyle event in the sawdust-adorned workshop at LakeCity.
The woodworking enterprise was one o f the community groups that convicted fraudster Trevor Zinck, former Dartmouth North MLA, stung in the well-publicized expense scandal that tainted Nova Scotia’s legislature.
What I heard is there are going to be a lot more viable options for persons with a disability.
Gus Br ushett Father of person with special needs
PHOTO
Premier Dar rell Dexter announced changes to programs ser ving disabled persons, seniors, and people with mental health issues Thursday at Lake City Wood Workers in Dartmouth. CHRISTIAN LAFORCE • Staff
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NOVA SCOTIA'S NDP PREMIER DEXTER- DOES IT RIGHT- IT'S TIME -We fought 45 years 4 this...
PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
A welcome revolution
With pre-election announcements now coming fast and thick, it might be easy to miss the significance of the NDP government’s new approach to supporting people with disabilities, seniors and those with mental health issues, unveiled by Premier Darrell Dexter on Thursday.
That would be a mistake, however. What the government is proposing represents a welcome revolution in thinking.
For decades, people with disabilities, and those who advocate on their behalf, have been frustrated by a general governmental approach to providing support that put the system, with its various programs and facilities, first. Individuals with disabilities, whose challenges were as varied as their backgrounds, came second. They were expected to modify what they believed they needed and fit themselves, at times trying to meet impossibly rigid requirements, into the programs being offered.
Unsurprisingly, the results were often less than satisfactory.
Under the new approach detailed by the premier, the focus would be on the person with a disability, not the system. Importantly, funding would flow through individuals, allowing them, or those closest to them acting on their behalf, to make their own choices and thus empowering them to be part of the communities where they choose to live.
Though Community Services Minister Denise Peterson-Rafuse, who’s championed this review process, and the NDP government certainly deserve credit, Canada’s adoption (with Nova Scotia onside) of the 2008 United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities — which promotes a person-centred approach — is seen as the catalyst that has had jurisdictions across the country tackling thes e issu es.
That’s important, because it suggests that progress on changing the way the system works — which undoubtedly will take time, measured in years — should move forward regardless of which party is in power.
So we hope that whoever forms the next government will get behind the three actions announced Thursday by Mr. Dexter. They include establishing a single entry point for programs and services for people with disabilities, a demonstration project to help families develop their own community-based housing solutions and working on new legislation to replace the outdated Homes for Special Care Act .
Once seen as a leader in this field, Nova Scotia now relies on institutional care more than other provinces. Nova Scotia has the highest proportion of people with disabilities in the country, according to the report by the joint community- government advisory committee on transforming the services to persons with disabilities program. Completed earlier this summer, the report has been accepted by government as a road map to change.
Critically, though the report sees an eventual need for new money, especially for housing, its authors believe a person-centred approach will, over time, also be more financially sustainable.
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DOESN'T MATTER THE POLITICS- NOVA SCOTIA LIBERAL MAYOR - HALIFAX GETS IT RIGHT...
Chief, mayor to ‘sleep rough’
THE CHRONICLE HERALD
Shelter Nova Scotia is embarking on an awareness and fundraising campaign that will see Halifax Mayor Mike Savage, Halifax Regional Police Chief Jean-Michel Blais and other community leaders braving the elements for one night to raise awareness and funds to address homelessness.
Savage and Blais have agreed to "sleep rough" on Oct. 5 to shine a sp otlight on homelessness.
A call for par ticipants has gone out, and Shelter Nova Scotia anticipates having 35 people join Savage and Blais.
The goal is to raise $100,000.
Participants will arrive at 7 p.m. at a location to be determined and will be there until 6 a.m. Each person will be asked to bring a sleeping bag or blanket and will be given a piece of cardboard.
Shelter Nova Scotia operates five facilities — two homeless shelters, two halfway houses and an apar tment building us ed to assist homeless p eople in the Halifax area. Agency staff, in par tnership with mental health and addiction s ervices, help people get into their own places.
"Homelessness and its contributors, such as mental health issues and addictions, have a direct impact on crime and public safety," Blais said in a news release Thursday. "The more we do to raise awareness and improve the situation about homelessness and p eople without decent shelter arrangements, the better our community will be."
For further information, contact colleenritchie@shelternovascotia. com.
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NOVA SCOTIA'S GOVERNMENT- GETS IT RIGHT- NDP PARTY- HELL YEAH!
Sexual Violence and Bullying of r kids..... getting on it... hard- walking the talk
More: Time to ‘change the culture’
Taking on the issues of sexual violence and bu llying in the province will take widespread change, cabinet minister Marilyn More said Thursday.
She said that cons ensus emerged in the last several months of meetings with more than 100 community groups and individuals.
"Basically, we heard that we need to change the culture," she said. "That there’s a responsibility for each of us as individuals within our families, at our workplace, in our schools, and our communities to have more respectful, caring relationships, and that organizations need to be more respectful and caring as well."
