March 31, 2010, By Jennifer Ditchburn, THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA - Status of Women minister Helena Guergis is expected to cut funding for further research on missing and murdered aboriginal women as part of a refocusing on the government's support for the issue.
The five-year-old Sisters in Spirit initiative had been compiling a database on the more than 500 women who have died or gone missing over the past four decades. The group, operating within the Native Women's Association of Canada, had become Canada's leading resource on the topic.
But their funding was set to run out on Wednesday with no public word yet on their fate. The co-ordinator of the program said she believed that the program would survive in another format - minus the research.
"That's something that Status of Women has been clear about, that there should be no more research, that it's now more about action," said Karen Rexe, director of Sisters in Spirit.
"It's an interesting take on how to move forward, because essentially if you don't have the evidence to identify where the need is and what you can do to really have an impact, then it makes it difficult to make the right choices in terms of how the action is going to be taken."
When they first came to power in 2006, the Conservatives cut funding at Status of Women for other organizations that did research and advocacy work. The argument was that the government was more about direct service to Canadians and that enough research was already out in the public domain about women's issues.
Martin Paquet, a spokesman for Guergis, hinted that an announcement of future funding might be forthcoming, but no date has been set.
"We're working with them right now to address violence against women, I can assure you of that," said Paquet.
Rexe says her group's research over the past five years has helped identify more and more cases of missing and murdered aboriginal women, including both new and cold cases.
"It shows that there are lot of cases that are not only occurring year to year but we're finding historic cases that show that there truly is an issue that has been present for many years, for decades really, and it's just something that has gone unnoticed by police, the justice systems, and governments," said Rexe.
Rexe said she hopes new funding will be used to build on the work that has already been done, particularly in the areas of support for the families and communities of victims and in helping police handle new cases properly.
The initiative has also helped to develop culturally sensitive school curriculum addressing violence against women.
"So many families and communities are going without having the healing that's necessary. It's not only an issue of action but also identifying exactly how many people need to have this healing," said Rexe. "How many people have never had their stories recognized?"
Guergis is currently under fire in the Commons following revelations that a series of staff members supported her in letters to media outlets, without identifying who they were.
Those letters came in response to an angry tirade Guergis launched at the Charlottetown airport when she arrived late for a flight, and was asked to go through security.
Guergis has apologized for both the actions of her staff, which she said she was unaware of, and for the incident at the airport.
Funding for research on missing women expected to disappear under Guergis
Ombudsman Releases Special Report Urging Federal Government to Strengthen Victims' Rights
OTTAWA, ONTARIO--(Marketwire - March 30, 2010) - The Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime (OFOVC) today released its report Toward a Greater Respect for Victims in the Corrections and Conditional Release Act, urging the Government of Canada to provide victims of crime with enhanced and legislated rights.
"Victims have repeatedly told us that they want their rights to be legislated, and they want to be kept informed," said Steve Sullivan, Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime. "They want to be part of the system, to have their voice matter."
Several reviews of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act have identified a systemic imbalance when it comes to the rights of the offenders versus the rights of the victims. While offenders' rights are repeatedly provided for in legislation, additional work needs to be done when it comes to the victim's rights. A number of legislative reforms have been proposed, but none adopted as of yet.
"I was encouraged to see a number of our previous recommendations proposed as part of Bill C-43, in June 2009," said Sullivan. "Unfortunately, the Bill died when Government prorogued Parliament. While the Bill was a step in the right direction for victims' rights, more needed to be done. We urge the Government to incorporate the changes we have recommended."
Toward a Greater Respect for Victims in the Corrections and Conditional Release Act makes 13 recommendations to the Government of Canada to strengthen victims' rights. The report emphasizes the need to treat victims with compassion and respect, to proactively provide them with information about their rights and the offender who harmed them, to respect the important role they have to play in National Parole Board hearings, and to ensure that court-ordered restitution is paid.
Created in 2007, the OFOVC helps victims to address their needs, promotes their interests and makes recommendations to the federal government on issues that negatively impact victims.
Backgrounder: Toward a Greater Respect for Victims in the Corrections and Conditional Release Act
On March 30, 2010, the Office of the Federal Ombudsman for Victims of Crime (OFOVC) released its second special report Toward a Greater Respect for Victims of Crime in the Corrections and Conditional Release Act. The Report proposed a number of recommendations to the federal government to amend the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA) in order to enhance and strengthen victims' rights in Canada.
The Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA)
Enacted in 1992, the CCRA provides the legal framework for the incarceration and supervision of offenders, their conditional release process and oversight. For the first time, the Act also provided recognition for victims of offenders under federal supervision. Since that time, various studies and reviews carried out by victims' advocates, Parliamentarians and the federal government have identified a systemic imbalance when it comes to the rights of the offenders versus the rights of the victims.
Treating victims with compassion and respect
Recommendation 1
The Canadian Statement of Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crimes was adopted by all federal, provincial, and territorial ministers responsible for Justice in 1988 (and renewed in 2003) and serves to guide the development of government legislation and policies in order to respond to the needs of crime victims of crime. As part of its mandate, the OFOVC promotes the principles set out in the Statement in an effort to uphold Canada's commitment.
Presently, the CCRA does not incorporate the principles outlined in the Statement and, as such, the federal policies and procedures developed from these regulations do not sufficiently consider the needs and concerns of victims of crime. For that reason, the OFOVC recommends that the Government of Canada introduce amendments to the CCRA to reflect the Statement and the interests of victims.
Providing information to victims
Recommendations 2, 3, 4 and 5
In Canada, the onus is on the victim to seek out where and how to register in order to receive ongoing information about the offender who harmed them. Given that many victims may be unaware this service exists, or may feel incapable of taking on yet another task at this difficult time in their lives, the OFOVC recommends that the Government amend the CCRA to collect victims' contact information and reach out to victims in a proactive manner, informing them of their rights within six months of sentencing (for offenders who receive federal sentences).
Once registered, victims will receive ongoing communication with regard to the offender; however, many victims have expressed frustration with the limited information they receive and concern about their safety in light of this. As such, the OFOVC has recommended that the Government of Canada provide the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) and the National Parole Board (NPB) the discretion to show a photograph of the offender to a registered victim, provide advance notice of all prison transfers to victims, where possible, and that victims gain the legislated right to more information, be it information that is currently considered discretionary under the CCRA or further information regarding an offender's progress.
NPB Hearings
Recommendations 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11
Currently a victim's right to attend a parole hearing and present a victim impact statement in Canada is not enshrined in law. Since 2001, the NPB has permitted victims to present victim impact statements. Though few victims are ever denied their application, victims want their important role in these hearings recognized and formalized in law.
