statism watch

The paragons of virtue lied? Impossible.

CBC News
December 12, 2008

A photograph and a U.S. soldier’s testimony prove Canadian Omar Khadr could not have killed a U.S. soldier in a 2002 firefight in Afghanistan, the terror suspect’s military-appointed lawyer said on Friday.

Khadr, who attended the pretrial hearing Friday at the U.S. detention centre in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, is accused of killing a U.S. army medic with a hand grenade during a four-hour firefight at a suspected al-Qaeda compound.

Lt.-Cmdr. Bill Kuebler told the hearing that the photograph shows Khadr buried under the rubble of a collapsed building at the time the grenade that killed Sgt. Christopher Speer was thrown, proving he could not have thrown it.

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CBC News
December 12, 2008

Deficit now ‘likely,’ finance minister acknowledges

The federal government and Ontario have reached a deal to offer proportional funds to Canada’s auto industry if a proposed $14-billion US aid package is approved in Washington, Industry Minister Tony Clement said Friday.

Speaking to reporters in Toronto, Clement said the proposed aid to Canada’s ailing auto sector would amount to approximately 20 per cent of the U.S. proposal, or about $3.3 billion Cdn.

The U.S. bailout appeared to have died late Thursday night after hours of heated negotiations between lawmakers, representatives from automakers and unions. But lawmakers said they still hope an agreement on the Democratic- and White House-backed plan could be reached.

The Canadian subsidiaries of the Detroit Big Three automakers had asked Ottawa and Ontario for financial aid that could total as much as $6 billion.

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The crown pathologists have determined that it was Dziekanski’s own fault that he died from being upset and being stood on by the police. Five TASER discharges had nothing to do with it. Move along, now.

CBC News
December 12, 2008

None of the four RCMP officers involved in the Taser-related death of Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski will face criminal charges, Stan Lowe, the spokesman for B.C.’s Criminal Justice Branch, confirmed Friday morning in Vancouver.

Dziekanski, 41, died in the secure arrivals area of Vancouver International Airport on Oct. 14, 2007, moments after he was shot with RCMP stun guns. His death ignited an international debate about the police use of stun guns.

Lowe said Friday that, after a full examination of the evidence, Crown prosecutors found it fell remarkably short of the test needed to apply criminal charges.

He revealed the officers stunned Dziekanski a total of five times with Tasers, but also said three pathologists concluded that Dziekanski did not die from the electric shocks.

Instead the pathologists concluded Dziekanski died from a combination of alcohol withdrawal, a hysterical fear of flying, lack of sleep and restraint by the officers, Lowe said.

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Because, you know, there’s ‘not enough evidence.’

Flashback 2007/10/19: Witness blames RCMP, Vancouver airport for death of Tasered man

Petti Fong, Canadian Press
December 12, 2008

Announcement today on B.C. airport death

Vancouver – The Mounties involved in Polish immigrant Robert Dziekanski’s death at Vancouver’s airport last year will not face any criminal charges, CTV reported yesterday.

The CTV report, which did not indicate a source, stated the Crown concluded there was not enough evidence to warrant charges.

The criminal justice branch of the B.C. Attorney General’s Ministry has arranged a news conference this morning to announce the decision.

Dziekanski, 40, died Oct. 14, 2007, after he got off a flight from Germany at the Vancouver International Airport. He spoke only Polish and became lost, wandering for hours, unable to understand how to move through security and immigration barriers that prevented him from connecting with his mother, who waited hours for him at the airport.

When RCMP responded to a disturbance call about Dziekanski, four officers confronted the unarmed Polish man and less than a minute into the encounter, a Taser gun was used, jolting Dziekanski, who fell screaming to the ground. Video, captured by a bystander, shows officers piling onto Dziekanski. He died within minutes.

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