More said a progress report of the action team on s exual violence and bullying includes 13 recommendations. Among them a social marketing campaign, developing safety protocols with school boards and police, and having someone monitor the progress of community projects. Premier Darrell Dexter set up the action team in April, in the wake of the Rehtaeh Parsons case. The teenager was subjected to cyberbullying after an alleged sexual assault, and died after trying to commit suicide.
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CANADA'S PM HARPER TAKES IT IN STRIDE AND GETS IT RIGHT...
Quebec minorities get PM’s attention
THE CANADIAN PRESS
Prime Minister Stephen Harper waded carefu lly into the emotional debate over Quebec’s values charter with a promise Thursday to protect minority rights.
The prime minister said he wanted to comment cautiously because the Parti Quebecois government had not made its plan public yet and expressed reluctance to get sucked into a fight on the PQ’s chosen battlefield.
"We know that the separatist government in Quebec would love to pick fights with Ottawa," Harper told a Toronto news conference. "But that’s not our business. Our business is the economy. Our business is job creation for Canadians — all Canadians, including Quebecers."
But he added that the federal government also has a responsibility to minorities and he intends to live up to it .
"And our job is social inclusion. Our job is making all groups who come to this country, whatever their background, whatever their race, whatever their ethnicity, whatever their religion, feel at home in this country and b e Canadians," he said.
A leaked copy of the plan suggests the PQ wants to restrict public employees from wearing religious symbols like turbans, kippas, hijabs and visible crosses. Harper said he’ll watch the plan closely when it’s finally tabled to ensure rights are protected.
"You know — there are all kinds of competing rights: rights of religion, rights of gender equality," Harper said.
"We will withhold our comment until we s ee what exactly is in the prop osal. And we will assure ourselves, when we look at that proposal, that the fundamental rights of Canadians are protected."
Some federal politicians have swung more freely at the PQ , among them Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau, who has raised the ire of the Pequistes by using the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King’s I Have A Dream speech this week to slam the proposed Charter of Quebec Values. He appeared to draw parallels between the PQ policy and segregation.
"Oh, my god," said Bernard Drainville, the minister responsible for the charter, when asked for a reaction Thursday.
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QUEBEC PREMIER PAULINE MARIOS-Parti Québécois- GETS IT RIGHT- the economy and looking after Canada and Canadians- our own oil and gas and energy, farming, fishing etc... it matters...
Political Party doesn't matter if u put Canadians first....
WEST-EAST PIPELINE Marois goes with the flow
THE CANADIAN PRESS
CARLETON-SUR-MER, QUE. — Quebec Premier Pauline Marois has defended a pip eline project that would see Western Canadian oil pumped across her province.
Marois says the controversial Enbridge Inc. proposal to reverse the flow of one of its pipelines could be a boon for Quebec — particularly since it would supply oil refineries in Montreal.
Speaking to reporters Thursday, she said the Alberta crude would be cheaper than oil purchased from abroad.
Marois says her government will b egin a formal examination next month of Enbridge’s Line 9 proposal, to determine whether the project is in the interest of Quebecers or too big of a risk.
The Parti Quebecois premier says while the project faces opposition from Quebec environmentalists, she insists it has not divided her cau cus.
But she acknowledges, however, that the controversial project has generated some debate within her party.
Enbridge wants to expand capacity on s ome pip es in the Great Lakes region and reverse the flow in Line 9, which runs between Montreal and southern Ontario.
The National Energy Board, meanwhile, is studying the project as it works its way through the federal regulatory process.
In the past, Marois has shown an openness to the idea of permitting across her province.
After meeting with Canadian premiers in November, Marois agreed to create working groups to weigh the economic benefits and environmental risks of piping Alberta crude through Quebec.
oilsands bitumen to trave l
PHOTO
Quebec Premier Pauline Marois is supporting Enbridge’s proposal to reverse the flow in one of its pipelines that crosses her province. GRAHAM HUGHES • CP
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TORY MAJORITY PM HARPER- GETS IT RIGHT- CANADIANS FIRST- it's time we have fair $$$ 2- mind u that's if beloved EU and USA give Canada the same options in their territories... right?
PM: Wireless rules are fair
CRAIG WONG THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — There are no special rules or loopholes for foreign companies lo oking to enter the Canadian wireless market , P rime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday.
"There are rules that assist all new entrants whether they be Canadian or foreign to enter the market and provide comp etition that will be in the interest of Canadian consumers," Harper said.
The prime minister made the comments amid speculation that U.S. company Verizon may want to expand into the Canadian wireless business.
Canada’s big wireless providers — BCE , Te l u s and Rogers — have launched a campaign arguing that big foreign players like Verizon would be given an unfair advantage due to current wireless ru les.
New wireless companies are permitted to bid on two blocks of prime 700 megahertz spectrum in the up coming au ction while the big three domestic carriers can bid on only one block apiece.
The big three Canadian carriers would also have to come to a financial arrangement with Verizon for letting its customers roam on their networks in areas where it doesn’t have coverage.
