more on the dziekanski taser death by the rcmp

The Robert Dziekanski killing and cover-up: Cops now feel compelled to speak out

By Mike Cowie

Whether you’ve been following the tragic tale of Robert Dziekanski’s brutal death at the hands of those four RCMP officers at Vancouver International Airport back in October 2007 or you’re simply concerned about police brutality in general, you absolutely have to watch Terry Milewski’s fantastic piece that aired on April 20 on CBC’s flagship nightly news program, The National.

Specifically, everyone needs to see the interviews with Tunney Moriarty and Al Clarke, two retired RCMP officers who have a combined 61 years on the force. We’re talking about two people who spent most of their working lives serving in the RCMP, but who now feel so incensed by the Dziekanski case—and particularly the way it’s been handled by the force—that they feel they have no other choice but to speak out and speak up. And have they ever! These guys are a real inspiration.

Before I go on I should say that, yes, for those keeping track, this is indeed my fourth piece on police brutality since Dziekanski was killed back in 2007. But really I could have written ten, what with all the horrible information that has come out over that time. The simple fact is the more we learn, the more that needs to be said.

And with the ongoing Braidwood Inquiry now looking into Dziekanski’s death we’re certainly learning quite a lot.

Well, perhaps it’s stuff most of us already knew to be true, such as the fact that all four officers conveniently told the exact same incorrect, misleading story in their official reports.

Even those who naively wanted to believe that all cops are decent, honourable people “just doing their jobs” now have to admit that some cops are clearly anything but. Especially when you have other cops publicly saying as much.

Déjà Vu
One thing this investigative piece by Milewski makes clear is that there are serious issues with the force’s upper management.

According to Clarke, one of the ex-cops interviewed in Milewski’s piece, the force simply moves problem officers to new locations whenever trouble arises.

Listening to this story, specifically the transfer and promotion of Monty Robinson from Merritt, B.C., to Richmond after his commanding officer—the same Al Clarke—strongly recommended that Robinson not be promoted due to personal and professional issues, clearly reminds me of another famous organization: the Catholic Church.

Just as the Catholic Church used to transfer their problem members (i.e. pedophile priests) to new locations where they’d sometimes reoffend, the RCMP it seems simply transfers problem officers to new locations whenever they mess up badly, possibly putting the public in their new community at risk.

It’s not just upper management, however. What is clear from this case and others like it is that when it comes to police brutality or abuse of power, much of the force goes into defensive mode. Misinformation and, in the case of Dziekanski, slander—whatever it takes to cover up and protect their own—can be used by the force, justice for the innocent victims be damned. Protecting their fellow officers it seems is the most important part of the job of being a cop, even if those fellow officers happen to be thugs or incompetents.

If there’s anything we’ve learnt from the Dziekanski case it’s that the force has little desire to weed out the bad apples within its ranks.

Serve and protect? Definitely. Well, just as long as you’re talking about their own members rather than, or at least before, the public.

An Infamous Statement
If you want some insight into the mentality of the RCMP, you need go no further than a statement made to the media regarding another tragic death here in B.C., this one back in 2005.

While investigating the shooting death of Ian Bush, a 22-year-old man who was shot in the back of the head while in RCMP custody in Houston, B.C. (after being taken in for having an open can of beer in public), Globe and Mail reporter Gary Mason was famously told by RCMP media department spokesman Const. John Ward: “The public doesn’t have a right to know anything”.

And that, my friends, basically sums up the RCMP’s feelings when it comes to accountability.

Second death linked to same cop
Robinson, as Milewski’s piece makes clear for those who didn’t already know, was not only the commanding officer at the scene when Dziekanski was killed, he’s also the very same cop who’s currently facing charges for impaired driving causing death in another tragic case, this one in Delta, B.C.

That’s right, this Robinson guy allegedly collided with a 21-year-old motorcyclist while driving drunk (with both of his kids in the car!) before fleeing the scene. The man on the bike, Orion Hutchinson, was killed in the accident.

