DancingSamurai.ca

Via Dawg’s Blog, I heard of this episode of abuse by rent-a-cops:

Scott and Diane Robinson are livid with the Walmart store in Barrhaven and think apologies to their daughter Sydney and a friend, both 14, are in order for holding them for six hours over an unfounded shoplifting allegation.Police didn’t lay charges or even speak to the girls, according to Diane Robinson. She says once police finally arrived at the Walmart at the Barrhaven Market Place, they stayed fewer than three minutes. Diane says an officer talked briefly to store security and then to her to explain what the store was alleging. She says the officer left it at that before leaving.

An apology? How about a wrongful imprisonment suit? [Local cache of informative legal note: False Imprisonment]

Well, with increasing police powers & stories of their excesses circulating more and more in the media, being aware of the rights you do have when dealing with them is important. The Flex Your Rights video “BUSTED” (US-centric, but UK / Canadian law is similar enough that it’s worthwhile watching) has always been an excellent source for this. Now via BoingBoing, I learn that they’re putting out a new video – 10 Rules for Dealing with the Police. Not out yet – will post something again when it is released!

Might not be the best idea:

Peter, a Canadian citizen, was on his way back to Canada after helping a friend move house to Nebraska over the weekend. He was stopped at the border crossing at Port Huron, Michigan by U.S. border police for a search of his rental vehicle. When Peter got out of the car and questioned the nature of the search, the gang of border guards subjected him to a beating, restrained him and pepper sprayed him. At the end of it, local police laid a felony charge of assault against a federal officer against Peter. On Wednesday, he posted bond and walked was taken across the border to Canada in shirtsleeves (he was released by Port Huron officials with his car and possessions locked in impound, into a winter storm that evening). He’s home safe. For now. But he has to go back to Michigan to face the charge brought against him.

Oh man, as a ZDNet article states… “There are insufficient global reserves of irony to do justice to this story.” Michael Geist has the scoop:

Chet Baker was a leading jazz musician in the 1950s, playing trumpet and providing vocals. Baker died in 1988, yet he is about to add a new claim to fame as the lead plaintiff in possibly the largest copyright infringement case in Canadian history.  His estate, which still owns the copyright in more than 50 of his works, is part of a massive class-action lawsuit that has been underway for the past year.

As my weekly technology law column (Toronto Star version, homepage version) notes, the infringer has effectively already admitted owing at least $50 million and the full claim could exceed $6 billion. If the dollars don’t shock, the target of the lawsuit undoubtedly will: The defendants in the case are Warner Music Canada, Sony BMG Music Canada, EMI Music Canada, and Universal Music Canada, the four primary members of the Canadian Recording Industry Association.

And this is why poorly written laws with potential for abuse should never make it to the books. If you point out that a law could be misused as written, and those pushing for the law insist it would never be used that way… they are lying. Because later, when a 22 year old tapes a birthday party in a movie theatre and goes to jail, everybody will just say they’re enforcing the law, and their hands are tied.

Just so you know, we have pretty much the exact same law here in Canada. (Thank you, US movie lobbyists).

(via /.)

UPDATE: Cory at BoingBoing puts it best:

The movie industry has turned into an alcoholic dad who beats up his family at the slightest transgression while ignoring his own gross failures — blaming everything on external forces and refusing to confront its own problems.

Meanwhile, 22-year-old Samantha Tumpach spent two nights in jail for recording her friends singing “Happy Birthday” at a movie theater, for capturing less than four minutes of a feature film. She is charged with a felony and if convicted, could lose the right to vote, to work with children, to hold office, and to partake in full civil life.

And the movie industry’s pitch to us remains, “Please stop pirating our discs, because if you don’t stop, we may be driven out of business and then society would suffer from our absence.”

About time, I say. See this Globe & Mail article, ‘At the Mercy of the Government’:

If you are in trouble overseas and go to a Canadian embassy, Canada’s government believes that it has the option, but not the obligation, to help. If the government is fond of you, like Brenda Martin, it may help with papers or a private jet home, but if it scorns you, like Mr. Abdelrazik, it may revoke your passport and exile you. The choice is the government’s alone.

No laws govern this relationship, the government says. As then-Mr. Justice Konrad von Finckenstein of the Federal Court wrote in an earlier case, “Canadians abroad would be surprised, if not shocked, to learn that the provision of consular services in an individual case is left to the complete and unreviewable discretion of the minister.” Except for the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the minister’s exercise of the prerogative is absolute.

What this means is that Canadian citizenship is less than it appears.

Dr. Dawg is already all over this one, and it seems (shockingly) that the Liberals are against such Protection of Canadians. I suppose it makes sense, as the Abdelrazik thing started under their watch, after all. But Ignatieff, who has shown not even a shadow these last few months, is not making much of a positive impression on Canadians – at least, this Canadian.

The ER physician who blogs as ‘WhiteCoat’ has finished his blog series about his malpractice trial. So for all of you who who hate starting something before the conclusion is available* for your consumption, wait no more, and check out the suspenseful tale at Trial of a WhiteCoat. Some commentators have even compared him to a medical John Grisham… ;)

* It never used to bother me, until I started the Wheel of Time series. Will it never end? Being dead is no excuse!!

First the Kafkaesque circus with Mr. Abdelrazik.

Now for two months Cannon exiled a Canadian citizen, stating she was an ‘impostor’ (despite having multiple pieces of identification claiming she was who she said she was):

Mohamud, 31, spent a month visiting her mother in Kenya and was on her way back to Canada when an officer stopped her at Nairobi airport May 21, saying she did not look like her four-year-old passport photo.

At the crux of the matter was the size of her lips.

After spending eight days in jail she was released on bail with no travel documents.

Canadian consular officials said she was an “impostor,” voided her passport and sent the case to Kenyan authorities for prosecution.

As Mohamud showed various pieces of ID, volunteered fingerprints and garnered the attention of media across the country, the Canadian government maintained their stance that she was not the citizen she claimed to be.

The above quote is from this CTV article, which reveals that DNA now proves her identity, too.

Will the Canadian government apologize, and swiftly bring this Citizen home to her family? What actions will it take to remedy these grossly negligent acts, and ensure no other Canadian citizens are thus wronged?

I’m not holding my breath for sensible answers. But I have posed these questions to the ‘Honourable’ Cannon himself. You can too:

Hill Office:

House of Commons
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6
Tel: (613) 992-5516
Fax: (613) 992-6802
Email: Cannon.L@parl.gc.ca