Flint Foto Factory
The fatal shooting of a 40-year-old man on Wednesday brought the
Chicago Police Department's official 2012 homicide tally to 500. This is
the first time since 2008 that Chicago has recorded more than 500
homicides in one year. This is only the second time since 2003 that the
murder rate has been over 500
Police say
the victim Nathaniel T. Jackson was shot in the head while standing on
the sidewalk in front of a convenience store in the West Side
neighborhood of Austin.
According to the Tribune,
homicides are up 17 percent , and shootings are up 11 percent over last
year. Local activists with a different process of tallying violent
deaths (including police-involved deaths) had calculated 500 homicides on Dec. 15.
Year: Total Homicides
2001: 667
2002: 656
2003: 601
2004: 453
2005: 451
2006: 471
2007: 448
2008: 513
2009: 459
2010: 436
2011: 433
Friday, December 28, 2012
Friday, September 21, 2012
Arctic sea ice melts
Arctic sea ice has melted to a record low this year, say researchers at the U.S. National Snow and Ice Data Center.
According to scientists like David Barber from the University of Manitoba, what happens to Arctic sea ice is a huge indicator on what will happen to Canada and the world in terms of climate change.
“The thaw this year broke all the records that we had previous to this and it didn’t just break them, it smashed them," Barber told CBC News.
“The Arctic is changing so rapidly right now and that is connected to our global climate system, so it’s really a precursor to what is coming for the rest of the planet and it really should be an eye-opener for people.”
Scientists say that at this rate there could be an ice-free Arctic as early as the summer of 2015.
According to scientists like David Barber from the University of Manitoba, what happens to Arctic sea ice is a huge indicator on what will happen to Canada and the world in terms of climate change.
“The thaw this year broke all the records that we had previous to this and it didn’t just break them, it smashed them," Barber told CBC News.
“The Arctic is changing so rapidly right now and that is connected to our global climate system, so it’s really a precursor to what is coming for the rest of the planet and it really should be an eye-opener for people.”
Scientists say that at this rate there could be an ice-free Arctic as early as the summer of 2015.
Arctic sea ice melts to record low
Posted: Sep 20, 2012 11:04 PM ET
Last Updated: Sep 20, 2012 10:53 PM ET
Thursday, September 20, 2012
No TTC subsidy for new LRT
Stintz to Metrolinx: Don’t expect a TTC subsidy for new LRT
Metrolinx
Metrolinx plans to run light rail vehicles similar to this
on the Eglinton Scarborough Crosstown line, which the provincial agency
wants to operate separately from the TTC.
Toronto taxpayers, who paid $500
million to subsidize TTC operations this year, won’t help pay for
privately operated transit lines, Toronto Transit Commission chair Karen
Stintz has warned the province.
A day after the TTC got word that Metrolinx has decided to privatize the operation and maintenance of Toronto’s provincially funded $8.4 billion LRTs, Stintz took a hard line on the TTC’s contribution to their operating costs.
“If we’re not operating those lines, we’re not paying those costs … I don’t know where they’re going to get the money,” she said.
Stintz was responding to a suggestion from Ontario Infrastructure and Transportation Minister Bob Chiarelli that Metrolinx and the TTC are still negotiating an operating subsidy for the new lines.
Chiarelli defended the government’s decision to use a public-private partnership to build, design, finance, maintain and operate the LRTs, saying its Infrastructure Ontario agency had an “almost flawless” record of bringing projects in on time and on budget.
“There have been TTC projects that have been long overdue and sometimes much over budget,” he said.
Like most public transit, the new LRTs won’t cover their costs through the fare box when they open in eight or nine years.
“Every transit system in North America has some government subsidies to cover off the operating. That’s not unusual,” Chiarelli said.
“But the Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown will save the TTC the cost of buses. So they will have a significant savings by not having to run the buses,” he said.
Shifting the bus savings to the Eglinton-Crosstown was the plan until the TTC was cut out of the picture, Stintz said.
