Cdn-Firearms Digest Tuesday, February 12 2008 Volume 11 : Number 208 In this issue: News Sunflashes: CLERK KILLER TO APPEAL- The Winnipeg Sun [none] Get the dirt bag off the street Teen gets four years in custody for killing- Winnipeg Free Press More on role models Editorial: Canada justified in showing door to criminal Pole- SP Delisle dog put down: mayor- The StarPhoenix Letter: A government 'with spine' Column: Meeting all about importance of 'family'- The Leader-Post Col. Sam Steele - Sound familiar? Column: Equalization dementia: Randy Burton- The StarPhoenix ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2008 17:14:47 -0600 From: News@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Subject: News Sunflashes: CLERK KILLER TO APPEAL- The Winnipeg Sun News Sunflashes http://www.winnipegsun.com/News/Manitoba/2008/02/12/4841253-sun.html Tue, February 12, 2008 CLERK KILLER TO APPEAL A Winnipeg man who received a life sentence for shooting a convenience store clerk is expected to appeal his conviction and sentence at a hearing this week. After convicting David Cote last year, a judge said that he couldn't apply for parole for at least 17 years for the slaying of Edwin Yue, 19. Cote's lawyer is expected to argue tomorrow in the Manitoba Court of Appeal that the judge erred in convicting his client and that the penalty is too harsh. Yue was working alone in his parents' convenience store in February 2006 when a masked Cote burst in armed with a shotgun, screamed for money and, during an altercation, shot Yue repeatedly. Cote claimed at his trial that he'd killed Yue in self-defence. The judge rejected that defence, saying that Cote had options other than killing the store clerk. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2008 17:20:30 -0600 From: "David R.G. Jordan" Subject: [none] Feedback http://www.winnipegsun.com/News/Winnipeg/home.html The Winnipeg Sun Tue, February 12, 2008- 17:18hrs Should Canada have mandatory minimum sentences for gun crimes? Yes: 94% No: 6% Total Votes for this Question: 1591 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2008 18:23:44 -0500 From: Lee Jasper Subject: Get the dirt bag off the street Bloody well stated: > Bill Cunningham > Innisfil On Got to beat those interlopers in Barrie off with a serious cudgel, eh? They'll get Innisfil's space for growth a second time. And how about that big housing corp turning the OMB around on to citizens trying to save their little piece of country and not have it turned into one overgrown elephant of urban housing. > What happened to actually punishing the criminal, you know "Do the > crime, Do the time"? > > Who cares if it deters anyone else, as long as it gets _THAT_ particular > dirt bag off the streets and in prison, > where he or she belongs. If, at the same time, someone 'else' is > deterred, that's just so much gravy.. > > The primary reason for mandatory minimums, should be, to give the public > an assured amount of time that they can be safe from any one of these > cretins.. Even the Cretch could understand. That's why he kept his distance from homeless people. I can honestly report that I actually stopped and asked two such homeless persons on Chretien's route if they were the 'one' the Cretch had talked to. Oh they were the good ole days. I was in Bytown to attend a conference and visited the House to see braying and bullying. The person with me darned near had a conniption. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2008 17:29:16 -0600 From: News@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Subject: Teen gets four years in custody for killing- Winnipeg Free Press Teen gets four years in custody for killing http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/story/4123976p-4718228c.html Tue Feb 12 2008 By Mike McIntyre A young Winnipeg gang member has been given the maximum youth sentence for a "senseless and brutal killing" that claimed the life of a city teen. The 19-year-old -- who can't be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act -- will spend four years in custody followed by three years of community supervision, Queen's Bench Justice Deborah McCawley said Monday. He pleaded guilty last year to second-degree murder for the March 2006 shooting death of 18-year-old Leon Dumas. A late-night walk through the inner city proved to be fatal for Dumas, who may have offended members of a street gang by stepping on their "turf" and claiming to be a rival, court was told. The tragic case underlines the city's ongoing problem with gang violence and how cheap life has become to some. Justice officials struck a deal with the killer that spared him potentially being raised to adult court -- and a mandatory life sentence -- in exchange for a guilty plea. The killer apologized to the victim's family in court during initial submissions in January. "Being part of a man is owning up to responsibility. Today I'm owning up for what I've done. I ask you to forgive me and accept my apologies," he said. Dumas' life was also marked by tragedy. His mother committed suicide at the age of one and his cousin, Matthew, was shot dead by Winnipeg police in 2005 in a case that is about to be the subject of an inquiry. Dumas and some friends were walking through the North End around 3 a.m. when they ran into a group of young men who identified themselves as members of the Indian Posse street gang. Crown attorney Joanna Kostiuk said Dumas may have claimed to be from the rival Crips gang, leading to a heated argument that ended quickly when the killer pulled a sawed off shotgun from his waistband and fired at close range. www.mikeoncrime.com © 2008 Winnipeg Free Press. All Rights Reserved. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2008 18:32:25 -0500 From: Lee Jasper Subject: More on role models I guess the Deppity Coomish had 'good' role models, eh? > RCMP deputy commissioner in contempt of Parliament We'll probably never get the story on this with confidentiality agreements and such. Pity, it only adds to the cynicism of the populace. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2008 18:14:14 -0600 From: News@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Subject: Editorial: Canada justified in showing door to criminal Pole- SP Canada justified in showing door to criminal Pole http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/news/forum/story.html?id=b36d0835-b015-47de-bb11-6aef271e94d5 The StarPhoenix Published: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 Jerry Bielecki, a brutal rapist, drug offender and kidnapper from Poland, apparently has become the final arbiter of what class of Polish citizen should be allowed in Canada. Not unexpectedly, his ruling is that he is exactly that kind of Pole. The Canadian government has been trying for eight years to return the unsavoury Bielecki to his native Poland. It has been unable to do so because Bielecki has refused to sign his own travel documents. Without these, Poland refuses to take him back. But it cannot be left up to Bielecki or Poland to decide whether Canadians can throw him out. As the Liberal party's public safety critic Ujjal Dosanjh said, this is like someone sentenced to prison refusing to go. Bielecki, 51, came to Canada when he was 15 years old and refused to take out Canadian citizenship. His Polish status is not a simple inconvenience. By virtue of being born in Poland as it is currently constituted, and because he is not a citizen of any other country, he remains Polish. At first, Bielecki insisted he didn't want to go back to Poland -- even though since 1981 he has accumulated a horrendous record in Canada for sexual assaults, drug dealing, threatening witnesses and refusing to get help for his problems. Last year, he told an Immigration and Refugee Board hearing that he would be willing to return to Poland if the Canadian government got him a job, an apartment and some money. Poland apparently wants nothing to do with the man. As a result of the criminal's intransigence and Poland's decision to wash its hands of one of its citizens, Canada seems to be over a barrel. Requests that Poland do something have gone unheeded since at least last October. It's worth remembering that Poland is able to act quickly in cases involving one of its citizens when it wants to act. Days after its consul general saw the video of Robert Dziekanski getting shot with a stun gun at the Vancouver airport, he was in contact with the Polish prosecutor's office to make sure Canadians adhered to due process. If any case calls for respect for due process by Poland, it's that of Bielecki, who was most recently convicted of the sexual assault of a female teenager and the forced confinement of a teen male. The time for niceties has passed. Bielecki should be put on a plane to his homeland and Poland should take over its responsibility. Canada must remain the sole arbiter of determining whom it will allow as an immigrant, and Bielecki clearly doesn't fit the criteria. Canada cannot be made the dumping ground for criminals from around the world, never mind how they feel about it. © The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2008 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2008 18:02:31 -0600 From: News@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Subject: Delisle dog put down: mayor- The StarPhoenix Delisle dog put down: mayor http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/story.html?id=4c5be136-f65b-4db9-97e3-065a1f5b9c0e&k=88475 Image & Caption Five year-old Jaidyn Solanik is recovering from wounds suffered when she was attacked by Bandit, a Rottweiler-cross, in Delisle last month. - -StarPhoenix file photo By Janet French, TheStarPhoenix.com Published: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 The owner of a dog that took a deep bite into a little girl's face in Delisle last month has put the dog down, the town's mayor says. Mayor Rita Pfoh says about a week ago, a vet in Outlook put down Bandit, a Rottweiler-cross. "She had the dog for 10 years," Pfoh said of owner Dorothy Carnell. "Her son basically grew up with the dog. I'm sure it was a very hard decision on her part." On Jan. 17, Jaidyn Siemens-Solanik, 5, was playing after school with her seven-year-old brother Ashton, along with Carnell's seven-year-old son, when they decided to play in the snow in Carnell's back