"I understand fu ll well the desire of the major incumbent telecommunication companies to protect their bottom line," Harper said.
"But the responsibility of the government is to act in the broader public interest. That broader public interest here is absolutely clear."
The Conservative government recently eased the rules on foreign investment or wireless companies with less than 10 per cent of the marketplace, paving the way for foreign companies to enter the Canadian market and als o buy small Canadian wireless companies.
For its part, Verizon in July said it was taking a look at the Canada.
"We continue to explore and have discussions, but at this point it’s really just an exploratory exercise," Verizon chief financial o fficer Francis Shammo said a the time.
Reports have suggested that Verizon may be considering buying struggling wireless company Mobilicity and or Wind Mobile.
On Thursday, Britain’s Vodafone PLC said it was in talks with Verizon Communications about selling its 45 per cent stake in Verizon Wireless. Verizon Communications owns the other 5 5 per cent .
Analysts have suggested that Verizon wants to pay around $100 billion for Vodafone’s stake, although reports have said that U.K. group is pressing for as much as $130 billion.
Last spring, Telus was blocked by Industry Canada from buying Mobilicity because the small carrier’s spectrum licence doesn’t expire until 2014.
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BEST COMMENT OF THE DAY- in the real world
"They should be concerned, however, that nobody really knows his views about anything else."
Some in the media, but certainly not the lib left media, have asked and gotten nothing substantial from Boy Blunder. But it does show just how friendly, supportive and forgiving the leftie media are toward Turdeau. Can you imagine them being as solicitous toward Harper? Me neither. It's a case of the stupid leading the blind. Is it likely that they, at some time, will ask Just-In what his views on global occurrences, like Syria, are or are they going to continue to ignore his astounding lack of any coherent policy on anything but himself? I guess they are desperately trying to hide Turdeau's glaringly conspicuous lack of priministerial qualities, such as intelligence and a grasp of global affairs. In essence Turdeau is Canada's version of Sarah Palin only that he hasn't accomplished a thing and she, at least, was a state governor. What are his achievements, part time teacher, part time MP, part time public speaker. Does this indicate he would also be a part time Prime Minister? Well the old saying is "A leopard never changes his spots and a (you know what) never changes his diet."
They’re all missing the real agenda
warren-kinsella
By Warren Kinsella ,QMI Agency
This one wasn’t. Personally, I don’t give a tinker’s damn about the Liberal leader’s soft drug use. It doesn’t matter.
What matters, or should, is that in the past week children were gassed to death in Syria. Christians and Muslims were terrorized and murdered in Egypt. Two teenagers, just 15 and 16 — two boys! — were shot to death, in broad daylight, in Toronto.
Oh, and interest rates are going up, Lac-Megantic is forgotten and Parliament is prorogued for no apparent reason.
Those are the things that matter. Those are the things that should be dominating the public agenda. Those are the things that, to put a fine point on it, we have yet to hear about from Justin Trudeau, who aspires to be prime minister of Canada, for Pete’s sake.
http://www.edmontonsun.com/2013/08/26/theyre-all-missing-the-real-agenda
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SAMMY YATMINS TREATMENT OF WOMEN ON THE BUS FLASHING HIS PENIS- DOES THIS HAVE THE EERIE FEEL OF 2 U??? This rampant hatred of Canadian- Civilized country women???? REMEMBER:
École Polytechnique massacre
The École Polytechnique Massacre, also known as the Montreal Massacre, occurred on December 6, 1989 at the École Polytechnique in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Twenty-five-year-old Marc Lépine, armed with a legally obtained Mini-14 rifle and a hunting knife, shot twenty-eight people before killing himself. He began his attack by entering a classroom at the university, where he separated the male and female students. After claiming that he was "fighting feminism", he shot all nine women in the room, killing six. He then moved through corridors, the cafeteria, and another classroom, specifically targeting women to shoot. Overall, he killed fourteen women and injured ten other women and four men in just under twenty minutes before turning the gun on himself.[1][2] Lépine was the son of a French-Canadian mother and an Algerian father, and had been physically abused by his father. His suicide note claimed political motives and blamed feminists for ruining his life. The note included a list of nineteen Quebec women whom Lépine considered to be feminists and apparently wished to kill.[3]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89cole_Polytechnique_massacre
AND..... THIS????
No more Sammy Yatims
We don’t have to wait for a trial, inquests or more studies to start reducing these tragedies
lorrie-goldstein
By Lorrie Goldstein ,Toronto Sun
First posted: Saturday, August 24, 2013 04:32 PM MDT
pamSketch Cnst. James Forcillo has been charged with second degree murder in the death of Sammy Yatim. PAM DAVIES ILLUSTRATION
Why don’t we start doing practical things today that will help our police force peacefully resolve armed confrontations with people who are mentally ill or deeply disturbed?
We don’t have to wait for the outcome of the trial of Const. James Forcillo, charged with the second-degree murder of 18-year-old Sammy Yatim, after Forcillo shot him to death inside the 505 Dundas St. West streetcar last month.
