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 #67 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 12 2004 Volume 07 : Number 067 In this issue: Column: For a good laugh, check out the Liberal TV ads Column: REAL CRIMES DESERVE REAL SENTENCES Column: IS IT TIME FOR THAT ALBERTA CONSTITUTION? Letter: IMAGINE A LIBERAL 'APPRENTICE' BORDER OFFICERS WANT GUNS WEAPONS CHARGES LAID Fredericton man faces weapons charge after party guest allegedly Liberals checklist for election that isn't ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 08:53:35 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: Column: For a good laugh, check out the Liberal TV ads PUBLICATION: Times Colonist (Victoria) DATE: 2004.04.12 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: A6 COLUMN: Lorne Gunter BYLINE: Lorne Gunter SOURCE: CanWest News Service - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- For a good laugh, check out the Liberal TV ads - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Oh, the Liberals are all atwitter over their new election ads. They're "something new," they tell us. Liberal sources have boasted to some media outlets the ads are "risky," by which they do not mean a gamble that could backfire, but rather that they are edgy, out there, unique. Hardly. The ads will seem innovative to you only if your idea of getting out of your mealtime routine is to serve pot roast instead of meat loaf some Tuesday. (And maybe add an extra dash of ground pepper to the gravy! But only a dash, mind.) Otherwise, I think you'll find the ads conventional and unimpressive. The Liberal party is barely mentioned. The focus is almost exclusively Prime Minister Paul Martin. There is one ad each on accountability, education, health care and Canada's role in the world, except in French. In the French lineup, the one on our international goals is replaced by an ad on social responsibility. Each ad is 30 seconds long. Each opens with a stark red panel on which is superimposed the title, "Paul Martin on Accountability," "Paul Martin on Education," and so on. The word "Liberal" appears in the bottom right-hand corner for only the last four seconds of each spot. It's clear Liberal campaign organizers would rather voters focused on their man instead of their party. Heh, heh, no sense reminding folks they are the same people who brought them Adscam, the gun registry, HRDC, phoney invoices for non-existent Canadian flags, a half-billion dollar unity slush fund (over and above the sponsorship scandal), millions in home-heating subsidies paid out to convicts, snowbird retirees and the dead, and on and on and on. The same is true of the Liberal lawn signs for the upcoming contest. As you can see elsewhere in this column, the PM's visage and "Team Martin" are blared along the top. This is sometimes referred to as "first image" placement since this is the first place most people look. It is the choicest spot on a poster, the place designers often put that which they want to highlight. Notice the tiny "Liberal" in the bottom left-hand corner. It is clear the Grits are afraid to run as who they are and equally obvious they think their last, best hope is to put all their electoral eggs in Martin's basket, then pray the wicker holds until after election day. This may assuage voters who are so eager to have Martin as PM that they are prepared to overlook that that means taking the rest of the Liberals in the bargain. But it is unlikely to have much impact on the bulk of Canadians. The Liberals must have concocted their ads and lawn signs four to six weeks ago, right after the auditor general's report revealed the party's likely involvement in the Quebec sponsorship scandal, and the party immediately took a 13-point dive in the polls. At that time Martin's approval ratings were well ahead of his party's, by as much as 16 points. Yet since that time, Martin's "favourables" have fallen to 39 per cent from 53 per cent. He is now no more popular than his party, which is stalled at 38 per cent. Martin's cross-Canada "I'll Get to the Bottom of This" tour was obviously a bust with ordinary voters. After appearing on every call-in show and stopping in at every coffee shop in the country during the weeks following the scandal, Martin's standing with pundits may have risen (they were mostly impressed by his public appearances), but regular Canadians clearly liked him far less after it was over. Having been designed for a moment in political time when Martin significantly outpolled his caucus, the Libs' ads and lawns signs will at best be a wash for them, now that Martin and the Liberals are in a dead heat in public sentiment. However, if Martin's ratings keep declining, the decision to emphasize the PM and hide the "Liberal" may come back to bite the party's buttocks. And if Martin is in any way tagged with involvement in Adscam -- either through testimony at one of the hearings or by Conservative research -- between now and election day, then the new Martin-dominant commercials and signs could pull the party down with him. The ads are unintentionally funny, too. Watch them with the sound on, then with it off. The onlookers (ordinary voters around a kitchen island) are bored. One lady, wearing what appears to be a tan leisure suit, even looks frightened, as if she is hoping that if she just smiles and nods politely, maybe the mad stranger will go pounce on one of the others first. If these are the best reactions Martin could elicit from Liberal-friendly voters who know they are on camera, imagine the reaction he'll induce in the rest of us. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 08:55:14 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: Column: REAL CRIMES DESERVE REAL SENTENCES PUBLICATION: The Toronto Sun DATE: 2004.04.12 EDITION: Final SECTION: Editorial/Opinion PAGE: 19 BYLINE: LINDA WILLIAMSON, SENIOR ASSOCIATE EDITOR - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- REAL CRIMES DESERVE REAL SENTENCES WHY OUR 'JUSTICE' SYSTEM IS A JOKE - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- CANADA'S JUSTICE system no longer lives up to its name. Yes, we have a legal system, where, too often, overworked cops escort suspects to backlogged courts, only to see them given paltry sentences in revolving-door jails. But the concept of justice -- where crime is met with consequence -- has eroded severely, even since the wacky '70s, when the Sun first began standing up for law and order. The signs are everywhere. Gunfire breaks out regularly on our streets -- despite the hopeless federal gun registry. Cocky young gangsters laugh at a youth justice system that coddles them as children. Serious offenders are pushed out of prison after serving a mere fraction of their sentence -- or given "credit" for time spent behind bars waiting for a long-delayed trial. The system is infected at every level by a pervasive softness that stresses alternatives to jail, second chances, prisons without locks and bars and the rights of the accused. "Crime is at a 30-year low," the proponents of this approach tell us. But their statistics lie. Violent crime is up sharply in both volume and, police say, brutality. In gang shootings, home invasions, swarmings and crimes against children, we're seeing a callousness and inhumanity that shocks even veteran law enforcers. Crime, like terrorism, must be fought with resolve, not appeasement. We believe most Canadians want a system that's fair, but tough. They aren't hang-'em-high crusaders. But they believe real crime deserves a real sentence, not some mathematical puzzle that works out to a fraction of both the deserved punishment, and the sentence announced in court. They want the severity of the crime -- and the damage inflicted on the victims - -- to count more, and the criminal's background (including age) to count less. They believe "justice" isn't just about the rehabilitation of criminals, but about deterrence and denunciation. They believe prison should be about punishment, with rehabilitation where possible but certainly not about partying and playing golf (see various past Sun exposes). To restore confidence in the system, we need politicians who will send a strong message to criminals, judges, correctional officials and parole boards. We need sentences that mean something -- automatic prison time if you shoot someone. Only then will "justice" begin to mean something again. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 08:56:50 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: Column: IS IT TIME FOR THAT ALBERTA CONSTITUTION? PUBLICATION: The Edmonton Sun DATE: 2004.04.11 EDITION: Final SECTION: Editorial/Opinion PAGE: 16 BYLINE: NEIL WAUGH, EDMONTON SUN - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IS IT TIME FOR THAT ALBERTA CONSTITUTION? - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pat Beauchamp is like a pesky spring gopher. Every time the Alberta Tories think they've got him under control he pops out of another hole. The chairman of the Alberta Residents League already gave the PCs' Red Brigade fits when he acted like a dog with a bone with the so-called "firewall." This is a stockade of provincial legislation designed to keep the threatening Ottawa Liberal government at bay. The increasingly dominant left-wing faction of the PC caucus - led by Justice Minister Dave Hancock - thought they had the firewall contained leading up to last spring's party convention. But it spilled out onto the convention floor, where delegates openly debated an independence option for Alberta. It ended up as the only serious item of business at the party's fall policy conference. The only way Klein could make it go away then was to call in a preemptive strike, and turn loose an MLA committee