Cdn-Firearms Digest Thursday, February 14 2008 Volume 11 : Number 211 In this issue: Charge reduced in Creba case- TheStar Vancouver explosion deliberately set- Globe & Mail Man stabbed, two attempted robberies minutes apart- TheStar Snowplow chases backhoe thief- TheStar Professor laments the exclusively get-tough laws on crime Groups act to save grouse- Globe & Mail Soldier blasts shoddy gear for troops- TheStar Quebec poacher gets deer-count contract- Globe & Mail ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 10:39:15 -0600 From: News@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Subject: Charge reduced in Creba case- TheStar Charge reduced in Creba case http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/303491 Image & Caption Jane Creba, shown here in an undated family photo, was doing some Boxing Day shopping on Yonge St. in 2005 when she was killed in crossfire between rival gangs. - -FILE PHOTO/CP Accused's murder charge reduced to manslaughter but he still faces six attempted murder counts Feb 14, 2008 04:30 AM Peter Small Courts Bureau The only youth accused of murder in the Boxing Day 2005 gunfight that claimed the life of 15-year-old Jane Creba has had his charge reduced to manslaughter. In a ruling released yesterday, Superior Court Justice Ian Nordheimer ordered provincial court Justice Bruce Young, who presided over the accused's preliminary hearing, to throw out the second-degree murder charge and to commit him to trial on the lesser count. "He's finally happy to see a little bit of justice," said his lawyer, Gary Grill. "But he knows that there's still a long and difficult road ahead." The accused, who was 17 at the time of the Yonge St. shooting but is now an adult, exploded in fury last August when Young committed him to trial for second-degree murder in the death of the popular Riverdale Collegiate Institute student. Grill said the import of yesterday's ruling is that "there was no legal route, on the face of the evidence, for the preliminary hearing judge to commit him on murder, even if he caused her death." The young man, who cannot be named, still faces six attempted murder charges in the shooting. Nordheimer is the judge who on Jan. 31 stayed corruption charges against six Toronto police officers, citing unreasonable delay by the Crown. Details of yesterday's ruling cannot be published. According to previous police reports and court documents, the accused was arrested, along with Andre Thompson, then 22, at the Castle Frank subway station shortly after Creba's shooting. They were charged with firearms offences after police seized a semi-automatic 9 mm Ruger handgun. They have been in custody since. Homicide charges against them were filed in June 2006. Meanwhile, a youth who was hit by a bullet in the Creba shooting, and who walked free last October after a judge threw out a manslaughter charge against him in the teenager's death, has been arrested again. Last Friday, the teenager was one of three males stopped by police in a vehicle in Toronto's west end. He is in custody facing marijuana possession and firearms offences In addition, the seven adults charged with murder or manslaughter in Creba's death are waiting until March 7, when a judge at their preliminary hearing rules on what charges, if any, they will face at trial. Tyshaun Barnett, 20, Louis Woodcock, 21, and Jeremiah Valentine, 26, are charged with second-degree murder and several counts of attempted murder. Andrew Smith, 22, Vincent Davis, 27, Shaun Thompson, 23, and Andre Thompson, 24, are charged with manslaughter. A third youth has been sent to trial on a manslaughter charge. Creba, a Grade 10 student and gifted athlete, was shot by a stray bullet in a brazen gun battle between gangs as she shopped for bargains on Yonge St. on Dec. 26, 2005. Six other people were wounded, one seriously. The street was packed with adults and children looking for post-Christmas bargains on the busiest shopping day of the year. Creba became Toronto's 52nd gun-related homicide of 2005. What followed was a national outpouring of grief. The scene of her shooting became a makeshift shrine as hundreds of people left flowers, candles, and messages of condolence. Politicians scrambled to toughen up gun laws. Judges now regularly cite the slaying – and the public outcry that followed – in their rulings on gun crimes. - -- -- Boxing Day chronology (.pdf) http://www3.thestar.com/static/PDF/070425_creba_boxing_day.pdf ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 10:17:49 -0600 From: "David R.G. Jordan" Subject: Vancouver explosion deliberately set- Globe & Mail Vancouver explosion deliberately set http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080214.wbcexplosion14/BNStory/National/home Image & Caption Vancouver police cars close off the street in front of the scene of a explosion which happened at a Starbucks coffee shop early Wednesday in Vancouver. JESSICA SMITH From Thursday's Globe and Mail February 14, 2008 at 6:27 AM EST VANCOUVER — The explosion that decimated a string of businesses on West Broadway early yesterday morning was the same type of blast sometimes used to blow up fortified bunkers and tanks, to clear minefields, and