That trial likely won’t get underway until 2015 and it will only deal with the issue of whether Forcillo was criminally responsible for Yatim’s death.
It won’t address our decades-old concern about why encounters between armed and disturbed people who aren’t capable of rationally responding to police commands to freeze and drop their weapons, so often end up with the individual being fatally shot by police.
We don’t have to wait for Ontario Ombudsman Andre Marin’s review of police training when it comes to de-escalating these situations, which will take six to 12 months.
Ditto the review by retired associate chief justice Dennis O’Connor, ordered by Police Chief Bill Blair, which will assess police use of force guidelines in the context of dealing with the mentally ill.
These exercises are worthwhile, but they take time and inevitably produce a variety of complex, non-binding recommendations.
As important, they typically come out so long after the events which prompted them that by then the political will to do anything has been lost.
We can do better and we can start now.
While we don’t know Yatim’s precise mental state the night he was shot to death by Const. Forcillo, we do know that prior to the fatal incident he had threatened female passengers on the streetcar, according to witnesses, holding his penis in one hand and a knife in the other.
So, clearly, he wasn’t acting rationally, no matter what caused him to act that way.
And Yatim’s death is only one of 10 fatal shootings involving Toronto police officers confronted by armed, mentally ill or otherwise emotionally disturbed individuals, going back to the Lestor Donaldson case 25 years ago this month.
Inquest juries have repeatedly made recommendations regarding these tragedies — everything from calls for reform of the mental health system to better training for police.
Yet another inquest into three of the recent cases is now being organized, although no start-up date has been announced.
The point is, these issues have already been studied to death.
One of the ideas acted on was the creation of Mobile Crisis Intervention Teams, consisting of a mental health nurse and a specially trained Toronto police officer, who respond to 911 and police dispatch calls about people experiencing a mental crisis.
Except these teams don’t operate 24/7, don’t cover the entire city and aren’t called in when the individual is armed, violent or strung out on drugs or booze.
Surely we could start, today, right now, to train and equip enough of these teams to cover the entire city, around the clock.
Yes, it will cost money but not a prohibitive amount.
And surely, given modern communications, we can develop a system to call in these crisis intervention teams in cases where the individual is armed and/or under the influence of alcohol or drugs, without endangering the safety of the mental health nurses.
While numerous inquests and studies have called for better police training when it comes to the use of force when dealing with the mentally ill, nothing would replace the value of having mental health experts right on the scene, familiar with police procedures, assisting officers on how to proceed.
As lawyer Julian Falconer, who has represented the families of many of these shooting victims over the years told Now magazine, this could be started immediately, without waiting for trials or inquests, if the police, City Hall and Queen’s Park are prepared to commit the necessary financial resources.
To be sure, this wouldn’t be a cure-all for every crisis, given that some will happen too fast to bring in the intervention teams and even their expert help may not always resolve the situation peacefully.
That said, how is it possible that after a quarter century of these tragedies, we still don’t have such a system in place?
We don’t need to wait for more studies. We need sensible, practical action. And we can start it now.
What are we waiting for?
http://www.edmontonsun.com/2013/08/23/no-more-sammy-yatims
CANADA
IF ONLY PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES- HAD THE SAME MEDIA HYPE AS R GAY BROTHERS AND SISTERS.... IN 2013= ISN'T IT ABOUT TIME???
Candidates should be accessible
August 23, 2013 - 4:52pm By JANET MACMASTER
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With an election looming in Nova Scotia’s future, it is a good time to shed some light on an issue that all too often gets little or no attention: Accessibility to the election process for people with disabilities.
When we speak about people with disabilities, not only are we looking at people in wheelchairs, the blind, the deaf and those with mental illness, we are looking at the increasing sector of the population represented by seniors, many of whom are dealing with disability issues, large and small. All these citizens have the right to be involved in the electoral process.
It is encouraging news that the House of Assembly management committee has unanimously passed regulations recently requiring all MLAs’ offices to be barrier-free. A great step forward!
However, this issue is larger than about having accessible provincially-run election facilities and assigned staff available at polling stations on the day of the election.
This is about making campaign offices of all candidates accessible so that people with disabilities can volunteer or come and speak to a candidate before the election. All too often, candidates’ offices are set up quickly and because of the temporary nature of an election, making everyone welcome can become an oversight.
Stairs of any kind preclude taking on a volunteer or guest in a wheelchair. One barrier translates into fewer volunteers, which not only diminishes what could otherwise be a robust local campaign, but also sends an unfortunate message about the candidate’s stand on accessibility.
The campaign office, of course, is only one part of an election campaign. Equal consideration of accessibility should also be given to all-candidates debates, campaign literature and signage, websites and other online forms of communication, and ensuring that campaign staff and volunteers are sensitized to welcoming and including Nova Scotians with disabilities.
Nova Scotia, unlike Ontario (and Manitoba in the coming months), does not have provincial accessibility legislation.