No, your math skills have not forsaken you: The same cop was indeed allegedly involved in the deaths of two men in just one year. And according to Clarke, the force knew he was messed up, yet they promoted and transferred him anyway.

Again, according to Clarke, who was Robinson’s commanding officer in Merritt, Robinson had both personal and professional “issues” and faced a work-related lawsuit for abuse and negligence. The top brass was explicitly told that this guy was trouble. So what did they do? They promoted him. According to Clarke, no one gets fired from the force.

Now is that a truly glorious institution or what?

Near-Unanimous Disgust
After viewing the news story, make sure to take a few minutes to read the comments posted below the clip. There are some fascinating posts, particularly those by current and former cops who are embarrassed by the thugs and incompetents within their ranks.

Most telling of all, of the numerous comments posted there so far, there is (presently) only one of those knee-jerk, pro-cop-no-matter-the-situation comments you see so often. I guess this case is so blatantly clear, especially with all the former cops speaking out, that even the knee-jerkers have to admit the obvious: There is no defence for what these cowards did to Dziekanski.

As Tunney Moriarty, the other former cop interviewed in this story, clearly states—and, man, is it ever wonderful to hear a cop saying this publicly—the four cops who killed Dziekanski should be charged with criminal negligence causing death. That’s right: They should be facing some hard time in prison.

As Moriarty continues, in response to the RCMP’s claims that the officers were simply following standard policy or procedures in their handling of Dziekanski: “If that is the policy of the force, then I will say that the people of Canada have one big problem”.

No Video, No Problem
Which brings me to the most obvious fact of all. If there were no videotape of Dziekanski being killed, all of the lies and misinformation that have been disseminated by the RCMP since his death would have been allowed to stand. And all those (many? most people?) naive enough to believe whatever they are force-fed by authority figures (such as the police) could have gone on believing that the officers had bravely done their jobs and Dziekanski had simply got what he deserved.

Because, we must remember, that was certainly their version of events: Dziekanski attacked the four brave officers and in self-defence they were forced to take him down.

The only reason we’re even talking about this case at all is because that video does exist. In all other similar cases—those without any video evidence—the cops can say whatever they like to cover their backs and that’s the end of it.

Hell, in this case the four cops and the RCMP spokesmen even knew there was a videotape that contradicted what they were telling the public and they still decided to lie!

It’s all quite un-fucking-believable, amazingly stupid, and incredibly arrogant, but also extremely revealing.

And what it reveals is a culture of unaccountability, one in which people are used to getting away with just about anything.

But back to my main point: if there’s no video, you can literally get away with, if not murder, then certainly manslaughter.

Come to think about it, you can get away with it whether there’s a video or not. As these four cops have demonstrated so far.

A Farce
The fact is, without civilian oversight, the police are free to do whatever they like, knowing the force will back them up no matter what it takes. At least for anything that happens while on duty.

Obviously we need a police force and, as I’ve said many times before, most cops may in fact be decent individuals, but the truth remains: We need a much more professional, competent, and—most importantly—accountable police force in this country.

A police force investigating itself, as the RCMP does, is simply a farce.

But as former cop Moriarty says: “The days of the RCMP investigating themselves is over with. It should be over with. They got caught in the lie. They got caught in their own lie.”

The Solution
So, next time you see a police spokesperson making statements that 100 percent justify all the actions of his or her fellow officers, at the very least take them with a grain of salt. That is unless you’re into that whole naive “ignorance is bliss” thing.

For all those of us with our eyes wide open, however, there’s really only one solution: fire all the incompetents and brutes—and prosecute them as the menace to society that they so clearly are. And at the same time promote and honor all those good, decent cops out there who genuinely deserve respect. Then maybe, just maybe, people will once again start to have some faith in the police and specifically the RCMP.

But don’t take my word for it, listen to the retired RCMP officers in Terry Milewski’s story here: CBC’s The National: “A Deadly Landing: Insiders Perspective”. It’s just 12 minutes long. And for those who care anything at all about justice, believe me, it’ll be 12 minutes well spent.

standard hypocrocy for the 'green' party

John Boychuk, B.C. Green party candidate for Vancouver-Mount Pleasant, brought his SUV to a debate on April 28.

