Archive for the ‘Crime’ Category
Street Crime Unit arrests drug king pin
By Stephen Pate, NJN Network, Charlottetown, PEI, Canada, February 6, 2009, with a story from the Guardian
The middle class can smoke marijuana with impunity but the lower class will be a Police Academy training ground.
“Queens District Joint Forces Operations Street Crime Unit with the assistance of Charlottetown Police Services, arrested” the king pin of all illegal drug traffic in Charlottetown yesterday. The leader of the local Hells Angels biker gang was arrested as he exited a local well-known club for a smoke. STOP
Wrong story, start over
“Queens District Joint Forces Operations Street Crime Unit with the assistance of Charlottetown Police Services, arrested a 22-year-old male for possession of … 30 small cannabis(marijuana> plants…”
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BC Supreme Court Rejects Challenge to Marijuana Law
The British Columbia Supreme Court last Friday rejected a challenge to the country’s law criminalizing marijuana possession based on deficiencies in Canada’s medical marijuana regime. In cases earlier this decade, some Canadian courts had held that because Canada’s drug law did not provide for the therapeutic use of cannabis, the law was invalid. But in part because of changes already made to the program, the BC Supreme Court wasn’t buying that argument.
In response to those earlier rulings, the Canadian government created a limited medical marijuana program, whose utility was challenged in the present case. But Justice Austin Cullen ruled that even if Canada’s medical marijuana program is less than ideal, that doesn’t mean recreational pot smokers win a get out of jail free card.
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Why is alcohol legal and pot not?
Stephen Pate, NJN Network, Charlottetown, PEI, Canada, Feb. 3 2009
The death of Kyle Bambrick from exposure after drinking at the out of control party at Dog Leg Golf Links, got me asking a question that doesn’t go away. Why is alcohol legal in Canada while we’re putting young people in jail for pot? Is it based on religion, science or ignorance of the facts? It’s not based on factual evidence of harm. According to the UBC Law Review 2006
,“In Canada, an average of 205,156 crashes are caused by impaired driving each year, resulting in 1,211 deaths, 74,181 injuries, and 45,174 damaged vehicles. In turn, this costs Canadians an average of $1.8 billion a year. Impaired driving is also by far the single largest criminal cause of death in Canada.” Tragedy of Kyle Bambrick – going out of business sign
After studying the issue for years, Canada almost decriminalized marijuana until the ultra-right-wing Stephen Harper government. Now we have more police officers arresting more people on pot violations. Marijuana cultivation is the largest industry in British Columbia, bigger than mining and forestry. Quebec comes in a close second. With so much hypocrisy in society, is it any wonder young people don’t see themselves as part of Canadian society?
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Two correctional officers charged in Alan MacPhee beating
Stephen Pate
NJN Network
January 19, 2009
with story from CBC
Alan MacPhee’s tenacity may have paid off as CBC reports two correctional officers were charged with “assault causing bodily harm.” “Michael Andrew Irwin, 29 of Stratford and Nathan Daniel Praught, 23 of Hunter River were charged Monday following the incident at St. James Gate on Dec. 13. Both men work at the provincial correctional centre at Sleepy Hollow outside Charlottetown” reported the CBC.
The original CBC report P.E.I. businessman accuses off-duty correctional officers in bar beating said four or five men were involved in the beating. This story has created quite a bit of buzz in Charlottetown with more people admitting they say MacPhee attacked every week Local businessman attacked in bar. Apparently, the wheels of justice grind slowly but they do move.
Local business man attacked in bar, are police dragging feet
St. James Gate, scene of beating, CBC photo
By Stephen Pate
NJN News
The story of Souris businessman has taken on several new twists. The Guardian reported that Alan MacPhee received a severe beating while dancing at the St. James Gate. We covered that Alan MacPhee attacked at St. James Gate.
The CBC has reported that Provincial Correctional officers may have beaten MacPhee. P.E.I. businessman accuses off-duty correctional officers in bar beating.
In a lawyer prepared statement, MacPhee claims,
“After speaking with staff at the bar and conducting his own investigation, MacPhee said he’s convinced the assailants are off-duty provincial correctional officers and his case may require a public inquiry.”
The story has generated 25 reader comments as of noon which will re-print in the next article.
The questions are: why would correction officers attack MacPhee? Was he mistaken for someone else? It appears to be a planned attack.
What sort of lawless society has PEI become where 4 trained officers would breach the public trust and attack any civilian even if it was in error.
