Cdn-Firearms Digest Monday, February 16 2009 Volume 13 : Number 053 In this issue: Windsor Star: 'Green' fur protested Calgary Sun - Column - Publicity not hard to garner Sask. sets sights on Sunday hunting Globe and Mail: Ottawa recalls databank in border project Vancouver Sun: Band-Aid plan will do little to stop the carnage Letter: The rest of us are collateral damage when bullets fly Letter: Gun-registry Titanic to finally sink? Louis Riel day, Manitoba. Re: Additional info on CPIC ... [BLOG] The New Look At Gun Violence In BC Needs To Tread Softly ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2009 10:59:50 -0500 From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 2" Subject: Windsor Star: 'Green' fur protested PUBLICATION: The Windsor Star DATE: 2009.02.16 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: A3 ILLUSTRATION: Photo: Tyler Brownbridge, Windsor Star / NOT CONVINCED: Animal rights activists protest Saturday in front of a billboard on Riverside Drive proclaiming Fur is Green. ; SOURCE: Windsor Star WORD COUNT: 159 - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------= 'Green' fur protested - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------= Fifteen animal rights activists protested in front of a Fur is Green billboard on Riverside Drive Saturday, calling the campaign by Canada's fur industry "utterly absurd." The campaign's website furisgreen.com describes fur as an excellent choice during a time when people are conscious about how their lifestyles affect nature. "Like leather, suede and shearling, fur is a natural product, a true gift of nature," the website claims. The green billboard from the Fur Council of Canada drew local members of the Windsor Animal Action Group, who felt the marketing campaign is a way to hitch onto the environmental bandwagon, said spokesman Dan MacDonald. "There's nothing ecologically friendly about ripping the skin off the back of an animal," he said during the one-hour protest. The website says the use of furs shows respect for the land, for animals and for people and cultures. But, MacDonald said, "I just think fur is out and they're feeling the crunch, and we're just here to usher them out a little more quickly." ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2009 08:08:08 -0800 (PST) From: Bruce Mills Subject: Calgary Sun - Column - Publicity not hard to garner http://calsun.canoe.ca/News/Columnists/Platt_Michael/2009/02/15/8398981-sun.php Publicity not hard to garner The days of hippies chaining themselves to trees are gone, just ask the corporate giants By MICHAEL PLATT UPDATED: 2009-02-15 02:58:35 MST If you're a fringe activist looking to boost yourself from little-known irritant to international headache, it used to take planning, perseverance and a sack full of pluck. Preach about saving the whales all you like, in the old days, it meant ramming your boat into an actual whaling ship to earn respect and public attention. Sure, half of the protesters ended up near-drowned or in jail, but the old-time press took note of sacrifice, conflict and/or stupidity -- it's why hippies used to chain themselves to trees while taunting the lumberjacks. Not anymore. There's no need. These days, whether you're a protester or god-basher trying to get attention, it's easier to get corporate giants to do the work for you, when they take a reflexive swat at the pest bothering them. Make a nuisance of yourself to any organization with a surplus of lawyers and public relations staff, and the reaction will be swift, heavy-handed, and a sure-fire publicity hit for the intended target. It's instant attention for the gnat that was meant to be crushed by the high-priced lawyers or indignant spokespeople -- advertising, as it were, paid for by the enemy. Because news is now in shared control of the press and the populace, thanks to computers and wireless communication, the tiniest battle between Goliath organization and David protester creates an international buzz. Instead of squashing the bug, the giant organization buys itself a role as the villain, and the pest gets publicity that used to take years and a sunken boat or two to earn. Examples are everywhere, whether it's the Catholic Church slamming atheist bus ads, or Canada's Mint attacking fringe environmentalists who would use coins as miniature billboards. Consider the tiny Campus Pro-Life club at the University of Calgary, which toiled for years under an anonymous cloud of scorn and middle-fingers from fellow students. Enter the ham-fist of university management, which slams down with the threat of expulsion and legal action when the pro-lifers refuse to hide gross and puerile, yet easily-ignored, anti-abortion posters. Police this month charge the students with trespassing, and the university orders the club disbanded. The result? More than 10,000 Internet hits and five full Google pages of news articles on the conflict, from sources around the world -- and few have kind words for the university attacking its own students. The U of C, for all its cash and trouble, has earned a reputation as a bully that strangles free speech -- this for opposing a group of kids flexing the naive wings of youthful idealism. Calgary's university isn't alone. The Royal Canadian Mint is paying for its own failure to think before going on the attack this week, when officials there decided to legally threaten those who would dare deface the Loonie. Actually, it wasn't