While attendance is important for victims, the CCRA does not consider victims when hearings are scheduled, postponed or cancelled. Under the current law, an offender has the right to cancel a parole hearing without advance notice and without providing a reason to the victim or the victim's family. This can have a devastating impact on victims who make extensive travel plans and arrangements for work and child care in order to attend the hearing, not to mention the emotional preparation. For those victims who do attend hearings, being in the same room with the offender can be intimidating. In order to better accommodate those victims, the Report recommends that a greater effort should be made, where possible, to consult with victims about hearing dates, to accommodate the victim's attendance via video conferencing or other real-time technology, and to provide victims with access to archived recordings of the hearings.
The frequency of hearings can also impact victims. Victims have stated that repeated hearings every couple of years significantly hampers their ability to move forward and heal and, instead, forces them to relive and endure their horrors again and again, thereby revictimizing them. To address this, the Report recommends that for victims whose offenders are serving indefinite or life sentences, the time between hearings be extended from every two years to every five years.
Restitution
Recommendations 12 and 13
For some victims, restitution is an important principle. Beyond its benefit to victims, restitution promotes a sense of accountability and responsibility amongst offenders who are forced to acknowledge the harm done.
While restitution is ordered by the courts as part of an offender's sentence, it is the responsibility of the CSC or the NPB to ensure offenders satisfy that aspect of their sentences. Although it is not currently known how many offenders in the federal corrections system have restitution orders, very little has been done to enforce these orders. It is often argued that inmates' wages are low, and even those working in the community have financial challenges; however, it is equally true that victims may also be suffering financial difficulties, often as a result of the offence committed against them. In fact, according to research, victims carry 67% of the costs of crime.
In order to address this imbalance, the OFOVC recommends that the CCRA be amended to authorize the CSC to deduct reasonable amounts from an offender's earnings to satisfy any outstanding restitution or victim fine surcharge orders.
If incorporated, the recommendations put forward by the OFOVC would help advance and enhance the rights of victims of crime in Canada and help to better address their needs and concerns. More importantly, Canada would take the next important step towards ensuring that victims have equal rights to offenders and a true voice in the Canadian criminal justice system. The OFOVC looks forward to swift and decisive action by the federal government and the Minister of Public Safety.
Girl Scouts of the USA
Bill Supported by Girl Scouts to Create Taskforce on Girls and Women in the Media Introduced in Congress
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Girl Scouts of the USA
Victor Inzunza
212-852-8529
vinzunza@girlscouts.org
Washington, D.C.—U.S. Reps. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV) yesterday introduced bipartisan legislation that establishes a national taskforce that would develop voluntary guidelines and other measures to promote positive images of girls and women.
The bill, the Healthy Media for Youth Act (H.R. 4925), which was developed in collaboration with the Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA), would support media literacy programs, promote research on the effects of media images, and encourage the adoption of voluntary guidelines to promote healthier media images for young people.
"Throughout their lives, girls struggle with how to reconcile the images of girls and women they see in the media with their own body image, self worth and potential," said Kathy Cloninger, Chief Executive Officer of Girl Scouts of the USA." As the premier leadership experience for girls, it's vitally important that Girl Scouts play a leadership role in efforts to provide our young people with healthier, more positive images in the media. We're grateful to Congresswomen Tammy Baldwin and Shelley Moore Capito for co-sponsoring this important legislation, and we are excited about the impact it can have for girls."
In the coming weeks, Girl Scout staff and volunteer leaders from councils throughout the country will meet with their members of Congress to build support for the legislation. The initiative, known as Girl Scout District Congressional Advocacy Days, is part of an organization-wide effort to be the leading voice for girls and promote healthy media images for girls. The outreach effort is a unique opportunity for Girl Scouts to not only meet with members of Congress, but speak with a unified voice on issues important to girls.
"Children are consuming more media than ever," Representative Baldwin said. "Unfortunately too many of the images they see often reinforce gender stereotypes, emphasize unrealistic body images or show women in passive roles. All young people would benefit from seeing healthier and more positive messages about girls and women. The Healthy Media for Youth Act is a critical step towards achieving this goal."
Representative Capito said: "The need for healthy, positive images of girls in the media is clear. We applaud the Girl Scouts' response to this need. The Healthy Media for Youth Act, which builds upon with their tireless efforts to build girls' self-esteem, will improve youth media literacy and create new opportunities for the media to positively impact the health, relationships and future of our young people."
The Healthy Media for Youth Act is a part of wider effort by Girl Scouts at the federal, state, and local level known as Live Healthy, Lead Healthy, which seeks to engage policymakers and community leaders around key health and well-being issues affecting girls. In February, Girl Scouts released a study that found that nearly 90 percent of American girls feel intense pressure from the media to have an ideal body type. The same study found that girls want to see healthier, more realistic images of women in media. Girl Scouts is moving to respond to this need through the release later this year of its newest program, It's Your Story—Tell It! that focuses on helping improve girls' self-esteem and media literacy skills.
"Girls need an advocate who will stand up for them," said Laurie Westley, Senior Vice President of Public Policy, Advocacy and the Research Institute." By promoting the Healthy Media for Youth Act, Girl Scouts is being a voice for girls on an issue that directly and disproportionately affects them. Girl Scouts recognizes the need to bring attention to this important issue, which affects girls' self-esteem, body image, eating habits, and social and emotional development."
About Girl Scouts
Founded in 1912, Girl Scouts of the USA is the preeminent leadership development organization for girls with 3.4 million girl and adult members worldwide. Girl Scouts is the leading authority on girls' healthy development, and builds girls of courage, confidence and character, who make the world a better place. The organization serves girls from every corner of the United States and its territories. Girl Scouts of the USA also serves American girls living overseas in 90 countries. For more information on how to join, volunteer, reconnect or donate to Girl Scouts, call (800) GSUSA 4 U (800-478-7248) or visit www.girlscouts.org.
Toronto-area child porn probe goes global: 73 suspects in 20 countries
March 30, 2010, By Allison Jones, THE CANADIAN PRESS
BRAMPTON, Ont. - Evidence uncovered in a local child pornography investigation could lead to charges against dozens of people in 20 countries and while it may involve millions of images, Ontario police said Tuesday that's just a drop in the bucket.
The investigation began in November with a tip from police in Edmonton that led to the arrest of a 29-year-old man in Brampton, Ont., on child-pornography and sexual-assault charges, police said.
That probe went global, culminating in police gathering evidence against 73 people in 20 countries.
This kind of offence knows no boundaries in the Internet age, police said.
"While the Internet has evolved and shown its potential to assist society... we need to remember that there are people out there whose use of the Internet will destroy the lives of our children and their families," said Peel Region Staff Supt. John Nielsen.