Nova Scotia’s Putting People First initiative is wisely looking to a future which is much more inclusive of people with disabilities. After all, upwards of 20 per cent of Nova Scotia’s population lives with a disability. These are voters. These are volunteers.
And while there is an appropriate place for government initiatives and legislation, dear candidates, why not get ahead of the game and show that you have planned for accessibility and inclusion from the get-go? It’s the right thing to do.
Janet Macmaster represents the government relations & advocacy department at March of Dimes Canada, which offers programs and services to Canadians with disabilities nationwide.
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Millions of us have watched in desperation as Mental Health Victims are totally ignored and even abused by a system that is so outdated and clueless .... that many Mental Health Victims commit suicide.... families weep and mourn and spend $$$$ they don't have.... and communities watch.... wonderful, incredible souls.... crash, burn and die from NO ACTUAL HELP AT ALL.... year in and year out.... seriously... it's 2013
Mental-health maze: 5 years of dead ends
August 9, 2013 - 4:54pm
EDITOR’S NOTE: We are not identifying the author of this opinion piece in order to protect the privacy of her daughter.
It was 2:30 a.m. when I picked up the hospital emergency room bracelet she had crumpled and thrown on the floor in disgust.
"Let’s leave. They can’t do anything for me here."
Sixteen. The bracelet listed her age as 16.
Can it really be that long?
Was it really five years ago that I went to pick her up at school only to learn my 12-year-old had left at 9:30 a.m.?
My brilliant, beautiful little girl who excelled at school, had lots of good friends and teachers who praised her kindness, her devotion to human rights, her clear-thinking and aptitude for school work.
She who started many sentences with, "When I become prime minister."
This was her response when I asked why she left school:
"Everybody’s changed. All my friends think about is boys and makeup and clothes."
That’s why she left. Because everybody had changed.
I didn’t know it then, but she had also changed — changed in ways unimaginable to me at that time.
Five years have passed.
She has attempted to go back to school. There have been amazing accommodations made in different schools to help her cope.
All have failed.
One principal told me that if she felt sitting on the school’s roof would make it easier for her to attend, he’d personally place the ladder against the wall.
His description of her included phrases like: "a beautiful child with an amazing intelligence," "a kid we can’t lose," "one of the good ones."
But there was nothing that could keep her there.
The social anxiety, the aversion to sounds, smells, to being touched increased and her self-loathing continued unabated.
Psychiatrists? Psychologists? By the truckload. And everyone had a different opinion.
The first psychiatrist prescribed Zoloft, an anti-depressant for what he diagnosed as manic depression. She was 13 at the time.
Less than a month later, she made her first suicide attempt.
A social worker at another hospital diagnosed Borderline Personality Disorder, prompting the psychiatrist to prescribe yet another drug.
Her anxiety deepened.
Finally, there was a private psychologist. By the time our private health plan paid for the final session, the psychologist determined, indeed, she had Asperger’s syndrome, but the psychologist had no time to treat her.
"Send her back to Child and Adolescent Mental Health."
And so we did.
We waited five months.
The new psychologist didn’t believe the diagnosis was accurate.
Indeed, after a questionnaire was completed, reviewed and scored, her triumphant conclusion was this child does not have Asperger’s syndrome, just as she suspected.
So what does she have? What makes it so that she can’t go to school, buries herself in her room? Can’t go out in public? Hates herself? Cuts herself?
What demons are within my child’s head?
Huh? Oh, it’s probably the onset of adolescence. We see this all the time. It’s very common.
There is a social anxiety group that meets every week. Let’s see if she might fit in.
Not so much. After some thought, the psychologist calls to say my daughter is just not the right fit for the social anxiety group because she’s resistant to going.
Imagine! A child with social anxiety resistant to joining a social anxiety group. Go figure.
Her mood deteriorates.
A new child psychiatrist diagnoses depression. Prozac is prescribed.
Another suicide attempt. A stint in pediatrics with a ’round-the-clock nurse at her side: there are no children’s mental health in-patient rooms in this area.
Paxil is prescribed.
Another suicide attempt.
This time a major manic break in the emergency room wins her a trip to the infamous 4-South wing at the IWK.
Heavily sedated, they move my little girl by ambulance to the only hope left.
Her arms are marked with silvery scars from old wounds and red, garish scars from the newer ones.
She is barely able to speak.
She is admitted involuntarily.
Staff is told she does not have a good relationship with her father and perhaps it would be best to keep him away for the time being.
He visits for three hours the next day. She grasps my hand when I enter her room and doesn’t let go until he leaves.
Staff is told she has social anxiety and can’t bear to be in large groups. They insist she must attend group therapy and accuse her of being stubborn.
They show her the padded room where, if she becomes a threat to herself or others, she is told she could be stripped naked and placed there for her own safety and the safety of others.
By this time, her 72-hour involuntary period is up and she is now voluntary. She can leave if she wishes.
She bolts.
Before we leave, a social worker suggests my daughter has Asperger’s syndrome.