 Matthew Burrows

April 29, 2009

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Mount Pleasant Green candidate John Boychuk defends use of SUV

By Matthew Burrows

The B.C. Green party candidate for Vancouver-Mount Pleasant has defended his use of a Jeep Grand Cherokee with a V-8 engine during the election campaign.

“Well, the reason why it’s being used is because it’s full of signs right now,” John Boychuk told the Straight by phone on April 29. “It’s not something that we typically use on a daily basis, but when it comes to being able to deliver all the supplies, that’s the only size vehicle that I have to be able to manage.”

Boychuk confirmed ownership of the vehicle, which has two signs posted on the roof and was parked in the lot outside False Creek elementary school during a April 28 candidates debate he attended in Vancouver-False Creek.

He did not think voters would find it odd that a Green candidate in an urban riding was driving a vehicle with such a high carbon footprint.

“They shouldn’t find it odd that I also own a bicycle, you know?” Boychuk said. “What you have to remember is I’m also financing this whole campaign out of my pocket. If it comes right down to it, there are better choices out there. At the same time, I’m doing the best that I can as an individual, making sure that I buy the best gasoline, keep it tuned up, and keep it in shape....I can’t afford to go out and buy a $40,000 car, considering my business is only a year and a half old.”

Added Boychuk: “Right now I’m dealing with a handful of volunteers that are having a very hard time to be able to get the materials out. Therefore, I’m having to use my vehicle to do several different trips to get stuff out to individuals. So if we had more volunteers we could do one whirlwind drop-off and leave the vehicles behind. Otherwise, when you get the calls and somebody’s got a free evening and they want to get some stuff out into their neighbourhood, you do the best to get that information to them in a timely manner.”

Boychuk, a former president of the Vancouver Pride Society, is running against incumbent NDP MLA Jenny Kwan and B.C. Liberal candidate Sherry Wiebe.

b.c. government and the pharmaceutical industry

Charged drug company official recently worked for BC government

By Andrew MacLeod April 29, 2009 05:55 am

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The online version of a Globe and Mail story identifies Andrew van der Gugten as one of three people charged with fraud for bilking the provincial pharmaceutical system.

As recently as 2006 van der Gugten worked for the British Columbia government. He represented the provincial health ministry working on theNational Pharmaceuticals Strategy.

According to the Globe and Mai,l the Ontario government ordered seven generic drug makers to reimburse the province a total of $33.8 million, which it alleges the companies overcharged patients for drugs.

Forensic audits are continuing but have already turned up enough information to lay charges against van der Gugten who now works for the generic drug company Ratiopharm Inc., the story said, as well as two other individuals. One works for a Toronto drug wholesaler and the other for a Hamilton pharmacy.

The charges raise questions about van der Gugten's work for B.C., said health policy researcher Alan Cassels.

“It stinks,” he said. Public servants involved in regulating the pharmaceutical industry should be prevented from going directly to work for the private sector, he said. “There should be a cooling off period.”

The Tyee reported in December that van der Gugten represented Ratiopharm at industry-dominated meetings aimed at restructuring B.C.'s drug approval process.

bah!!

PMO paid U.S. presidential spokesman $24,500

Updated Mon. Apr. 27 2009 8:29 PM ET

The Canadian Press

OTTAWA -- The Canadian government paid George W. Bush's former press secretary $24,500 to help communicate with Americans before the recent G20 summit.

Documents filed with the U.S. Department of Justice say Ari Fleischer was paid to help promote the strength of Canada's banks, its positions on trade and the economy, and to set up interviews with U.S. media.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper has hired both Bush's former spokesmen and Bill Clinton's ex-spokesman Mike McCurry to help spread Canadian messages in the U.S.

Until now, the PMO has refused to discuss payment details of its arrangement with the former presidential press secretaries.