yard. Bandit, who was chained in the yard, bit Jaidyn in the face when the child lost her balance and fell. The dog sunk its teeth into the girl's forehead and eyebrow. A tooth pierced her left eyelid - missing her eyeball - and it drove under the bone. She needed 29 stitches to close the gashes in her face. Jaidyn's mother, Cindy Solanik, said she's relieved Bandit is gone. "My little girl was extra happy when I told her the other day that we thought the doggie was in doggie heaven," Solanik said. "She said, 'Oh, mum, I'm so happy. That mean doggie's dead.' " Solanik said she was afraid to let her kids play in a snow pile at the end of the street in case Bandit broke loose from his chain. "It does take a big load off my chest to know that it's not here," she said. Pfoh said she likely would have put down her dog if it had bitten a child, although she calls the decision "sad." "It was a very emotional thing," Pfoh said. "I'm just very happy that Cindy's little girl wasn't hurt worse than she was - than it could have been." Solanik is addressing Delisle's town council at its meeting Tuesday night to ask what the town is doing to prevent similar incidents. © The StarPhoenix 2008 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2008 17:56:35 -0600 From: News@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Subject: Letter: A government 'with spine' A government 'with spine' http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/letters/story.html?id=3f357e47-4a5d-4717-9947-0e3421e8e4fc The Leader-Post Published: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 I cannot stand the madness of the eastern (Ontario) media any longer. There was a time when I could turn on the news and be blasted with the facts of the day from around the world. Now, when I turn on the big Canadian news stations, I am subjected to partisan opinions. It appears the federal Conservatives in Ottawa are offering to Canadians a government that wants to govern. I admire the federal Tories for shutting the door to the mainstream media. The previous Liberal government, along with the eastern media giants, formed a "marriage", so to speak, with each other. Typical federal voting in Ontario shows a majority leaning to the Liberals. And, of course, we all know that Ontario (with its abnormally large amount of seats) typically indicates which party usually ends up in Ottawa. It is so refreshing that the media giants down east no longer run this country! Though I highly admire the federal Conservatives for shutting the door to the media, I have to listen to all (well, almost all) of the partisan reporters whine and complain that they are "shut out" or "didn't know". The "down side" for the Conservatives is that the eastern media is giving them hell and making them pay. Now, it has the nerve to say, along with the Liberals, that the Tories -- or as Liberal MP Ralph Goodale calls them, "neoconservatives" -- are a "secret agenda government". Spare me. The federal Liberals (including Goodale) have been abstaining from crucial votes in Parliament, yet they voice an opinion on every vote they miss. Go figure. Way to go, Stephen Harper! We finally have a government with a spine. Finally, the elected government is running the country, not the media or appointed officials. BRAD STOVRA Regina ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2008 17:51:18 -0600 From: News@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Subject: Column: Meeting all about importance of 'family'- The Leader-Post Meeting all about importance of 'family' http://www.canada.com/reginaleaderpost/news/viewpoints/story.html?id=1cae456e-b6be-4a1e-9846-92dfcdbe0abb Murray Mandryk, The Leader-Post Published: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 We likely all could sympathize with Saskatchewan Party Premier Brad Wall this past weekend. We've all been obligated to attend those occasional weekend family reunion functions where we're stuck with Crazy Uncle Fred and his addle-brained kids. If we had our druthers, there's probably other things we'd rather do with our time. But for as much empathy as you may have for Wall and his political family problems, there's one important point that simply can't be missed about his weekend reunion with the federal Conservative caucus. Regardless of how embarrassing, family is family. There was no particular reason why Wall and the Saskatchewan Party caucus should have to meet with the Saskatchewan federal Conservative caucus in secret. And let's make no mistake about this. Let's dispense with the revisionist notion we're now hearing from both Wall and the Saskatchewan federal Tory caucus that this meeting was never intended to be secret to avoid public embarrassment to one or both sides. This was supposed to have been a secret meeting. Of course, Wall is now trying to spin the notion that this was just a normal business day and that it slipped the minds of everyone in government to inform us that the meeting was happening. We heard similar silly and disingenuous utterances from Regina-Qu'Appelle MP Andrew Scheer about MPs and senators meeting with various groups all the time. Nonsense. The last time the federal caucus