defacing so much as plastering a temporary decal on the dollar-coin -- the vinyl "sticker" makes it look like the coin's bird is covered with oil, and it directs people to a website, notankers.ca. The owners of that website, Dogwood Initiative, are opposed to oil tankers along the B.C. coast and now, thanks to the Royal Mint, they're all over the Internet and the hit of the environmental world. "We think it's a small act of civil disobedience, that puts nobody in harm's way," said Dogwood spokesman Charles Campbell. Exactly the kind of protest that used to require blockades and the risk of split skulls now needs a few cheap stickers and an irritated establishment to succeed. One has to wonder what harm a few static-cling stickers, easily removed, were causing and whether the publicity Dogwood has earned with its novel idea will result in a flurry of copy-cat stickers. Probably. The Mint's argument that coins shouldn't be used for advertising seems especially silly when Canada's quarter has served as a mass-produced billboard for everything from the Olympics to breast cancer awareness. To truly deface Canada's money is a crime, but in a case like this, the Royal Canadian Mint only appears to be putting the petty back into petty cash. Hopefully, for other companies/churches/institutions, there's a lesson to be learned, as these molehills become Himalaya-sized mountains, and a public-relations nightmare. It's a brave new world for protesters, except it has nothing to do with bravery, and everything to do with generating publicity. So far, they're the ones winning. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2009 11:05:47 -0500 From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 2" Subject: Sask. sets sights on Sunday hunting PUBLICATION: The Edmonton Sun DATE: 2009.02.16 EDITION: Final SECTION: News PAGE: 34 BYLINE: CP DATELINE: MOOSE JAW, Sask. WORD COUNT: 200 - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------= Sask. sets sights on Sunday hunting - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------= Environment Minister Nancy Heppner used a speech to the annual convention of the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation to announce that Sunday hunting for all game species will be allowed across the province starting this fall. Heppner is predicting a $10-million boost to Saskatchewan's rural economy by allowing hunting on both days of the weekend, which is already allowed in many U.S. states. "Sunday hunting will provide economic benefits to our rural economy and strengthen tourism and recreational hunting opportunities," said Heppner. "Hunting generates over $100 million for rural and local communities." Sunday hunting will allow those who work Monday to Friday an extra day to enjoy the sport, she said. "I got a note from a 13-year-old who'd gone hunting for the first time this last year and wasn't successful," Heppner recounted. "He figured one of the reasons that he wasn't (successful) was that he only had one day." A release from the environment ministry says a 2006 economic evaluation showed more than $100 million in hunting-related expenditure in the province, which created the equivalent of 1,000 full-time jobs. The release also makes brief mention of issues related to aboriginal treaties. "The Ministry of Environment will continue to ensure that wildlife resources are managed to provide priority to First Nations and Metis people under their aboriginal and treaty rights, after conservation needs are met." ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2009 11:18:26 -0500 From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 2" Subject: Globe and Mail: Ottawa recalls databank in border project PUBLICATION: GLOBE AND MAIL DATE: 2009.02.16 PAGE: A6 BYLINE: DEAN BEEBY SECTION: National News SOURCE: CP EDITION: Metro DATELINE: Ottawa ONT WORDS: 641 - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------= PRIVACY ISSUES Ottawa recalls databank in border project Personal information about Canadians from 'enhanced driver's licences' will no longer be housed in U.S. - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------= DEAN BEEBY The Canadian Press OTTAWA The federal government is repatriating a database of personal information about Canadian citizens after warnings the U.S. government might misuse it. The database with details about several hundred British Columbians was turned over to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency last year as part of a controversial project to issue "enhanced driver's licences" instead of passports for land-border crossings. The pilot project is the first step in a Canada-wide program that could have seen the personal information of hundreds of thousands of Canadians handed over wholesale to U.S. officials. But the Canada Border Services Agency has bowed to pressure from privacy advocates and is recalling the database, with the U.S. border agency promising to erase its records. Instead, as the project expands, the growing personal databanks will reside in Canada, accessible electronically - with strict limits - by U.S. border officials. "The data will remain in Canada, and it will be accessed remotely," said David Loukidelis, British Columbia's privacy commissioner and a critic of the original plan. Washington has been toughening rules for people entering the United States from Canada, requiring passports for air passengers since 2007 and, as of June 1 this