under former Canadian Alliance MP Ian McClelland to tour the province holding public hearings. "We're not backing off on the Alberta Agenda," vowed Beauchamp. He's in the process of lining up a fleet of transport trailers parked in fields by major Alberta highways with the Residents League slogan painted on the side. It boldly reads: "More Alberta, Less Ottawa." Meanwhile, fresh polling is underway and is due to be released on the eve of this year's PC meeting later this month. But now Pat's got another project to hopefully bring the drifting PC party back in line. "Alberta is a major province and it's time we started acting like one," Beauchamp spat. And what better time than next year, when the province will celebrate its 100th year within Confederation? "A made-in-Alberta constitution might be an appropriate way to mark the Alberta centennial," he added. He said it would be a "great legacy" for Ralph Klein, who is expected to consider his political future following the province's big birthday bash. "That constitution could symbolize Alberta's coming of age as a partner in confederation," he said. But unlike former premier Peter Lougheed's largely meaningless provincial bill of rights, Pat's Alberta constitution would have some teeth to it - if the Tories ever choose to bite. Although given the present state of the Justice department, that is highly unlikely. "Externally, a provincial constitution could act as a shield symbolically and practically against policy encroachment by the federal government," Beauchamp said. He specifically cited the gun registry and the Kyoto agreement. Entrenching rights in the Alberta constitution would lead to some interesting showdowns with Ottawa. The only problem is that the final arbiter would be the Supreme Court of Canada, which is hand-picked by the prime minister. "We're gearing up to educate Albertans," Beauchamp said. The first meeting will take place on May 19 in Calgary, where Alberta senator-in-waiting Ted Morton will get the constitutional ball rolling. Morton has already written a paper on the issue where he talks about bringing the Alberta Act "back home" from Ottawa. "It would allow Albertans, if they chose, to cement-in some of the more important achievements of the Klein government by way of constitutional requirements for balanced budgets and referendums to approve tax increases," Morton said. And it would act as a strong buffer against the "group rights and ethnic/racial preferences" that the Supreme Court has arbitrarily read into provincial laws. He described an Alberta constitution as an "initiative designed to increase self-government for Albertans." But it "could end up undermining democratic autonomy if the final word on the constitution's meaning rests with nine non-Alberta judges in Ottawa." Making matters more complicated for Alberta's Red Tories is the possibility that Morton - who is seeking a PC nomination in Calgary - could be sitting among them soon. What's more, Queen Elizabeth - who will visit Alberta next May - might even be persuaded to sign Ralph's constitution into law. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 08:57:20 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: Letter: IMAGINE A LIBERAL 'APPRENTICE' PUBLICATION: The Calgary Sun DATE: 2004.04.11 EDITION: Final SECTION: Editorial/Opinion PAGE: C4 COLUMN: Letters to the Editor - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LETTERS TO THE EDITOR COLUMN SUNDAY LETTERS - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- IMAGINE A LIBERAL 'APPRENTICE' RE: THE TV show The Apprentice. I'm not sure the American reality show The Apprentice would work in Ottawa. Let's conjure up a scenario with interns working for Liberal cabinet ministers (pick one) 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 and we could operate on much less, giving the taxpayers some relief and stimulate the economy." Liberal minister: "Hmmm....." 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, Ontario Editor (You're right. It wouldn't work under the Liberals.) ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 08:57:41 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: BORDER OFFICERS WANT GUNS PUBLICATION: The Toronto Sun DATE: 2004.04.12 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: 28 BYLINE: TOM GODFREY, TORONTO SUN - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BORDER OFFICERS WANT GUNS IMMIGRATION AGENTS CLAIM THEY NEED THEM TO COPE WITH GROWIING VIOLENCE - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FEDERAL immigration officers have joined their customs counterparts in calling for firearms to protect themselves at Canadian border crossings. Immigration officers said their jobs are getting more violent and they need weapons to defend themselves following an incident seven weeks ago in which a cop was fired upon by a U.S. border crasher. Officers