statism watch

CBC News
October 8, 2008

Benchmark Toronto index still down 3,200 points since Labour Day

The Toronto stock market broke a five-day losing streak in a wild up-and-down session Wednesday as traders reacted to efforts by central banks to cut interest rates.

The S&P/TSX composite index, which had opened down 309 points, closed up 225.84 points, or 2.3 per cent, at 10,055.39.

The index, which fell below 10,000 on Monday for the first time since 2005, has lost about 3,200 points, or 23 per cent of its value, since Labour Day.

The day did not end happily in New York, where the Dow Jones industrial average closed down 189.01 points, or two per cent, at 9.258.10. It had been up more than 145 points mid-afternoon.

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Paola Loriggio, Toronto Star
October 8, 2008

Another American deserter has been ordered to leave Canada.

Former Sgt. Patrick Hart was told this morning he and his family will be deported to the U.S. on Oct. 30, Michelle Robidoux of the War Resisters Support Campaign said this morning. The group is lobbying federal officials to grant deserters safe haven in Canada.

Hart is asking officials to defer his deportation until Jan. 1, Robidoux said in a phone interview from the border, where she accompanied the sergeant for his ruling.

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CBC News
October 8, 2008

The RCMP secretly commissioned research in hopes of discrediting Vancouver’s supervised injection site, the Pivot Legal Society says.

The Downtown Eastside advocacy group is claiming the Mounties hired academics to challenge the Insite facility’s track record.

Pivot Legal Society lawyer Doug King says it’s not the RCMP’s job to seek out research on Insite and Pivot has filed a complaint with the federal auditor general, asking for an investigation to determine if the RCMP used public funds to finance the research.

“It’s an issue of public health. It’s not an issue that falls within the RCMP’s gambit,” King told the CBC on Tuesday.

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CBC News
October 8, 2008

Leaders raise questions about new executive director

Aboriginal groups are concerned that a federal government bureaucrat who is not aboriginal has been chosen to be the new executive director of the Indian Residential Schools Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Aideen Nabigon, who has worked for the federal government on issues arising from the legacy of Indian residential schools, has replaced Bob Watts, former chief of staff to the national chief of the Assembly of First Nations.

Watts, who was seconded from the assembly to work as interim executive director, said this week that he was surprised that he received a letter last month saying the commission was activating the termination clause in his contract.

“I’m really at a loss to figure out what’s going on except it’s quite likely they’re not honouring the job offer they made me,” he said.

“I’ve put my heart and soul into this process and made commitments to survivors across the country that I was going to work hard for their benefit and not having that opportunity is tough.”

While Nabigon has treaty status, Watts is from the Mohawk and Ojibway Nations in Ontario. He was directly involved in negotiating the residential schools settlement for the assembly.

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