year, passports for travellers by land and water. However, U.S. officials will also accept so-called "enhanced driver's licences" at land and marine border points in lieu of a passport, through a joint program developed with Ottawa. As part of the B.C. pilot project, 521 citizens signed up as volunteers and were issued a special driver's licence with an embedded chip, known as a radio-frequency identification device or RFID. The chips, which can be read by electronic scanners up to 4.5 metres away, contain a unique identifying number for each card holder. During the pilot project, American border officials scanned the RFID and used the unique number to locate the personal information of the bearer in the database supplied by Canada. The personal data included full name, birth date, gender, citizenship and other information that is also contained in a passport. In addition, U.S. officials could access a digital image of the bearer. The Canada Border Services Agency signed an agreement with its U.S. counterpart to ensure that the information would be accessed only by U.S. officers at the time of crossing for border purposes only. However, the USA Patriot Act could trump that clause, forcing the U.S. border service to turn over information to American security agencies. "It is clear that there is potential for secondary use," says a federal- provincial review of the project, dated Aug. 14 and obtained under the Access to Information Act. The review also expressed concern that the digital image, which is not currently contained in Canadian passports, "does have the potential to be used for secondary purposes as a biometric identifier." Volunteer participants in the B.C. project were warned their personal information could be disclosed beyond the American border service "to other organizations for any other purpose as authorized by U.S. law." Each time personal data are accessed at the border, it is recorded permanently in the U.S. Treasury Enforcement Communications System or TECS, just as similar information is recorded in TECS whenever a passport holder is checked at the Canada-U.S. border. The second phase of the B.C. project, open to all Canadian citizens living in the province, is set to be launched this spring for those who don't want to use a passport. About 48,000 of the enhanced driver's licences are expected to be issued, said Alex Dabrowski, a spokesman for the British Columbia government in Victoria. The fee has not yet been established. Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Nova Scotia have also asked to sign on, some as early as this spring. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, February 16, 2009 10:15 am From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 2" Subject: Vancouver Sun: Band-Aid plan will do little to stop the carnage PUBLICATION: Vancouver Sun DATE: 2009.02.16 EDITION: Final SECTION: Westcoast News PAGE: A3 COLUMN: Ian Mulgrew ILLUSTRATION: Colour Photo: Ian Lindsay, Vancouver Sun / Political will,law-enforcement accountability and candour about the roots of this problem are all needed to stop gang violence. ; BYLINE: Ian Mulgrew SOURCE: Vancouver Sun WORD COUNT: 572 - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Band-Aid plan will do little to stop the carnage - -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Premier Gordon Campbell's hastily cobbled together plan for tackling criminal gangs in B.C. is a Band-Aid instead of much-needed public policy surgery. The addition of 10 new prosecutors and 168 new police officers over the next two years will do little to stem the gun violence linked to the illegal drug trade or cripple the criminal organizations behind it. Of course, more police and more prosecutors should help, but the increases announced barely keep pace with the growth of the gang menace. And for all the rhetoric, a special 10-member police unit dedicated to seizing illegal firearms is baloney -- every police officer should be dedicated to that task! After a spree of assassination attempts across the Lower Mainland, the initiatives announced with much fanfare Friday at best will take pressure off the Liberal administration in its run-up to May's election. But it is not good enough. In their first term, the Liberals crowed about targeting the top leaders of organized criminal gangs and vowed to tackle the rise of Indo-Canadian crime groups. We still have not seen the conviction of even a single major gang leader in this province and Indo-Canadian groups continue to be among the most active of organized criminals. We apparently have more than 125 different gangs today where once we had outlaw bikers and the traditional Mob. By any measure, the situation has worsened. Yet Campbell and his colleagues claim this latest makeshift strategy will work. I am more than skeptical; I'm incredulous. Premier Campbell, Attorney-General Wally Oppal and Solicitor-General John van Dongen obviously think they can distract us with more talk and promises. In Quebec a decade ago, the province targeted the bikers, jailed the leader of the Hells Angels and dozens of others. Last week, hundreds of police were again dispatched to round up dozens of gangsters. That's real action. What do we get? A damage-control press conference and a great wringing of hands about the need for changes to the Criminal Code and other federal legislation. Instead of announcing arrests, our politicians trumpet plans for a junket to