Jack's Newswatch

Ontario’s legal-aid program has struck back at boycotting defence lawyers by creating a novel, one-lawyer flying squad to travel the province defending murder cases.

In a flurry of moves to defeat the six-month-old boycott and move Legal Aid Ontario toward a public-defender system, the agency has also begun to put cases out to tender and offer $5,000 bonuses to non-boycotting lawyers across the country in the hope they will “strike break,” Criminal Lawyers’ Association president Frank Addario said Friday.

“This will mean increased expenses for travel and accommodation – which they don’t pay for now – and foisting counsel on a defendant even if he doesn’t think that particular lawyer is qualified,” Mr. Addario said. “Why don’t they just fund the program they originally designed?”

Mr. Addario said the bonus program is a first, and that he is unaware of any other province that has tried a legal-aid flying squad.

“They are advertising across Canada for lawyers to come to Ontario to break the boycott,” Mr. Addario said. “They would rather waste millions on inquiries and fact-finding reports which they ignore – and hundreds of thousands more on advertising, travel expenses and signing bonuses.”

Attorney-General Chris Bentley was stung last month when the striking lawyers rebuffed his attempt to end the fee boycott with an infusion of money into the program.

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Notes:

Sounds like “McShifty” has another brawl on his hands.  Should be interesting.

Popularity: 15% [?]

The once-glamorous city is now a corrupt, crumbling, mob-ridden disgrace. What went wrong?

It says something about a city when tales of bravery in the face of organized crime are apparently a prerequisite to governing it. Five weeks into an increasingly bizarre election campaign dominated by scandal, graft and good, old-fashioned backstabbing, Gérald Tremblay wants it known that he is scared for the well-being of his family. Montreal’s mayor and leader of the municipal party Union Montréal (Quebec has parties at the city level) is vying for a third term. He says his decision to clean up city hall during the past four years has made him a target of Montreal’s criminal underbelly. He recently reminded voters of the time police found two fire bombs behind his country house in 2005. Then there was the time when, as Quebec’s industry minister, he denied a liquor permit to a Montreal-area wine producer—who was subsequently found dead in the trunk of his own car. “I’m not naive,” Tremblay told Le Devoir last week. “I’m very well informed. I knew exactly what I was getting into with the city of Montreal.”

Not to be outdone, Tremblay’s opponents offered up their own brave bona fides. Tremblay’s main challenger and leader of the rival party Vision Montréal, Louise Harel, reminded voters that her late husband, journalist and union leader Michel Bourdon, was repeatedly threatened by the Mafia. Richard Bergeron, of the upstart Projet Montréal, says he has requested police protection, though he makes it clear that his crusade against municipal corruption hasn’t garnered him any death threats—yet. “Everyone knows where I live,” he told a reporter recently.

While other cities grapple with garbage collection, snow removal and other humdrum realities of municipal politics, Montreal has, in the past several weeks, become a chaotic and dirty throwback to its bad old days. Allegations of mobbed-up favouritism, brown envelopes stuffed with cash, wildly inflated city contracts, an aggressive blue-collar union perpetually at odds with the mayor’s office: these, not its many charms and joie de vivre, are Montreal’s stock in trade these days.

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Notes:

Ful column now available at the link.

Popularity: 16% [?]

Dede Scozzafava, the Republican and Independence parties candidate, announced Saturday that she is suspending her campaign for the 23rd Congressional District and releasing all her supporters.

The state Assemblywoman has not thrown her support to either Doug Hoffman, the Conservative Party candidate, or Bill Owens, the Democratic candidate.

“Today, I again seek to act for the good of our community,” Ms. Scozzafava wrote in a letter to friends and supporters. “It is increasingly clear that pressure is mounting on many of my supporters to shift their support. Consequently, I hereby release those individuals who have endorsed and supported my campaign to transfer their support as they see fit to do so. I am and have always been a proud Republican. It is my hope that with my actions today, my party will emerge stronger and our district and our nation can take an important step towards restoring the enduring strength and economic prosperity that has defined us for generations.”

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Notes:

The lady is a class act.  Now this race is going to get really interesting.

See Also:

Palin: East Coast Races Impact All Americans

Popularity: 15% [?]

The return to Canada of Prince Charles provides an opportunity to look again at the institutional eccentricity of the Canadian monarchy. It has received completely inadequate attention, here and in Australia and New Zealand, for its novelty. These are all among the most successful and promising countries in the world, and no other serious countries in history have had a non-residential monarchy.

Mercifully, Canada has graduated from the adolescent self-consciousness of an insecure country preoccupied with the symbolism of national sovereignty, and concerned that a British royal family which comes among us fairly disparately and randomly, includes our chief of state. But it has not quite reached the point of appreciating the endearing originality of this system.

Of course it’s an anachronism, but most Canadians would now say that there is nothing wrong with that. But most would also decline to subscribe themselves as committed monarchists. The old Quebec reservations about the monarchy were attached to ancient and discredited nonsense about French Canadians being drafted to fight the battles of an empire that had gained rulership of them by force.

