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August 22, 2004



Compilation Aug. 22, 04 -- updated Aug. 23, 04

Update Aug. 23, 04

Heads Up! -- BRE-X Jungle Fever on the History Channel TONIGHT

8 pm Eastern Standard time
9 pm Atlantic Standard Time -- and so on

I have also added links of interest just below the next paragraph.


Again, it is time for me to take a break. This is the season for making jellies, jams, pickles, antipasto, and a few other things. I shall return -- eventually -- unless something really interesting catches my eye. Until then, watch for hummingbirds, finches, orioles, robins, and squirrels coming begging, along with the nightly racoon raiders. You have to appreciate an animal deft enough to take the lid off the garbage can. I just can't get too upset about them -- though I wish they would leave my better planters alone. Ah, summer! Enjoy the dregs. Store the memories for winter. News Junkie Canada

Update: Added Aug. 23, 04 to a post on this from Aug. 22, 04

Criminal Intelligence Service Canada: 2004 Annual Report on Organized Crime in Canada

Instead of having the media write what is in these reports in their own words -- or leave out what they wish, check the links yourself from here.

Criminal Intelligence Service Canada -- 2004 Annual Report on Organized Crime in Canada Research for this report concluded on 2004-06-23 and is based on information available until that date.

Note: References to organized criminal activity associated to particular ethnic-based organizations in this report are not meant to suggest that all members of that specific ethnic group are involved in organized crime or that the government of the country of origin or its authorized agencies permits or participates in any illegal activities. These references allude to the illegal activities of particular criminal organizations, the majority of whose members share ethnic origins.


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Message from the Chairman
Message from the Director General
Criminal Intelligence Service Canada
Executive Summary

CISC National Intelligence Priorities
Asian-based Organized Crime
Eastern European-based Organized Crime
Organized Crime at Marine Ports, Airports and Land Border Areas
Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs
Traditional (Italian-based) Organized Crime

CISC National Monitored Issues
Aboriginal-based Organized Crime
Illicit Movement of Firearms
Organized Crime and the Diamond Industry
Sexual Exploitation of Children
Street Gangs
Technology and Crime

Selected Socio-economic Effects of Organized Crime in Canada
Conlusion
Evaluation Form


Link to "Refugee group targets PM"

Refugee group targets PM
Do you ever get really upset with our mass media?

I do!

This story made the front page of the Ottawa Sun today and it annoys me.

MONTREAL -- A group representing refugee claimants called on Prime Minister Paul Martin yesterday to overhaul the immigration system, which they say is unfair and fraught with delays. [. . . . ]

Syed Ali, who came to Canada in 1999, said he is still waiting for his status to be resolved. He said he was refused entry but has not gotten a deportation order.

"I want to believe in this country but I am very upset by the attitude, the injustice that has been given to me and other people," he said. [. . . . ]


There are other articles related to this and several links. Check it out. The blood boils.


List of Articles:

Updates:

* ‘Robolander’ to combat terror hijacks -- American ingenuity

* Ah, everything is all right now -- "In recent weeks, at the order of the courts, at least three such marriages between rapists and their victims have taken place inside jails in eastern India."

Early posts:

* Media Report: Being PC: more important than safety of young girls

* Role reversal in the media

* A gutsy post -- in Canada, home of political correctness

* Break it up -- American attitudes toward Canada

* Fear of the same -- Canadian politics

* Federal opposition leaders meet

* Public Apathy -- A Disturbing Feature Of Canadian Contemporary Life

* Gun registry - a farce in three Acts

* Delays hit firearms registry redesign -- Firm that designed faulty original is still on payroll

* Millions mishandled, military audit finds -- Dubious dealings could reach $81M -- Transactions with suppliers examined

* Another report collecting dust -- Criminal Intelligence Service Canada -- 2004 Annual Report on Organized Crime in Canada -- Just check the Table of Contents here; then download the .pdf file

* "Mr. Bracken cited concerns about illegal immigrants, terrorists and drugs."

* Andre Ouellet and the 'honor system'


Comment on today's posts here .




Updates:

‘Robolander’ to combat terror hijacks


‘Robolander’ to combat terror hijacks

TERRORISTS could be prevented from carrying out September 11-style attacks by a device that would allow air traffic controllers to take control of aircraft and land them remotely.

