From: owner-can-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca (Cdn-Firearms Digest) To: cdn-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Subject: Cdn-Firearms Digest V7 #52 Reply-To: cdn-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Sender: owner-can-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Errors-To: owner-can-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Precedence: normal Cdn-Firearms Digest Monday, April 5 2004 Volume 07 : Number 052 In this issue: Re: JulietO'Neil Re: Letter to the Editor submitted, not yet printed STANDOFF ENDS PEACEFULLY Editor (It's time to fire Paul Martin and his Liberal gang) Letter: No guns, no liberty Column: JOE JUMPS IN PM'S LAP Column: POLITICAL GUNS WERE BLAZING IN DEBATE Editor (Don't worry, we aren't.) Column: LET'S GET SERIOUS ABOUT FAMILY VIOLENCE ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Sun, 4 Apr 2004 19:25:26 -0600 (CST) From: "Todd Birch" Subject: Re: JulietO'Neil Not that the Orwellian search and seizure travesty Ms. O'Neil was subjeced to was in any way a good thing, but...... is she now on our side? Has she become a spokesperson for individual rights and freedoms, to include those of firearms owners? Where was she and the rest of the media watchdogs when we got dumped on? Does the limit of her concern end with the rights of journalists? Does she realize that if the feds can casually dismiss our rights and those of the fifth estate, then any pretext of Canada being a democratic society is merely so much horseshit? Todd Birch ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 4 Apr 2004 19:58:48 -0600 (CST) From: "C. Dillabough" Subject: Re: Letter to the Editor Dear Mr. Dickson, You have failed to answer the basic questions that I posed. Should we mindlessly obey all laws that government imposes on us regardless of whether they are good or bad because, after all, it is the law? Do you really trust government to make all decisions for us without questioning their motives, judgement and honesty? And finally, do you believe, like most Canadians, that nothing really bad could happen here? My answer is that I do not trust any government of any stripe. As a free citizen it is our duty, if we truly value our freedom, to question every government action and publicly criticize where we believe wrong has been done. It is our duty to disobey what are bad laws. A government cannot be allowed to run roughshod over the people. The role of government, as I recall from political science, is to provide services and stability to a group of people that they could not provide for themselves on an individual basis. However, the role of government has stretched far beyond that today to the point that it controls too many aspects of our daily lives needlessly. In far too many countries it is dishonest government that causes injustice of its citizens, and to answer your question, money is what is at the heart of this issue. If these poor people had access to the wealth that is denied by their downright criminal governments then their quality of life and human dignity would be exponentially increased. Let's not fool ourselves. Wealth is what establishes us and provides us dignity in this world. In far too many cases that I see today, there are working class folks who are working damn hard and just scraping by given the taxes they pay and the escalating cost of living. Where is the dignity for them? Where is the caring government? Well, I will tell you where the caring government is. The federal Liberal politicians are busily scheming on how they can skim the next several hundred million dollars of taxpayers funds from the public trough. Great role models they are, and then you question why Canadians don't feel compelled to follow all laws including taxation laws. The current dishonesty we see in Canadian government is just the thin edge of the wedge. If we do not respond where will it stop? At what point will you no longer say it is the law and we must obey it? Regards, Charles Dillabough, B.Comm., CGA [Personal correspondence removed. BNM] ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Apr 2004 06:16:04 -0600 (CST) From: "M.J. Ackermann, MD (Mike)" Subject: submitted, not yet printed Dear Ms. O'Neill, Regarding your recent "adventures" at the hand of our State Police: I and all other firearms enthusiasts know exactly how you feel. For decades now we have suffered intentional state driven marginalization, demonization, and slow but inexorable eradication by the Death of a Thousand Cuts. We have experienced every indiginity you have and many more, all because a Statist regime like Canada's cannot abide the thought of an armed and free citizenry. Ms. O'Neill, I am very sad to say it will likely get a lot worse before it gets any better. This is because Canada sees itself as a world leader on the road to a brave new world of socialist utopia. Of course history will show that trying to achieve utopia by suppressing the rights and freedoms of ordinary citizens has always had the opposite effect. - -- M.J. Ackermann, MD (Mike) Rural Family Physician, Sherbrooke, NS Secretary, St. Mary's Shooters Association Box 13, 120 Cameron Rd. Sherbrooke, NS Canada B0J 3C0 902-522-2172 My email: mikeack@ns.sympatico.ca My Bio: http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/mikeack/mikeack.htm SMSA URL: www.smsa.ca "Hope for the best, but plan for the worst". ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Apr 2004 06:26:50 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: STANDOFF ENDS PEACEFULLY PUBLICATION: The Winnipeg Sun DATE: 2004.04.04 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: A5 ILLUSTRATION: 4 photos by John Woods 1. Police take a male into custody at 697 Manitoba Ave., yesterday. 2. Just after 2 p.m., children leave the home which cops had surrounded hours earlier. 3. The dog unit was called to the standoff. 4. Heavily-armed officers surround a home at 697 Manitoba yesterday. BYLINE: BOB HOLLIDAY, STAFF REPORTER - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- COPS SURROUND HOME STANDOFF ENDS PEACEFULLY AFTER SUSPECTS SURRENDER - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A party gone wild Friday night resulted in police surrounding a North End home yesterday and one man charged with several firearm offences. At the height of the standoff, 11 cruisers, including the canine unit, were at the scene, said police. "Two females called at 12:02 p.m. and complained they'd been assaulted," said Insp. Blair McCorrister. "They said a man had fired a shot around 2 a.m. and that the sawed-off shotgun was still there." Officers with guns drawn, and some carrying shotguns, took up positions around 697 Manitoba Ave. while an officer asked the people to surrender. 'WE HAVE YOU SURROUNDED' "Come out of your house. We have you surrounded. Come out of the front door," said the officer several times. "Caroline Roulette, put down your phone and come out of your house now," he told the female tenant. Two hours later, at 2:09, the officer stepped in front of the house, raised both arms in the air and motioned for the people to come out. Moments later five children left the house followed within minutes by four adults, one of whom was hopping on his left leg. "He sprained his right ankle two weeks ago," said an onlooker who knew the residents of the home. "I was just talking to them. They were afraid to come out when they saw the cops had their guns out." Jamie Roulette, 20, is charged with two counts of assault, possession of a prohibited weapon, possession a weapon while prohibited and discharge a firearm. At press time, his sister Tanya, 22, was in custody, but had not been charged. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Apr 2004 06:27:23 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: Editor (It's time to fire Paul Martin and his Liberal gang) PUBLICATION: The Toronto Sun DATE: 2004.04.05 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: 2 COLUMN: Readers' Forum - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- READERS' FORUM COLUMN - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I'M NOT sure the American reality show The Apprentice would work in Ottawa, as Sun TV columnist Bill Brioux has jokingly suggested (April 1). Let's conjure up a scenario with interns working for Liberal cabinet ministers (pick any department) and let the cameras roll: Liberal minister: "Well, apprentice, how did you manage the budget?" Intern: "Good news, minister. I have discovered many efficiencies." Liberal minister: "That's great! Tell me more." Intern: "For starters, the current government is receiving yearly revenues of $190 billion. We could operate on much less, giving the taxpayers some relief and stimulating the economy." Liberal minister: "Hmm..." Intern: "There's more. I've discovered so much waste to cut. Look at this useless long-gun registry that is on its way to $2 billion. Grants and loans to large political donors and corporations can't be justified; huge slush funds with little or no accounting. All of this money could be diverted to health care or ..." Liberal minister: "You're fired." Tom Empey Belleville Editor (It's time to fire Paul Martin and his Liberal gang) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Apr 2004 06:28:55 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: Letter: No guns, no liberty PUBLICATION: Calgary Herald DATE: 2004.04.05 EDITION: Final SECTION: Opinion PAGE: A14 BYLINE: Dick Dietz SOURCE: Calgary Herald - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No guns, no liberty - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I am one of your freedom-loving neighbours to the South just peering over the fence at the continuing debacle created by your government over the last few years concerning the right to keep and bear arms. This right is a hallmark of a free people everywhere. Your government's attempts to restrict this right under the premise of safety and crime prevention (which cannot be improved through these restrictions as proven by academic research at universities and our own Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia) has now gone from the sublime to the ridiculous. Including air guns as firearms (note -- no fire is produced by these pieces of sporting equipment) in your gun control schemes transforms your citizens not only into "subjects," but criminals. How little your government must respect the intelligence and maturity of its subjects. I'm sure your government's decision to classify air guns as restricted firearms will ultimately be reflected in Canada's declining placement in the international shooting sports competitions. Sorry for your loss. Dick Dietz North Royalton, Ohio ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Apr 2004 06:29:24 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: Column: JOE JUMPS IN PM'S LAP PUBLICATION: The Calgary Sun DATE: 2004.04.05 EDITION: Final SECTION: Editorial/Opinion PAGE: 15 BYLINE: EZRA LEVANT - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- JOE JUMPS IN PM'S LAP CLARK MIGHT JUST MAKE A PERFECT MARTIN SENATOR - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Will Paul Martin stick his thumb in Alberta's eye by appointing Joe Clark to the Senate? It wouldn't be a surprise. After all, during Alberta's historic Senate election of 1998, Jean Chretien interfered by appointing another Red Tory, Doug Roche, to the Senate right in the middle of the election campaign. That was not just an insult. That was vote-tampering, democracy-smashing, Trudeau-salute-style contempt for the West. So of course it appeals to Martin. Martin vigorously approved of all of Jean Chretien's abuses of the West during his nine years as a Chretien cabinet minister. He voted for every one of Chretien's laws, applauded all of his speeches and even crafted a few of the worst himself. What is odd about Martin's brief tenure as PM so far is that, other than his belief that he should be PM, it's tough to figure out what he believes in. Every single question he is asked elicits the same answer: That the subject at hand is "very clearly" one of his "top priorities." Really? Well, if everything is a priority, nothing can actually be a priority, can it? Especially if mutually exclusive goals are both priorities. Like Martin telling David Suzuki that Kyoto is a clear priority but telling Premier Ralph Klein that protecting Alberta's oil patch from Kyoto is a clear priority. Martin likes to say that Western Canada is one of his clear priorities, though he refuses to end the monopolistic Canadian Wheat Board, the wasteful firearms registry or make ending the U.S. ban on Canadian beef a clearer foreign affairs priority than criticizing the U.S. for deporting Canadians linked to terrorism. But how will he handle the two vacancies in Alberta's Senate? Albertans know how it ought to be done. In that 1998 Senate election, held pursuant to Alberta law and certified by Alberta's chief electoral officer, Bert Brown and Ted Morton were elected Alberta's two choices. They each received about a half-million votes -- many times more than Paul Martin has received in all of his own elections combined. Already the West is greatly under-represented in Parliament, because the tiny Atlantic provinces and Quebec have artificially guaranteed numbers of MPs. Rumours abound that Clark would be one of Martin's choices. And Clark -- ignored by his own party, which voted en masse to join with the Canadian Alliance -- is warming to the idea. "There will be a national question on which leader is worse for Canada, Mr. Martin or Mr. Harper," Clark told reporters. He said that Martin was a better PC than Harper. "He is probably more attuned to those issues, even on social equality or on questions of federalism, than Mr. Harper is." Some might think that attacking his own Conservative Party is an unseemly last chapter in Clark's political career. But if that is the entrance fee required to join the Senate as a Martin acolyte, Clark is willing to pay it. And as for Alberta's dream of Senate reform? Well, it was never Clark's dream. In fact, according to Bert Brown, during the Charlottetown Accord negotiations of 1992, the 10 premiers had agreed to a Triple-E Senate -- but it was Clark, then the Constitutional Minister, who scuttled that deal. Like Martin, Clark likes to awkwardly wear a cowboy hat and chortle "howdy" for the cameras -- that's what he thinks it means to be pro-Western. But it was he who killed Senate reform in 1992. Sounds like a perfect Martin Senator after all. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Apr 2004 06:29:53 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: Column: POLITICAL GUNS WERE BLAZING IN DEBATE PUBLICATION: The Edmonton Sun DATE: 2004.04.04 EDITION: Final SECTION: Editorial/Opinion PAGE: 14 BYLINE: NEIL WAUGH, EDMONTON SUN - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITICAL GUNS WERE BLAZING IN DEBATE - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A great debate took place recently in the Alberta legislature. It raged for nearly two and a half hours. And when the dust settled, the only MLA left standing against the government was Edmonton Liberal MLA Laurie Blakeman. More about her despicable performance later. But like a tree falling in the forest, or one-hand clapping, it was a silent scream. There was no advance notice it was happening, even though it was Justice Minister and Government House Leader Dave Hancock's motion that fueled the fire. Like Hancock, the motion was pretty longwinded, but it basically urged the Ottawa Liberals to amend the Criminal Code and the Firearms Act to "remove the requirement for the registration of all non-restricted firearms." Although there's a fat chance of that ever happening if Paul Martin manages to hoodwink Ontario again and win the imminent election. The motion was the lame efforts of a Tory MLA committee that Hancock put together after he became the deserving object of a bulk e-mail campaign when it was discovered a federal prosecutor was acting as Hancock's "agent" in the political persecution of former legislature sergeant-at-arms Oscar Lacombe, who showed up at anti-gun law rally with a disabled .22 rifle sealed in a bag. At last count, Hancock and government MLAs received more than 88,000 e-mails and letters. "Alberta prosecutors will not prosecute anyone for possessing an unregistered firearm whether under the Firearms Act or the Criminal Code if that is the only offence with which they are charged," thundered Hancock. "There's an important distinction here." It sounds like hair splitting to me. "It's simply not in the public interest for the provincial government to pursue charges in cases where an individual's only offence is the failure to comply with this bloated and ineffective registration system," he continued. But if Hancock is so upset, why didn't he have someone in his department intervene in Oscar's case with some more constitutional wrangling? "It makes me absolutely apoplectic when I think of the impact that a billion dollars could have had on the illegal gun trade," he stormed, before folding like a cheap pup tent. "Interfering in any criminal case because we continue to dislike or oppose federal legislation is simply not an option," the wannabe premier said. "And would be highly inappropriate." Hancock was not the only chronic apoplexy sufferer that night. PC MLA Broyce Jacobs pointed out that "the right to bear arms is an historic right of all Canadians." While Tory MLA Tony Abbott told a scary tale of a visit from an RCMP staff sergeant after he said publicly he was going to stand by many of his constituents and not register his guns. "He called me and said, 'We have a problem. If you don't register your firearms I have no choice but to charge you.'" Rock-solid MLA Richard Marz told the legislature a similar tale of how his son and a friend were harassed by the Mounties when they were gopher hunting. While Tory Doug Griffiths compared those who defy the detested gun law to the struggles of Mahatma Gandhi. Even three opposition MLAs lined up with the Tories. New Democrat Brian Mason raged against the flood of illegal handguns coming into Canada. While Grits Ken Nicol and Debby Carlson cast a vote of non-confidence for the Ottawa Liberals' gun law, even though both are running for the federal party in the upcoming federal election. What part of this don't I understand? And it was left for Blakeman to be the odd Liberal out. "You know what? I don't care," she roared. "I don't want to see guns used in the commission of crime. "I don't want to see long guns, short guns, medium-range guns or torpedoes," she continued. "Doesn't count with me." Abbott then asked her if, because sometimes people suffocate under pillows, "Should we have a pillow registry?" And the debate raged on and on. But it changed nothing. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Apr 2004 06:30:23 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: Editor (Don't worry, we aren't.) PUBLICATION: The Edmonton Sun DATE: 2004.04.04 EDITION: Final SECTION: Editorial/Opinion PAGE: 15 COLUMN: Letters to the Editor RE: DEPUTY Prime Minister Anne McLellan's latest comments on the $7.7-billion anti-terrorism initiative she authored complete with enough holes to drive a semi-trailer truck through. This is the same person who as justice minister blew over $1 billion of hard-earned taxpayers' money on a "culture of safety" and still refuses to acknowledge that the Firearms Act was not effective in preventing crime. She was also the health minister who could only come up with $29 million over five years for breast cancer research. We should not hold our breath to depend on her anti-terrorism act to protect us, either. A.W. Parsons Editor (Don't worry, we aren't.) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 5 Apr 2004 06:30:51 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: Column: LET'S GET SERIOUS ABOUT FAMILY VIOLENCE PUBLICATION: The Edmonton Sun DATE: 2004.04.04 EDITION: Final SECTION: Editorial/Opinion PAGE: 15 ILLUSTRATION: photo of IRIS EVANS Worrying statistics BYLINE: MINDELLE JACOBS, EDMONTON SUN - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LET'S GET SERIOUS ABOUT FAMILY VIOLENCE - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Police, educators, and a vast array of community agencies meet in Calgary next month to devise a collaborative strategy to combat one of our most intractable problems - family violence. Preparatory workshops and focus groups with various bodies have now been completed and stakeholders will use the May 7 roundtable, chaired by Children's Services Minister Iris Evans, to hammer out recommendations. I don't know what it is about Alberta - perhaps it's our young, impatient population or the strains of our red-hot economy - but there's an undercurrent of volatility scarring our social fabric. Our spousal assault rate, at 11%, is the highest in Canada, compared with 8% for Canada as a whole. As well, our spousal homicide rate is higher than the national average. In 2002, there were six women killed by their partners or ex-partners. So far this year there have already been five spousal killings. "It's as worrying as anything I've seen," Evans commented to the Sun the other day. Indeed, the broader picture is chilling. In 2002, there were more than 6,000 cases of spousal abuse reported to police and almost 4,000 charges were laid. Women's shelters are always packed and many more women are turned away and have to try their luck with other community agencies. The cost to society is enormous yet we don't seem to learn from our mistakes. Police, social workers and other frontline workers are well aware of the risk factors that can lead to spousal abuse and murder. But as an Ontario report points out, even professionals don't always connect the dots. The Ontario Domestic Violence Death Review Committee released its first annual report last week and its findings are disturbing. The committee is the only body in Canada that conducts a detailed review of all provincial homicides involving intimate partners or ex-partners. The objective is to identify systemic issues, gaps and problems, as well as keeping track of trends, patterns and risk factors. Given the prevalence of domestic violence in Canada, every province should have such a committee. Alberta should be next. With a mandate that specific, such a body can discern things an ordinary inquest might ignore. The Ontario committee found that in five of the 11 cases it reviewed, domestic violence experts could have predicted a death would occur. And in eight of the 11 cases, family, friends or neighbours saw signs of domestic violence but they either didn't understand the risk or didn't do anything about it. In one instance, a man gave his brother a rifle for safekeeping even though he knew his sibling was depressed and suicidal because his wife had left. Within hours, the distraught man killed his wife and committed suicide. "The system is only as strong as the weakest link," the report says. Even professionals don't always do the right thing, it adds. One social worker questioned an abused woman in the presence of her batterer. The committee recommends that professionals, such as social workers, police, members of the clergy and doctors, get ongoing training in domestic violence issues. And it calls for widespread, ongoing public education to make people aware of the warning signs of potentially lethal family violence. The most common risk factors identified by the report are actual or pending separation, depression, prior history of domestic violence and previous threats of suicide. Other significant warning signs included possession of firearms, obsessive and controlling behaviour and excessive use of drugs or booze. These red flags echo what the professionals have been saying for years. It's time we educated ordinary Canadians as well. It would help save lives. ------------------------------ End of Cdn-Firearms Digest V7 #52 ********************************* Submissions: mailto:cdn-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Mailing List Commands: mailto:majordomo@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Moderator's e-mail address: mailto:moderator@hitchen.org List owner: mailto:owner-cdn-firearms@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca FAQ list: http://www.magma.ca/~asd/cfd-faq1.html and http://teapot.usask.ca/cdn-firearms/Faq/cfd-faq1.html Web Site: http://teapot.usask.ca/cdn-firearms/homepage.html FTP Site: ftp://teapot.usask.ca/pub/cdn-firearms/ CFDigest Archives: http://www.sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca/~ab133/ or put the next command in an e-mail message and mailto:majordomo@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca get cdn-firearms-digest v04.n192 end (192 is the digest issue number and 04 is the volume) To unsubscribe from _all_ the lists, put the next five lines in a message and mailto:majordomo@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca unsubscribe cdn-firearms-digest unsubscribe cdn-firearms-alert unsubscribe cdn-firearms-chat unsubscribe cdn-firearms end (To subscribe, use "subscribe" instead of "unsubscribe".) 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