In fact, they were abandoned by sticky-fingered French colonists who preferred retention of Guadeloupe and Martinique to Voltaire’s notorious “few acres of snow” in Quebec, and who took everything with them when they fled except the roofs off their seigneurial manors. Only the clergy remained behind to preserve the French language. The French Canadians and the greatest of the British governors, Sir Guy Carleton, (Lord Dorchester), struck one of the most brilliant bargains of British Colonial history, the Quebec Act of 1774.

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Popularity: 15% [?]

What is Hallowe’en? Where does the word come from? And why does it involve children dressing up as witches and extorting sweets with threats? We answer your questions.

The origins of the festival

Hallowe’en seems to have grown around the ancient Gaelic festival of Samhain, marking the end of the light half of the year and the beginning of the dark half.

Samhain was in part a sort of harvest festival, when the last crops were gathered in for the winter, and livestock killed and stored. But the pagan Celts also believed it was a time when the walls between our world and the next became thin and porous, allowing spirits to pass through.

The practice of wearing spooky costumes may have its roots in that belief: dressing up as a ghost to scare off other ghosts seems to have been the idea.

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Related:

Halloween safety tips

Popularity: 12% [?]

An article on The Globe’s front page carrying the headline “Canada can meet its climate goals, but the West will write the cheques” raises, among many others, two very interesting points. The article is about a study, conducted by two ardent environmental advocacy groups – the Pembina Institute and the David Suzuki Foundation – and was sponsored by the Toronto Dominion Bank.

The headline has the virtue of capturing the first point I want to underline. In our new green-genuflecting age any substantial, purely Canadian effort to curb greenhouse gases – any policy, economic or otherwise – will have a massive and negative impact on Alberta and Saskatchewan.

If there are taxes on oil development, if we introduce carbon penalties on industry, if there is a deliberate brake put on the oil sands, or an effort to shut them down altogether – this latter not an unthinkable proposition in certain quarters – whatever is done will, sooner or later, take revenues and jobs, take enterprise, out of Alberta in particular. For purely projected and speculative benefits to the world’s climate a century hence – and, despite the unctuous insistence of many to the contrary, speculative they remain – people are seriously considering policies that will penalize the West for its success as an energy producer now.

This is reckless. The oil industry of some Western provinces has been Canada’s dynamo these past few years. It has been our major shield during this recession. It has given the dignity of jobs to tens of thousands of Canadians. It is all that. But if “Central” Canada, as the political and economic axis of Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal is still known in some quarters out West, now – under the impetus of the green craze – is seen to be setting limits, placing penalties, or bleeding disproportionate taxes, particularly in Alberta’s case, it will churn a backlash that will make regional hostilities set loose by the national energy program a few decades ago seem like warm-ups for a yoga class.

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Popularity: 15% [?]

For the past two days, Canadians have been subjected to a barrage of media reports predicting the imminent closure of the National Post.

Television and radio, and some wire services — and to a lesser extent competing newspapers — were suggesting yesterday’s edition of the Post might be the last.

Some radio hosts urged listeners to buy a souvenir final copy of the paper; one introduced a columnist from a competing daily as working for a newspaper that’s not on the verge of collapse; while another proclaimed Extra Extra the National Post may be ceasing publication.

The one bright spot was a New York Times report that referred to the Post as “Canada’s cheeky conservative paper.” At least they got that right.

The frenzy of the past couple of days was based on the possibility that the courts would reject a deal to reunite the National Post with the rest of Canwest’s publishing assets after a four-year absence. Yesterday, a Toronto court put that notion to rest and approved the transfer, thus ensuring the long-term existence and stability of the National Post.

The firestorm of uninformed speculation was ignited by one paragraph in a 33-page court filing pointing out it was doubtful the National Post could sustain operations in the absence of funding for its current — albeit minor — losses. That is the case for any operation until it crosses into profitability.

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Popularity: 12% [?]

#1 — BBC | Abdullah ‘may quit Afghan poll’

Abdullah Abdullah, President Hamid Karzai’s rival in the second round of Afghanistan’s presidential election, is reportedly close to quitting the poll.

[...]

#2 — CNN | Pirates demand $7 million for yacht couple, Britain says

(CNN) — Somali pirates demanded a $7 million ransom for a British couple kidnapped aboard their yacht last week, a British agency said Friday.

[...]

#3 — CNN | Adding Afghanistan troops could cost $500,000 per person

Washington (CNN) — If President Obama decides to send the 40,000 additional forces to Afghanistan as requested by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, a rough estimate by the Pentagon projects the cost could be an additional $20 billion a year, according to a senior Pentagon official.

[...]

Fox | Obama Requests More Options for Troop Levels

#4 — Fox | No Sign of Victims in Midair Collision Search

SAN DIEGO —  A flotilla of rescue vessels continued its search Saturday for nine people feared dead at sea following an air collision between a U.S. Coast Guard aircraft and a Marine Corps helicopter.