The device, known as “Robolander”, is among a number of pilot aides that the American government’s Department of Homeland Security has asked Boeing to fit to new aircraft. Despite resistance to the technology from unions and airlines, the government may contribute up to £40m towards a prototype “proof of concept” aircraft to be built by 2010. . . .



Ah, everything is all right now -- "In recent weeks, at the order of the courts, at least three such marriages between rapists and their victims have taken place inside jails in eastern India."

Check out Jack's Newswatch or read the whole article here, Rape victim marries rapist to avoid Muslim shun Shaikh Azizur Rahman in Calcutta, Aug. 22, 04

THE dusty Berhampur Central jail, 120 miles north of Calcutta, provided the setting for a bizarre wedding last week between a rapist and his victim.

The victim faced a life as an outcast, ostracised and stigmatised by Indian society for being on the receiving end of a violent sexual crime.

But if her assailant married her, the shame would be lifted in the eyes of the local Muslim community. [. . . . ]

In recent weeks, at the order of the courts, at least three such marriages between rapists and their victims have taken place inside jails in eastern India. [. . . . ]


Talk about punishing the victim!



Earlier posts:

Media Report: Being PC: more important than safety of young girls

Media Report: Being PC: more important that safety of young girls Arthur Weinreb

In the early morning hours of last Saturday, a 17-year-old girl was walking along a residential street in Toronto’s trendy Beaches neighbourhood when she was approached by two men. They dragged into a nearby ravine where they began to remove her clothes.

[. . . . ] It was absolutely flabbergasting that Citytv would provide a description of the attackers but leave the public not knowing whether they were white, black, Asian or something else. While the description of their ages, builds and clothing were fairly general, the added information; that one had an olive complexion, the other was black, and that they were together last Friday night, might just lead to someone knowing who they are.

But for the politically correct lefties at City, it is more important to be politically correct than to take dangerous sex offenders off the street.

We really shouldn’t be surprised.


Canada Free Press does it again -- speaks truth. That should be enough to get the pc crowd on its back.


Role reversal in the media

Role reversal in the media Arthur Weinreb, Associate Editor, Canada Free Press, August 18, 2004

[. . . . The upshot of Sheila Copps' views in the National Post] on CHOI was that Canadians are entitled to freedom of choice in the broadcasts that they listen to, as long as those broadcasts do not insult, denigrate or demean. The Canadian people, of course have no right to decide what is insulting denigrating or demeaning--that is left up to the nanny state by way of the CRTC to decide. There goes freedom of speech.

On the other hand, CBC radio, the bastion of political correctness in Canada, ran a commentary arguing that censoring or taking CHOI off the air was a violation of the fundamental right of free speech. According to the commentator, it is perfectly alright to make sexist remarks about a woman’s breast size and tell jokes about African students and the mentally disabled, all under the guise of freedom of speech. This commentary appeared on a network that requires its on-air personnel to use to describe people who fish as "fishers" instead of "fishermen", lest they insult a woman who happens to fish.

It seems that when the media is the subject of a story, as it is in the case of CHOI, the regular rules cease to.



A gutsy post -- in Canada, home of political correctness

Op-Ed: Canadian Terrorism Klaus Rohrich

Shortly after September 11, 2001 our then Prime Minister, Jean Chretien, made a statement that was either an outright lie, or it was evidence of just how far out of touch with reality Chretien was. The statement essentially asserted that there were no terrorists operating in Canada.

Stewart Bell, in his book Cold Terror (John Wiley & Sons Canada Ltd., 2004) confronts Chretien and his band of merry Liberals with the truth. Not only are there terrorists in Canada, they have been operating here with impunity for more than 20 years; in some cases with the blessings and financial support of the Liberal government and its key politicians.

Not in Canada, you say, our home and native land. Canada, the country that is morally superior to all other countries, especially the United States; Canada, the country that unquestioningly accepts everyone from everywhere with a chance for a new life and true happiness; Canada, where people of all cultures and all nations come to live in peace, acceptance and harmony.

