The Supreme Court Rules !

As my daughters would say “The Supreme Court Rules”. And just why does the Supreme Court rule. The Supreme Court rules because the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in “R. v. A.M.” that young people do not lose their constitutional protection against “unreasonable search and seizure” under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms simply because they are in a school.

According to a CBC report:

The first case involved an unexpected police visit to St. Patrick's High School in Sarnia, Ont., in 2002. During that visit, students were confined to their classrooms as a trained police dog sniffed out backpacks in an empty gymnasium.

The dog led police to a pile of backpacks, one of which contained marijuana and magic mushrooms. A youth, identified only as A.M, was subsequently charged with possession of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking.

But police admitted they didn't have a search warrant or any prior tip about drugs in the school. The officers had instead visited on the basis of a long-standing invitation from school officials.

In 2004, the Ontario Court of Appeal upheld a previous trial judge's decision to exclude the drugs as evidence and acquit the youth. The court referred to the incident as "a warrantless, random search with the entire student body held in detention."

In Friday's ruling, the Supreme Court wrote that while "a warrantless sniffer-dog search is available where reasonable suspicion is demonstrated" in this case, "the dog-sniff search was unreasonably undertaken because there was no proper justification."

The court wrote that students' backpacks "objectively command a measure of privacy."

"No doubt ordinary businessmen and businesswomen riding along on public transit or going up and down on elevators in office towers would be outraged at any suggestion that the contents of their briefcases could randomly be inspected by the police without 'reasonable suspicion' of illegality," the court wrote.

Indeed, the Supreme Court does rule. Young people are slowly gaining the recognition that they deserve the same constitutional rights as anyone else and should not be discriminated against solely because of their age.

Do You Hate Young People

Do young people annoy the hell out of you. Then you need the Mosquito Youth Repellent. The Mosquito, created by Welsh inventor Howard Stapleton, emits a pulsing noise above 16,000 hertz that capitalizes on the fact most humans can catch the mind-numbing frequency only between the age of 13 and 25.

Bureaucrats from the City of Montreal are studying whether the device could legally be used to clear young drug dealers and bums from scary city tunnels, but the machine is already a hit among some West Coast businesses.

"It's awesome," said Lisa Deacon, manager of the 57 Below Bar and Liquor Store in New Westminster, B.C. The bar was one of the first North American businesses to try the device, in 2006. It turns on at night and keeps away all the young punks who hang out at the SkyTrain station."

Two Mac's convenience stores in Victoria have used the Mosquito to clear out drug dealers while two others in Richmond, B.C., have used the squealing machine to clear massive crowds of teenagers.

I thought the “no teenagers allowed” signs I have seen in coffee shops were abhorrent enough. The mentality that the future leaders of our communities and our country are all punks and drug dealers and “bums” is disgusting.

It is one thing for ignorant business people to somehow think attacking their future customers would be a good thing. It is a completely different thing for public officials to consider such a discriminatory attack on young citizens.

This device, and the mentality behind it, calls for the addition of age to the prohibited grounds for discrimination in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and all federal and provincial human rights legislation.

Tories Going To A Lot of Trouble To Hide Their Innocence

Prime Minister Stephen Harper claims that the Tories “in and out scheme” was in accordance with Canada’s election financing laws.

"Our position is that we always follow the law as we understand it," the prime minister said in response to a reporter's question at a joint news conference with U.S. President George W. Bush and Mexican President Felipe Calderon in New Orleans.

"We were following in the last election the interpretations that had been put on that law in the past," Harper said. "If those interpretations change, we will of course conform, but we will expect the same rules for every single party."

If they were so innocent why the elaborate attempts to cover-up the scheme, including the use of forged documents.

Even before last week's raid, Elections Canada had obtained numerous statements from party candidates and invoices from the Toronto-based advertising agency Retail Media.

Investigators also talked to Retail Media executives, including chief operating officer Marilyn Dixon, who when shown one candidate's invoice, speculated that it must have been "altered or created by someone" since it didn't conform to the appearance of the company's invoices.

Why was it necessary for Elections Canada to call in the RCMP and require a search warrant to get access to the documents regarding the scheme.

RCMP searched Conservative party headquarters in Ottawa on Tuesday (April 15) at the request of Elections Canada.

Elections Canada spokesman John Enright confirmed that elections commissioner William Corbett requested the assistance of the Mounties to execute a search warrant, but he wouldn't say why.

Elections Canada is probing Conservative party spending for advertisements during the 2006 parliamentary election campaign. Corbett, who enforces the Elections Canada Act, launched an investigation in April 2007 after chief electoral officer Marc Mayrand challenged the spending claims.

The Tories have done, and are doing, all the things that someone trying to hide a fraudulent scheme would do and none of the things that someone who is innocent would do.

Of course they would have you believe that there is a conspiracy of people out to get them. The only conspiracy will be at the next election when the voters conspire to put them out of office.