Each of the suspects is believed to be in possession of hundreds, if not thousands or even millions of files containing millions of images of victims from around the world, said Insp. Bob Strain.
"The victimization of a child has a lifetime effect on their lives, their loved ones and the community at large," he said.
Despite the sweeping nature of this large-scale investigation, it represents just a small dent in the worldwide network of people trading in child pornography, said provincial police Det. Staff Sgt. Frank Goldschmidt.
"There are so many offenders out there," he said. "The Internet has provided that perfect tool for these people to find one another, to justify to one another that what they're doing is OK."
Offenders are using increasingly sophisticated technology, police say, and that complexity increases the work for police forces to keep up.
"The volume of the images and the caseloads are absolutely enormous," Goldschmidt said.
"Keeping on top of the types of storage, transmission devices and software that these predators use is a never-ending challenge for law enforcement."
Two files caused immediate concern for the safety of children and led to two arrests, one in Maine and one in Britain who was already a registered sex offender, Strain said.
Police would not provide further details about those two cases or the Brampton investigation, citing publication bans.
The 73 people are not believed to be a part of an organized network, but individuals.
The evidence is expected to be passed on to the RCMP by the end of the week, and the RCMP is then responsible for forwarding the information to authorities in each of the countries. That should happen by the end of next week, said an officer with the RCMP's National Child Exploitation Coordination Centre.
Of the 73 suspects police have identified, 18 are in Germany, 10 are in the United States, seven in the United Kingdom and five in the Netherlands.
France, Russia and Sweden are each home to four of the suspects, while Italy is home to three.
Two suspects were identified in each of Austria, Belgium, Costa Rica, India, Norway and Spain. One suspect was identified in each of Australia, Canada, Greece, Croatia, Oman and the United Arab Emirates.
Police say women would face charges for refusing to remove niqab for mugshot
March 30, 2010, By Nelson Wyatt, THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL - Police forces in different parts of the country say charges will be laid against anyone who refuses to remove religious face-coverings such as Muslim niqabs when being booked after an arrest.
The RCMP and the Montreal police forces, who outlined the policy in interviews, laid down one notable caveat: such a case has never actually come up in either of their jurisdictions.
It's the latest wrinkle in an ongoing debate over the religious face-covering - and one that has baffled a prominent member of the Islamic community in Canada.
"This is getting absurd, really," said Wahida Valiante, national president of the Canadian Islamic Congress.
"There are only, in the entire Quebec province, 25 women who wear the niqab so they can't be in the highest number of criminals expected to be arrested."
The RCMP and the Montreal force confirmed that to their knowledge no one wearing a niqab has ever refused to remove it for a mugshot. In fact, they can't actually recall arresting anyone with a niqab either.
But that hasn't stopped speculation lately in the Quebec media about what would happen in the event that someone refused to cover their face for police.
The niqab has been a flashpoint in an ongoing debate in Quebec about how far people should go to accommodate religious minorities.
That issue recently flared up again when a woman refused to remove her veil during a French class.
It escalated to the point that the provincial government tabled a law saying women wearing niqabs would be denied government services and public-sector jobs.
Provincial statistics suggest this law would apply to less than a dozen women who actually demanded such services at the Quebec Health Department last year.
Some recent opinion polls suggest such get-tough measures might be popular not only in Quebec, but elsewhere in Canada.
While Montreal police sought legal advice on the issue a year ago, the RCMP say they've always followed the Identification of Criminals Act, part of the Criminal Code of Canada.
Sgt. Greg Cox said that provision states people have to comply with identification procedures and it allows for reasonable force to remove the face-covering if necessary.
But he explained that a police officer would not be getting rough with someone in those circumstances.
"Should they refuse, well then, you just lay the charge and the judge will order them to have it done because it's something that needs to be done. We're not going to hurt somebody over a photo."
Insp. Daniel Rousseau said Montreal police sought a legal opinion on the issue after street cops asked about it.
Rousseau said the legal advice pointed to the Identification of Criminals Act in the Criminal Code, which said people have to submit to photographs and fingerprints when they're booked.
"The person should agree by themself to participate at the activities of the identification," he said. "If not, the law has consequences for the person."
Rousseau said the only person who's ever resisted was a man who wouldn't provide fingerprints. He was warned he could face an additional charge and relented when he went to court and realized that the judge would impose it.
Valiante said she thought the issue had been dealt with already, when questions were raised about lifting the niqab to vote in federal elections.
"To my knowledge, so far, whenever the need was there to have, for instance, elections, pictures for your passports, and I think other medical identification, women have shown their face, they have lifted the niqab," she said.
She called any suggestion that someone wearing a niqab would refuse to be photographed for a mugshot "mind-boggling."
"You have a miniscule number of women who are wearing it," she said. "On top of that, there have been no disagreements when they were voting or they needed their passports or health cards."
Blackmore seeks standing, funding in case that will test Canada's polygamy law
March 25, 2010, By James Keller, THE CANADIAN PRESS
VANCOUVER, B.C. - Winston Blackmore, one of the spiritual leaders in Bountiful, B.C., who police believe has 19 wives and more than 100 children, will ask a judge on Friday for government funding and special status in a case that will test Canada's polygamy laws.
The provincial government has asked the B.C. Supreme Court to decide whether the federal law against multiple marriages violates the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, one of the only options left after a judge tossed out charges against Blackmore and another leader in Bountiful late last year.
But while Bountiful was the catalyst for the highly anticipated reference case, expected to be heard this fall, observers say the wide array of interveners and the structure of the case ensures the eventual outcome - which will almost certainly include a trip to Canada's highest court - will reach across the country.
"This will be the case that determines it for Canada," said Vancouver lawyer Arthur Grant, who specializes in constitutional law.
"I think it's a high likelihood this will go the whole distance to the Supreme Court of Canada, so in the end there will be a clear decision."
And even if it doesn't head to the Supreme Court of Canada, said Grant, courts in other provinces would give the B.C. decision considerable weight if they ever deal with polygamy cases of their own.
Blackmore and James Oler were charged in January 2009 with one count each of practising polygamy, two decades after police first began looking into Bountiful, whose are members of a fundamentalist offshoot of the Mormon church, which renounced polygamy more than a century ago.
Blackmore was accused of having 19 wives, and Oler three.
The pair successfully challenged those charges, arguing earlier decisions by special prosecutors not to charge them, for fear that the law would be ruled unconstitutional, were final. Rather than appealing, the province launched the reference case.
The case prompted more than a dozen applications from various groups looking to intervene. All have been granted status as interested parties, which will allow them - at their own expense - to present evidence and cross examine some witnesses.
But Blackmore now wants to be included as a full party to the hearings, essentially equal in status to the B.C. government's lawyers. And he wants the province to pay his legal bills.