Bell’s work belies this conceit with hard evidence that Canada has long been a safe haven and a source of cash and logistics to many of the world’s worst terrorist organizations. [. . . . ]

In Samuel P. Huntington’s 1993 essay, "Clash of Civilizations", the author argues that politics has undergone a metamorphosis. He believes that future international conflicts will largely be cultural, that historic, religious, language and ethnic divisions will take on greater importance than pure national distinctions. He urges alliances with cultures that are similar to ours in an effort to spread our values. Cultures that are unlike ours should be accommodated, wherever possible, but we also should not shy away from conflict, where conflict is necessary.

Canada’s commitment to multiculturalism runs counter to this trend. Stewart Bell’s book shows how other cultures are fighting to preserve their ways of life by utilizing our institutions at the expense of our own cultural survival. A must read for anyone who cares about the future.



There is more. Do link.

Do not miss the Cartoon of the Day which concerns security.

Then check these editorial cartoons


BREAK IT UP -- American attitudes toward Canada

BREAK IT UP

What did you make of that poll showing 40% of Canadian teens regard America as “evil”? A little statistical oversampling of various Khadr nephews and nieces in southern Ontario perhaps?

But no, these seem to be regular well-adjusted wholesome all-American-hating Canadian teens. And the only sub-group variation I saw in the Dominion Institute’s survey was that, when it comes to francophone teens, the number who regard America as an “evil global force” rises to 64%.

[. . . . ] On September 11th, at Montreal’s now famous Concordia University, Muslim students bayed and whooped as the twin towers came down and spent the rest of the day celebrating or brawling with those boorish enough to be offended by their good cheer. Are those students as reliably passive in their anti-Americanism as Christopher Hume? Or would some of them be willing to serve as part of a support network for Islamists? Just small things, you know – providing references, loaning their addresses to applicants for driver’s licenses, etc. And, if you think some of them would, what percentage does it have to be before it becomes significant? Two per cent? Five? Ten?


Right now the Province of Quebec, for reasons best-known to jelly-spined federalists, controls its own immigration policy. That means new Quebecers come mostly from the francophone world – Haiti, Syria, Algeria, French West Africa. Furthermore, about a third of the “refugees” “processed” into Canada hail from terrorist-producing countries and they too tend to gravitate to Montreal, where they can blend into sympathetic local populations a mere half-hour from the US border. I was told by an RCMP guy recently that roughly three-quarters of Canada’s counter-terrorism effort is concentrated on the Montreal area. [. . . . ]



FEAR OF THE SAME

FEAR OF THE SAME The Western Standard, August 2nd 2004, also at www.steynonline.com

I’m thinking of joining the Bloc.

In the end, for whatever reasons, Quebec was the only province prepared to punish the Liberals for Adscam, Flagscam, Viascam and all the rest. Everywhere else, the returns followed the bellwether riding of Cliffs-Edge, where members of the Lemming-Canadian community, a critical demographic which had been showing some unusual hesitation in the weeks beforehand, voted to give the Liberals one more shot and stampeded for the polling station on the rocks below.

[. . . . ] So what did Campaign 2004 mean? The most important number of the night was the turn-out: 60.5% - the lowest participation in a federal election since 1867. Mr Martin is Prime Minister thanks to a very small number of people – indeed, of all the Queen’s first ministers around the Commonwealth, he holds the office by virtue of the lowest proportion of eligible voters. 4.9 million out of some 30 million Canadians. Liberal government pays literally diminishing returns.

If I were a Liberal, I’d be very worried about this. If they truly do represent what M. Chretien calls “da Canadian value” – welfare, multiculturalism, etc – fewer and fewer Canadians seem to value their values enough to leave the house and vote for them. And what would you say was most likely? That Jack Layton’s “positive vision” revitalizes the sluggish, empty Mr Martin? Or that by the time of the next election waiting lists are even longer? [. . . . ]


Steyn is always good. Link for the rest of what he has written.


Federal opposition leaders meet

Federal opposition leaders meet Canadian Press

Ottawa — The three federal opposition leaders met Friday in Montreal to plot strategy for the coming session of Parliament, where the minority Liberal government faces a challenge to hold onto power. [. . . . ]



Public Apathy -- A Disturbing Feature Of Canadian Contemporary Life

Read the sections in bold and then ask yourself whether the statements made would fall into the hate crime category -- or into the protected speech category for certain special groups of people.

