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 #989 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 18 2005 Volume 07 : Number 989 In this issue: FRIENDS SHOCKED BY SHOOTING Police Blotter: The Week in Crime Handgun fired during home invasion Ex-bureaucrat sentenced for stealing blank passports B.C. court extends Metis hunting rights CRITICS SLAM UNRESTRICTED METIS HUNTING SHOTGUN PELLETS HIT TEENAGER IN ARM ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 10:10:52 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: FRIENDS SHOCKED BY SHOOTING PUBLICATION: The Calgary Sun DATE: 2005.04.18 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: 5 ILLUSTRATION: 1. photo by CARLOS AMAT, Calgary Sun BAFFLED ... Daniel Richard, 25, and his girlfriend, Vanessa McLaughlin, 20, are friends with a 23-year-old man who is alleged to have threatened a police officer with a Japanese-style katana sword early Friday morning. 2. SUN file photo BYLINE: MIKE D'AMOUR, CALGARY SUN - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- FRIENDS SHOCKED BY SHOOTING - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- Friends of a Bowness man are baffled as to why their pal allegedly threatened police with a Samurai sword after using it to cut off his finger, moments before he was shot by a cop. Vanessa McLaughlin said Tony Fehr's actions Friday were totally out of character for the usually placid 23-year-old. "Normally he's all right," said McLaughlin. Added her 25-year-old boyfriend, Daniel Richard: "Yeah, usually he's a really nice guy." Fehr -- using a Japanese-style katana sword -- is alleged to have cut off his ring finger, distraught over a break-up with his wife, and was shot four times by a Calgary police officer. McLaughlin and Richard said they returned to their 8545 47 Ave. N.W. basement suite about 11 p.m. Thursday to find Fehr in their home. "He was drunk and he asked me to take him to a liquor store," said McLaughlin, a 20-year-old, who gave birth to her first child Saturday. She reluctantly agreed and took him to a nearby store where Fehr purchased beer. They drove back to McLaughlin's home where the mom-to-be went inside and Fehr walked to his home, less than a block away. But Fehr was soon back, yelling and being belligerent, said Richard, who called the cops. "We actually wrestled around a bit before he left," Richard said. A short time later, Fehr could be heard yelling at his mother in the home he shared with her. "His mom, Penny, ran over here with no socks or shoes or even a jacket," McLaughlin said. Fehr followed and, blood dripping from his finger stump, pounded on the door, but was refused entry. Moments later, Const. Kim Brochu shot Fehr four times after he refused the officer's demands to drop the weapon. Fehr survived and is expected to fully recover. Charges have not been laid in the incident. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 10:11:26 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: Police Blotter: The Week in Crime PUBLICATION: National Post DATE: 2005.04.18 EDITION: Toronto SECTION: Toronto PAGE: A11 COLUMN: Police Blotter: The Week in Crime BYLINE: Nicholas Kohler SOURCE: National Post ILLUSTRATION: Map: A map of Toronto. 1. PURSE SNATCHING Two teens threw a 46-year-old to the ground in the Warden and Sheppard avenues area and stole her purse last Saturday night. 2. SWARMING Three teenage men kicked and punched a 33-year-old man in The West Mall and Eva Road area early last Sunday when he refused to give them his money. 3. ROBBERY Postage stamps and TTC tickets were part of the booty carted from the Bellamy Smoke and Gift store after three masked men, one with a handgun, stormed the shop late last Sunday night. Two of the bandits threw the 56-year-old man working the counter to the ground while the third removed his wallet. They fled after kicking him for refusing to open the register. 4. PURSE SNATCHING Three teenagers grabbed a 36-year-old woman from behind and attempted to take her purse late last Saturday in the Milner and Morningside avenues area. They failed but left the woman with minor injuries. 5. MUGGING A 40-year-old woman required hospital treatment after three men pushed her to the ground and mugged her at 1 a.m. Sunday around Queen Street West. 6. SWARMING AND ASSAULT WITH A WEAPON CHARGES Police charged two young offenders, aged 16 and 17, in a swarming incident that featured a sword, a machete and the threat of gunplay. The alleged confrontation happened at 2 a.m. Sunday in the Lake Shore Boulevard West and Jameson Avenue area. Police say six men -- three armed with the sword, machete and baton, while two others had their hands shoved in their pockets indicating handguns -- approached the victim, kicked and punched him, and attacked with the machete. The teens fled with the victim's jacket but were later arrested. A third person remains at large. 