formally met with the Saskatchewan government (along with the then-Opposition Saskatchewan Party) was three years ago when, ironically, they were plotting strategy to force the then-federal Liberal government to make good on the $800-million-a-year equalization commitment. You may recall that no one forgot to alert the media back then. What makes it even less likely that this meeting simply slipped the minds of absolutely everyone in government is that Wall had been asked less than 48 hours earlier about his plans to meet the federal caucus on issues affecting Saskatchewan. He obviously knew at that time what reporters didn't -- he already had such a meeting planned. But, for anyone still choosing to cling to the naive or self-serving belief that this was a simple oversight, it's worth noting that the participants were given strict instructions to slip in through the north entrance of Government House and that both politicians and executive council staff were instructed not to mention the whereabouts or even existence of this meeting. This wasn't an "oversight" until Wall got caught. And it's the fact that they wanted to hold this family reunion in secret that's probably more significant than the fact that they were meeting at all. Despite the occasional teeth gnashing we hear from the left about the all-too-cozy relationship between the Saskatchewan Party and its federal Conservative cousins, the fact that the new provincial government would be attempting a more co-operative approach is actually a good thing. After all, the confrontational approach taken by former NDP premier Lorne Calvert with the Paul Martin government and -- especially -- with the Stephen Harper government obviously wasn't productive. It's also worth noting that even Calvert is now saying there was nothing wrong with the provincial cabinet and federal caucus meeting. What's intriguing, however, was that neither side seemed all that interested in us finding out about it. If this were a sincere effort by both sides to explore alternatives to the federal Tories' broken $800-million-a-year equalization commitment or the equivalent thereof, wouldn't both sides really want us to know that they were now working together on such a deal? Unfortunately, there's little emerging out of Saturday's meeting that suggests a lot of thought was given to making such a deal work. Given the absence of Saskatchewan cabinet minister Gerry Ritz and given the misleading talk from low-level backbenchers like Scheer about his government already fulfilling its equalization promise, it seems clear this wasn't about making good on the promise. One fears it was about how all the cousins might save face before the fact of the Conservatives breaking their equalization promise becomes an issue in the upcoming federal election. And one really fears that Wall may be putting political family interests ahead of the interests of Saskatchewan people. - - Mandryk is the political columnist for the Leader-Post. © The Leader-Post (Regina) 2008 ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2008 18:34:18 -0400 From: "M.J. Ackermann, MD" Subject: Col. Sam Steele - Sound familiar? COLONEL SAM STEELE OF THE ROYAL NORTH WEST MOUNTED POLICE : "We had the detestable prohibitory liquor law to enforce, an insult to free people. Our powers under it were so great, in fact, so outrageous, that no self-respecting member of the corps, unless directly ordered, cared to exert them to the full extent. We were expected, on the slightest grounds of suspicion, to enter any habitation without a warrant, at any hour of the day or night, and search for intoxicants; no privacy need be respected. Yet owing to the pressure of a lot of fanatics who neither knew nor cared to understand the situation, parliament would not repeal the law ...." from "Forty Years in Canada: reminiscences of the Great North-West.... 1915" ( reprinted in 2000 by Prospero Books, 90 Ronson Drive, Toronto, Ontario M9W 1C1) - -- M.J. Ackermann, MD (Mike) Rural Family Physician, Sherbrooke, NS Box 13, 120 Cameron Rd. Sherbrooke, NS Canada B0J 3C0 902-522-2172 mikeack@ns.sympatico.ca "Hope for the best, but be prepared for the worst". ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 12 Feb 2008 18:31:02 -0600 From: News@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Subject: Column: Equalization dementia: Randy Burton- The StarPhoenix Equalization dementia http://www.canada.com/saskatoonstarphoenix/columnists/story.html?id=b2a8ce14-7fe0-4b0e-afa5-fcbdc79ef688 Randy Burton, The StarPhoenix Published: Tuesday, February 12, 2008 At its heart, the problem Premier Brad Wall faces on federal-provincial relations comes down to this. How do you deal with people who have so deluded themselves they no longer seem able to distinguish between fact and fiction? There is simply no other way to describe the twilight zone of credibility the federal Conservatives now find themselves in while explaining away their policy on transfer payments. No one should be surprised when the next federal election arrives in a few weeks and the Conservatives begin campaigning on how they kept their promise to Saskatchewan on equalization. As has