Public Apathy -- A Disturbing Feature Of Canadian Contemporary Life which contains several articles -- or go to the original article here

I came across this article in my travels today...

[...]

CIC President Elmasry explained that thanks to the report he commissioned, Muslims were projecting political power for the first time in Canada's history: "All MPs and their opponents know we are watching them. But don't believe that all deputies who scored well are happy about it. Many resent, for obvious reasons, being associated too closely with Muslims."

These "obvious reasons" were made explicit by Kamel: "The Zionists and corporations run the show in Canada, the Zionist Global Television and the Issi Asper Foundation want to form our minds and the next government."

While the speakers were bent on demonizing the "Zionist" Conservatives and Jewish-owned enterprises, they did not spare the Liberals. Kamel explained that all candidates can commit fatal mistakes, the worst of them all being Zionism:

"I could not vote for a thief. Zionism is theft. A proud Zionist candidate commits a fatal mistake. I'll name some people: Jacques Saada [Montreal liberal deputy and now minister] is a Zionist, he is therefore a thief!"

Kamel also denounced Prime Minister Paul Martin as a "Conservative in Liberal clothing whom the Zionists and the corporations elected as leader of the Liberal Party."

Elmasry was upbeat about the emerging Muslim vote: "With an average age of 37 years, the Muslim population is young and growing twice as fast as the rest of the population. For the first time in Canada's history, Muslims are projecting political power." [...]

Mohammed Elmasry is the current president of the Canadian Islamic Congress and is one of the bums that Martin and his crowd (including Saada) are so desperate to protect. Why they do this I don't know.

Canada isn't alone. . . . .

The BBC in Britain came up with this little gem today.

Huge boost to Darfur aid effort

[...]

Kalma camp near Nyala was closed last week, denying access to aid workers and United Nations staff, following riots in which one Arab refugee suspected of belonging to the Janjaweed militia was killed.

You'd never know from that story that this "refugee" was working for CAIR , (a US based Islamic Charity) and that he was strung up by the refugees.


This is only the beginning. There are several related articles. Link and check.


Gun registry - a farce in three Acts

Crooks don't register guns and terrorists don't register explosives. Meanwhile, we're short 2500 RCMP officers.


Debate over gun control rages on -- Firearms registry changes underway -- But some `want to fight this in courts' Tonda MacCharles, Aug. 21, 04

OTTAWA—Ed Hudson, a 59-year-old veterinarian and gun enthusiast, can't get himself prosecuted for being an unlicensed owner of 50 unregistered guns, no matter what he does.

He has been arrested three times and had two shotguns seized after pulling stunts where he practically begged the police to charge him under the Firearms Act.

But the charges that were laid — having a weapon in a public place or obstructing a police officer (under the Criminal Code, not the firearms law) — were always dropped.

[. . . . ] On Wednesday, in Biggar, Sask., Hudson and members of his Canadian Unregistered Firearms Owners Association, will hold a skeet-shooting contest.

Only unlicensed owners of unregistered guns need apply for the pleasure of blowing clay pigeons out of the sky. But audiences are welcome.

Oh, and the RCMP are also invited. [. . . . ]

And for many, the $1-billion price tag over the past decade still rankles. "One billion dollars would put thousands of police officers on the streets," says Sergeant Al Koenig, head of the Calgary Police Association. "You could buy 50 helicopters and give them to police services."
[. . . . ]


Read the rest and note the rumblings in the Canadian Police Association about gun registry support among the over-taxed police service officers.


Delays hit firearms registry redesign -- Firm that designed faulty original is still on payroll

Delays hit firearms registry redesign -- No new computer system two years after deal signed -- Firm that designed faulty original is still on payroll Tonda MacCharles, Aug. 21, 04

OTTAWA—A stream of reviews and government-ordered changes has delayed the final redesign of the federal gun registry.

Chief Firearms Commissioner Bill Baker acknowledged in an interview that a 15-year contract to redesign and replace the old Canadian Firearms Registration computer system still has not delivered a new system, two years after it was awarded.

