Recent deaths in the Toronto area have raised new warnings about the use, or rather misuse, of the painkiller Fentanyl. Forty times for portent than heroin, there have been 655 deaths attributed to Fentanyl alone from 2009 to 2014, and in the last week alone there was a high profile theft of patches in Toronto, two high-profile arrests in Halton Region, and 16 overdoses in a single day in Vancouver. In the shadow of that recent news, and a bulletin from the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse, the Guelph Police Service has issued their own warning.
After nearly a year of questions, and the arrest last week of Stephan Dietrich on the charge of first degree murder, Guelph Police have confirmed today that the remains in the home on Vancouver Dr did indeed belong to Mimi Dietrich.
If you thought that things got worse on local roads last year in terms of car accidents and collisions, it turns out that you're right. There were 36 more collisions in 2014 than there were in 2013 according to new statistics released by the Guelph Police Service today. Amongst the statistics released were the worst month on the road, the worst day of the week on the road, the worst time to be on the road and three worst intersections in the city. What's the worst time to play the odds against traffic?
It's fall and the election is full swing, but the fall also seems to bring with it new opportunity for scammers and ne'er-do-wells looking to swindle hard working Guelphites out of a few bucks. The City of Guelph sent out a warning yesterday that the old water treatment system fraud is back in town going door-to-door in an attempt to bamboozle Royal City citizens. If you are approached, and you think there's something fishy about the offer, they're advising you to get in touch with Guelph Police.
It's getting so that keeping up with the goings on of embattled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is a full-time job, In fact, I think the Toronto Star has 3 or 4 people on it. But just as today's debate in city hall, which at times seemed like a trial with 43 prosecutors, looked like it was coming in for a landing, a judge decided to throw napalm on the out-of-control fire that's burning in Ford Nation by un-redacting more of those police documents from the investigation into Ford's alliances, and the picture it paints ain't pretty. As Ford emphatically stated again and again that he was not an addict on the council floor, police documents recounted one night where the Mayor finished a 40 oz bottle of vodka, took Oxy, snorted coke, and consorted with a woman believed to be a sex worker while sexually harassing one staffer, and calling a taxi driver a "Paki." And you thought you partied hard.
In what was another sterling example of how the law and justice are sometimes not the same thing, last night's verdict in the George Zimmerman trial found the would-be neighbourhood watch enforcer not guilty of second degree murder against teenager Treyvon Martin. To some, it will seem like Zimmerman got away with murder, to others it's a vindication of Zimmerman and his "second amendment rights," a man unfairly pilloried due to a misunderstanding. The truth, as usual, is somewhere inbetween, but one thing is undeniable, if George Zimmerman wasn't walking around armed like some kind of urban cowboy cop wannabe, Treyvon Martin would have celebrated his 18th birthday this past February.
Traditionally, the term "Black Friday" means the point in the year that U.S. retailers start making profit, as in they go from being in the red, into the black. While I suppose technically that's what Black Friday still means, for thousands who work in the retail sector it means dealing with the type of scene one usually needs police or military training to handle. That's part of the reason why thousands of Wal-Mart workers across America are held a walkout in their stores today, thus avoiding all potential stampedes, shootings, and chemical attacks that now seem to accompany, what should be, a pleasant day of shopping.
Concerns were already being raised in the midst of the madness last year, not just because of the escalating violence, which will undoubtedly see some Best Buy in Toledo get nuked in 2015 as people riot over $100 X-Boxes, but because of the instance of these stores having to open at 5, 4, even 3 am on what's supposed to be a holiday weekend. The trend has gotten even worse this year, with stores opening at midnight, meaning employees have to report to work on what's supposed to be a national holiday.
Now one can certainly make an argument that people who work in retail choose that life, and thus they lose the right to complain, but working at a big box store isn't the same as, say, joining the army. And no one as a kid says that they want to be a greeter, or move skids around in a stock room, when they grow up. But even if they did, are they not entitled to the same time off? Even Scrooge gave Cratchet the day off and that's before the ghosts fixed him.
By far one of the most contentious moves by the Harper government, and let's be honest because that is really saying something, is the Safe Streets and Communities Act. The SSC is an aggressive new addendum to the Criminal Code that will replace pardons with "record suspensions," hand out mandatory minimums for some drug and sexual related offenses, increase prison terms for those charged with marijuana-related crimes and roll back the ability of judges to sentence offenders to house arrest.
The controversial act has been called out by many who believe that some of the bill's more draconian measures are taking us down a road of extreme crime and punishment more in line with the U.S., which I believe currently has over 7 million people under correctional supervision (in jail, on parole, or probation). The United States, as reported in a 2008 article in the New York Times, has five per cent of the world population, but 25 per cent of the world's prisoners. In fact, in 2008 the U.S. had 2.3 million people in prison, which was about 700,000 more people than China had incarcerated. China.
Needless to say, the building and administration of prisons in the U.S. is an industry, and that seems to be the idea the Harper government wants to bring to Canada. Perhaps between the combination of the jobs created and the people incarcerated unemployment rates will really go down. But I digress.
You know who else isn't a fan of The Safe Streets and Communities Act? Our own MP Frank Valeriote. Valeriote is putting together a petition for the consideration of the House of Commons and rallied some local support for the cause. Check out the press release from Valeriote's office below.
It what was the epitome of a slow news day as the Guelph Mercury reported this morning, on the front page no less, that a life-size cardboard cut-out of Justin Bieber was swiped from the Shoppers Drug Mart on Scottsdale Drive. Inexplicably, the police were called and they are investigating.