"The polygamy provisions have as their purpose and effect the unjustifiable infringement of my congregation's and my religious freedom," Blackmore says in an affidavit filed with the court.
"As I anticipate that the Crown and perhaps other interveners may intend to adduce evidence that portrays me and my congregation in a negative light, I will want full right to challenge that evidence including the right to cross examine any and all adverse witnesses."
Other interveners include Oler, children's and women's rights advocates who argue polygamy in communities such as Bountiful constitute abuse, civil liberties groups that claim the current law violates religious freedoms and a group that advocates for people in so-called polyamorous relationships, where consenting adults have multiple partners.
Reference cases are a way for governments to ask the courts to interpret laws and determine their constitutionality. Provincial governments can send reference questions to their supreme or appeal courts, while the federal government refers them to the Supreme Court of Canada.
Perhaps the best known reference case was in the late 1990s, when Ottawa asked the Supreme Court of Canada to rule on Quebec's right to separate unilaterally from Canada. The court concluded it would be illegal, and listed the legal hurdles the province would have to overcome in order to separate that Ottawa then incorporated into the Clarity Act.
Technically, decisions in reference cases are merely opinions for governments to consider. But constitutional law expert Margot Young, who teaches at the University of British Columbia, said they are treated as binding rulings.
"While, historically, the reference procedure has resulted in an advisory opinion, that's the opinion of the court, and if it were a formal case, it would be a same opinion," said Young.
"You've heard what the court thinks the law is and that functions the same way (as a ruling)."
Lorraine Weinrib, who teaches law at the University of Toronto, said the range of interveners will also mean the case won't be entirely focused on Bountiful, even if the community does command the most public attention.
For example, she says the issues that are tangled up in Bountiful, including allegations of abuse and gender inequality, are different from the considerations for consenting adults living in so-called polyamorous relationships.
"The question about how they factor into the Criminal Code provisions and how we approach these less-extreme examples - those involve deep thinking to figure out what the public policy should be and whether the criminal code should apply," said Weinrib.
"So I think it won't be all Bountiful."
New Quebec law: Uncover your face if you want to deal with provincial government
March 24, 2010,By THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL - Muslim women will need to uncover their faces from now on if they want to deal with the Quebec government, according to landmark legislation tabled Wednesday in the province.
In doing so, Quebec has delved into sensitive territory where governments in Canada have largely avoided treading. The bill tabled in the legislature says people obtaining - or delivering - services at places like the health-or auto-insurance boards will need to do so with their faces in plain view.
It says people's face-coverings will not be tolerated if they hinder communication or visual identification.
Premier Jean Charest told a news conference that the province was drawing a line in the sand in defence of two principles: gender equality, and secular public institutions.
"This is a symbol of affirmation and respect - first of all, for ourselves, and also for those to whom we open our arms," Charest told a news conference.
"This is not about making our home less welcoming, but about stressing the values that unite us. . .
"An accommodation cannot be granted unless it respects the principle of equality between men and women, and the religious neutrality of the state."
While the debate over such identity issues has raged in Europe for years, Canadian politicians have generally been reluctant to weigh in.
Quebec has been an exception.
The Charest government has actually faced persistent criticism from opponents who say it has done too little to draw up guidelines for accommodating minorities.
Newspapers have been full of stories where people express outrage over perceived religious excesses, and the opposition has clobbered the government in the legislature over its supposed inaction.
The bill tabled by Justice Minister Kathleen Weil explicitly points out that any provisions are subject to the guarantees of gender and religious equality outlined in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
In Quebec, this debate has consumed a tremendous amount of attention for what amounts to a miniscule number of cases.
Of the more than 118,000 visitors to the health board's Montreal office in 2008-09 only 10 people - or less than 0.00009 per cent of cases - involved niqab-wearers who asked for special dispensation.
There were zero such cases among the 28,000 visitors to the Quebec City service centre over the same time period.
The so-called reasonable accommodations debate actually prompted Charest to call a public inquiry in 2007.
That inquiry pointed out one lingering inconsistency in the argument of those who claim to be defenders of a secular state: the giant crucifix that still hangs on the wall of the provincial legislature.
Wednesday's legislation was silent on the Bouchard-Taylor commission's recommendation that the crucifix also be removed.
Moldy sexual assault kit left behind in evidence...SO wrong!
Rotting evidence found in closed police department, By DON BABWIN, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHICAGO (AP) — A suburban police department left behind a roomful of evidence when it closed two years ago — including a moldy sexual assault kit that authorities said linked a man to the 2006 rape of a 13-year-old girl, nearly 200 guns and hundreds of bags of narcotics, officials said Friday.
In all, seven rape kits had been left rotting in an unplugged refrigerator in the former Ford Heights Police Department, Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart said. The guns had not been registered with the state as having been seized by police, and Dart’s spokesman Steve Patterson said none of the DNA evidence found matches anyone in the state’s database.
“You’re not talking about ineptness, neglect, you’re talking about outrageous conduct of a police department that didn’t care about the residents out there,” Dart said.
His deputies have been patrolling Ford Heights for the past few years after financial problems forced the village to lay off most of its 16 police officers. The sheriff’s department took over completely in 2008, after two years of sharing duties with what was left of the police department, because the last few Ford Heights officers simply stopped showing up for work, Dart said.
“They just vanished,” he said. Cook County deputies didn’t use the police department’s headquarters, because the former chief, Earl Bridges, continued working in some capacity regarding code enforcement. But Dart said he became uncomfortable with Bridges remaining in the building after it became clear the sheriff’s department would be handling law enforcement in Ford Heights for the foreseeable future.
“At that point, I said enough’s enough, he’s got to go, we’re taking over,” said the sheriff, who ordered Bridges to leave last spring.
That was when deputies opened the door to the evidence room.
Detectives were stunned by what they learned about the sexual assault of the girl — and the apparent lack of any meaningful investigation of a case in which there was a great deal of evidence against one man.
“What happened to this girl is unconscionable,” said Dart, whose office arrested 27-year-old Marquis Deering this week. “She thought nothing was going to happen to him.”
Ford Heights police never interviewed Deering, whose criminal history includes 15 arrests since 2001 and a conviction for aggravated vehicular manslaughter, Dart said. He said it’s unclear whether they ever interviewed the girl.
Ford Heights police received a report from police in nearby Chicago Heights who interviewed the girl at a Chicago Heights hospital, Dart said. They also received a state crime lab report that concluded DNA linked Deering to the assault.
“They had it,” Dart said. “And they did nothing with it.”
Bridges could not be reached for comment. A woman who answered the phone at a listing for an Earl Bridges refused to comment before hanging up the telephone. Ford Heights Mayor Charles Griffin did not immediately return calls for comment.