"That's a contract under development. That's not in place yet. We're still operating on the existing Canadian Firearms Registration System," said Baker.

Instead, EDS, the company that designed the original ineffective computer database — criticized by the auditor-general as expensive and out-of-date — is still on the payroll. [. . . . ]

The overall gun control program — licensing owners and registering guns — was originally projected to have a net cost of $2 million, but after 10 years in the works, will hit the $1-billion mark this year. Said Conservative critic Breitkreuz of the delays: "It's a bureaucrat's dream." [. . . . ]



Millions mishandled, military audit finds -- Dubious dealings could reach $81M -- Transactions with suppliers examined

Millions mishandled, military audit finds -- Dubious dealings could reach $81M -- Transactions with suppliers examined Dean Beeby, CP, Aug. 21, 04

OTTAWA—An audit of the way the military spends has found problems with up to $81 million in payments it makes each year to suppliers.

The newly released audit, which examined the local budgets of hundreds of National Defence facilities across Canada, found examples of payments made to the wrong supplier, cheques in the wrong amount, missing documentation and financial rule-breaking.

Altogether, a sampling of 521 randomly selected transactions found that 7.4 per cent had serious problems that violated government guidelines.

"The level of non-compliance ... appears significant and exceeds the targets established by some other federal government departments," says the report, dated January this year but only made public this summer.

Projecting the findings to the $1.1 billion spent each year by hundreds of local units, the report said the value of the dubious transactions is between $23 million and $81 million.



Asian gangs pose major threat, police report says

It's been a number of years since Cpl. Read tried to stem the visa frauds at the Hong Kong High commission and he got turfed for his efforts.

This is just a PR rehash to make it look good.Nobody follows up to see the track record which is not great. Just another report to gather dust. Just about everything in the report has been known for ten years and nothing was done about it because the government didn't consider public safety a priority. Canada is short police officers -- and the band played on. . . .


Asian gangs pose major threat, police report says 20 Aug 2004

VANCOUVER - Asian organized crime poses a major threat in Canada because it is widespread, sophisticated and highly influential, says a police report released Friday.

Insurance fraud, money laundering, human trafficking, street gangs and sexual exploitation of children< are all raised as concerns in the annual report from the Criminal Intelligence Service Canada.

"Organized crime is a very, very serious threat to this country," said Chief Edgar MacLeod of the Cape Breton Regional Police. [. . . . ]


In addition to Asian gangs, honourable mention is made of these fine citizens and where they are active or expected to be:

* Canada's lucrative diamond industry . . .
* The Hells Angels . . .
* Eastern European-based crime networks . . .
* Traditional Italian-based organized crime . . .
* Aboriginal street gangs . . . .


See the archives for background on Cpl Read, March 1, 04 and
March 21, 04 , May 5, 04 , a CBC WFive program about corruption in Hong Kong and a Canadian connection, June 24, 04 . Look for words like Sidewinder, note Chinese names and those of various Canadian politicians with whom aspiring entrants and rich entrants network, triads, gambling/"gaming", the connections with China, RCMP Cpl. Read, RCMP Sgt. Stenhouse, HellsAngels. As well, time permitting, you might want to check Mar. 21, 04, Mar. 23, 04, Mar. 28, 04, Apr. 7, 04, June 15 and 17, 04 (diamond scams). Other posts could be added but this will get you started. Check this too, Whistleblower Legislation, Qui Tam etc.


Another report collecting dust -- Criminal Intelligence Service Canada -- 2004 Annual Report on Organized Crime in Canada -- Just check the Table of Contents, then download the .pdf file

Every year they produce this report and every year nothing significant changes because the government doesn't deem it a priority and don't provide the necessary resources to deal with it. The RCMP is short a minimum of 2500 officers. Corruption increases. The government knows nothing is being done; the crooks know because so few are arrested, and the police know the extent of the problem because they report on it year after year. The only ones who don't have a clue are the public who assume that strides are being made. The track record speaks for itself. The number of individuals engaged with these groups and the number that actually end up in jail -- it's insignificant -- maybe 2%. That means 98% are acting quite freely with few interruptions -- and the band played on . . . and it looks as though it will continue for the forseeable future, unless our government starts acting.