Back home, there are more late night trips to emergency. New cuts on her arm. Sleeplessness, horrific fears, the complete inability to cope.
A visiting psychiatrist thinks she’s a perfect candidate for short-term psycho-dynamic therapy.
Worth a shot. After three visits, she refuses to continue.
Her family doctor tells her the psychiatrist feels she really doesn’t have a mental issue. It’s simply that her personality is negative. She needs to get rid of the negativity — behavioural therapy, cognitive therapy, perhaps.
"So there’s nothing wrong with me. I’ve been out of school for all these years, cut my arms, cried buckets and attempted suicide because I have a negative personality — that’s all," she says.
"Is being negative all the time not disordered thinking and is disordered thinking not the definition of mental illness?" she asks.
I have no answer.
There is a place, deep within my heart, where I fear there are no answers.
I recently read a piece in the Globe and Mail about a Toronto teenager who had the same kinds of problems. After slogging through the system, her parents took the advice of a psychologist and sent her to McLean Hospital, a psychiatric institute associated with Harvard University.
Doesn’t that sound impressive? Doesn’t that sound like they could make a difference in my daughter’s life? Like they could give her the skills necessary to do what she should be doing in this life she was given?
Seventy thousand dollars: that’s what it cost to save their daughter’s life.
http://thechronicleherald.ca/opinion/1146851-mental-health-maze-5-years-of-dead-ends
COMMENT:
Keep on fighting for your daughter. Figure out what you can do along with the rest of your family and friends. That's what matters the most. Your love and support. If you add up the time spent in our NS health care facilities and compared it to the other situation you describe, it might add up to $70,000. Check out the new NS Government's mental health strategy. Do not give up.
COMMENT:
Contact Lenore Zann.... as a member of the National Strategy on Mental Health, see if she has any suggestions for proceeding.
COMMENT:
Families and children like this one are the "real" face of the mental health crisis in this country and province.
COMMENT:
I wish I could write this girl a letter. But at the same time I have no idea what I'd say. That what she's going through is horrible? That I'm familiar with at least some of the crap that happens when you end up in the mental health maze? That I'm sorry and I hope she gets better? That her story touched me?
I'm sure she's heard that many times. All the same I'll say it again here.
I hope things start looking up even a little bit, anonymous girl.
I laughed bitterly at the social anxiety group, go figure indeed.
COMMENT:
The problem I see with all this, including dear Rehtaeh when she tried to seek help for guidance in Nova Scotia, those who attend University and take these courses to become these mental health "experts"! are young.............never experienced trauma as those they so call "treat" their experience comes from books not the street where this all begins....................................You can not describe an orange if you've only eaten an apple
AND.... what Rehtaeh, Courtney, Amanda, Jamie from Ottawa went through... breaks our hearts
WE REMEMBER THE BULLYCIDES- our children matter in Canada- POLICE, TEACHERS, PARENTS, STUDENTS, MEDICAL, MENTAL HEALH LAXNESS AND COMMUNITIES- must not let our kids down.... r kids matter..... this is the proof.... why do the parents of the victim have 2 fight so hard 4 justice... WHY????
Rehtaeh’s dad wants to ‘set record straight’ on alleged rape
August 10, 2013 - 4:22pm By FRANCES WILLICK Staff Reporter
Rehtaeh Parsons’s father Glen Canning has spoken out about what he says happened the night Rehtaeh was allegedly raped. (THE CANADIAN PRESS)
Frustrated by the lack of sexual assault charges in the Rehtaeh Parsons case, the Cole Harbour teen’s father has spoken out about what he says happened the night Rehtaeh was allegedly raped.
In a 1,500-word blog post published late Friday, Glen Canning spells out the details of that November 2011 night that changed the young woman’s life forever.
Canning said in an email to The Chronicle Herald that he was motivated to write the piece by two factors: "the police saying the evidence did not support a charge of sexual assault and a few online random commentators stating Rehtaeh lied about being raped."
Police announced on Thursday evening that two young men would face child pornography charges in the case, but that there was not enough evidence to support sexual assault charges.
"I truly hope you read this with an open mind and just try to forget everything you know or think you know about this case," Canning writes in the post. "When you’re finished, you can conclude for yourself if you believe my daughter was telling the truth when she told the police she was raped."
The post is based on information provided not only by his daughter, but also by someone Canning calls "a first-hand witness" who sent his version of events through Facebook to Rehtaeh’s mother, Leah Parsons, shortly after Rehtaeh died.
Containing many details that have not yet been published, it outlines how much the girl drank, the few foggy recollections she had of that night, the circumstances under which the photo was taken and the witness’s account of what happened.
"What counts for me at this point is setting the record straight the best I can," Canning writes.
"Those are the details that came forward after her death. I don’t understand how anyone can read that account and think this was consensual sex. Or that it’s a case of regret. Or that my daughter was a ‘slut’ and only came up with the rape story after the photo was passed around. After the photo was circulated, she had a complete nervous breakdown …not a regret."
http://thechronicleherald.ca/metro/1147047-rehtaeh-s-dad-wants-to-set-record-straight-on-alleged-rape
AND...
