Cdn-Firearms Digest Monday, September 3 2001 Volume 04 : Number 077 In this issue: "Bob Hunter;" lieberal wannabe Gun-permit query needed to prevent suicide: groups letter to the editor A burning cross to bear Politics (EH-) 101 Re:shooting range on your own land EPS suit costs $45,000 citizenship Murrin and his lawyer plan 'slew' of lawsuits Poaching will increase with RCMP on duty: park wardens T. O. rave goes above ground ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2001 11:16:01 -0600 From: "jim davies" Subject: "Bob Hunter;" lieberal wannabe > Subject: Bob Hunter > Mr. Hunter speaks out from the heart I am sure, but he is > crusading like an anti-smoker who once smoked. And let me > tell you there is not another stronger and more radical >person than an anti-smoker... Right on. This species seems closely related to the religious or should I say, the newly religious convert. As a kid, growing up in a bible-belt area one of the weekly "highlights" for a time was the friday evening outdoor revival meetings, held for some reason on the lawn in front of the town cold storage plant. [yup, a while ago] Along with heartfelt religious ditties belted out with fervor to the accompaniement of bad squeeze-box noises and blistering invective from the parson was the highlight: the personal tale of conversion as told by the new recruit. Each person, eager to showcase THEIR imoportance and the strength of THEIR experience spoke much like Bob Hunter. Thus we have humdrum, vanilla existences dressed up and bellowed out at high volume in the hopes of gulling the odd town drunk or distracted passerby with the importance of someone's hallucination. Yes, it sounds a lot like an old "I Love Lucy" script where arm-waving and shrieking makes up for yawning gaps in logic. Enjoy your future with the lieberals, "Bob." ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2001 11:13:20 -0600 From: Bruce Mills Subject: Gun-permit query needed to prevent suicide: groups Have suicides by firearms decresed? Have suicides decreased overall? I thought that suicide was largely "means independant", that if one method was removed, that another would be substituted. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/printarticle/gam/20010903/UNA TSN-4 Gun-permit query needed to prevent suicide: groups Monday, September 3, 2001 By ANDRé PICARD Montreal -- Suicide prevention groups are lashing out at the federal privacy commissioner in a strange twist in the debate over Canada's gun-control legislation. Robert Simon, director-general of the Quebec Association of Suicidology, is calling on the government to retain the questions pertaining to suicide, saying they are essential to public safety. To obtain a firearms certificate, applicants must answer a questionnaire that asks, among other things, whether a person has attempted suicide. The commissioner has said the questions violate people's privacy and should be removed. Copyright © 2001 Globe Interactive, a division of Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2001 11:13:13 -0600 From: "jim davies" Subject: letter to the editor > The following letter was written by Guy Lafreniere, a former RCMP police > officer. It was published in the Ottawa Citizen on August 30 in > response to 2 > of my published letters. > > To redress the anti gun propaganda in the nation's capital, I > invite you to > defend your gun rights by submitting your reactions to Kurt > Johnson, Letters to > the Editor, Ottawa Citizen, . > The following letter was sent to . Keep up the good work, Al. In regards to Mr.Lafreniere's emotional defence of the gun registry, I could not help noticing that the very thing he denies, "The claim that 64,000 firearms incidents have saved 3,300 Canadian lives a year is pure nonsense." and dismisses is buttressed by the identical logic. To wit: "Our gun law is akin to a lighthouse at sea - we hear of the shipwrecks, but seldom of the ships it saves." Why is one daft and the other reasonable? Jim Davies Delta BC ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2001 11:29:38 -0600 From: Bruce Mills Subject: A burning cross to bear http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/printarticle/gam/20010901/COW ENT01 A burning cross to bear The UN conference in Durban is an exercise in self-flagellation, a make-work project for our antiracism industry By MARGARET WENTE Saturday, September 1, 2001 – Page A13 Memo to Hedy Fry: It's official! Someone has actually burned a cross in Canada. You've been vindicated. The hate-monger in question is an 18-year-old who lives in Moncton. Last month, he allegedly set a gasoline-soaked cross ablaze on the lawn of a black family in the middle of the night. The flames were quickly doused by the neighbours, and, after a storm of outrage, the teenaged boy was charged with a hate crime. Wisely, he immediately pleaded guilty. The kid