[...]

#5 — Fox | Cargo Ship Allegedly Hijacked by Pirates Ends Mystery Voyage

The cargo ship allegedly hijacked by pirates amid claims that it was smuggling missiles to Iran has ended its three-month odyssey in Malta after being tested for nuclear contamination.

[...]

#6 — NY Times | Lapses Kept Scheme Alive, Madoff Told Investigators

Nobody was more surprised that the Securities and Exchange Commission did not discover Bernard L. Madoff’s enormous Ponzi scheme years ago than Mr. Madoff himself.

[...]

#7 — Times | Johnson sacks drugs adviser

Alan Johnson dismissed the Government’s chief drug adviser yesterday over his remarks that many drugs were less dangerous than alcohol and cigarettes.

[...]

#8 — Times | Merkel: no chance of Kyoto-style agreement at Copenhagen

Angela Merkel tried to give the world a wake up call to the glacial progress being made towards a climate deal in Copenhagen yesterday by writing off the chances of achieving a succesor to the Kyoto treaty this year.

[...]

#9 — Times | US politicians face inquiry into arms deals

More than 30 US politicians, among them seven members of a defence procurement committee, are being investigated in congressional ethics inquiries into influence-peddling, according to a document leaked accidentally on to the internet.

[...]

#10 — Telegraph | Levi Johnston ‘to take Sarah Palin to court’ over child custody

The teenager who fathered Sarah Palin’s 10-month-old grandson has delivered a fresh blow to the former Republican vice presidential candidate by saying he will “definitely” take her to court to gain access to his child.

[...]

Popularity: 10% [?]

#1 — CBC | Canadian soldier killed in Afghanistan

A Canadian soldier who had spent less than a week in Afghanistan was killed Friday by an improvised explosive device while on foot patrol in Kandahar.

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Yahoo | Canada’s Afghan strategy tested with death of Sapper Steven Marshall

#2 — CBC | Activists interrupt Olympic torch relay

Hundreds of protesters interrupted the Olympic torch relay through downtown Victoria on Friday night.

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#3 — CBC | Provinces ration smaller flu vaccine supply

Canadians who aren’t in a high-risk group for complications from H1N1 shouldn’t line up for vaccine, provincial health officials said Friday, as they planned for a slowdown in delivery of the doses next week.

[...]

Globe | Ottawa got last-minute warning of shortfall in H1N1 vaccine

NP | Ontario flu shot clinics cancelled next week

#4 — CBC | Court OK’s new National Post ownership structure

An Ontario court approved a new ownership structure for the National Post on Friday, heading off the shut down of its operations.

[...]

#5 — CTV | Ford to close St. Thomas plant in deal with CAW

TORONTO — The Canadian Auto Workers union has reached a cost-cutting deal with Ford Canada that will give the company lower operating costs and guarantee two new vehicle programs for the automaker’s major Canadian assembly plant just west of Toronto.

[...]

#6 — CTV | Some Tamil refugees could be detained for security

VANCOUVER — The government is raising security questions during detention hearings for a number of the 76 Tamil migrants who arrived off the West Coast on a decrepit little freighter earlier this month.

[...]

#7 — Globe | Top Mountie wants more money to fight terrorism

Canada’s top Mountie wants his police force to be the lead federal agency for terrorism investigations. And he is calling upon the Conservatives to pony up for police probes that can put terrorists in jail.

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#8 — OC | Turn clocks back an hour this weekend, except if you’re in Saskatchewan

Late-night Halloween partiers will get an extra hour of ghoulish fun this weekend as clocks are set to roll back, marking an end to daylight time.

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#9 — MG | CRTC hangs up on Globalive’s wireless bid

Globalive Wireless’s bid to become the country’s fourth major cellphone provider was stopped dead in its tracks yesterday after the industry’s regulator said the company was controlled by its foreign backer and offside with Canadian telecom law.

[...]

#10 — Star | Privacy watchdog OKs ‘naked’ airport scanners

OTTAWA–Airport scanners that can see through your clothes have received the blessing of Canada’s privacy czar.

[...]

Popularity: 10% [?]

The financial crisis has mauled Las Vegas like no other city. What was once the land of luxury and excess is now the home of empty houses and broken dreams. While the city and its investors keep hoping for a turnaround, others see long, lean years ahead.

The bar on the 64th floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel offers what could arguably be the best view of Las Vegas at night. A mile-long strip of brightly colored neon lights and gigantic, floodlit casinos glitters through the bar’s floor-to-ceiling windows. Still, as you survey the otherwise dazzling city of nocturnal light, you can see conspicuous patches of darkness dotting the landscape.

There is even a dark, gaping hole next to the Trump Tower. A twin had been planned for the site, but it will most likely never be built. Las Vegas, the global symbol of gambling and glitz, is hurting.

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Notes:

I guess the $64,000 dollar question is — “Where’s Harry?”

“Why here he is.”

Popularity: 14% [?]