Police: Arrests couldn’t have come before now
FRANCES WILLICK STAFF REPORTER
fwillick@herald.ca @CH_Frances
Police did not interview either o f the two boys arrested in the Rehtaeh Parsons case before Thursday because they could not legally compel them to speak, says the superintendent of Halifax RCMP.
Roland Wells said Friday that p olice made numerous contacts with many people who were connected to the case, including suspects, persons of interest, witness es and subjects o f the complaint, but that under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, no one is obligated to talk to police, even after being arrested.
And police must have "reasonable grounds" to make an arrest — something officers didn’t feel they had before Thursday. "If the grounds are not there, all we can do is invite and ask susp ects for an interview," Wells said.
Wells and Chief Jean-Michel Blais of Halifax Regional Police held a a rare evening news conference Thursday to announce that two 18-year-olds would face child pornography charges in relation to the case.
One faces one charge of making child porn and one charge of distributing it , while the other faces two charges of distributing child porn.
Neither accused can be named because they were minors at the time of the alleged offences.
The charges stem from a photo that was shared among teenagers after Rehtaeh was allegedly raped in November 2011 when she was 15 .
Several sources who have seen the photo have told The Chronicle Herald that it shows Rehtaeh leaning out a window as a b oy appears to penetrate her from b ehind.
Police initially investigated but closed the file without laying charges. They reopened the case in April after Rehtaeh died following a suicide attempt .
Wells said the two young men who were arrested "would have b een contacted in the past" to request an interview, but he didn’t know when or how. Asked whether they were contacted during the first investigation, he said "attempts would have been made."
Police use "whatever methods are appropriate" to contact people, such as texting, phoning, tweeting or visiting in person.
Rehtaeh’s parents, Leah Parsons and Glen Canning , said Thursday they were surprised to learn last week that none of the four boys they believe were involved in the alleged rape had been interviewed by police.
"I don’t think I even slept the whole weekend," Canning said. "I was just like, I can’t believe that. It doesn’t make any sense."
Parsons previously believed that one of the four boys had spoken with an officer, but that was not the cas e, she was told.
Blais said Thursday night that one boy had considered meeting with police but changed his mind.
"There was one of the youths that was contacted, and he did come in, at which point he refused to offer information," Blais told reporters.
Wells said he couldn’t say which or how many boys were contacted.
"I can’t even confirm that there were four people," he said.
"You and other p eople think that there were a certain number of subjects of interest or suspects, and that’s not accurate.
"All I can tell you is that we have been diligent in contacting all people that were involved in this incident ."
Wells said timing is critical when requesting an interview.
"In every investigation, officers make decisions about the timing of the investigation. When is the right time to arrest somebody and interview them? Do I want to have all of my information prior to that, or do I want to go in cold and not know a lot of the background?
"That timing is up to the investigator, when they feel is the most opportune time. Because, in fact, you can arrest people, you can interview people too early in an investigative process. You don’t have all of that information that might help you during that interview. You can never go back and redo a first interview."
Justice Minister Ross Landry and Marilyn More, the minister for the Action Team on S exual Violence and Bullying, will make an announcement Monday about an independent review of police actions and the Public Prosecution Service in relation to the Rehtaeh Parsons case.
With Selena Ross, staff reporter
AND...BULLSHIT AND BEANS..... ANONYMOUS.... U ARE OUR HEROES ON THIS DAY.... bullies and bullycide and paedophiles and sex trafficking..... of kids and women and girls..... thank u 4 all u do...no more... our kids matter....... NOT A THING WAS DONE UNTIL THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS OF US STEPPED UP... ESPEICALLY ANONYMOUS.... we will remember ur devotion always... thank u.
REHTAEH PARSONS CASE
Online activists hindered investigation, police say
Social media ‘diverted’ focus
STAFF REPORTER SELENA ROSS sross@herald.ca @CH_sross
The involvement of online activists drew attention to Rehtaeh Parsons’s case, including among p eople in her own community who were in a position to work with p olice.
But police said Thursday that the added pressure actually harmed the investigation.
"In fact, I can also tell you that some of the things that were put forward through social media has diverted our resources in the incorrect direction and taken us off our focus," said Chief Supt. Roland Wells of Halifax District RCMP at a news conference announcing the charges that were laid in the case.
Police have repeatedly warned that they are not enthusiastic about accepting tips from online sleuths.
A few days after the online collective Anonymous became involved in April, and after RCMP reopened the case, police said they couldn’t accept tips over social media.
A single person provided new information that allowed them to reopen the case, they said.
"This information did not come from an online source," they wrote when they announced they were reopening the case.
Those words were the only part of the RCMP news release that were written in bold font.
"The person providing the information is willing to verify who they are, the reason they’re providing it and is willing to work with police as part of the investigation," they said. On Thursday, Wells said that "we need real people to step forward with evidence and cooperate."