may be just another stupid punk, but he's a godsend to Canada's flourishing racism industry, which likes to seize on every shred of evidence to prove how bad we are. In a typical Toronto Star opinion piece, Shirley Adamson wrote that the incident "was a visceral reminder of the frontal attack of racist ideology that still resides here." Ms. Adamson, who has a long career in aboriginal politics, is a board member for the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, which is funded by a $24-million endowment from the government. Racism is its raison d'être. Exposing our ugly racist underbelly to the world appears to be the real reason Canada is in Durban. Foreign Affairs Minister John Manley may have stayed at home. But Hedy Fry, now our top official on the scene, seems quite relieved about that. "This is my portfolio!" the Secretary of State for Multiculturalism insisted the other night on the CBC. Ms. Fry bought $500,000 worth of plane tickets and hotel rooms in South Africa so that everyone from Matthew Coon Come to the African Canadian Legal Clinic (which wants reparations for racial segregation) can air our dirty laundry. As you might expect, Mr. Coon Come's speech was a hit. "White mobs burned our boats and beat our people," he declared as he described last year's fishing dispute in Burnt Church, where native people set their traps illegally. "The Canadian government intervened only to ram our boats at sea." He had his picture taken with Winnie Mandela and Angela Davis. Actually, the worst casualty at Burnt Church was a fisheries official who had his cheekbone shattered by a rock. But Hedy Fry set the tone when she warned about cross-burnings in British Columbia. No matter that no one in Prince George had seen any. If it didn't happen, make it up. As the queen of multiculturalism, Ms. Fry has extended her empire way beyond happy dancing folk groups and patronage for immigrants who vote Liberal. Her department's main job is to supply a platform for every kind of grievance group. The Canadian Race Relations Foundation is typical. Its lengthy position paper for Durban doesn't have a word about the Taliban, who are viciously oppressing women in Afghanistan. It says nothing about the genocide in Rwanda, or the suppression of Tibet. Instead, it says that the racism in the world is the fault of the European white man (I'm condensing here, but you could look it up). The rest of its platform enumerates the various horrors within Canada's own borders, and instructs our government that it should immediately stop oppressing aboriginals, enforce more race-based quotas, and regulate the media more strictly so that they will stop spreading racist stereotypes. Speaking of stereotypes, the first draft of the conference's final statement in Durban called Israel's occupation of the Gaza Strip a "crime against humanity," and described Zionism, the search for a Jewish homeland, as a "movement which is based on racial superiority." Neither Mr. Coon Come nor the CRRF seem the least bit bothered by the smell of anti-Semitism, which hangs over these proceedings like a noxious gas. Maybe they're just holding their noses. The global racism industry is busy as a bee. There are 12,000 people from 194 nations in attendance at Durban. But that's not all. Preparing for a big event like this requires many subconferences, known as PrepComs, and regional conferences, which take place all around the world. Our bureaucrats' calendars are chock full of PrepCom trips to Geneva and other trips to Santiago and Quito, for meetings with names like the Conference of Citizens, or the Forum of the Americas for Diversity and Plurality. The bottom line is always pretty much the same. First World bad, Third World good. Canada has spent more than $2-million for our part in Durban, not counting the salaries of all those bureaucrats who are needed to go to all those meetings, liaise with each other, prepare position papers, consult with grievance groups, and select the ones that get the plane tickets. Ms. Fry herself attended a series of meetings across Canada in order to prepare for Durban. Each meeting required consultants, facilitators, translators, and, of course, photographers to document the event. To show how inclusive we are, native elders were summoned to perform the opening and closing prayers at each meeting. They received $150 per prayer, plus travel expenses. Ms. Fry learned lots from these meetings. "Our history is of colonial racism and intolerance," she declared when they had ended. "We have been told that racism, bias, hatred and intolerance persist in Canada." So far, she hasn't said anything about the Taliban, either. You could argue that all this activity is reasonably harmless. After all, no one in the real world pays attention to UN conferences. Nothing changes because of them. There is a great exhalation of hot air, then the