said they're also seizing more guns being smuggled into the country for use by crime gangs. A cache of 23 weapons was intercepted at a Windsor border crossing last month. "The job is getting more dangerous," said Janina Lebon, of the Canada Employment and Immigration Union. "Some officers feel they need guns." Lebon said the demands for guns are from officers involved in arresting illegal immigrants and at ports of entry in Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg. She said a survey is being sent to 4,000 officers nationwide for their input on the need for weapons and gun-related incidents they have experienced on the job. "We hope a survey will help determine if there is a need for guns," she said. "We have to look at the incidents," Lebon added. The Canadian Border Services Agency has said it won't issue guns to Customs officers despite repeated requests. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 08:58:14 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: WEAPONS CHARGES LAID PUBLICATION: The London Free Press DATE: 2004.04.12 EDITION: Final SECTION: City & Region PAGE: C3 BYLINE: FREE PRESS STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES COLUMN: Police Digest - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WEAPONS CHARGES LAID - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A 33-year-old man was charged with several weapons offences after St. Thomas police were called to a neighbourhood dispute on Flora Street on Saturday. One neighbour reported another had pointed what looked like a pellet gun. Police seized a .22 calibre rifle and charged a man with uttering threats to cause bodily harm, pointing a firearm, unsafe storage of a firearm and failing to have a firearms possession licence. No names were released. The man charged is to appear in court in May. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 08:58:52 -0600 (CST) From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 1" Subject: Fredericton man faces weapons charge after party guest allegedly PUBLICATION: The New Brunswick Telegraph Journal DATE: 2004.04.12 SECTION: News PAGE: A5 COLUMN: Provincial News BYLINE: Telegraph-Journal - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fredericton man faces weapons charge after party guest allegedly threatened; Police tactical squad surrounds house - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A Fredericton man is facing a weapons charge after allegedly threatening an party guest with a shotgun over the weekend. The 24-year-old man has been charged with pointing a firearm after police received a call at about 4:30 a.m. Sunday from a 28-year-old guest in the house who said he was threatened and evicted from a party with a firearm. Police did not release the accused's identity. Sgt. Gary Arbour of the Fredericton police said the victim is a man who had been invited to a party at the residence on Charlotte Street in Fredericton. He said a resident of the house took exception to his presence and asked him to leave at gunpoint. A police tactical squad of about 10 officers surrounded the house on the 800 block of Charlotte Street for about two hours early Sunday, waiting for the accused to emerge. Sgt. Arbour said he doesn't believe the man knew the police were outside, or that they were waiting for him to emerge on his way to work. The accused came out voluntarily and no one was hurt, Sgt. Arbour said. No other charges were laid, and police removed a rifle from the premises with a search warrant just hours after the man was arrested. He will appear in court on May 21. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 12 Apr 2004 09:29:47 -0600 (CST) From: Bruce Mills Subject: Liberals checklist for election that isn't Apr. 12, 2004. 06:29 AM http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1081721408972&call_pageid=970599119419] Liberals checklist for election that isn't Candidates given detailed instructions But Martin still says vote not a priority SUSAN DELACOURT OTTAWA BUREAU CHIEF OTTAWA—The federal Liberal election machine has moved into higher gear over the past few days, even as Prime Minister Paul Martin is insisting that calling the vote is not his priority right now. A comprehensive, five-page "candidates' checklist" was sent out late last week to all people who will be running under the Liberal banner in the next election, requesting everything from the address of local campaign headquarters to the reasons that Martin should pay a call on the riding. All together, the checklist covers well over 100 details to which candidates must attend: lawn signs, volunteer rosters, fundraising targets and even office supplies. Under the heading "potential visit by the Prime Minister," candidates are urged to recommend themes and venues, and answer the blunt questions: "Why do you want him?" and "How would he make a difference?" It's