The girl told Dart’s detectives that she was walking home when Deering offered her a ride in a van. She said he indicated he had a weapon, forced her to drink alcohol until she became unconscious and drove her to a house where he assaulted her.
Deering is being represented by the Cook County Public Defender’s Office. It did not have an immediate comment Friday.
Dart’s office said in a news release that Deering, who is in state prison and was scheduled to be released next week, initially denied the allegations, then said he had sex with the girl but did not rape her. He has been charged with criminal sexual assault, and his bond set at $100,000.
Dart’s office is investigating whether Deering may be involved in other sexual assaults.
The sheriff said his office also is looking into whether criminal charges can be brought against anyone at the Ford Heights Police Department, but he acknowledged that’s not likely.
“It’s hard to come up with the required criminal intent,” Dart said.
Nicole Vienneau family still searching!
Privacy 'zealots' compound a family's torment on March 14, 2010 by Linda Diebel
A federal official was on the phone last October, telling Kathryn Murray something so utterly outrageous regarding her missing daughter, the distraught Toronto mother almost lost it right there. It's the kind of logic that makes a heartbroken parent want to tear out her hair. Murray was nearing the 1,000-day mark in the disappearance of her daughter, Nicole Vienneau, 32, who vanished in Syria. She was last seen at her hotel the morning of March 31, 2007, and then – nothing.
Murray was talking to the privacy official because a few months earlier, in May 2009, someone in foreign affairs told the family they'd have to file an access-to-information request if they wanted to see reports given to the Canadian embassy in Damascus by their own Syrian lawyer, and intended for them. (Each federal government department has its own information and privacy protection section.) "Well, we can't give you anything about Nicole," Murray says the privacy official informed her in October, five months after they'd filed their requests and jumped through required hoops. "We'd need to get Nicole's permission and I can't give it to you without her consent."
Murray was dumbfounded.
"But I'm trying to find my daughter," she replied. "My daughter Nicole is missing. We've been searching for her for almost three years." They went back and forth, with Murray becoming more agitated. "My frustration level, I would have to say, was pretty high and it got to the point I was almost yelling into the phone that I would have to have my daughter declared dead in order to get information about how to find her!" says Murray.
"Then, they said, 'Yes, if she's been declared dead, then, yes, you can have this information.' "
Murray was apoplectic: "I am not going to have her declared dead, because you'll stop looking for her."
IN A STATEMENT to the Star, foreign affairs spokesperson Laura Markle explains: "Consular officials are bound to protect the personal information of Canadian citizens under the provisions of the federal Privacy Act. Requests for information on a particular file are subject to the Access to Information Act, which governs the release of sensitive information."
ON A MARCH EVENING, with the third anniversary of Nicole's disappearance looming, Murray and husband Bruce sat down with the Toronto Star in the home her son Matthew shares with his wife, Kate. He's 37, two years older than Nicole, who would have – may have? – turned 35 last December.
They've spent well over $100,000 trying to find her, far exceeding money raised through their website (findnicolevienneau.com), and dealt with the raw emotion of alleged contacts from Nicole that turned out to be extortion attempts. "Please call (this number), Nicole," said one communication.
Family members, as well as Nicole's fiancé, Gary Schweitzer, travelled to Syria, and Matthew has kept up a blog chronicling the search for Nicole (vienneau.livejournal.com).
"Sometimes it feels very hopeless and it's hard to get out of that funk," he wrote in January 2010. He described his mood at that time as "worried" and said he was listening to Gerard McMann's "Cry Little Sister." ("Come to your brother – Thou shall not die.")
Photos of Nicole from around the world show a slim, dark-haired beauty. She last worked in real estate administration in Vancouver, but was an inveterate traveller; the snapshots show her posing against mountain peaks and on camelback.
"Nicole was unique – is unique," says Kathryn Murray. She had two children – Nicole and Matthew – with her first husband, the late David Vienneau, former Ottawa bureau chief for the Star and Global TV, before she created a blended family with Bruce Murray.
Asked the obvious question – "Do you think Nicole is still alive?" – she pauses, then softly answers: "As a parent, you never give up hope." "I am desperately hoping to get closure because it's agony to have it hanging over you for three years," adds Matthew. "All the time."
He's positive his dad wouldn't have given up hope were he alive. "He would have been squawking all over Parliament Hill ... He would have made such a scene."
Nicole's family – parents, step-parents, a brother, a half-brother and sister and a stepbrother – doesn't know what information the government is withholding. The freedom-of-information (FOI) search began when, during a trip to Syria last spring, the family's lawyer there showed them a police report he'd sent them the previous year through the secure channel of the Canadian embassy in Damascus. They hadn't received it. (They won't disclose its contents for fear of jeopardizing the investigation.)
Foreign affairs officials had been good about providing documents and helping the family, everyone agrees, but this particular report made them wonder what else they were missing. Markle points out Canadian officials in Damascus have "made representations to senior-level Syrian authorities to request a thorough investigation into Ms. Vienneau's disappearance."
Still, those who know Nicole and her case the best are desperate to study every last shred of information that's been compiled. When they returned to Canada, they called foreign affairs. That's when they found themselves suddenly directed to the freedom-of-information division.
Although that particular Syrian police report from May 2008 sparked their search, they broadened it to include "information provided to the Canadian embassy in Damascus, Syria, that is related to and relevant to the ongoing search for Jaqueline Nicole Vienneau" (her full name).
Since October, they've received voluminous documents, mostly their own correspondence and logistics reports about their trips. However, dozens of pages have been blanked out and, as an aside, they didn't get the police report that initiated their concern.
"Please confirm whether or not the police files can be shared with family once received," wrote a Canadian official about another police file dated Jan. 28, 2009. (This one appears to have been given to the embassy by the police themselves.)
"To answer your question ... please be advised that the Hama Police provided no instruction that the report should not be shared with the Murray family," came the reply from another official. Nevertheless, it was withheld. They've given up on FOI. "If there was information we didn't get that might have helped solve the case, I'd hate to be the person whose action stopped that," says Bruce Murray. "It's quite possible there is something." Matthew, an IT expert for the City of Toronto, insists he understands the sensitivity of privacy issues, but believes privacy "zealots" are at work here. "They are acting on the letter, rather than the spirit of the law – and we are the losers." Kathryn Murray is clear about what's important. "We should all be after one thing, which is finding Nicole. We just want our daughter back. "My biggest issue is there is a Canadian missing overseas and we need to find her – or her remains."