Ottawa to discuss amendments to the Criminal Code. Good grief. Criminal law changes, amendments to the wiretap legislation or new bail rules would certainly make life easier for law-enforcement, but as provinces on the other side of the Rockies have shown, they are not essential to stopping violence in our communities. Rather, we need politicians who will quit passing the buck, cops to do their job, prosecutors to back them up and judges to hand down stiff sentences for gang crimes -- all of which requires no legislative changes. Remember the Mafia? That's what's wrong with the discussion about organized crime in this province -- it's dishonest. The Mounties don't report to Victoria so we can't fire the guys who run E Division for failing miserably to catch the Air India bombers, stop Robert Pickton, curb Indo-Canadian crime gangs or corral the Hells Angels. Heck, the attorney-general couldn't even get answers out of them after the Tasering of Robert Dziekanski. In spite of these abject failures, no Mountie has been canned. Instead, our politicians and the RCMP whine about the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and disclosure rules. What is missing is not special laws, it's political will, law-enforcement accountability and candour about the roots of this problem. The truth is we have a dysfunctional policing regime in B.C. and we are all paying the price. But we are not seriously having that discussion. I think there are two keys to solving our gang problem -- one is the legalization of the illicit drugs that fuel organized crime and the other is for Victoria to re-assume control of policing in the province. The Liberals, however, have no appetite for either. As a result, we have a Band-Aid solution -- one that will perhaps keep public anger from boiling over until after the provincial election but that will do nothing to truly eradicate gangs or staunch the carnage. imulgrew@vancouversun.com ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2009 11:18:47 -0500 From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 2" Subject: Letter: The rest of us are collateral damage when bullets fly PUBLICATION: Vancouver Sun DATE: 2009.02.16 EDITION: Final SECTION: Letters PAGE: A6 BYLINE: Holly MacDonald SOURCE: Vancouver Sun WORD COUNT: 280 - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------= The rest of us are collateral damage when bullets fly - ---------------------------------------------------------------------------= The three words I hate to read in articles relating to crime, especially gangland crime, are "known to police." The police are aware of these individuals and their mandate, but are handcuffed by lenient sentences handed down by our courts. I cannot imagine the level of frustration they must feel. It's no wonder these gangsters appear untouchable. First and foremost, they protect their turf knowing it is their own lives at stake. They suit up with their bullet-proof vests, and pack their firearms even before stepping out the door. If they fear anyone, it's other gangsters, not the police, and certainly not the courts. Spending a bit of time in the slammer is just the cost of doing business. They know they're untouchable in this current environment of leniency, and this attitude trickles right down to the petty thieves on our streets. It's a "no-fear" attitude that reigns supreme, from the highest echelons of crime right down to the small-time criminal. To be the victim of a random bullet, by simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time is becoming more of a certainty with each new day. The rest of us are just collateral damage and nothing more to these gangsters. Loyalty to their brothers in crime, protecting their turf with a willingness to die in the process, is paramount for them. We, the public, remain invisible in their world. This is big business, and until they fear the consequences of being put away for years, little will change. Sadly, they remain free to carry out their agenda, they happily remain "known to police." Big deal. Holly MacDonald, Vancouver ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2009 11:19:07 -0500 From: "Breitkreuz, Garry - Assistant 2" Subject: Letter: Gun-registry Titanic to finally sink? PUBLICATION: The Chronicle-Herald DATE: 2009.02.16 SECTION: Letters PAGE: A7 Thank goodness our politicians have finally come to their senses on the $3-billion boondoggle long-gun registry. MP Garry Breitkreuz has introduced Bill C-301 as a private member's bill and, with luck, it will quickly pass through both houses, allowing the gun-registry Titanic to finally sink. It is long overdue that we admitted the futility and folly of legally attacking the most scrutinized and law-abiding cultural minority in Canada, the shooting sports enthusiasts, as an attempt to curb gangland violence committed by antisocial thugs who do not care for our laws. If we truly want to end the gang violence, we must stop making strawman criminals out of sportsmen and women, and instead go after the roots of the problem. M.J. Ackermann, Sherbrooke ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2009 10:04:12 -0700 From: "Med Crotteau" Subject: Louis Riel day, Manitoba. Well, the news paper sez it's Louis Riel day in Manitoba. Also a cudos was stated, about him being the father of Manitoba. yet, the canadian gov't., put him to Death, on the Gallows. Unlike the Canadian Firearms owners, sitting on their laurels, Louis went all the way, fighting for what is now known, as his rights. 