Criminal Intelligence Service Canada -- 2004 Annual Report on Organized Crime in Canada -- download the complete .pdf file. That will keep you occupied for a bit, as well as somewhat wiser about the situation in Canada.

Organized crime eyeing Canada's diamond trade Colin Freeze, Aug. 20, Globe and Mail

Hells Angels are joining Eastern European crime gangs in trying to muscle in on Canada's burgeoning diamond industry, law enforcement officials say.

Shut out so far from a presence in the mines in Canada's Far North, gangsters are eyeing junior mining companies, stock markets, warehouses and cutting and polishing operations as the best sources of diamond-industry infiltration, according to the Criminal Intelligence Service of Canada.


"Some interest has been demonstrated by Eastern-European-based organized crime and outlaw motorcycle gangs to explore opportunities relating to the secondary diamond industry," reads the CISC's latest annual report, released yesterday. "As Canada is increasing diamond production, there will be a corresponding increase in vulnerabilities and potential points of infiltration by organized crime groups."

CISC has sounded the alarm about the diamond industry before, but concern about motorcycle gangs is growing. The group comprises police forces across the country, and one of its members is the RCMP, which runs a two-man Diamond Protection Service in Yellowknife. [. . . . ]

Crime groups may be seeking to conceal themselves within the influx of migrants who have joined the diamond rush to Canada's North, Constable Robertson said. "Between 2002 and 2003, people moved into Yellowknife from 64 different countries," he said. "We're only a community of 18,000 to 20,000 people. When you start having a change in demographics like that, you don't know necessarily who's coming with it."

[. . . . ] Various enterprises run by organized crime groups continue to flourish in Canada according to the latest CISC report: Marijuana grow operations run by Vietnamese groups are expected to expand; the Hells Angels remain the dominant outlaw biker group; identity theft is said to have doubled in Ontario in the past year; and new technology — Internet communications, personal digital assistants and cellphones — are said to be making it more difficult for police to listen in on criminals. [. . . . ]


In the post on diamonds I mentioned above, note the methods used -- prostitution and drugs come in handy to compromise people so the crooks can do as they wish.

Also, check this information on the connection between grow-ops and other illegal activities
, as well as our government's attitude to the whole business. Link to this series of articles .

* Pot: Legalization or Not? As it is, the whole pot "industry" is entangled with drug gangs and crime

* The Pot Patrol: How spotters untangle web of B.C. bud
* Fraser Institute: BC’s Marijuana Crop Worth Over $7 Billion Annually -- Legalize marijuana and tax it? -- Download the .pdf file.
* Tips For Landlords: How to Prevent Marijuana Grow Operations
* The rot/pot spreads: Grow Ops in Canada's Centre
* Cadman Questions Surrey Liberal “Promises”
* Surrey MP Not Surprised by Ontario Grow-Op Findings -- Old News in BC - But Will Liberals Now Act as Green Tide Washes into Ontario
* Grow-ops ‘No Joke” – Cadman To Prime Minister Jean Chretien -- Our ex PM, JC has said,

“I don’t know what is marijuana. Perhaps I will try it when it will no longer be criminal. I will have my money for my fine and a joint in the other hand.”



Criminal Intelligence Service Canada -- 2004 Annual Report on Organized Crime in Canada

Criminal Intelligence Service Canada -- 2004 Annual Report on Organized Crime in Canada

This is available in .pdf format; simply download and peruse it for yourself.

Table of Contents

Executive Summary ........................................................................................1

CISC National Intelligence Priorities ..............................................................5
Asian-based Organized Crime ............................................................5
Eastern European-based Organized Crime ..........................................7
Organized Crime at Marine Ports, Airports and
Land Border Areas ............................................................................10
Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs ................................................................15
Traditional (Italian-based) Organized Crime ......................................17

CISC National Monitored Issues....................................................................20
Aboriginal-based Organized Crime ..................................................20
Illicit Movement of Firearms ..............................................................22
Organized Crime and the Diamond Industry ....................................24
Sexual Exploitation of Children ........................................................27
Street Gangs ......................................................................................29
Technology and Crime ......................................................................32

Selected Socio-economic Effects of Organized Crime in Canada..................35

Conclusions ..................................................................................................40

Evaluation Form ............................................................................................43



"Mr. Bracken cited concerns about illegal immigrants, terrorists and drugs."