NICOLE LEFT her journal, along with her backpack, clothes and photo cards, in the Cairo Hotel in Hama the day she disappeared. She'd visited the ruins of Apamea the previous day and raved about "hyper glowing lush green meadows and mountains. The sky was ultra deep blue. The wildflowers colourful and abundant. Vista heaven. "I treated myself to figs and strawberry ice cream (not at the same time) once I finally dragged myself away from Apamea. I had taken my book with me and spent a long while just relaxing with the birds, butterflies and sunshine. Now I am back in Hama writing while the sun is starting to set. Content."
She wrote no more. Sphere: Related Content
Canada Takes Steps To Strengthen The National Sex Offender Registry
Parliament Hill, Wed, 2010-03-17 By Eileen Berardini
Minister of Public Safety, Vic Toews, and Senator Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu announced proposed legislative amendments to strengthen the National Sex Offender Registry and the National DNA Data Bank.
The proposed amendments would ensure that:
-- convicted sex offenders are automatically included in the Registry;
-- convicted sex offenders are automatically included in the Data Bank;
-- police can use the Registry proactively to prevent sexual offences, not just to investigate crimes after the fact;
-- authorities can include in the Registry those returning to Canada after being convicted of sex offences outside the country;
-- such offenders are required to report their conviction to police within 7 days of arriving in Canada;
-- police can notify foreign or other Canadian police when high-risk offenders are travelling in their area;
-- the same reforms would apply to the military justice system;
-- offenders must report details of their employment and volunteer work and absences from their residence of 7 days or more;
-- authorities can notify the registration centre of the offender's address when serving custody temporarily in the community for 7 days or more;
-- the Registry includes information regarding the offender's vehicle(s), including company vehicles - license plate, make, model, body type, year of manufacture and colour; and
-- the Registry includes information on how the offender committed their crimes (method of operation), to help police investigate subsequent cases.
Jacqueline Nicole Vienneau
Name:
Jacqueline Nicole Vienneau
Last Seen:
March 31, 2007
Location:
Cairo Hotel, Hama, SYRIA
Nationality:
Canadian
Age: 33 (looks younger)
Height/Weight: 5' 6" and 130 pounds
Other:
Brown hair, Brown eyes, wears contacts. She was last seen wearing a long-sleeve red shirt with white sleeves, long khaki pants with side pockets, grey and blue New Balance running shoes, a red baseball cap, red-tinted sunglasses and carrying a small blue knapsack.
Circumstances of Disappearance:
Nicole was last seen the morning of March 31, 2007 by the staff of the Cairo Hotel in Hama, Syria as she left for a day of sightseeing in the area. She did not return, and has not been seen by anyone since. She left her personal belongings at the hotel.
Links:
Her brother's daily web blog (April 22nd onwards): http://vienneau.livejournal.com/39588.html
Tips: tips@findnicolevienneau.com or syrianicole@hotmail.com
Native gangs spreading across Canada, targeting at-risk youth, says RCMP
March 15, 2010, By Susanna Kelley, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Aboriginal gangs are proliferating across Canada as criminal organizations exploit the intense poverty and squalid conditions that many First Nations youth live in, says a top officer with the RCMP's aboriginal police division.
The gangs' stock-in-trade includes drug distribution, prostitution and theft, and they're only growing more sophisticated, said the RCMP.
"The gangs are brought on by poverty," said RCMP Sgt. Merle Carpenter, who holds the aboriginal gangs file with the National Aboriginal Policing Services.
"They intimidate by violence and these aboriginal youth are just wanting to belong to somebody."
While Winnipeg, with its large aboriginal population, is still the epicentre for native gangs, outfits like the Indian Posse, the Manitoba Warriors and the Native Syndicate have spread from coast to coast and into the far North.
"They are certainly increasing in numbers and becoming more sophisticated in how they do business," said Carpenter, who is a member of the Inuvialuit First Nation in the western arctic.
The gangs are growing through the country's network of jails, which are acting as hothouses for recruitment and learning the tricks of the trade.
If you're not a member of a gang when you go to jail, police officials in Manitoba say, you will be when you come out. Many prisoners simply cannot survive jail life without the protection of a gang.
Observers say the explosive growth can't be combated unless the federal government steps up and addresses the woeful conditions underlying the startling trend.
"It's so simple that it's hard to understand why nothing's happening," said Steve Koptie, an aboriginal social worker who spent several years working in the mental health field for 21 reserves in Ontario's northwest.
"It's all about education and employment. If we don't get youth educated and we don't get them... participating in the workforce we're going to continue to watch this deterioration."
Koptie notes there is vast mineral wealth in Canada's North, such as the Ring of Fire in northern Ontario, which can provide jobs for many now-destitute aboriginals.
"The issue is how are we going to share the resources and how are we going to make education a priority," said Koptie, who notes schools on reserves get half the funding of schools off reserve.
"The federal government is responsible for education on reserve and they're fallen so far behind, they've dropped the ball majorly on this."
Calls to the federal Ministry of Indian and Northern Affairs for comment were not immediately returned.
Vancouver and the lower B.C. mainland, with its close proximity to the United States and its oceanic coastline, have become a major gateway for the importation of drugs in the last few years, said the RCMP.
But alarmingly, the native gangs are spreading into rural B.C. as well recently, including Vancouver Island, the B.C. interior, Fort St. John's in the northwest and Prince Rupert on the northwest coast.
Smaller gangs are springing up there, with names like Red Alert, Cree Boys, Native Blood and Native Posse.
They are now in all corners of the province, said Supt. Dan Malo, the RCMP's officer in charge of the Combined Forces Gang Task Force in B.C.
"In all the locations and corners of this province, there are people who use drugs," said Malo.
"Where there's a consumer base there'll always be a seller, and that's where some of our native gangs seize the opportunity."
Aboriginal gangs are easily migrating eastward from Winnipeg into northwestern Ontario as well, often using relatives and friends as drug and alcohol couriers into even the most remote fly-in reserves, via plane or winter ice-roads.
"In one of the northern communities I was in, I met a young man with rope burns on his neck, he was 17 years old, and a gang member from Winnipeg had been in the community and he gave him one week to come up with $1,500," said Koptie.
The young man decided he was going to kill himself because he couldn't come up with the money, he said.
"This is happening across the country."
The criminal gangs are even spreading as far north as Iqaluit, Whitehorse, Yellowknife, Inuvik and the Arctic, said Carpenter.
Oil and gas exploration meant there was a "lot of money in that neck of the woods."
"If there's money to be made, they're going to be there."
One-time geographic boundaries, in which gangs used to control a certain turf-specific areas of towns or cities, are blurring.
Now, in any given neighbourhood in Winnipeg, for instance, all the gangs will be represented, said Mitch Bourbonniere, a Metis and veteran social worker who has spent decades pulling aboriginal kids out of gangs in Winnipeg.
"The higher-up guys who are smarter know not to make trouble for each other," he said.