been described in this space repeatedly, this is simply not the case. The promise was to exclude Saskatchewan's non-renewable resource revenues when it came to calculating equalization payments. This was stated in writing as a federal campaign promise by Stephen Harper when he was Opposition leader. There were no qualifications, and no mention of a cap, just a straightforward promise. The promise was broken, and yet Saskatchewan Conservative MPs insist on declaring it was not. The latest is Regina-Qu'Appelle MP Andrew Scheer who told reporters following a weekend meeting with Wall's cabinet that the promise was kept. "The fact of the matter is that we kept our promise on equalization," Scheer said. "Every province is now treated fairly on equalization." Scheer can describe it however he likes, but fair treatment was not the promise. The promise was an exclusion on oil and gas revenues. I have no doubt Scheer actually believes what he's saying. Other MPs, including Saskatoon's Maurice Vellacott, have likewise convinced themselves of this. The psychologists call this kind of thing "cognitive dissonance." It is the process of filtering new information out or your mind if it conflicts with what you already believe. This theory was first arrived at by a social psychologist named Leon Festinger in 1957 when he noticed a UFO doomsday cult kept on proselytizing even after the world failed to end as the cult had predicted. Their explanation for the contradiction was that the aliens had spared Earth for their sake. Something very like this is going on within the Tory caucus right now. They have to be able to say they kept their promise, or admit their record is a shambles. By filtering out the inconvenient facts they are able to declare a promise broken is actually a promise kept. This is the most charitable explanation available. The alternative to this theory rhymes with "pants on fire." But it illustrates the nature of Wall's problem. If the Conservatives believe they have kept their promise to Saskatchewan, then why should they feel obligated to give the province an extra pot of money? If they don't owe Wall anything, what's the point in holding special meetings with the Saskatchewan cabinet beyond enjoying a fine lunch with friends? You'll recall that the magic number here is $800 million per year. That's what excluding the value and oil and gas production from the equalization formula is supposed to be worth to Saskatchewan. When he couldn't get it via huffing and puffing, former premier Lorne Calvert went to court. It was a long shot at best. Alberta once launched a similar case over a unilateral federal change to the Canada Assistance Plan and lost. The Supreme Court ruled the federal government had the right to change a federal program. Whether Saskatchewan's case is any better, we don't know. The provincial government's legal opinions on the issue have never been released, even though Wall demanded they be made public while he was in opposition. However, his government is not actively pursuing the case, while it tries to negotiate something better. But no matter how you slice it, $800 million a year in ongoing funding from the federal government is a huge amount of money. If the provincial government achieved that kind of windfall even once, it would be a major achievement. To do it year after year outside of any established program that applies to all provinces would be miraculous. The whole idea is beginning to look rather shaky. Not only has the prime minister not even so much as hinted that he's interested in this idea, but we're about to be plunged into a federal election where the outcome is far from certain. The weekend meeting with Saskatchewan Conservative MPs was an effort to advance the file. Unfortunately, the single most important figure in Saskatchewan federal politics wasn't there. Agriculture Minister Gerry Ritz did not attend the meeting. The nature of his "scheduling issues" is unclear, but it doesn't help Wall's lobby effort. A high-level meeting on federal affairs without the cabinet minister responsible is like the Saskatchewan Roughriders planning a playoff game without the quarterback. It's just another meeting in the locker-room. Strangest of all, though, is the fact that this conversation is taking place on two different planes. Whether he can actually say so publicly or not, Wall's effort for new federal investment is based on the belief that the Conservatives did not meet their commitment on the equalization file. Sitting in the same room, the federal MPs are listening politely, fully convinced they kept their promise. It's like the Twilight Zone has come to Saskatchewan. E-mail: rburton@sp.canwest.com © The StarPhoenix (Saskatoon) 2008 ------------------------------ End of Cdn-Firearms Digest V11 #208 *********************************** Submissions: mailto:cdn-firearms-digest@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Mailing List Commands: mailto:majordomo@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Moderator's e-mail address: mailto:d.jordan@sasktel.net 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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