which brought down TWA flight 800 in 1996. "The explosion was an air-fuel explosion," said Constable Tim Fanning, spokesman for the Vancouver police. Police say the blast inside a Taco Del Mar restaurant at 686 West Broadway at 2:30 a.m. was arson. No one was injured. "It was quite a blast, there was all sorts of twisted metal that exploded out onto the street and glass that covered the six lanes of Broadway," said Constable Fanning. The Starbucks next door to the fast food restaurant was also destroyed. Windows as far away as the London Drugs across the street and at the Scouts Canada building halfway down the block were shattered. "Fortunately, this happened at 2:30 in the morning ... it is miraculous nobody was hurt last night," Constable Fanning said. Vancouver police fire investigators and Vancouver fire department investigators determined yesterday afternoon that the fire that caused the explosion was intentionally set, with the use of an accelerant. An air-fuel explosion is a small blast that disperses a flammable liquid into the air, creating a cloud that is then lit by a second charge, causing a larger explosion. Such explosions are used in war zones to destroy enemy fortifications and neutralize mines, but they can also occur by accident, as in the case of TWA Flight 800 off the U.S. east coast in 1996. The details such as the type of accelerant used in yesterday's blast are not yet known. "More science needs to be done," said Constable Fanning. Kevin Hansen, chief operations officer of Taco Del Mar, said the franchises do not use natural gas. The restaurant is operated by a family and the franchisee is a woman, who Mr. Hansen knows only as Mrs. Nanda. "She was very shaken up," he said. Mr. Hansen said there have been no problems with the franchise. Constable Fanning said the Taco Del Mar is not known to the police as a venue for criminal activity. Rumours that a man was seen fleeing the area after the fire was set circulated through the news media and the crowd around the site of the explosion yesterday. While Constable Fanning acknowledged the reports, he would not confirm that such a person is a suspect. "As soon as we find a motive, that will help lead us to a suspect," he said. Police estimate damage to the stores and offices at 686 Granville and nearby will likely be more than $2-million. David Goguen, hotel manager of the Holiday Inn across the intersection from the Taco Del Mar, said that when he was called in to work at the morning, the scene looked like "a suicide bomb went off." One window of the Holiday Inn was shattered in the blast, but the guest sleeping in the room at the time was unharmed. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 10:47:25 -0600 From: News@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Subject: Man stabbed, two attempted robberies minutes apart- TheStar Man stabbed, two attempted robberies minutes apart http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/303567 Feb 14, 2008 06:00 AM Josh Wingrove staff reporter A stabbing and two failed robberies minutes apart kept Toronto police busy along an east-end street early this morning. Officers were first called at 2:45 a.m. when a passer-by noticed a man, who'd been stabbed in the arm, standing outside a bar along Queen St. E., near Broadview Ave., Sgt Blair Davey said. The man, in his 30s, was conscious when police arrived and was treated for minor injuries. He gave police a description of a man who he said attacked him, but officers haven't made an arrest. At 2:58 a.m., police were called to a gas station near Queen St. E., near Leslie St., just blocks from the stabbing. The would-be robber said he had a weapon and demanded cash, but then fled without taking anything, Davey said. At 3:05 a.m., a man fitting the same description tried the same thing at a 7-Eleven further along Queen St. E. He walked in to the store, demanded cash, and fled when the clerk refused. "Nothing was obtained in either one of them . . . nobody injured," Davey said. Police are looking for at least one man with a lighter complexion in both attempted robberies, while the stabbing victim told police his attacker was about six-feet-tall with a thin build. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 10:50:45 -0600 From: News@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Subject: Snowplow chases backhoe thief- TheStar Snowplow chases backhoe thief http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/303185 Culprit used tractor to break down wall of coin car wash to get at change machine Feb 13, 2008 06:57 AM Josh Wingrove staff reporter A man who stole a backhoe to break down the wall of a car wash to get at the coin machine was chased down by a snowplow driver and later arrested after police followed his tracks in the snow. The backhoe was stolen from a construction site in the St. Clair Ave. W. and Lansdowne Ave. area around 2 a.m. Wednesday, Toronto police Staff Sgt. Mark Tilley said. The suspect drove about 4 kilometres to a coin car wash along Dundas St. W., near Durie St. "He used the backhoe to smash into the coin wash wall," Tilley said. "He worked at it, and he picked out - with the tractor - the coin change