1885 to 2009, is a long time to be exonerated! We need a leader! We're canadian, eh..?? SCRAP THE FIREARMS ACT Med Crotteau ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2009 12:47:35 -0500 (EST) From: Rob Sciuk Subject: Re: Additional info on CPIC ... > Reported on CPIC: > > Methinks this must be in jest. Is there a source? > >> CPIC also falls short (apparently) when it comes to those wanted for >> warrants, failure to appear, restraining orders, and AFAICT, also with >> court ordered firearms prohibitions, because by default, if'n you're *IN* >> CPIC, it is likely that you don't have a F/A license ... except of >> course, if you are in it because you are a gun owner! Like any other >> database -- Garbage In, Charter Infringement Out! Lee, there was a case of a "Ron" someone or other (IIRC) who had been arrested in one jurisdiction, a few years back with outstanding warrants, and an outstanding undertaking with respect to a former girlfriend ... he was released, and kidnapped her shortly afterwards (I don't recall the outcome)... I'm trying to put my finger on it, because I know I wrote a letter which was published concerning the matter, but I'm not sure to whom. In any event, this is anecdotal evidence that CPIC had/has some shortcomings ... or some procedural glitches in any event ... ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 16 Feb 2009 09:47:26 -0800 (PST) From: Bruce Mills Subject: [BLOG] The New Look At Gun Violence In BC Needs To Tread Softly http://www.opinion250.com/blog/view/12085/7/the+new+look+at+gun+violence+in+bc+needs+to+tread+%20softly The New Look At Gun Violence In BC Needs To Tread Softly By Ben Meisner Monday, February 16, 2009 03:45 AM The crackdown of gang violence using guns is a good one, however if the provincial government hopes to get the entire population on side, they had better make certain that legitimate gun owners feel confident they are not being targeted in any new sweep. There are 212,316 licensed firearms owners in BC, who have licensed 874,496 registered firearms. By contrast in the first half of 2008 the Tactical Analysis unit recorded a total of 2,537 firearms seizures in Canada. Of that number 1,393 (55%) were crime guns, meaning they had the serial number filed off, were used in the commission of a crime, came into the country illegally or had been altered from replica's to work. Those statistics clearly point out that the average long gun owner and for that matter the recreational shooters that were forced to register their guns during the gun registry have not now or ever been the problem with guns in Canada. Ontario has suggested that they would like to see a total ban on hand guns, which is no more than political gamesmanship. The hand guns that are being used in the commission of an offence have in recent times been either brought into Canada generally from Washington State illegally, purchased by movie set operators and then filtered into the crooks hands, or replicas that have been altered to become fully functional. While the number of guns registered in BC is 874 thousand, a further 30% have never been registered by their owners who feared what government had in mind when they introduced the legislation. To this point they have been right in their analysis, that they are not the root cause of the problem of gun violence. The duck and deer hunter are not responsible for the problem of gun violence and it is nice to see that the report by Tony Heemskerk and Eric Davies points that out. In England a total band was placed on hand guns, the result has been that illegal firearms, in one case machine guns, returned to normal from replicas are the order of the day. The crooks may have guns, the public does not. The report commissioned by the provincial government suggest that a total ban on hand guns in Ontario, as they would like to see, would be difficult to administer and have little or not affect. If the provincial government, in its effort to set up a special task force to deal with the increasing use of guns by gangs, does not indicate to the regular owners of guns that they are not the target of the new crackdown, they run the risk of alienating the very people, the legitimate gun owners for coming on side. Coupled with that 212,000 voters voting en mass is a force that no party should overlook. One should keep in mind that the actual number of gun deaths in BC has deceased since 2001; although projections are that the gun deaths will reach 51 in 2008, they will not exceed the 2005 figures of 63 deaths. Care and caution should be the words of the day. I'm Meisner and that's one man's opinion. ------------------------------ End of Cdn-Firearms Digest V13 #53 ********************************** Submissions: mailto:cdn-firearms-digest@scorpion.bogend.ca Mailing List Commands: mailto:majordomo@scorpion.bogend.ca Moderator's email: mailto:owner-cdn-firearms@scorpion.bogend.ca List owner: mailto:owner-cdn-firearms@scorpion.bogend.ca FAQ list: http://www.canfirearms/Skeeter/Faq/cfd-faq1.html Web Site: http://www.canfirearms.ca CFDigest Archives: http://www.canfirearms.ca/archives To unsubscribe from _all_ the lists, put the next four lines in a message and mailto:majordomo@scorpion.bogend.ca unsubscribe cdn-firearms-digest unsubscribe cdn-firearms-chat unsubscribe cdn-firearms end (To subscribe, use "subscribe" instead of "unsubscribe".)