"They've all learned to kind of co-exist because they all know they're all in it for the same reason, and that is to make money."
The gangs are evolving in other ways as well, learning police and Crown attorney tactics across the country, Carpenter said.
"It's just cat and mouse. If you are doing a big operation on one gang and put them all in jail, well another gang pops up," he said.
"It's a supply and demand issue and its just a never-ending cycle."
Carpenter said he thinks much can be done at the community level about the gang proliferation.
"The police can't do it alone."
ALBERTA FEDERATION OF LABOUR | Alberta women are falling behind
Gender issues met with "deafening silence" in government
EDMONTON, March 8 /CNW/ - Whether there's a boom or a bust, the economic reality facing women in Alberta is that they are falling further and further behind men.
A new study by the Edmonton-based Parkland Institute and the Womanspace Resource Centre in Lethbridge shows that the fight for rights and equality is far from over in this province. Nationally, Conservative government actions have stalled progress on women's issues, according to a report by the Canadian Labour Congress and several women's groups.
Gathering data from a variety of national sources, including Statistics Canada, the study shows that women in Alberta experience disproportionate levels of poverty and low wages. The median income for Alberta women working full year, full time is 66 per cent of that earned by men. The gender wage gap is worse in Alberta than in all other provinces. The boom years have made things worse, not better, for Alberta's women. In 1993 women working full time earned 71 per cent of what men earned.
Meanwhile, single mothers who rely on social assistance in Alberta receive the least amount of support of anyone in Canada. The situation is just as grim for female lone parents and their families, with 24 per cent being categorized as low income in Alberta, compared to the national rate of 16 per cent.
This situation has been met with a deafening silence in Alberta. This is the only jurisdiction in Canada where women have no formal voice in government, with neither a ministry nor an advisory council on the status of women. The Alberta Federation of Labour calls on the Alberta government to recognize that a high wage gap between men and women has negative consequences for the public and private sectors, including lost productivity, low retention of skilled labour and high levels of poverty. It is time for the government to follow the lead of other provinces - which have fewer financial resources - and tackle this issue.
Nationally, gender-equality issues have slowed under the Conservative government, according to a report by the Canadian Labour Congress and several women's rights groups presented to the UN Commission on the Status of Women in New York.
The report, called Reality Check: Women in Canada, criticizes the federal government for eliminating a proposed $5-billion national child-care and early-learning program, for closing 12 of 16 Status of Women offices across the country and for cutting resources for gender-equality projects.
"Half-hearted gestures regarding the possibility of changing our national anthem to reflect gender equality are no substitute for concrete policies to end inequalities," says Nancy Furlong, Secretary Treasurer of the Alberta Federation of Labour. "On one hand, for a few days some federal Conservatives say gender equality in the anthem is important, but on the other the government eliminates the phrase gender equality from the mandate of the national Status of Women office. The government pays lip service to the issue, but its actions speak far louder than its word."
For further information: Media contact: Nancy Furlong, Secretary Treasurer
Advocacy centres make good sense By MICHAEL HARRIS
The prime minister’s letter was a door slightly ajar with a little light streaming in through the crack.
At least it was for Canada’s first federal ombudsman for victims of crime. Steve Sullivan has a plan for helping victimized children of all kinds but it means spending more public money at a time of major deficits.
Here’s what Stephen Harper wrote about the possibility of providing $5 million towards Child Advocacy Centres, (CACs) across Canada: “As you know, in the wake of serious economic downturn, the Government is operating in a highly constrained fiscal environment. However, we remain committed to advancing victims’ rights and will consider this request carefully in the context of planning for Budget 2010 ...”
That “however” is quite an optimistic word, given the austerity chill that has been coming out of the government these days. But few modest programs could fit more readily into the Harper government’s crime and safety agenda than Child Advocacy Centres.
Canada now has three CACs up and running — one in Niagara Falls, one in Edmonton, and one in Montreal. The centres offer child victims a variety of professional services and resources under one roof — law officers, lawyers and psychologists. The benefit is obvious: The kids don’t have to tell their painful stories to 10 different people in a variety of settings, some of them quite intimidating.
I spoke with Cindy Paskey, who is the director of the CAC in Niagara Falls, and she gave me a quote from parents who had turned to the centre after their daughters had been victimized: “At first my daughters were afraid to speak to the social worker and police, but once we were at the Child Advocacy Centre, everyone made us feel comfortable and at ease. Thank you for making this difficult time much easier.”
The prime minister is obviously a fan of the concept. He has personally visited the CAC in Montreal and his justice minister has toured its counterpart in Niagara Falls. Apart from aiding child victims and their families, the centres also fulfil another important element of the government’s stated agenda on crime and safety issues — partnering with the provinces.
But does that mean the guy who sings Beatles songs and wants to improve health issues for mothers and children will come through? We’ll find out in a few weeks time, but he should.
Half a million people are now involved in trafficking child pornography on the Internet alone. Eighty-three per cent of the children who are victimized are under 12 years of age. A sickening 39% are between the ages of three and five years old.
There are many things to do to help authorities crack down on the purveyors of child pornography, from beefing up the provisions of the Criminal Code to compelling Internet service providers to hand over the names and addresses of those of their customers of interest to police.
For the child victims, CACs make good sense. They cut the cost of investigation nearly in half by centralizing services and gather better quality evidence, which leads to more guilty pleas and a higher conviction rate.
There is no such thing as economizing on the protection of children. After all, aren’t we about to spend $100 million protecting our politicians for a few days at the G20?
Daniel Cormier sentenced.. nine extra months!
Self-described Montreal pastor already in jail gets nine more months, March 8, 2010, By THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL - A self-described pastor who is serving time for sexually assaulting a minor he claimed was his child bride has been sentenced to an additional nine months for abusing another girl.
Daniel Cormier was convicted of sexually assaulting a 16-year-old who was a parishioner and volunteer at his now-defunct Church of Downtown Montreal.
The sentence handed down in a Montreal courtroom today will run consecutively to the five-year prison term he received last January.
Cormier, who is in his late 50s, was convicted of sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl he'd claimed as his bride after a ceremony at the church.
The assaults against the 16-year-old victim took place before those against the 10-year-old.
Quebec court Judge Claude Leblond noted in his sentencing today that the teenage girl viewed Cormier as a sort of guru.
Cormier did not testify in the case and did not express any remorse.
In the other case, Cormier insisted he was innocent and that his 10-year-old victim was in love with him.
Stephan Hashemi, son of Zahra Kazemi who was killed in Iran!
Slain journalist's son accuses gov't of empty words, nothing else, against Iran
March 5, 2010, By THE CANADIAN PRESS
MONTREAL - The son of slain Iranian-Canadian photojournalist Zahra Kazemi has penned a stinging letter to the prime minister criticizing the government's handling of the seven-year-old case.