Atheists Have Faith Too

Atheists, myself included, like to distinguish ourselves from the religionists by the fact that we base our opinions and decisions on facts, rather than blind faith in religious dogma. But some of us have faith too. It may not be based on blind adherence to religious dogma written thousands of years ago, or spouted by self-appointed spokespersons for god, but it is faith of its own kind.

Our faith is based on our own world view that is developed through our experience and sense of ethics and morality. It cannot always be backed up by hard facts.

For example, I “believe” that all people are inherently equal. I cannot back that up with empirical evidence. In many ways the evidence proves our inequalities. We are clearly not all as intelligent or as strong or as athletic or as healthy as everyone else. There are many ways of measuring our differences and inequalities. There is no way of actual calculating a persons total worth to compare it to others. And that is a good thing. For instead it allows us to decide that we are all of equal value and have an equal right to be here and are entitled to equal treatment and opportunities. And that makes for a better world.

I also “believe” that man, as a species, is essentially good. Many will disagree with that and provide ample evidence of bad deeds committed by people. There is no way of calculating the good and bad in men and women and comparing it. And that is a good thing. With a little deeper analysis we can see that much of the bad is a result of poor decision making rather than real malice toward others, and that the vast majority of people are capable of doing great good when given the means and opportunity to do so.

My last example is our basic values of what is right and wrong. For example, one of the most important ethical values to me is honesty. This value is not based on a cost-benefit analysis that shows I will benefit more from being honest than from being dishonest. It is simply based on an inherent sense of right and wrong.

Many of us do not base our sense of values on what we are told by religious leaders but on what we learn through life.

Above all, I “believe” and have faith that we all can build a better world together.

Pissing On The Toilet Doors

Excuse my crudeness but I’m really pissed off.


Everyone promotes fitness and getting outside and now the weather is here to do it. Ottawa has a great network of pathways for walking, running and bicycling. You could spend a day on the paths. They even have toilets at some locations (but not enough). However, apparently, your not supposed to have to go unless it’s the middle of summer. In the spring and fall the facilities are locked up tight. I did discover a porty-pottie at one key location last year. It was pretty gross though because they never cleaned or emptied it. I think they discovered it was being used and they would have to clean and empty it. So they took it away.

If I had more nerve I would just use them anyway, and piss on the toilet doors.

Spring Has Sprung

In one weekend we seem to have gone from winter temperatures to summer temperatures and the first flower of the year has bloomed in our yard. The pathways are finally clear for biking, but we have no idea when the forest trails will be dry enough to ride. Next weekend is the Upper Jock River Canoe Race and the Tour Nortel is the weekend after that.

(click photos to enlarge)

Health Minister Says Retailers Should Not Care About Customers Health

According to a report in the Ottawa Citizen Health Minister Tony Clement thinks retailers should not be concerned about the health and safety of their customers and should decide what to sell only on the basis of what people will buy.

Health Minister Tony Clement said yesterday there's no need for retailers to assume the role of regulator when it comes to deciding which products are safe for sale in Canada -- just as two more giant retailers pulled all plastic products with bisphenol A from their shelves.
...

"Retailers make their own decisions, based upon what they think will sell and won't sell, so I'm not going to tell them how to run their businesses. I'm concerned about the health and safety of Canadians, and when we have something to announce, we'll announce it," said Mr. Clement.

He added Health Canada decides whether a product is safe for use or if it should be banned.

These companies are "saying to others that the market for these (BPA) products is drying up pretty quickly. So listen, if it's a market-based decision, that's for them to make. If it's health and safety, of course, Health Canada has to protect the health and safety of Canadians," Mr. Clement said.

The Minister seems to believe that the only responsibility retailers have is to maximize their profits and that only Big Brother Health Canada has a responsibility for the health of Canadians.

We would be a sad and unhealthy society if we all thought that way. But, of course, we don’t. Would the minister have parents buy dangerous and unhealthy toys for their children just because they are allowed to be sold. I suppose he would, because he believes retailers should sell goods they consider dangerous, unless and until Health Canada decides they should not.

Fortunately there are retailers who believe maximizing profit is not the only thing and choose their products considering such things as the health and safety of their customers. In the case of polycarbonate bottles containing bisphenol A Mountain Equipment Co-Op (MEC) was the first Canadian retailer to stop selling the product out of concern for the health of it’s members and customers. MEC, of course, has a reputation for putting the needs and the well-being of its members and customers first.

This is a good thing Mr. Clement. Remember you are the Minister of Health, not the Minister of Unbridled Capitalism.

"How do I erase everything I've said so far?"

Resign. It won’t erase all the harm you have done to the city. But it’s a start.

Read and Listen

The Most Hated Man in Newfoundland

Not being a Newfie myself, I might not use the same colourful language as Danny Williams or Loyola Hearn, but I have to say that I share their sentiments when it comes to Paul Watson. By his actions the man appears to be everything that they say he is.

Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society continue to spread lies about the Canadian seal hunt as a propaganda technique to raise money. The seal hunt has never been an environmental issue as the seals being hunted have never been an endangered species. While originally there may have been valid concerns about the humaneness of the hunt, the protesters won their battle years ago when the regulations and practices of the hunt were changed. It is time for them to move on to fight real environmental issues. However, because of the cash cow it provides the seal hunt protesters continue to use images of white coat seals in their fund raising campaigns even though they have not been hunted since 1987.

The last straw for Newfoundlanders, and all Canadians, came when Paul Watson expressed total disregard for the lives of Canadians who risk their lives in a dangerous occupation to provide for their families, and claimed that the deaths of seals was a greater tragedy than the deaths of Canadians. This was an act that caused Green Party Leader Elizabeth May to disassociate herself from Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.

Paul Watson, as the ring leader, should have been arrested along with the officers of The Farley Mowat, He is just as responsible as they are for placing the lives of Canadian at risk.

The Fifth Column supports Canadian sealers and condemns Paul Watson and the Sea Shepherd Society for their misrepresentation of the seal hunt and their total disregard for the lives of Canadians.

BACKGROUND:

CBC: Author Farley Mowat bails out anti-sealing protesters

CBC: Williams assails anti-sealing activist Watson as 'terrorist'

CBC: 2 crew members arrested as anti-sealing vessel seized

CBC: The Atlantic seal hunt – FAQs

South March Highlands Management Plan Open House April 30

In November 2007 the Fifth Column discussed the South March Highlands Management Plan and the suggestion by the Kanata Environmental Network (KEN) that public use of the lands be kept to the periphery. Fortunately that view is not shared by any other environmental or user group, nor is it shared by the City of Ottawa.

If you want to know what is going on with the plans for the South March Highlands and want to have your say the public consultation process is about to begin. The first public meeting will be an open house from 7:00 to 9:00 PM at the Kanata Old Town Hall on March Road, near Klondike Road, on Wednesday April 30, 2008. This will be a relatively informal drop-in format as the consultants (Douglas and Ruhland Associates, landscape architects) “would rather engage and talk directly to those interested than have a formal presentation at this point in the process”.

Click here for a link to the Terms of Reference for the South March Highlands Management Plan, which includes the following information (extracts):

These forest lands include some of the most significant ecological features and functions within the City of Ottawa. It is the most ecologically diverse landscape in the City, overlies a section of the Canadian Shield and provides an exceptional natural environment experience. It also provides significant cultural and recreational resources with extensive use (hiking/walking and mountain biking being the two most prominent) by the immediate community, the larger City population, and in the case of some activities such as Mountain Biking, people living outside of the City.

Several issues have emerged in the area:

· The area is well known as a mountain biking and hiking/walking destination and at present, an extensive informal trail network has developed. There is the possibility that the location of certain sections of trail and/or the construction techniques that were used to build the trails are not necessarily consistent with the protection of natural values in the area. At the same time significant volunteer efforts have been made in recent years to implement lower impact trail construction techniques within the City owned conservation forest.

· Potential conflicts between users (nature appreciation, casual walkers, mountain bikers, hikers).

· Increased indirect impacts (edge effects, loss of interior habitat and connectivity ecological support systems) and use impacts as designated development areas build-out.

· There is no interpretative plan or efforts to direct the current range of users to protect or take advantage of features in the highlands.

· There is a lack of formal access or trail-head provisions.

· The need for a trail section or access for physically challenged residents has been raised.

· Limited existing tools to manage the form and intensity of recreational or other use in the area.

Objectives:

The overall objective is to design a management strategy that will provide long-term management direction for a 20 year period which provides for protection of the significant ecological features and functions of the South March Highlands while allowing users to experience the area through appropriate recreational activities in a way which is both manageable and sustainable in terms of the City’s, and stakeholder and user group resources.

The planning process will include:

· Participation in a project initiation open house to introduce the project to the community.

· Identification of use and management objectives through a stakeholder workshop and/or other consultation approaches to gain stakeholder input.

· Identification of opportunities for appropriate recreational use (open air recreation including hiking and biking, education, nature appreciation) and concerns related to inappropriate use and strategies to mitigate the effects of recreational use…

· Review and incorporation of best practices for low impact recreational use/trail development and management of near urban/urban natural features

· Develop detailed management recommendations

o Management of uses – where different uses should occur, how to control impacts.

o Management of future stressors (adjacent development, climate trends, invasive species)

o Recommendations related to connectivity to other landscape features within and outside the forest; and longer term strategic objectives for preservation of ecological integrity such as additions to the forest.

· Conceptual plan for infrastructure (recommendations for trail location, trail treatment, access).

o Trail location options (including an accessible trail)

o Trail treatment and design options

o Use management (signage, etc.)

o Access and potential trail head/ parking locations

o Interpretive resources (e.g. kiosk).

The Fifth Column hopes to see you all at the open house on April 30.