Criminal
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December 06, 2024
Ottawa expands banned firearms list; pledges measures against gun use in intimate-partner violence
The minority Liberal government has put in place “revised classification” regulatory changes to newly prohibit 104 categories of assault-style firearms while also pledging to roll out new restrictions on large-capacity magazines in March 2025 and to introduce “no later” than January 2025 measures to help combat the high rates of gun use in gender-based and intimate-partner violence.
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December 06, 2024
Indoctrination vs. education | Maria Mahmoudian
The story of Mohammad Hossein Fahmideh’s martyrdom during the Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988) serves as a striking example of how indoctrination can infiltrate an education system, shaping the beliefs and actions of youth. Fahmideh, a 13-year-old boy who sacrificed his life by blowing himself up under an Iraqi tank, was heralded as a national hero and martyr. This narrative was used by the Iranian government to mobilize young people for the war effort, embedding ideological conformity within the educational system.
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December 05, 2024
Federal privacy commissioner expresses lingering concerns over FINTRAC in report
Canada’s federal privacy commissioner is expressing ongoing concerns about how well the country’s anti-money laundering watchdog is protecting the personal information it gathers as part of its investigations — especially in the wake of two recent information security breaches.
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December 05, 2024
Trial judge did not err in her scrutiny of unsavoury witness’s evidence: Supreme Court
In a case where the Crown’s case hinged on the testimony of a convicted criminal who identified the masked accused from 75 seconds of security camera surveillance, the Supreme Court of Canada issued brief written reasons for its 4-1 dismissal from the bench last month of a Saskatchewan man’s appeal from convictions for robbery and having his face masked with the intent to commit an indictable offence.
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December 05, 2024
PROCEDURE - Trial judge's duties - Assessing credibility of witnesses
Appeal by Stevenson from a judgment of the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal which upheld his convictions. Stevenson was convicted of the offences of robbery and having his face masked while committing an indictable offence. The incident was captured on video by security cameras. The video showed that the two participants’ faces were completely covered during the robbery. The sole issue at Stevenson's trial was identity and CS, a former gang associate of Stevenson, identified him as a participant in the robbery. CS's testimony was the only evidence that linked Stevenson to the offence. The trial judge found CS's evidence to be credible and reliable and, based on that, found Stevenson guilty. The majority of the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal from conviction. Stevenson appealed. He argued that the trial judge erred in law in assessing the evidence of the Crown’s unsavoury witness.
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December 05, 2024
EVIDENCE - Admissibility - Prejudicial evidence - Confessions and statements by the accused - Voluntariness
Appeal by Crown against Correia's acquittal on two counts of first-degree murder. The charges stemmed from the fatal shootings of MacFarlane and Taylor in their rented residence. The police theorized that the victims were mistakenly killed, as the intended target was a previous tenant involved in gang activities. Correia was arrested and made inculpatory statements during police interrogation.
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December 05, 2024
Claims of police trickery dismissed, new trial ordered in B.C. murder case
Leanne MacFarlane and Jeffrey Taylor were fatally shot at a residence in Cranbrook, B.C., on May 29, 2010. Doug Mahon, a gang member, had previously rented the unit.
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December 05, 2024
Violence in Ontario families: Something is off | Michael Cochrane
I’ve been thinking about domestic violence and asking myself this question: As a society, are we making any progress in dealing with this plague? My approach to searching for an answer has been informed primarily by my time in private practice (where my clients have been both perpetrators and victims of such violence) and also by the years I spent as counsel in policy development with the Ontario Ministry of the Attorney General (where I worked on, among other things, the creation of the Family Responsibility Office (FRO), the passage of the Family Law Act and the introduction of mediation to family law).
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December 04, 2024
Ottawa splits off controversial anti-hate provisions from online harms bill
The federal government is hiving off controversial anti-hate provisions from its proposed online harms legislation, in the hopes of being able to enact more speedily other provisions in Bill C-63 that aim to protect children online.
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December 04, 2024
Ontario private member's bill aimed at regulating captive wildlife and zoos
An Ottawa-area MPP has introduced a new private member's bill aimed at addressing the lack of provincial oversight for captive wildlife. The Captive Wildlife Protection Act, 2024 was said to be brought for the purpose of improving animal welfare and public safety, citing dangers posed by “roadside zoos.”