But the U.S. Foreign Agents Registration Act requires the spokesmen to disclose details of their arrangements with foreign governments.

Harper spokesman Kory Teneycke says Canada got great value for its money, and will continue using Fleischer and McCurry's services.

He says McCurry received an amount similar to Fleischer for the more recent Summit of the Americas, but that the information hasn't yet been posted on the U.S. Department of Justice website.

He also quipped that Canada's public-relations spending is modest -- compared with Libya's $200,000 monthly bill for PR.

The Wild World of Hasil "Haze" Adkins, Part 1 of 3

The Wild World of Hasil "Haze" Adkins, Part 2 of 3

The Wild World of Hasil "Haze" Adkins, Part 3 of 3

another reason why i fear revenue canada! yuck!

Revenue Canada refuses to pay for million-dollar mistake

Taxpayer led to believe Harper government would compensate him for losses

Last Updated: Thursday, April 23, 2009 | 12:38 PM PT Comments557Recommended946

By Kathy Tomlinson, CBC News

Jill Moore and Irvin Leroux lost their business and their home in B.C. in a tax fight with the Canada Revenue Agency. (CBC)

A B.C. taxpayer who fought the Canada Revenue Agency over a million-dollar tax bill he didn't owe — and won — says the federal government misled him to believe he would be compensated for his financial losses.

"They're trying to now find a way to shove this under the rug or silence it so that they don't get embarrassed," 64-year-old Prince George resident Irvin Leroux said.

"Promises have been made at the political level," added his wife, Jill Moore, "and still, here we are."

Correspondence suggests Leroux's MP, Conservative Dick Harris, was assured three years ago by the minister responsible that the government was prepared to compensate Leroux for Canada Revenue Agency errors that cost Leroux his business and his home. That settlement has not materialized.

'Promises have been made at the political level.'

—Irvin Leroux's wife, Jill Moore

"They took everything I was, everything I stood for, and destroyed it," Leroux said.

CBC News made several requests to talk to Revenue Minister Jean-Pierre Blackburn about Leroux's case but received no response.

Before their fight with the taxman, Leroux and his wife owned and operated a successful RV park in Valemount, B.C. In 2002, Irvin's RV Park and Campground was awarded the prestigious SuperHost customer service award by B.C. Tourism.

Records lost by auditor, businessman says

Leroux said his tax troubles began in 1996, when an auditor from the tax agency showed up to look at the books. The auditor took Leroux's business receipts and other records, he said, then misplaced those records at the CRA office.

"He told me someone had put them on the pile that was to be shredded," Leroux said.

Without receipts to show his business expenses, numerous CRA audits over several years concluded Leroux owed almost $900,000 in personal income tax, plus over $100,000 in GST, including interest and penalties.

Leroux had to sell his business, Irvin's RV Park and Campground, in Valemount, B.C. (CBC)

"I said, 'You had all of these records. You knew I had paid out those expenses. You lost them, and now you're telling me that you are going to disallow them all?'" Leroux recounted. "I said, 'That's fine, I will seek a tax lawyer. I will see you in court.' "

In 2005, he took his case to the Tax Court of Canada, where the CRA gave up in a so-called consent to judgment, essentially admitting its mistake. That reduced Leroux's personal tax bill to zero and his GST bill to $20,000. Documents show that by 2006, Leroux was actually owed a $24,000 tax refund.

Years before his case got to tax court, however, the CRA had obtained a writ of seizure and sale against Leroux's properties so it could move in and collect on his alleged tax debt, if necessary.

"These individuals have the right to come after every one of your assets without justification on what they are doing," Leroux said.

Because its security was suddenly at risk, Leroux's main creditor — the Business Development Bank of Canada — demanded in 2001 that he pay back his very large business loan.

Forced to sell all his assets

That touched off a chain of events, Leroux said, that forced the sale — at reduced prices — of his business, his home and other assets, valued at approximately $4 million.