Stephan Hashemi accuses the government of consistently uttering empty words of indignation while failing to back them up with any concrete action against Iran.
Hashemi notes that the Harper government is even working against him in a Canadian court case he launched against Iran.
He wants Ottawa to stop defending the State Immunity Act, legislation that forbids foreign governments from being sued in Canada for crimes against humanity, including torture.
His letter to Stephen Harper comes as a Quebec civil trial pitting the Kazemi estate against the Iranian government is set to wrap up Monday.
The $17-million civil suit was launched by the estate and family of Kazemi over her detention, torture and slaying in 2003.
Federal lawyers have argued in that case that the immunity act should apply, and Iran's lawyers are using the act to argue that they are immune from prosecution in Canada.
Quebec Women's Federation
Women's federation upset over Quebec strip club's free-implant contest
March 4, 2010, By THE CANADIAN PRESS
QUEBEC - The Quebec Women's Federation is upset by a contest being organized by one of the province's strip clubs.
It's asking the Quebec City bar to cancel the promotion for free breast implants. On May 23, the contest winner will be offered free surgery worth up to $7,000.
The bar owner, Johanne Dolbec, explains the promotion by saying her bar is trying to attract female clients on Sundays.
She says participants won't have to get nude or participate in any erotic spectacle in order to win.
But the women's federation says the contest still uses women's bodies as an object for commercial purposes, and calls that regrettable.
Brock Myrol, Anthony Gordon, Leo Johnston, and Peter Schiemann
Family realizes there will always be questions about Alberta Mountie murders, March 2, 2010, By Jim Macdonald, THE CANADIAN PRESS
EDMONTON - Five years have passed since four unsuspecting Mounties on a stakeout were cut down by a cop-hating troublemaker near Mayerthorpe, Alta.
The force and even those close to the officers who died concede that an upcoming fatality inquiry - the one remaining avenue for a public airing of the facts - is unlikely to fill in all the gaps in what led to the worst massacre of RCMP officers in modern history.
The biggest question: how did James Roszko pull it off?
A trial last year of two men who helped drive Roszko around the night of March 3, 2005, revealed how he was seething at police, who were watching over a marijuana grow operation and chop shop they had found in a Quonset hut on his farm. But the narrative ended with an armed Roszko being dropped off at the edge of the property.
Eight hours later, shots rang out and constables Brock Myrol, 29; Anthony Gordon, 28; Leo Johnston, 32; and Peter Schiemann, 25, lay dead. Roszko took his own life, and along with it, any chance the story would be told in full.
"There will be few aspects of Mayerthorpe that will ever be viewed as being final or definitive," says Cpl. Wayne Oakes, the police spokesman on this case since Day 1.
"Even at the outcome of the highest level of inquiry or findings or court process, there will still be areas that some will have questions or doubt about."
There's a sadness in Colleen Myrol's voice as she reflects on how quickly the five years have passed. She says she realizes that some key details surrounding her son's death will never be known.
"I really do believe there will always be a mystery around the whole event," she says. "We know more of the story now than we did before, and that does help that we've solved some of those issues.
"They're not nagging for me. I don't try and give it much thought."
Rev. Don Schiemann, Peter Schiemann's father, says no one will ever know all the details of what happened in the hours after Roszko was dropped off.
"I don't think we should consume ourselves with that which we can't ever know," Schiemann says. "Why waste our time with that? Let's just learn from what we do know."
The question of where Roszko hid the semi-automatic weapon he used "remains a huge unknown," says Oakes.
Last year, after an elaborate RCMP sting investigation, the two men who gave Roszko a ride and a second rifle that night took a plea deal. Shawn Hennessey and Dennis Cheeseman got 15 and 12 years in prison, respectively, for manslaughter, but are appealling their sentences.
Police analysis of the crime scene revealed that Roszko hid under a sheet as he snaked across a snow-covered and bush-dotted field toward the Quonset, where he slipped inside and waited for the Mounties.
Some blame RCMP commanders for not being more aggressive in securing Roszko's property since they knew he hated police. He had a record of violence and threats, but the Mounties chose not to deploy a tactical unit. And why were junior officers assigned to the stakeout?
Oakes bristles at questions about RCMP tactics.
"If there had been emergency response team personnel there, they would not have been in the same (state of readiness) as when they first entered that Quonset," he says. "They wouldn't have been in that state of heightened tactical alertness ... because they had been there for many hours.
"Nothing untoward, nothing sinister, nothing threatening. As far as they knew, the property was cleared and a safe place to be."
Schiemann says there is already plenty of evidence to suggest that the relative inexperience of the constables on the stakeout was not a factor in the deadly outcome.
"Anybody on that site was fair game for Roszko. As a matter of fact, the other two officers that weren't killed, that didn't go into the Quonset hut, had many, many years of experience, and had they gone in they would have been victims as well."
Author Robert Knuckle wrote "The Mayerthorpe Story: From Ambush to Aftermath" and interviewed veteran officers involved in the case.
He believes the Mounties didn't send an emergency response unit because it was too expensive. He also believes the relative inexperience of the constables at the stakeout simply reflects the way things are in policing.
"On cold, lonely night surveillance like that, invariably it's the junior people that get the assignment," Knuckle said from his home in Dundas, Ont. "You certainly couldn't call for an emergency response team. That's thousands of dollars worth of overtime."
Knuckle, who was recently made an honorary RCMP veteran, says the big question is where Roszko hid the assault rifle that he used and why didn't police take more precautions when they had intelligence that suggested he had the weapon.
"The word got back to the Mounties that this guy had this assault rifle - it's absolutely illegal in Canada - and they went out there on two occasions and searched and couldn't find it, so where the heck was that thing?"
The final review of the Mayerthorpe massacre may still be months away. The appeals of Cheeseman and Hennessey have to be heard first. Alberta requires a fatality inquiry in all police shootings, but not until after all criminal proceedings are exhausted. Such reviews cannot find blame, but can offer recommendations on how things could be improved.
Oakes says RCMP have not found any major errors in their review of the murders.
"The fatality inquiry may find certain conclusions, but at this point in time, based on the information that I have, it does not appear ... that anything of a significant flaw or error was done."
The shooting's fifth anniversary will be marked with a simple candle-lighting ceremony Wednesday evening at a park in Mayerthorpe where memorial statues pay tribute to the four Mounties. The RCMP are playing it low key and few, if any, family members will attend.
But organizer Shila Thibault says people have been flocking to the memorial site since it was put up.
"They don't hesitate to let the tears fall, to hug the person next to them," says Thibault. "There's an aura of dignity and honour and remembrance and hope for the future. And I still feel it and I go there almost every day."