machine." The suspect was then spotted by a snowplow driver clearing roads nearby. The driver called police, while pursuing the fleeing tractor at a snail's pace. The thief abandoned the vehicle on a nearby side street, leaving the change machine as well. "No doubt they thought it was very unusual to see someone smashing into a wall," Tilley said. Once police arrived, they took a traditional approach to the search, following a set of footsteps from the scene that led to the arrest of a man. Tilley said it's not the first time someone has used a stolen vehicle to break into a building for cash. "It's a little different, but it does happen. They do it with other vehicles, with ABMs and what not," he said. The 37-year-old man will appear in court today on three charges, including theft over $5,000 and mischief. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 10:22:49 -0700 From: Dennis & Hazel Young Subject: Professor laments the exclusively get-tough laws on crime CTV - Canada AM - 2008.02.13 http://www.ctv.ca/generic/generated/static/AMdefault.html Professor laments the exclusively get-tough laws on crime THOMSON: When it comes to crime most politicians support the approach of getting tough. Now a new book by a Canadian professor is saying that more police and more lawyers may be the wrong way to go. Irwin Waller is the author of "Less Law More Order", a fresh perspective on how to fight rising crime rates in Canada and the US. He's also the founding director of the Institute for the Prevention of Crime at the University of Ottawa. And he joins us from Ottawa this morning. Good morning. WALLER: Good morning, Bev. THOMSON: Mr. Waller, let me take you back just a little bit in terms of your motivation for this book. Because I understand your life took a very different path when you were a victim of crime. Or violence. WALLER: Between school and university I worked on a freighter and I was a victim of a very serious assault. And when I went to Cambridge I was going there to do nuclear physics. I spoke fluent Russian. And the experience of being a victim really changed my life. And I went into criminology. At that time, Criminology at Cambridge was very interested at influencing policy. So, my whole life has been built around trying to get better policy to deal with crime issues. THOMSON: And you've studied it, well, clearly, extensively. And in this book you look at a number of different cities in the US. And one of the cities that you talk about in terms of its effectiveness is Boston. Tell me about what Boston has done right. WALLER: Well, Boston spiked a gang-related rise in murders, very much like we're seeing in Toronto and Winnipeg and some other Canadian cities at the moment. And what they did in Boston was the police got very smart. They brought in a professor to work with them to help them identify the young men involved in the gangs and help them confront those gang members. And at the same time -- and this is really the important part of the message -- at the same time they invested in programs to help youth go back to school, get job training and get jobs. And they got amazing results, basically eliminated the number of people under 18 being killed. And they dropped by 50 percent or more the number of young men over 18 getting killed. THOMSON: So, really targeting, you know, the vulnerable areas of communities in different cities. But you also say that the answer is not necessarily more police on the street either. How come? WALLER: Well, in Boston they didn't need to increase the number of police. They just used the police who were already there more smartly. And one of my concerns at the moment in this country is that we see police budgets going up, we see the provinces investing more in prisons, but we don't see a matching amount being invested in the programs that will tackle the roots of this violence. And I think we see these ongoing levels of 50 or so people killed in gang murders in Toronto, we see a number of innocent bystanders killed. There's no doubt that this could be stopped very quickly if the federal and provincial governments got together with the municipalities to target these problems. THOMSON: Well, the great debate ongoing at the moment, of course, the crime bill at the federal government. And the Tories of course wanting the Senate to pass that. What do you think of C-2? What do you think of the measures involved in C-2? Including getting tougher penalties for gun crimes. WALLER: Well, I was involved, I was a director-general in the Canadian government in the seventies when we introduced the major gun-control legislation, when we introduced the dangerous-offender legislation. I'm not particularly against this bill, but what it shows is a lack of attention to the things that will make a major difference to violence. And I'm really frustrated that the political parties -- all the political parties -- have chosen to focus so much on these penalties, without really looking at what works. One of the reasons I spent so much time writing a short book for politicians, for the voters, was to give them access to the really very hopeful information about what works to reduce violence and the sorts of legislation