7. SHOOTING At 5:45 p.m. last Sunday, it was still daylight when a man sitting in the passenger seat of a speeding SUV leaned out the window with a handgun and fired six or seven rounds. The black vehicle was heading down Maidstone Street and had just crossed Falstaff Avenue when the gunman, in his early 20s, stood and fired back toward Falstaff. 8. ROBBERY Four men in their late teens, one with a handgun, stole cash, TTC tickets and lotto scratch cards from the 50-year-old owner of the Midland Jug Milk Convenience Store on Eglinton Avenue East late last Sunday. 9. MUGGING A demand for cigarettes and a seemingly inconsequential shove at a bus stop turned bloody Sunday night when the victim felt his shirt and pants were wet and realized he'd been stabbed. The 36-year-old was awaiting a bus at Islington and Finch avenues at midnight when two men asked for his cigarettes. One man then grabbed the victim's shoulder and pulled him toward his partner. The two men, in their late 20s, had already fled when the man felt the blood at his belly. 10. ROBBERY Four teenage men held up at gunpoint the owners of the Morningside Mini Mart last Sunday night and stole cash. 11. BREAK AND ENTER Burglars raided M & J Meat Distribution, at 309 Bering Avenue last weekend, stealing meat, money and a Greek passport. 12. THEFT OVER $5,000 On Sunday an excavator went missing from 450 Lake Shore Boulevard, a construction site handled by Innocom Concrete. 13. PURSE SNATCHING Two men in their early 20s snatched a 50-year-old woman's purse at 11 a.m. Monday in the Roehampton and Bruce Park avenues area. 14. ARREST Police arrested and charged a 32-year-old pickpocket Monday they say was preying on food court diners in Toronto's financial district. The man emptied wallets of credit cards before returning them to their male owners. He allegedly then used the cards to make purchases. 15. ARREST Sarnia police arrested a 21-year-old man Monday, one of three who Toronto police believe stormed European Furs, at 927 Pape Avenue, last December, beat and bound a 59-year-old man inside, and stole his wallet and fur coats. A baseball cap left at the scene led to the arrest. 16. BREAK & ENTER Burglars took 120 bottles of perfume from the Shoppers Drug Mart at 2340 Eglinton Avenue West early Tuesday. 17. ROBBERY The 40-year-old female owner of Tianji Book and Video, at 3614 Victoria Park Avenue, was forced to stand by last Tuesday afternoon as a man in his early 20s uttered threats, rifled through her cash register for money and left. 18. ARREST Police arrested a 38-year-old man they say is responsible for a number of burglaries in the Lake Shore Boulevard and Mimico Avenue area. They arrested the man after nabbing him outside a Stanley Avenue address on the morning of April 12 carrying a gym bag full of liquor and wearing clothing and a watch police traced to an earlier break and enter. 19. BREAK & ENTER Thirty thousand pounds of copper wire was removed from 440 Unwin Street this month, reports RLH Reclamation. 20. BREAK & ENTER A small handgun was part of the take during a burglary at a Sheppard Avenue East home sometime last Tuesday. 21. MUGGING Two men, one with a knife, forced a 15-year-old to surrender a compact disc player and a cell phone last Tuesday in the Finch and Warden avenues area. 22. BREAK & ENTER A burglar raided a Lake Shore Boulevard West home Tuesday. 23. ROBBERY Two women working at the Veronica's Fashions bridal shop, at 1089 Bloor St. West, endured a hold-up early Wednesday afternoon. One of the two men put a victim in a chokehold and demanded money. The men escaped with cash and a purse. 24. THEFT OVER $5,000 A binder containing jewellery went missing from a parking lot at Dundas and Mutual streets last Wednesday afternoon. 25. PURSE SNATCHING Two men grabbed the purses of two woman, aged 50 and 66, in the Symington Avenue and Davenport Road area Wednesday. 26. MUGGING Two men, one with a knife, pushed a 66-year-old woman to the ground and punched her in the head early last Thursday in the Jane Street and Maple Leaf Drive area. They stole cash and bank cards and fled. 27. BREAK & ENTER A photographic equipment store at 5 Lower Sherbourne Street reports a burglary early Thursday morning that snagged camera lenses, cameras, compact discs, cash and a laptop computer. 28. PURSE SNATCHING Two men in their mid-teens made off with a 19-year-old's purse late Thursday night at Leslie and Dundas streets. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 10:11:48 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: Handgun fired during home invasion PUBLICATION: The Windsor Star DATE: 2005.04.18 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: A3 BYLINE: Donald Mcarthur SOURCE: Windsor Star ILLUSTRATION: Photo: Star photo: Dan Janisse / ASSAULT ALLEGED: A WindsorPolice Service detective, left, escorts an alleged victim of a home invasion from the 3400 block of Erskine Avenue Sunday to a police vehicle. - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- Home invasion probed - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- A quiet afternoon in the city's east end erupted into gunfire Sunday when two men, one armed with a pistol, forced their way into a home and attacked and robbed the male occupant. Police say the two suspects burst into a home in the 3400 block of Erskine Avenue about 2:30 p.m. and assaulted the 20-year-old victim, who suffered non-life threatening injuries. Staff Sgt. Tom Crowley said one of the suspects was armed with a handgun, which was fired during the altercation but didn't cause any injuries. Police don't believe the attack was random. The two suspects, who covered their faces with bandanas, fled in a vehicle driven by a third suspect. Police believe the vehicle was a newer white model, possibly a Grand Am, bearing unknown Ontario licence plates. The two suspects who burst into the home are described as black males, about five foot ten inches, between 165 and 175 pounds. One had a mini Afro, moustache and goatee and the other had short hair, moustache and goatee. The getaway car driver is described as a 21-22-year-old black male, six foot three inches with a large build. He had a goatee and his hair tied into a two-inch ponytail. Anyone with information can call police at 255-6700, ext. 4830 or Crime Stoppers at 258-TIPS. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 10:12:00 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: Ex-bureaucrat sentenced for stealing blank passports PUBLICATION: GLOBE AND MAIL IDN: 051080060 DATE: 2005.04.18 PAGE: A8 BYLINE: JILL MAHONEY SECTION: Toronto News EDITION: Metro DATELINE: WORDS: 519 - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- Ex-bureaucrat sentenced for stealing blank passports Woman gets 5 1/2 years for role in theft uncovered by RCMP sting operation - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- A former government employee has been sentenced for her role in one of Canada's most serious cases of passport theft. Toula Blanas, 27, was sentenced on Friday to 5 1/2 years for dealing with blank Canadian passports, and two years, to be served concurrently, for breach of trust. "Any time that we have a loss of blank Canadian passports, it's a serious thing," RCMP Corporal Howard Adams said. "The Canadian passport is one that is highly respected around the world, so a lot of people would love to have Canadian passports because it gets you through a lot of different countries very easily," he added. Ms. Blanas, who worked in the passport office in Scarborough, was accused of stealing 246 blank passports, which were being sold on Toronto streets for the bargain price of about $1,000 apiece. Of the 246 passports, 205 have been recovered. The RCMP is working with domestic and international partners to find the remaining 41. "We're making every effort to recover them," Cpl. Adams said. Illegal immigrants, organized criminal groups, terrorists and human smugglers often use stolen passports to ease entry into Canada and other countries. Genuine Canadian passports are relatively rare on the black market because of security features making them difficult to copy. The unusual breach of security was discovered in June, 2002, when Passport Canada reported that five boxes of blank passports were missing from the Scarborough office. Allen Richard Graham and Corey Crosby pleaded guilty in July, 2003, to conspiring to deal in blank passports and were sentenced to three- and two-year terms in prison, respectively. A fourth person also was charged. In the fall of 2002, the RCMP assigned nearly two dozen officers to an undercover operation after an informant alleged that Mr. Graham was offering $1,000 each for blank passports he stored in the garage of his Toronto home, according to an agreed statement of facts submitted at his trial. An undercover officer was introduced to Mr. Graham as a "biker" seeking passports. The pair met at a suburban McDonald's restaurant, and Mr. Graham told the officer the passports had been stolen and had a potential street value of $5,000 to $7,000. He later told the officer that five of the passports had been "given to the Russians" and that he had only 193 for sale. The two met in the fast-food restaurant for a second transaction on Nov. 8, 2002. Mr. Graham and Mr. Crosby arrived with the passports in a red bag specially designed for Pope John Paul's 2002 visit to Toronto. Mr. Graham told the officer to give him $50,000, which he would show to "the Jamaicans," to confirm the cash was not counterfeit. The officer told Mr. Graham he wanted to see the passports first, and when they went to Mr. Graham's vehicle, he was arrested. Mr. Crosby, armed with a stolen, loaded handgun, tried to flee. He also was arrested. Mr. Graham later told police he believed selling the passports to a biker would keep them out of the hands of terrorists. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 10:12:10 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: B.C. court extends Metis hunting rights PUBLICATION: Times Colonist (Victoria) DATE: 2005.04.18 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: A4 BYLINE: Joel Baglole SOURCE: CanWest News Service DATELINE: VANCOUVER - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- B.C. court extends Metis hunting rights - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- VANCOUVER--British Columbia's Metis are calling on the provincial government to enact new legislation after a provincial court ruled for the first time that Metis in B.C. are entitled to the same traditional hunting rights as aboriginals. Provincial court Judge Hugh C. Stansfield ruled that a Metis man living near the village of Falkland in the North Okanagan region has the right to hunt year-round without a licence in a section of the province that extends along the Brigade Trail from Fort Kamloops, south through the Okanagan Valley to the U.S. border. Stansfield's ruling only applies to this specific area of the province. The Metis Provincial Council of B.C. has called the court ruling a precedent-setting legal decision that advances the rights of Metis across the province. Just over four per cent of Canadians -- 1.3 million people, 170,000 in B.C. -- identified themselves in the 2001 national census as members of Canada's aboriginal community. Metis make up about 25 per cent of Canada's aboriginal population. The term Metis is applied to people of mixed European and aboriginal ancestry. Currently the provincial government does not extend to Metis the traditional hunting rights accorded to aboriginals. But the B.C. Metis council is calling on the province to enact legislation that gives Metis those rights. "We are hopeful that this will change the B.C. government's position about Metis rights in this province," said Bruce Dumont, the council's acting president. "We hope now the provincial government will do the right thing and sit down with us to work out how Metis people in this province can exercise their constitutionally entrenched rights." After the court ruling, the Metis issued a statement saying: "It would be astonishing if Metis in only this area of B.C. could prove hunting rights. More likely there are many areas of B.C. where Metis have harvesting rights, if not throughout the province." The issue of extending traditional hunting privileges to Metis is a contentious one across Canada. In a 2003 decision, Canada's Supreme Court ruled that Metis have the right to fish, hunt and trap under the Constitution. In response to that ruling, the Alberta government last fall signed the Metis Interim Harvesting Agreement, which allows Metis in the province to hunt and fish year-round. Other provinces, however, continue to be more restrictive. Ontario has reached an agreement with the Metis Nation of Ontario that allows 1,200 Metis to hunt in their traditional territory near Sudbury. Similar negotiations are underway with other Metis groups, but that hasn't stopped the province from laying 180 illegal hunting and fishing charges against people who claim to be Metis. Saskatchewan, which has allowed Metis to hunt and fish in parts of the province since 1997, recently charged a Metis man with fishing out of season. That case is now before the courts. In Manitoba, a hunting case involving a Brandon-area Metis man is also before the courts. David Chartrand, president of the Manitoba Metis Federation, has said he wishes other provinces would follow Alberta's lead instead of dragging the issue out in the courts ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 10:12:20 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: CRITICS SLAM UNRESTRICTED METIS HUNTING PUBLICATION: The Edmonton Sun DATE: 2005.04.18 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: 17 BYLINE: JOHN COTTER, CP - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- CRITICS SLAM UNRESTRICTED METIS HUNTING CONSERVATION NIGHTMARE FEARED - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- Wildlife and fish are at risk because of a deal that lets Alberta Metis hunt and fish year-round without limits on what they can kill, conservationists charge. The province signed the Metis Interim Harvesting Agreement last fall in response to a Supreme Court ruling on Metis hunting rights. While the ruling affects Metis in all provinces, some groups fear Alberta's approach could lead to a conservation nightmare. "We are concerned that this agreement opens the doors to the unregulated harvesting of Alberta's wildlife," said Randy Collins, president of the Alberta Fish and Game Association. "We have concerns when anyone is given the right to take unlimited quantities of fish or game, or to disregard seasonal restrictions which are in place to ensure