"I lost my house, I lost my business, I lost my land, I lost my income, I lost my savings — I lost it all," Leroux said. "Why? Because [the CRA] wouldn't admit to their mistakes. They would sooner destroy me and try to bury me out there than admit they did wrong."

"I've said to him the whole way, I will fight with you," said Moore, his wife. "This is wrong. They can't take it away and not even apologize. They can't take it away and not be held accountable."

Submit your story or join our blog:www.cbc.ca/bc/features/gopublic/

After Leroux's tax bill was cancelled, his MP, 16-year veteran B.C. caucus chair Harris, stepped in and took his case to Ottawa.

Correspondence shows that in 2006, Harris had several discussions with then minister of national revenue Carol Skelton — a member of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's cabinet — urging her to arrange compensation for his constituent's losses.

At first, Skelton assured Harris that if Leroux filed a lawsuit against the government, an out-of-court settlement could be arranged, the documents suggest.

In a letter to the minister, Harris repeated what she had led him to believe: "I was told that 'CRA does not have a mechanism to proactively pay damages … however if Mr. Leroux launches a court challenge with a statement of claim, the department could … settle out of court.' "

In an email to Leroux, Harris wrote: "I am convinced that things are going as we were promised…. [The minister] wants the outcome of your case to be an example of how Revenue Canada must be held accountable for its abuses of Canadians."

'All hell is going to break loose': Conservative MP

Later in 2006, when there was no sign of a settlement in the works, Harris wrote this angry email to the minister's assistant:

"I am livid. This whole episode is the most inhumane treatment I have ever witnessed in my life. And I cannot believe that our own government would treat Canadians in this manner. Mr. Leroux is an honest, principled individual who had been driven to the brink many times by Revenue Canada. If Revenue Canada mount even the slightest objection to the statement of claim filing this week I ASSURE YOU AND THE MINISTER THAT ALL HELL IS GOING TO BREAK LOOSE. This is bulls--t!"

Conservative MP Dick Harris calls the Canada Revenue Agency's treatment of the B.C. couple 'inhumane.' (CBC)

Harris refused a request by CBC News to be interviewed about the affair, however, saying, "I don't consider the work that I am doing for [Leroux], that it should become a news story, somehow."

In March, the CRA tried to have Leroux's statement of claim thrown out of court. Leroux said he would have never filed the claim in the first place if he hadn't been urged to by his MP, because he can't afford a lawyer to pursue it.

Leroux said he now feels betrayed by the Harper government, including the prime minister. When Harper himself was campaigning to be leader of the Conservative party, Leroux said, he spoke to the future PM at length about his fight with the CRA.

"He said to me, 'I guarantee you if I have your support and I get elected in as the leader of this party,' he says, 'I will give you my word I will look into this matter for you and get the matter resolved.' Now, he's forgotten my name."

"We're tapped out," Moore said. "There are no more lawyers we can pay. No more accountants we can hire."

"We don't have a system in place to protect us," Leroux added. "Because I've gone through the system. I've gone through the steps. And every time I walk the steps, I find there's always something there to push me back down. Where is the justice?"

'No compensation will be paid': CRA

Internal CRA emails written by assistant commissioner Rod Quiney in August 2006, obtained by Leroux under the federal access to information law, summarize the agency's position in his case:

"I believe we have been very fair and have in all respects provided the appropriate respect for his position and appropriate redress [by cancelling the debt]," Quiney wrote.

"No compensation will be paid," he concluded.

Leroux is thoroughly disappointed in the Harper government he supported.

"The people we elected to look after this stuff and protect us, they're not there, because the bureaucrats who did all of this stuff are instructing the politicians on what to do."

more fuckery from the police!

Autistic boy, mom expect apology for arrest

Updated Thu. Apr. 23 2009 7:51 AM ET

CTV.ca News Staff

An autistic boy and his mother are expecting an apology from the head of Newfoundland policing on Thursday after the young man was mistakenly arrested for being intoxicated, and kept in jail overnight.