that this country could have that would put us at the forefront of reducing violence. THOMSON: Yeah, and highlighting the programs that have worked in your book. "Less Law More Order" is the name of it. Mr. Waller, thank you so much for your time. WALLER: Thank you. Irwin Waller, Author, Less Law More Order ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 11:54:09 -0600 From: News@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Subject: Groups act to save grouse- Globe & Mail Groups act to save grouse http://www.theglobeandmail.com//servlet/story/LAC.20080214.BCGROUSE14/TPStory/National/ MARK HUME February 14, 2008 VANCOUVER -- With its stunning plumage and a courtship dance that is known as one of nature's most amazing spectacles, the greater sage-grouse has become an icon of the wild, prairie grasslands. But the dance of the largest and some might say the most beautiful of all North American grouse has been rapidly fading from the landscape. In Canada, where they are found only in southwest Alberta and southeast Saskatchewan, there are about 600 birds in total, down from 6,000 a few decades ago. At the same time, the number of active dancing sites has dropped to 17 from 82 and the habitat range has declined by 96 per cent. Now, several environmental groups are launching a Federal Court action against John Baird, the Minister of Environment, claiming the government hasn't been protecting the places where the birds gather to dance and raise their broods. In a court application that was filed in Vancouver late yesterday, Ecojustice Canada argues the federal government has violated the Species At Risk Act by failing to identify critical habitat in a recovery strategy that was released just last month. "Essentially, what we are asking the court for is ... to expressly find that the Minister of Environment broke the law," said Devon Page, a staff lawyer with Ecojustice Canada. The application seeks an order quashing the government's greater sage-grouse recovery strategy and declarations that the minister "erred in law ... acted without jurisdiction ... [and] based his decision on an erroneous finding of fact made in a perverse or capricious manner." Mr. Page said the Alberta Wilderness Association, Federation of Alberta Naturalists, Grasslands Naturalists, Nature Saskatchewan and Western Canada Wilderness Committee want the recovery strategy revoked and re-released with critical habitat included. Mr. Page, who is already pursuing a similar action in Federal Court concerning the endangered Nooksack dace, a freshwater fish in British Columbia, said a pattern has emerged in which the government's recovery strategies for endangered species do not identify critical habitat, even when scientists have mapped it. He said the government doesn't want to include habitat because then it would have to protect it - and with the greater sage-grouse, that might create conflict with the oil and gas industry, livestock operations and highway expansion. Environment Canada officials couldn't be reached for comment last night, but in the Nooksack dace case, federal lawyers have argued the complaints are too broad and call for a review of policy that would be better suited to a royal commission than to a court hearing. The federal recovery strategy states its goals are to ensure no further loss of sage-grouse dancing grounds and to increase the breeding population, but Mark Boyce, with the Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Alberta, says to save the bird the government will first have to save its habitat. "It's desperately endangered, mostly because of habitat loss," Dr. Boyce said of the greater sage-grouse, which was added to the endangered species list in 1998. He said the population is so low that "any turn for the worse [in environmental conditions] could cause them to go extinct." Dr. Boyce said researchers know exactly where the birds range and it would be possible for the government "to lay out our maps and say here's where we have critical rearing and brooding habitat and you can't build roads there." Such restrictions would not harm the oil and gas industry, because "they could go around these areas" and use directional wells to get at deposits, he said. Dr. Boyce, who has been studying the birds since 1977, said the mating dances typically involve 20 to 30 males at a single location, and are "truly one of the most amazing spectacles of the animal world." In spring, the adult birds, which weight about three kilograms, gather at sites known as leks, where the males perform a dance competition to attract mates. Puffing out their brilliant white chests, displaying tail feathers, and making a popping sound with air sacs, they compete for days until a dominant male occupies the centre of the lek. The winner of the dance-off gets to breed with 80 per cent of the females. E-mail Mark Hume mhume@globeandmail.com ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 12:09:36 -0600 From: "David R.G. Jordan" Subject: Soldier blasts shoddy gear for troops- TheStar Soldier blasts shoddy gear for troops http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/303516 Complains equipment ill-suited for combat Feb 14, 2008 04:30 