I hate to think that this is what passes for high crime in the City of Guelph, a pair of hormonal girls in hoodies doing a grab and dash with a live-sized poster of a pop crooner. God only knows what they're doing with it. But now the Bieber cut-out joins the long, rich history of pop culture bric-a-brac that gets nicked by young people with sticky fingers. Life-size Taylor Lautner and Robert Pattinson cut-outs from a Twilight promotion were stolen from U.S. Burger Kings, and several Batman posters were taken from bus stops and the like in 1989.
I was at Stone Road Mall earlier, and you'll be glad to know that their Bieber is secure... for now. So watch your Biebers local merchants, the Bieber-swiping hoodie gang could strike again at any time. After all, there at least two of them, and they'll only be able to share one Bieber for so long.
I know the Federal Conservatives are quite proud of themselves. Not only did they wrestle the Vaughan, ON seat owned by the Liberals for 22 years away from the Grits, but that new Conservative MP also happened to be the former Toronto Police Chief, former OPP Commish, and all around, take no guff law man Julian Fantino. Getting Fantino as a candidate, let alone as a rookie MP, was quite the coup for the Conservatives since to many Fantino is both well-known and well-liked. So it was only a matter of time until the claws came out...
During a CBC interview following his election, Fantino said of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms that "In some cases, the Charter has been exploited and the rulings that have followed have, in fact, benefited some criminals, absolutely [...] The Supreme Court of Canada and other court rulings are trying to change some of the misinterpretations that have been given as to the reason, the purpose, and the mechanisms of the Charter."
This propmpted Justin Trudeau to jump on the bait (and justifiably so given the fact that the Charter is arguably his father's greatest legacy) saying "Once you become a representative of the people and you are not a cop any more... you have to start thinking about everyone's rights and freedoms. And sometimes that means thinking about the rights of some people you don't particularly like," said Trudeau. "That's the strength of our Charter; that's the strength of Canada as a country."
Fantino wasn't going to take that lying down, and retorted, “You know what, here’s me with 42 years of working night shifts and facing people with loaded guns and dealing with murderers and rapists... and I get a lecture from a newbie. C’mon.”
Actually Mr. Fantino, I think you're the newbie in the House of Commons. Unless, of course, you mean that Trudeau is a newbie at "facing people with loaded guns and dealing with murderers and rapists" then yeah, Trudeau's a "newbie." Whatever that means.
I do think what he does mean however, and it's right there in a piece of alliteration that would make Karl Rove proud, is that Trudeau was "promoting the hug-a-thug philosophy." Meaning that trying an accused criminal as per the laws and procedures recognized by the Criminal Code of Canada and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms is for pinko bike riders, to borrow a euphemism from another Conservative Nobel laureate in the making. Who cares if he's cut his public policy chops on Hockey Night in Canada.
Yes, more often than not, in the conservative school of thought, protecting rights is synonymous with "soft on crime." It's part of a culture that's been perpetuated with help from shows like "Law & Order", that all defendants are guilty and all the lawyers that represent them are greedy/ambulance chasers/fame hungry/self-promoting/criminal themselves/all the above. Unfortunately, that way of thinking discounts the fact that in our system of justice, the onus is on the state to prove guilt, not on the defense to prove innocence.
And while you can salute someone for their public service, like Fantino's four decade-plus tenure in various police services across Ontario, "The Chief" is hardly incorruptible. Let alone the recent questions about unaccounted for $8.4 million from the OPP's G8/G20 responsibilities, from illegal wiretaps to being accused of homophobia to the Shawn Brant controversy, if Fantino had run as a Liberal, the Conservative tar and feather machine wouldn't have let him out alive. And while we're on the subject, though I'm sure the Liberals had put in some phone calls to court the province's former top cop, was one of the police chiefs that's spoken out so strongly against the long gun registry going to sign up with the party that whipped its own members into supporting it? I hardly think so.
Bottom line, many of my Conservative friends are seeing Fantino's sweep in Vaughan as a sign of improving Conservative fortunes nationally. Of course, many note that Fantino's election is a better sign that name cache still trumps more traditional forms of campaigning, like showing up to debates:
But seriously, there were two other by-elections on November 29th, the one in Dauphin-Swan River-Marquette stayed Conservative, while Winnipeg North saw Liberal Kevin Lamoureux take the riding for his team after 13 years of representation by NDP MP Judy Wasylycia-Leis. In other words, in terms of federal politics, the country just as schizophrenic as it ever was.
Some gut-punching news from my second life as a member of Guelph's filmmaking community, but it seems as if some pretty valuable equipment belonging to Ed Video was recently stolen from one of its members while they had it rented out. Here's the release for the media arts centre:
Ed Video Media Arts Centre is disheartened to announce that equipment valued at $15,700 was stolen last night from an Ed Video member in Brampton. This equipment includes both our HD cameras and all our tripods. It literally cripples this charitable artist-run centre’s ability to produce media art and cuts off one of our critical revenue streams.
We are devastated.Ed Video does have insurance but will be facing a $1,000 deductible, which is difficult for a charity of this size to absorb. We are encouraging the public to keep their eyes open as our name is engraved on all the items and many also have silver stickers as well. Anyone with any information can reach us (519)836-9811. We don’t have the funds for a monetary reward for information but we can offer a life-time membership and other non-monetary awards. We would really like to get our equipment back.
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