It isn’t clear who police consider to be an "online source" or "real people," or whether verifying one’s identity, providing a motivation, or other steps would make it p ossible for an online sleuth to submit information.
Police work requires tips, they said. At the news conference Thursday, Wells even said the public would be wrong to see Rehtaeh’s case as a matter for law enforcement.
"The tendency might be to look at this as a police issue. This is not a police issue," said Wells.
"This is about a . . . community issue, helping our youth be respectful to one another and to get through the struggles that they’re getting through."
Police intend to co-operate fully with an upcoming Justice Department review into whether the first phase of the investigation was conducted properly, they said.
"Whether or not that should have been before (charges were laid), we rely on the review to look at that and to tell us whether or not there were gaps," said Wells.
"We are in a constant state of learning to do things better, and in this job, it’s such an imperfect job in terms of human beings and investigative skills. And so we’re always looking to learn from these things."
AND... WHAT THESE MONSTERS DO 2 THE INNOCENT.... God's gonna getcha .... God's gonna getcha
Jail unlikely in child por n case
STAFF REPORTER FRANCES WILLICK fwillick@herald.ca @CH_Frances
A Dalhousie law professor says he doesn’t expect the two teenagers charged in the Rehtaeh Parsons cas e to end up in jail.
Wayne MacKay said it’s relatively rare for young people to be accused of child pornography o ffences.
"I’d be surprised if young people charged with this normally spend any jail time," he said Friday.
Police announced Thursday evening that two 18-year-olds had been charged in Rehtaeh’s case. One faces a charge of making child porn and a charge of distributing it , while the other faces two charges of distributing child porn. Neither has been named because both were minors when the alleged offences occurred.
The teens are to appear in Halifax youth court next Thursday.
MacKay said the Youth Criminal Justice Act contains "alternative measures" such as community service that can replace a sentence of incarceration.
Under the Criminal Code, an adult convicted of making or distributing child pornography receives a mandatory minimum sentence of a year in jail for an indictable o ffence and six months for a summary conviction.
But there are no mandatory minimum s entences for young o ffenders.
Last year in British Columbia, a teenager was sentenced to a year on probation for distributing obs cene material by emailing photos of an alleged rape at a party in Pitt Meadows, B.C. The court also instructed the teen, who was not named because of his age, to write an essay on the negative effects of social media.
Another young man , Dennis Warrington, was given a conditional discharge with 18 months on probation for distributing obscene material by posting photos of the same alleged assault on his Facebook page.
Both young men were initially charged with child porn offences but pleaded guilty to the less er charge.
MacKay believes that some people who have been following the Parsons case might view sentences like that as too lenient.
"I think people would be pretty unhappy with that," he said.
The high-profile nature of the case shouldn’t influence the sentencing, but MacKay said the judge will have the world spotlight site.
to contend with .
"Judges, I’m sure, are very principled about it, but they do live in the real world," he said. "It would be hard not to know that the world is watching what they’re going to do out o f the Rehtaeh Parsons case."
The Avalon Sexual Assault Centre in Halifax issued a statement on its Facebook page Friday evening urging more education and greater awareness about child pornography laws.
The charges in the Parsons case s end a message to the community that making and distributing child p orn are criminal actions, the statement said.
"Given the prevalence of the spreading of pornographic images through new technologies, we must continu e to push for more education and awareness on these issues, as well as the new laws," the Facebook post says.
Police did not lay sexual assault charges in the case, saying there was not enough evidence.
Rehtaeh’s parents say the Cole Harbour teen was assaulted in November 2011 when she was 15.
Avalon also called for changes in societal attitudes toward sexual assau lt .
"In order to prevent a similar situation from occurring again and to heal and move forward as a community, we need to change rape culture that condones and perpetuates sexual victimization, improve our understanding of consent, improve sexual assault response and increase sexual assault programs and services in Nova Scotia."
A third young Nova Scotian will also appear in youth court next week to face child porn charges.
A 14-year-old boy from the Preston area is charged with making and possessing child pornography and making it available to others.
Police allege the boy took a video of a consensual sex act involving a 15-year-old girl without her knowledge and posted the video on a social media
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UK
Poverty saps mental capacity to deal with complex tasks, say scientists
Study suggests being preoccupied with money problems is equivalent to loss of 13 IQ points or losing a night's sleep
The strain of poverty may mean people are more likely to make bad decisions that exacerbate their financial problems. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Poor people spend so much mental energy on the immediate problems of paying bills and cutting costs that they are left with less capacity to deal with other complex but important tasks, including education, training or managing their time, suggests research published on Thursday
http://www.theguardian.com/science/2013/aug/29/poverty-mental-capacity-complex-tasks
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Love China's culture and Jackie Chan
China's defence minister meets with Tory ministers amid undisclosed stop
http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/chinas-defence-minister-meets-with-tory-ministers-amid-undisclosed-stop-221694231.html
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