AM Sean Gordon Quebec Bureau Chief MONTREAL–A Quebec soldier has reignited a lingering controversy with claims the equipment issued to him and his colleagues from the Royal 22nd Regiment is shoddy and ill-suited to the combat mission in Afghanistan. The Canadian military boasts its soldiers are among the best-equipped in the world, but those claims don't square with the frequent grumbles from the front lines. Frustrated by what he termed the Canadian Forces' unwillingness to act, Cpl. Daniel Beaulieu took the unusual step of going public, contacting a reporter from the Quebec-based TVA network this week. "The guys over there are the ones with their boots in the sand, they're the ones who know whether a vest or a holster or whatever is well-adapted or not ... and if you ask me, no one's bothered to listen to them," said Beaulieu, an 11-year veteran of the Forces who returned from his second military tour in Afghanistan two weeks ago. Tactical vests issued to infantry soldiers are substandard and don't have enough pockets to carry spare ammunition, Beaulieu said, adding that holsters for side arms are so poorly designed weapons routinely slide out – a major problem given soldiers' pistols are often loaded. Boots that bite into soldiers' feet on long marches are also a problem, he said. "I don't know if we can say this has cost lives, but (the equipment) certainly hasn't helped," he said. Beaulieu's comments provided ample fodder for opposition parties in Ottawa. Liberal defence critic Denis Coderre (Bourassa) said the complaints are not new, and called on the government to protect Beaulieu from reprisals – he is said to be under internal investigation for speaking publicly. Bloc Québécois MP Claude Bachand (Saint-Jean) told the Commons "soldiers' safety is being compromised" by subpar equipment. Defence Minister Peter MacKay replied that soldiers' input is routinely sought and that "we are constantly in the process of upgrading equipment ... we continue to do our best to provide the best equipment in the world for our soldiers." Beaulieu's complaints were enough to prompt military officials to hold an impromptu briefing at an Ottawa barracks yesterday. "Can we provide equipment that will please everybody all the time? No. ``Is (the equipment) accepted by the vast majority? Yes. Does it do the business? I'd say what we provide is some of the finest equipment you'll find anywhere in the world," Col. Jean-Marc Lanthier, the forces' chief supply officer, told reporters. ------------------------------ Date: Thu, 14 Feb 2008 11:36:59 -0600 From: News@sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca Subject: Quebec poacher gets deer-count contract- Globe & Mail Quebec poacher gets deer-count contract http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20080214.MOOSE14/TPStory/TPNational/Quebec/ RHÉAL SÉGUIN February 14, 2008 QUEBEC CITY -- Quebec Natural Resources Minister Claude Béchard said his hands were tied when it came to awarding more than $320,000 in contracts to count moose and deer to a company run by a convicted poacher. Government policy requires that contracts be awarded to the lowest bidder, Mr. Béchard explained yesterday. He said that is why Panorama Helicopter won the contract even though its owner, André Martel, was found guilty last Dec. 17 of using one of his helicopters to poach moose. The vivid pictures of a dead moose, hanging by a rope from a helicopter, made headlines at the time of the arrest in November of 2006. Mr. Martel was fined $48,000. According to documents obtained by Le Journal de Montréal, three days after his conviction, Mr. Martel signed a contract worth nearly $220,000 to fly over the Outaouais and Upper Laurentian regions to count the moose population. He then received two other contracts totalling more than $100,000 to count the deer population in two other regions. "It was a regrettable situation. I paid the fine. I paid my debt to society. I don't see why I can't continue to make a living and I will certainly bid on other contracts," Mr. Martel said in a telephone interview yesterday from his company in Alma, about 250 kilometres north of Quebec City. When the poachers were arrested, wildlife agents described the group as brazen and cruel. The game wardens' investigation showed that the hunting party illegally stalked moose by helicopter until the animals were dazed and ragged, then shot them with powerful rifles. Mr. Martel's $1.5-million helicopter was seized, but he has since recovered it. Along with about a dozen other hunters, he was charged with numerous counts of chasing moose and firing on them from his helicopter "We are certainly uncomfortable with the situation," Mr. Béchard said yesterday, insisting that it was exceptional for a convicted poacher to receive a contract to track down moose and deer populations. "We did everything that was legally possible. But you know it's like someone who is caught speeding, if you pay your fine we don't stop you from driving." ------------------------------ End of Cdn-Firearms Digest V11 #211 *********************************** 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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