Dane Spurrell, 18, was taken into police custody on Saturday night when officers failed to recognize the signs of his disorder. He wasn't released until Sunday morning.

Dane's mother Diane Spurrell told CTV's Canada AM she has filed a complaint against the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary over the incident.

Dane was arrested while walking home from a video store at about midnight on Saturday in his hometown of Mount Pearl, N.L.

His mother said police told him to walk on the sidewalk, and when the autistic boy failed to co-operate he was taken into custody on the assumption he was intoxicated.

Diane told CTV's Canada AM her son wasn't given a breathalyzer test and wasn't allowed to make a phone call when he was first arrested, or when officers brought him to the police station.

"They actively denied him," she told Canada AM.

"He was asking from the time he was in the police cruiser throughout the night at the lockup and they kept saying he only had the right to call a lawyer, or the other answer was that he should have called instantly."

She also said police turned off his cellphone, preventing her from reaching her son.

Dane had phoned his mother at about midnight to say he was on his way home from the video store. By 1:30 a.m. he hadn't arrived and she began to worry and went searching for her son.

"I was scared to death. I didn't know where he was," she said.

"He's a very reliable person as that phone call indicates. ...He has a fairly normal life and of all the hundreds of times he has walked home alone there has never been an incident."

At about 5 a.m. she filed a missing persons report and was told Dane had been arrested for public drunkenness -- an allegation she found shocking, since her son doesn't drink.

She informed police that her son is autistic, and he was eventually released.

RNC Chief Joe Browne has indicated he plans to apologize for the incident on Thursday, and a full investigation is underway into what may have gone wrong.

Spurrell said the apology is a "gesture of good will" but doesn't go far enough to make amends.

"I know they are doing two investigations and I trust they will do the right thing by Dane but...the real apology we need to hear is from the officers who hurt my son."

The Garden Trailer

a doc about the south central farm in downtown los angeles. the film documents the farmer's struggle against the city's backroom deals....what an incredible story.

baby preacher.....or why christians scare me!

religious people all sound insane! no matter what age they are!

American Violet - Official Trailer

YUCK!!!!!

Former White House spokesmen to pitch Canada

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JOSH WINGROVE

Globe and Mail Update

April 16, 2009 at 12:23 AM EDT

The federal government has hired two former White House spokesmen to pitch Canada's image to major American media outlets.

Michael McCurry, a former press secretary for Bill Clinton, and Ari Fleischer, one of George W. Bush's press secretaries, will work to secure Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper interviews with U.S. media outlets to discuss Canada, its economic system and its relationship with the United States.

“They are two individuals with experience that is unparalleled in working with the U.S. media,” said Kory Teneycke, communications director for the Prime Minister's Office. “I think it serves Canada well to have some of the basic facts of our relationship better known in the United States.”

The spokesman who will take advantage of any airtime or newspaper attention will typically be Mr. Harper himself, a leader Canadian media have long clamoured for greater access to.

Related Articles

From the archives

• Harper sells Canada's strong banks as example for the world 
• Talking to Americans: Harper heads south for weekend 
• Harper stresses importance of trade 

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• Globe Politics: Blogs, analysis, insider opinion and more

“The object is not to make the [Canadian] Parliamentary press gallery happy,” said Mr. Teneycke, Mr. Harper's top spokesman. “It's really appropriate for the prime minister to blaze that trail in helping get that story out, and there a number of others who can play a supporting role in communicating in the U.S.”

The PMO is hoping to spread the word about Canada's strong banking system, its ability to avoid meltdowns seen at U.S. banks, and the importance of Canadian energy to American consumers.

Mr. Teneycke also said boosting American awareness about the two countries' integrated auto industries and environmental plans will help both governments work more effectively.

To do that, they're going after interviews with media, rather than speaking directly to decision-makers in Washington in hopes that broad press exposure will be more effective.

“To view the U.S. government as simply the administration is to not fully understand how the system works. It's also about communicating to governors, the broader U.S. business community, to congressional representatives as well. And Canada is well-served by having these things understood more broadly.”