widely expected that the Liberals will lean heavily on Martin's personality in the next campaign, whenever it does take place. Signs have already been produced that play down the word "Liberal" in favour of "the Martin Team." But the higher state of candidate's election readiness, coming on the heels of a Liberal TV-ad blitz, contrasts with Martin's own attempts last week to play down the prospect of an imminent election. During his travels through Quebec and Ontario last week, the Prime Minister said repeatedly that his priority was "governing" — even though he uses each stop on these tours to showcase the local Liberal MP, or in some cases, the future Liberal candidate. More than 200 out of 308 candidates have been nominated to run for the Liberals in the next election. The campaign-style tour continues this week in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Toronto. "It is the responsibility of the prime minister of the country to get out and talk to Canadians," Martin said in Barrie last week. "If what you have is an agenda, in terms of health care, in terms of education, in terms of the homeless, then the best way to basically set that agenda in front of Canadians is to get out and deal with the people who are involved in it." Disavowal of the political motives behind the tour, however, is a risky strategy for a Prime Minister who has staked his party's scandal-recovery plan on his own reputation for being forthright and open with Canadians. It also inadvertently chips away at his oft-repeated assurance that he knew nothing of the scope of the sponsorship scandal while he served in the same Liberal government that oversaw the program. In February, Auditor-General Sheila Fraser said tens of millions of dollars were lost or misappropriated by Liberal-friendly advertising agencies that worked with Ottawa on the sponsorship program between 1997 and 2002. Opposition politicians, such as Conservative Leader Stephen Harper, perhaps spotting a Liberal vulnerability, have been telling audiences that Martin must have known; he was the man in charge of the nation's finances from 1993 to 2002. Martin denies this, arguing that the tension with former prime minister Jean Chrétien kept him out of the loop on any strategies involving Quebec — a sore topic between Martin and Chrétien for years. For Martin to remain credible on this score he has to keep underscoring that point along the pre-campaign trail, as well as his own reputation for openness and honesty. This is why, though, some of his statements last week left political observers puzzled. His so-called "agenda" is not yet clear, and for a politician who spent most of the past couple of years arguing about the paramouncy of Parliament, he doesn't seem to be planning much time there in the near future. The only legislation on the books, with a few exceptions, are holdovers from Chrétien's government. The few big initiatives on Martin's calendar these days don't really require MPs' input at all — the forthcoming meeting with U.S. President George W. Bush on April 30, for instance, and the planned summer meeting on health care with the premiers. Moreover, all these campaign-style tours each week take Martin away from the institution he claimed to be supreme. And denying the obvious — that an election is in the air — makes Martin look even less forthright. Why he has taken this approach is a mystery. So is his reversal on the issue of whether there was political direction in the sponsorship program. Only weeks ago, Martin insisted that the program could not have gone so wrong merely because of the acts of a few rogue bureaucrats and that political instructions must have been a factor. Yet last week, when Chrétien's former chief of staff Jean Pelletier testified that there was no political direction behind the program, Martin flatly said: "Well, Mr. Pelletier would certainly know." Then the Prime Minister argued that his real problem with the fired chairman of VIA Rail was his "cavalier" attitude toward allegations of wrongdoing. The only reason anyone could proffer for this reversal was the looming prospect of an election (which Martin disavows) and an increasing realization that Liberal fates may suffer if the new government keeps trying to pit itself against the old regime. All together, the picture painted of Martin these days is one that can best be called unfocused. The wear and tear of the frenetic road trips is showing, and the bigger question around Ottawa these days is where all this travel is taking the Prime Minister. If it's toward a spring election, his candidates have their checklist. It's the leader's to-do list that seems more unclear at the moment. ------------------------------ End of Cdn-Firearms Digest V7 #67 ********************************* 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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