their long-term survival." Stories of abuse are already ricocheting around the province. Alberta fish and wildlife officers say Metis hunters have shot bighorn sheep just for their horns. "There has been a large number of trophy bighorn sheep that have been killed by Metis since the agreement was put in place under the guise of subsistence rights," said one officer who declined to be named for fear of disciplinary action. "We've had people advise us they intend to go out and shoot goats. We've had people advise us of their intention to shoot caribou, which of course are threatened in Alberta." There have also been unconfirmed reports of Metis shooting pregnant game. Audrey Poitras, president of the Metis Nation of Alberta, said concerns about the deal are overstated and based on misinformation. Under the agreement, Metis are not allowed to hunt in wildlife sanctuaries, national parks or other protected areas. "The information being provided out there has created a lot of fear. We don't believe there is any reason for that fear," said Poitras. "We as Metis people certainly believe in conservation. We are creating our own system of harvesting practices. But there is not a legal requirement for us to do this." In its 2003 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that Metis have the right to fish, hunt and trap under the Constitution. While Alberta chose to negotiate a broad agreement with Metis, other provinces are more restrictive and Metis have been charged with illegal hunting and fishing. Ontario reached an agreement last summer with the Metis Nation of Ontario that allows 1,200 Metis to hunt in their traditional territory near Sudbury. Similar negotiations are underway with other Metis groups. But that hasn't stopped Ontario from laying 180 illegal hunting and fishing charges against people who claim to be Metis. Saskatchewan, which has allowed some Metis to hunt and fish in parts of the province since 1997, recently charged a Metis man with fishing out of season. That case is before the courts. David Chartrand, president of the Manitoba Metis Federation, said he wishes other provinces would follow Alberta's lead instead of dragging the issue out in the courts. "Premier Ralph Klein did the right thing by showing leadership," he said. "Other premiers have not followed suit." Alberta's agreement applies to about 31,000 members of the Metis Nation of Alberta and that number is expected to grow. Since the deal was signed, hundreds of people have applied for a Metis card. Metis leaders say only a small percentage of their members hunt and fish, but conservationists are still worried. "This is going to lead to a substantially increased harvest of the wildlife and fish of this province," said a fish and wildlife officer. Alberta Aboriginal Affairs Minister Pearl Calahasen declined interview requests. Donna Babchishin, spokeswoman for Alberta Sustainable Resource Development, said the province is aware people are concerned about the Metis agreement. Babchishin said the government plans to increase spending by $7.3 million this year to bolster wildlife and fish monitoring, including hiring more staff. "This will go a long way to give people the confidence that we've got the resources to monitor the impacts on the species from all different pressures, including harvest pressures," she said. Details on the funding are expected to be released later this week. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2005 10:12:30 -0600 (CST) From: Breitkreuz@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca, Garry - Assistant 1 Subject: SHOTGUN PELLETS HIT TEENAGER IN ARM PUBLICATION: The Toronto Sun DATE: 2005.04.18 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: 15 COLUMN: SUN Briefs - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- SHOTGUN PELLETS HIT TEENAGER IN ARM - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- - ---- POLICE ARE looking for suspects after a teen was hit in the arm with a blast from a shotgun in Scarborough early yesterday. The boy was walking with friends on Burrows Hall Blvd., near Sheppard Ave. and Neilson Rd., around 1:30 a.m. when they heard a loud bang, police said. They took off running and when they stopped, one of them realized he had been hit in the arm with shotgun pellets. The teen was taken to Scarborough Centenary Hospital where he received treatment for the non-life threatening wound. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 416-808-4200. ------------------------------ End of Cdn-Firearms Digest V7 #989 ********************************** Submissions: mailto:cdn-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Mailing List Commands: mailto:majordomo@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Moderator's e-mail address: mailto:akimoya@cogeco.ca 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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