U.S. launches aerial surveillance of border Jane Armstrong, Aug. 21, 04, Globe and Mail

[. . . .] At Birch Bay, less than 10 kilometres south of the border, the pilot dived for a closer view at the scene of a drug bust last month in which custom agents in a boat retrieved $200,000 (U.S.) from the water and arrested two Canadians after intercepting what they say was an exchange of money for drugs.

U.S. Customs helicopter pilot Mitch Pribble repeated the story again and again yesterday for the benefit of Canadian and American reporters invited on flights up and down the coast from this university town about 40 kilometres south of the Canadian border. The purpose was to explain why the U.S. Department of Homeland Security will pour millions of dollars into equipment and personnel at five border crossings with Canada over the next four years to improve security.

The first command centre will be at Bellingham, where the price tag for staff and equipment is $85-million.

U.S. Immigration and Customs made the announcement last week, citing intelligence that says the world's longest undefended border is too porous and poses a threat to U.S. security.

"Intelligence indicates there is a threat there [in Canada] that needs to be responded to, so we're providing the air and marine capability to respond to that, in support of both U.S. and Canadian authorities," said Gary Bracken, communications director for the U.S. Office of Air and Marine Operations.

Mr. Bracken cited concerns about illegal immigrants, terrorists and drugs.
[. . . . ]



Note this US link: swiftvets.com


Flypaper revisited

Flypaper revisited David Warren, August 18, 2004

Politics is like business in the Middle East, it is a bazaar, everyone dickers; some from positions of power and most from positions of supplication. And occasionally, everything explodes in violence, but then life returns to normal, the next day.

That is how things work in the region, and if the Americans don't like it they can go home. Except they can't, because there is no way out, once you have entered into the peculiarly Muslim universe of assumptions and expectations. You can merely get used to ideas of loyalty and moral consistency, that are truly non-Western, yet which pertain in Iraq and among its neighbours. Ideas have consequences, and the animating ideas of Islamdom and Christendom began moving apart 14 centuries ago.

And yet, by mucking in, the U.S. and allies have succeeded in creating a theatre of conflict far from Europe and the U.S., that draws Jihadis away from where they could be operating. Quite often, British and European I.D. is found on the corpses of the insurgents, who were recruited in Western mosques. [. . . . ]



Andre Ouellet and the 'honor system'

Andre Ouellet and the 'honor system' Citizens Centre for Freedom and Democracy, August 19, 2004

A number of supporters have asked us to look into the scandalous performance of Andre Ouellet, which the federal government is now treating as a closed chapter.

It shouldn't be. It stinks to high heaven.

In his eight years as head of Canada Post, Andre Ouellet claimed $2 million worth of business expenses and never produced so much as a parking receipt.

He told the accounting staff how much to pay him, and they did.

He called this the "honor system."

(He also helped get jobs for 83 friends and relatives, built himself a fancy executive smoking room, intervened in $35 million dollars worth of procurement contracts, and wrangled himself a salary of $400,000, the highest in the civil service.)


Ouellet retired in disgrace on August 12, to an annual public service pension estimated at $116,000. John McCallum, minister responsible for national revenue and Canada Post, was much relieved to see him go. The minister said the government will not pursue the expense payments further, but Canada Post may.

Or may not. Suing Andre Ouellet is not a formula for positive press for the corporation, any more than it is for Revenue Minister John McCallum. Who knows where it might end up? Odds are everyone will just let bygones be bygones.

Don't let them.


Click here (www.citizenscentre.com) ask the minister by e-mail if he will make Andre Ouellet either produce his expense records or pay the money back. If Ouellet does neither, he should be taxed on it and investigated for hiding income.

Canada Post is a crown corporation. That $2 million remains public money until he accounts for it.

If you don't speak, they won't hear.

Visit www.citizenscentre.com and send the prepared e-mail (or write your own) to McCallum, Paul Martin, leaders of the Opposition, and the heads of Canada Post, the Canada Revenue Agency, the Privy Council Office and the Treasury Board.


I am happy to publicize this. It is time!



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