world staggers on pretty much as before. As for Canada, we may be the most tolerant, inclusive nation on this earth, but we have not yet achieved perfection. But it's a fraud from end to end. The idea that Canada can do some good in Durban, by somehow toning down the hate speech of other nations, is simply a conceit. We should stay home. And we will never reckon honestly with our vast aboriginal tragedy so long as we continue to nurse our stale old politics of grievance. Think what we could do if we shut down our whole government-funded racism industry. We could use the money to fight the Taliban. Or buy one-way tickets to help native kids on the rez escape to a better life. But it will never happen. The racism industry has way too much at stake. mwente@globeandmail.ca ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2001 11:29:46 -0600 From: Bruce Mills Subject: Politics (EH-) 101 http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/printarticle/gam/20010901/EHE LI Politics (EH-) 101 Saturday, September 1, 2001 – Page A14 The great helicopter brouhaha continues. It started in 1993, after the then-Conservative government signed a contract for $4.8-billion to buy 50 land-based and maritime EH-101 helicopters. Jean Chrétien said they were too expensive for the military. In fact, on the campaign trail he said he would buy no helicopters to replace the aging Sea Kings. "For me, I'll take one piece of paper and I'll take my pen. I will write, 'Zero helicopters -- Chrétien.' That will be it." He won the 1993 election, and his government paid $500-million to get out of the EH-101 contract, but the Sea Kings weren't getting any younger. After his government systematically adopted almost every position it had criticized the Conservatives for taking -- on free trade, the GST, deficit reduction -- it partly reversed its 1993 decision. In 1998, it bought 15 EH-101s for land-based search and rescue. Now the other shoe has dropped. The Liberals know they have to replace the maritime helicopters, the ones that operate from the decks of frigates, and has called for tenders. Again, a leading contender for the $2.9-billion contract is the three-engine EH-101 helicopter. Will the Liberals choose the EH-101, even at the risk of being mocked for buying all the helicopters they paid $500-million in 1993 not to buy? Or will they choose a less expensive model from another company, even if the features on offer aren't all that the navy requires? To help in their decision, a decorated navy pilot named Sam Michaud wrote a four-page briefing note to his superior officers last April, a note obtained last week by The Globe and Mail. Major Michaud said the Defence Department's performance specifications for the new helicopters set the bar too low and would put lives in danger. They do not, for instance, require that the choppers be able to fly away if only one engine is functioning. And, though there has been some adjustment since, they stint on the temperature extremes a new helicopter can safely be exposed to. In a letter published here on Friday, an air-force veteran complained that "Canada has a long and fine history of sacrificing its soldiers, sailors and airmen on the altar of false economy," and feared the Liberals might be about to do so again. We trust Mr. Chrétien and his crew will not let politics stand in the way of doing the right thing. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2001 11:29:53 -0600 From: Challenger@agt.net Subject: Re:shooting range on your own land Brian Couperthwaite wrote: >The fire arms act states that you can not load a restricted firearm >anyplace other than an approved range. I take that to mean you can not load >a hand gun to face an intruder in your own house so how would you be able >to soot a restricted in your back yard? This is not quite true. The firearms act does not allow firearms to be loaded where it is not legal to shoot them. Handguns can be fired in places other than approved ranges at the whim of the Chief Firearms Officer. The CFO can designate areas on A.T.T. where restricted firearms can be fired. These areas do not have to be approved ranges. Of course the CFO will not do this with the argument that it is not allowed by law as it is not mentioned. They use a diferent defense for the T.A.N. Restricting the firing of handguns to "approved ranges" has nothing to do with reducing crime or increasing public safety. This is only in the legislation to discourage handgun owners. If I can discharge a .38 Special bulle from a rifle on my property safely and legally, there is no reason why I can NOT discharge a .38 special bullet from a handgun safely and legally. A bullet is a bullet, no matter what the means to fire it. The enforcement and government interpretation of the legislation does not make sense. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2001 11:30:01 -0600 From: Bruce Mills Subject: EPS suit costs $45,000 http://www.canoe.ca/EdmontonNews/03n2.html NEWS September 1, 2001 EPS suit costs $45,000 By RACHEL EVANS -- Edmonton Sun A civil lawsuit against the Edmonton Police Service and a former detective was settled out of court for $45,000. An EPS lawyer filed a motion in Court of Queen's Bench yesterday to discontinue a lawsuit brought by an Edmonton woman against the service and former detective Kenneth Montgomery after the out-of-court settlement was reached. The woman filed a complaint with city police internal affairs in May 1998 alleging Montgomery had persuaded her to engage in inappropriate actions on the pretext he was training her to be an undercover police agent, cops said. An internal investigation resulted in an internal disciplinary charge of discreditable conduct being laid against Montgomery on Nov. 17, 1998. Montgomery then retired from the police service, the release said. The woman filed a civil claim against Montgomery and the EPS in October 1999. The police service "accepted responsibility to compensate the woman for the actions of Montgomery and negotiated a settlement of $45,000 with her," cops said in a release. As part of the settlement, the woman agreed not to pursue further claims against the service. Cops added that while Montgomery filed for bankruptcy in October 2000, the police service retains the right to claim the amount of the settlement from his bankruptcy estate. Montgomery also made allegations of police wrongdoing. In 1998, he and Det. Ron Robertson alleged that cops had contact with criminals including outlaw bikers, and had compromised police operations. An internal police investigation determined some officers or their friends and family had contact with criminals, but there was no proof they'd broken the law. Montgomery couldn't be reached for comment last night. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2001 11:30:08 -0600 From: Challenger@agt.net Subject: citizenship Mark L Horstead wrote: >That would be the one that I got when I was naturalized, right? I got my citizenship because I was born here. I didn't have to earn it or speak either official language. Disgusting, isn't it? ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2001 11:30:16 -0600 From: Bruce Mills Subject: Murrin and his lawyer plan 'slew' of lawsuits http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?f=/stories/20010903/681444.html September 3, 2001 Murrin and his lawyer plan 'slew' of lawsuits Wrongful conviction Chuck Poulsen The Canadian Press KELOWNA, B.C. - Shannon Murrin, the man acquitted last year of the murder of Mindy Tran, will file suit against the RCMP and "a slew" of others, his lawyer said on Saturday. Paul McMurray, Mr. Murrin's Vancouver lawyer, said several individuals will be named in the suit. Mr. Murrin, who now lives in Newfoundland, was charged with Tran's 1994 murder but was acquitted last year. The body of the eight-year-old Kelowna girl, who had been strangled, was found in a local park. Mr. Murrin said in a phone interview that he has left the timing of the suit up to Mr. McMurray. "I'm in terrific hands," said Mr. Murrin. "My lawyers have proven to me what kind of lawyers they are. "These things take time. You have to have your bases covered. It's like a boxer, training and learning before he gets into the ring." Mr. Murrin said he has fallen on hard times financially but he has almost completed writing a book about his experiences. "I'm writing every day and trying to make a few dollars working on cars but it's tough," said Mr. Murrin. Winston Ruby of ESP Press Ltd. in Portugal Cove, Nfld. confirmed on Saturday that his company is planning to publish the manuscript. A recently released report on the Tran investigation found fault with the Kelowna RCMP's handling of the matter. The report, by RCMP Insp. Ray Ambler, said the case against Mr. Murrin fell apart because of flaws in the investigation. "The downfall of this case was the integrity of the investigation," said Insp. Ambler. "There were a few whose bad judgment, loss of objectivity and a failure to live up to one's duty as a member of the RCMP contributed to the downfall of this file." The report said that now-retired Sgt. Gary Tidsbury, lead investigator in the Tran case, should have stepped down after three men attempted to beat a confession out of Mr. Murrin in 1996. Court was told Sgt. Tidsbury encouraged the beating, a claim Sgt. Tidsbury has denied. "The prosecutor could not overcome the shadow of suspicion these events [the beating] would cast over the murder trial," wrote Insp. Ambler. "The integrity and credibility of the police investigation centered on this event. Does the lead investigator need to be replaced to ensure the integrity of the investigation? They [management] failed to ensure the integrity of the investigation by dealing quickly and decisively with the issues that the beating raised." Current Kelowna RCMP Supt. Don Harrison admitted the Tran investigation "clearly had deficiencies," but added changes have been made in procedures since then. The Ambler report, released under the Freedom of Information Act, was heavily edited by the Freedom of Information commissioner. The report contained 23 recommendations, all of which Supt. Harrison said have been implemented. However, none of the recommendations were released. The B.C. Civil Liberties Association is attempting to have the recommendations made public. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2001 11:31:48 -0600 From: Bruce Mills Subject: Poaching will increase with RCMP on duty: park wardens http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?f=/stories/20010903/681373.html September 3, 2001 Poaching will increase with RCMP on duty: park wardens Ottawa changes rules The Canadian Press WINNIPEG - Ottawa is opening up national parks to more poaching with its decision to transfer park law enforcement to the RCMP, say current and retired park wardens. Parks Canada wardens, who have been in charge of law enforcement in national parks since the 1880s, saw that authority transferred to RCMP this summer. Critics say the result is that speeding tickets "have shot through the roof," but as hunting season approaches there will be less protection for animals. "The RCMP are nailing everyone for speeding and seat-belt violations [in Riding Mountain National Park]. But when it comes to natural resource issues ... that's something that's foreign to them," said a senior warden who did not want to be named. Meantime, the 20 wardens at Riding Mountain in western Manitoba have had their duties reduced to "catching dogs off-leash and people picking wild flowers," the warden said. Parks Canada sent out a memo earlier this year warning staff they could be suspended for speaking to media about the law enforcement issue. Ray Frey, former chief warden of Riding Mountain and now reeve of the Rural Municipality of Park in Manitoba, agreed RCMP are ill-equipped to stop poaching. "The RCMP, in my opinion, has become an urban police force. They don't have much back-country experience," Mr. Frey said. He added that poaching is still a major problem in parks. Sometimes the poaching is for a trophy animal, or sometimes it is an outfitter under pressure to produce an animal for a customer, said Mr. Frey, who runs an outfitting operation. "Poaching has changed in the past 30 years, from landowners who used to poach for meat, to today where people hunt for trophy animals, and the best place to find one is in a national park," he said. The transfer of law enforcement stems back to a Canada Labour Board ruling earlier this year that said Ottawa is putting wardens at risk by not equipping them with sidearms. But instead of providing wardens with sidearms, Parks Canada under Sheila Copps, Heritage Minister, decided to transfer law enforcement authority to the RCMP. To do that, Ottawa has had to spend an extra $20-million on additional RCMP officers. Ottawa is appealing the labour board ruling, and the dispute is expected to drag on for several years and eventually wind up in the courts. RCMP concede that some routine operations, such as patrolling the backwoods by horseback to look for signs of poaching, will not be conducted this year. But Parks Canada spokesman Alan Latourelle dismissed claims that wildlife will be endangered by the transfer of law enforcement. "It's all based on speculation. The idea of risk has not been substantiated," he said. Mr. Latourelle said the federal government has begun training programs for RCMP in some national parks so officers can better deal with wildlife resource issues. Wardens say the entire squabble is over Ottawa not wanting them to carry sidearms. The wardens say Ottawa doesn't like the image it presents, nor would it look good coming on the heels of the government's new gun-control registration program. ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2001 11:51:09 -0600 From: Bruce Mills Subject: T. O. rave goes above ground Why is it that 30,000 self indulgent teeenagers can get major press coverage, while 30,000 firearms owners, fighitng for everyone's rights gets diddly-squat? Maybe we need better music... http://www.canoe.ca/TorontoNews/ts.ts-09-03-0013.html Monday, September 3, 2001 T. O. rave goes above ground Even seniors join in iDance party By IRENE PAPAKONSTANTINOU, TORONTO SUN Lil Roy doesn't know a lot about rave culture, but the Toronto senior can boogie with the best of them. The 72-year-old was one over 30,000 people who danced on the doorsteps of City Hall yesterday at the second annual iDance festival, described as a celebration of electronic music, youth culture and activism. 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