Mr. Teneycke refused to say what the high-profile hires will cost Canadian taxpayers, or how long the government plans to retain the men.

They have already been working with the Canadian government. Mr. Fleisher co-ordinated interviews during the recent G-20 conference, while Mr. McCurry has worked to set up interviews for this week's Summit of the Americas.

“These two individuals have been helping us,” Mr. Teneycke said. “The purpose is to communicate Canada's position going into these international summits as well as talk about some of these larger issues.”

Mr. McCurry served four years as Mr. Clinton's press secretary, and now works with consulting firm Public Strategies Washington Inc. Mr. Fleischer left the White House press room in 2003. He still works as a conservative commentator and runs a sports communications firm in New York.

does this have anything to do with the alleged nafta superhighway?

Harper promotes transport hub in Manitoba

Area mayor questions wisdom of CentrePort plan in region frequently flooded

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PATRICK WHITE

From Wednesday's Globe and Mail

April 15, 2009 at 4:27 AM EDT

WINNIPEG — With long stretches of Manitoba's roads and rails submerged beneath floodwaters that continue to baffle forecasters, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced his government's support yesterday for the construction of a Winnipeg-based road and rail hub.

The federal and provincial governments will chip in more than $100-million each to build a four-lane expressway that would link CentrePort - a 20,000-acre manufacturing, warehousing and transportation depot slated for construction near the Winnipeg airport - with major rail and highway networks.

The announcement was made as flood-protection officials upgraded crest forecasts along the Red River to the third-highest levels in the past 100 years.

Mr. Harper, who spent much of the day with Manitoba Premier Gary Doer touring the sodden Red River Valley by helicopter, pledged federal assistance to homeowners.

"The federal government stands ready to assist in any way that is needed," he said.

But as money flows into the CentrePort project, one southern Manitoba mayor questioned the appeal of a North American hub that relies on transportation arteries so frequently severed during times of flood.

"If we want to be recognized as a mid-continental trade corridor we have to able to provide the transportation, and right now that's where we are lacking," said Dale Hoffman, mayor of Morris, Man., situated 70 kilometres south of Winnipeg. "We have to get our highways out of the floodwaters first."

Morris sits along Highway 75, the main road between Winnipeg and the U.S. With a ring dike surrounding Morris sealed off due to high water, traffic is detouring 45 minutes around the town.

Mr. Hoffman showed Mr. Harper around the town's extensive dike system yesterday, but said he didn't have time to suggest solutions to the highway problem.

One of Mr. Hoffman's proposals involves digging a channel along the Red all the way from the U.S. border to Lake Winnipeg, a 180-kilometre span.

"You're talking possibly a 50-year project," he said. "What we need is a vision for how we're going to stop the flooding from happening every third year."

Mr. Doer said he discussed flood-proofing Highway 75 with Mr. Harper yesterday.

"We have five or six options we're looking at," he said.

Meanwhile, some residents north of Winnipeg whose houses were battered by automobile-sized ice pans over the weekend returned to assess the damage. In all, floodwaters have damaged about 200 homes, the province says.

In St. Laurent, 90 kilometres north of Winnipeg, overland flooding crept across half the town's roads yesterday, swamping basements and causing cancellation of school bus service.

"This is the worst I've ever seen," said town councillor Hugh Sigurdson. "All the water decided to come at once and come with a bang - and it's not done yet."

Indeed, flood forecasters raised the expected crest of the Red River in Winnipeg by half a metre yesterday. The city asked for volunteers to top up 60 dikes and raise 40 more.

Chief provincial flood forecaster Alf Warkentin said unprecedented ice cover, high local runoff and an unusually long crest north of the border have all worked to complicate his projections.

"Forecasting is never 100 per cent accurate," he said. "Sometimes you get a little surprise."