The leadership of PEI has fallen into the hands of men with no reasonable standards of ethical behavior. When Premier Robert Ghiz defends people who have breached the public trust like Brooke MacMillan, it sets a bad example for all of PEI.
P.E.I. businessman accuses off-duty correctional officers in bar beating
A well-known Souris businessman has accused off-duty P.E.I. correctional officers of beating him in an unprovoked attack at a Charlottetown bar last week.
Alan MacPhee has been told he may have suffered permanent damage to his right eye from the beating. (CBC)
In a prepared statement read Thursday at his lawyer’s Charlottetown office, Alan MacPhee said he has undergone two surgeries and suffered permanent damage after being attacked last Friday at St. James’ Gate.
MacPhee had been at the Confederation Centre for a Christmas show before heading to the bar with friends. He said he was on the dance floor just after midnight dancing with two female friends when four or five assailants jumped him from behind.
“Not one word was exchanged between myself and the assailants prior to the assault,” MacPhee said. “According to witnesses, I was held down on the floor and beaten continuously for four to five minutes.”
After speaking with staff at the bar and conducting his own investigation, MacPhee said he’s convinced the assailants are off-duty provincial correctional officers and his case may require a public inquiry.
Immigrant Scam – Man alleges fraud in immigrant program
September 26, 2008
TERESA WRIGHT
The Guardian
Ed: the RCMP are limiting their investigation at this point to one claim of fraud. As with Ad-Scam it can take some time for the full fraud to become known by the police.
The RCMP are looking into a complaint filed by a local business owner alleging fraud took place in a provincial government program that aims to connect foreign money to local businesses.
The program was put in place for immigrants to have their Canadian visa applications expedited if they could offer some business or employment benefit to a province.
The P.E.I. Provincial Nominee Program has several aspects, one of which involves a partnership agreement struck between immigrants and local businesses.
The immigrant agrees to purchase $200,000 worth of shares in a local company. Some of that money is paid back after five years, a quarter of it goes to legal and broker’s fees and the remaining amount stays within the local company.
This year, 1,877 immigrants came to P.E.I. through this program, and as a result over $280 million was retained by local businesses.
The fraud complaint filed with the RCMP about three months ago involves some aspect of this financial transaction facilitated through the nominee program, said Staff-Sgt. Jerry Woofrey, who heads the Commercial Crime unit of the P.E.I. RCMP.
“We’re looking into the circumstances that the gentleman brought forward,’’ Woofrey told The Guardian.
“His complaint is a complaint of fraud and he believes a fraud has taken place with respect (to) the Provincial Nominee Program in as far as his business is concerned.’’
Woofrey said his unit is currently reviewing the allegations and gathering information about the program to determine whether a fraud has taken place.
“If we make that determination then we’ll enter into an investigation stage. If not then we’ll get back to the complainant and say, ‘The elements of a fraud are not present’.’’
The Provincial Nominee Program was run by the Island Investment Corporation — a Crown corporation under the Department of Innovation and Advanced Learning.
The program ended Sept. 2 when the federal government decided it wanted to review all its immigration policies.
Innovation and Advanced Learning Minister Richard Brown said he had no idea the RCMP are looking into a complaint with this program.
Richard Brown, Minister of Innovation, “he’ll get you the cash right away”
“This is the first I’ve learned of that,” he said. “I can honestly say I do not have a clue about that.’’
He said he knows of rumours that have been circulating in the community about possible discrepancies with the way the Island Investment Corporation approved businesses for eligibility in this program.
But everything was done by the book, he said.
“I know the big rumour mill was out there that ‘You go down to the minister’s office with your application and he’ll get you the cash right away’,” Brown said.
“Lots of people came down to me and said, ‘Can you do this and can you do that?’ And I can assure you that I lost a lot of, well, a lot of people were pretty disappointed in me.’’
He believes the complaint now with the RCMP may have originated with one such disgruntled applicant.
“That’s probably what’s happening here now,” Brown said. “Some people are disappointed that they didn’t get the investment. Well, if they didn’t meet the criteria I wasn’t going to override.’’
Nonetheless, police have conducted interviews with people involved in the Provincial Nominee Program to decipher how the program is set up as they try to determine if the fraud allegations brought to them are true.
Woofrey said it could take some time before this preliminary investigation is complete because they will have to also interview people living in other parts of the world.
But he was clear that the RCMP is not looking at the program’s administration —only at the specific complaint filed with them.
“The administration of the program is not our mandate,” Woofrey said.
“Perhaps it’s something that the auditor general might review at some point – I don’t know. I haven’t had any communications with the auditor general with respect to this at this point.’’