...The Planet... Documentary Part 1 of 9

...The Planet... Documentary Part 2 of 9

...The Planet... Documentary Part 3 of 9

...The Planet... Documentary Part 4 of 9

...The Planet... Documentary Part 5 of 9

...The Planet... Documentary Part 6 of 9

...The Planet... Documentary Part 7 of 9

...The Planet... Documentary Part 8 of 9

...The Planet... Documentary Part 9 of 9

just another fun way to spend the tax dollars.. ;-D

Boeing Co. Given $20 Million Contract to Beef up Surveillance on US/Canadian Border

Surveillance towers planned for Detroit, Buffalo

by Eileen Sullivan

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Border Patrol is erecting 16 more video surveillance towers in Michigan and New York to help secure parts of the U.S.-Canadian border, awarding the contract to a company criticized for faulty technology with its so-called "virtual fence" along the U.S.-Mexico boundary.

The government awarded the $20 million project to Boeing Co., for the towers designed to assist agents stationed along the 4,000-mile northern stretch. Eleven of the towers are being installed in Detroit and five in Buffalo, N.Y., to help monitor water traffic between Canada and the United States along Lake St. Clair and the Niagara River.

The Boeing logo on a building in Huntington Beach, California. (AFP/File/Robyn Beck)

At present, Border Patrol agents are posted along the river to keep an eye on water traffic.

The cameras will be used to zoom in on a boat that left Canada, for instance, and watch where it goes and what it does, said Mark Borkowski, executive director of the Secure Border Initiative at Customs and Border Protection.

"So the idea is to have cameras watch, and then agents are freed up to respond," Borkowski said in an interview with The Associated Press. The cameras will cut down the agent's response time by minutes, he said.

Four similar video towers have already been erected in Buffalo. Security operations along the northern border include the use of unmanned aerial vehicles and coordination and intelligence sharing with local law enforcement.

Boeing is the firm responsible for a 28-mile stretch of technology erected along the U.S.-Mexico border near Tucson, Ariz., as part of the government's Secure Border Initiative. The company was widely criticized for delivering an inferior product.

Last year the government withheld some of the payment to Boeing because technology used in the test project near Tucson did not work properly. Boeing also was late in delivering the final product.

Borkowski said he is confident the Homeland Security Department, which oversees the Secure Border Initiative, will not run into the same problems it had with Boeing in the past.

Boeing spokeswoman Jenna K. McMullin said the company has "learned quite a bit from our previous SBInet experience and demonstrated how to implement lessons learned."

Deployment of the surveillance cameras will allow the Border Patrol to evaluate whether the technology can be effective in monitoring movement in often a cold-weather, river environment.

"We're committed to providing (Border Patrol) agents along the northern border with improved border security capabilities to enable them to do their jobs even better," said Steve Oswald, vice president of Boeing's Intelligence and Security Systems. "At the same time, the lessons learned from this deployment will contribute to even greater enhancements in the future."

Tim Sparapani, senior legislative counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union, said the Secure Border Initiative has been a disaster since its inception.

"The technologies don't work, they're not weather-resistant and they're certainly privacy invasive," Sparapani said. "Putting them in America's backyards only invades the privacy of Americans, it doesn't add to our security."

In a few cases, the Border Patrol will have to address land-use issues, such as determining whether the technology will hurt the environment, before installing the towers.

Borkowski acknowledged that as cameras pan an area it might point at a private residence. He said that is not the cameras' intended targets and the resolution of the video won't be clear enough for residents to be concerned about privacy issues. In addition, only law enforcement officials will be operating the cameras.

The Border Patrol says its 1,500 agents along the northern border were involved in the arrests of 7,925 individuals last year. During the same time, 705,005 people were arrested on the southwest border with Mexico, where 16,500 agents currently are assigned.

Generally, there is not as much traffic between northern border points of entry as there is along the southern border.

Borkowski said the additional technology on the northern border may not lead to more arrests. He said there are parts of the northern border that are vulnerable to terrorist and drug trafficking.

"What we don't know is how often that vulnerability is exploited," he said. "If, in fact, there's a lot more going on than we thought, then this technology will help us identify it and it will help us respond and apprehend those people in ways that we haven't before," he said.