“In the original model we would operate the line. So anything we didn’t spend on buses we would contribute to the Crosstown. The same applied to Finch and Sheppard and (the conversion to light rail of) the Scarborough RT. But if we’re not operating those lines we’re not paying those costs,” she said.
Although Stintz said she was pleased by Metrolinx’s assurances that TTC riders wouldn’t pay an additional fare to ride the new transit, “It’s still unclear how the TTC sets fares for a private operator,” she said.
“The fare and the fare-sharing is a future discussion,” said Jack Collins, Metrolinx vice-president for Rapid Transit Implementation.
But the parties have agreed in principle that it will be a one-fare system, “that whatever the TTC’s prevailing fare is in 2020, that will be the fare the customer pays,” he said.
The details will be part of the master agreement between Metrolinx, the city and the TTC, which isn’t yet complete, said Collins.
He downplayed concerns about the impact of integrating the LRTs with the TTC, saying it would work as seamlessly as the privately operated Canada Line, which connects with the rest of the Vancouver transit system.
How the two systems will collect and divide fare revenues is still undecided, said Collins.
Also unclear, said a Metrolinx spokesman, is how the private operator would move riders in the event of a service disruption on the LRT.
Although the TTC would have preferred to maintain and operate the LRTs itself, CEO Andy Byford said Toronto transit officials will be “100 per cent” co-operative.
“To do otherwise would disadvantage the customer, so there’s no way we’re going to do that. I don’t think it’s ideal having two operators … there’s potential for confusion, and that’s what we’ve got to avoid,” he said.
With nearly a decade before the lines open, “We ought to be able to get our act together in that time,” he said.
The LRTs will have to have their own control rooms and evacuation procedures so there’s no question of who is in charge in an emergency, he said.
Byford, who worked in a public-private rail system in England, said it’s safety-critical that the TTC and Metrolinx co-operate in the design of the stations where the subway and LRT will intersect, at Kennedy, Eglinton West and Yonge St.
While Metrolinx insists that a privatized operation is better for taxpayers, some transit watchers say it will be a mess for riders.
“It’s a disaster waiting to happen. They do not have the service planning tools or any of it to make this work.” said left-wing Councillor Gord Perks (Parkdale-High Park).
“What lesson should we take from the (Highway) 407, eHealth and ORNGE? Don’t set up an arm’s-length decision-making body and have them set up contracts with the private sector.”
Adding a private operator to the mix will inevitably muddy the customer experience, said Toronto transit advocate and blogger Steve Munro.
At the very least, riders transferring between the TTC and the Crosstown will probably have to tap on and tap off with their electronic Presto fare card at the transfer point.
“Metrolinx is going to want to know down to the last detail how many people, and where they are actually riding their part of the line,” Munro said. “They’re going to be doing lots of tub-thumping for tap-on and tap-off,” Munro said.
A day after the TTC got word that Metrolinx has decided to privatize the operation and maintenance of Toronto’s provincially funded $8.4 billion LRTs, Stintz took a hard line on the TTC’s contribution to their operating costs.
“If we’re not operating those lines, we’re not paying those costs … I don’t know where they’re going to get the money,” she said.
Stintz was responding to a suggestion from Ontario Infrastructure and Transportation Minister Bob Chiarelli that Metrolinx and the TTC are still negotiating an operating subsidy for the new lines.
Chiarelli defended the government’s decision to use a public-private partnership to build, design, finance, maintain and operate the LRTs, saying its Infrastructure Ontario agency had an “almost flawless” record of bringing projects in on time and on budget.
“There have been TTC projects that have been long overdue and sometimes much over budget,” he said.
Like most public transit, the new LRTs won’t cover their costs through the fare box when they open in eight or nine years.
“Every transit system in North America has some government subsidies to cover off the operating. That’s not unusual,” Chiarelli said.
“But the Eglinton-Scarborough Crosstown will save the TTC the cost of buses. So they will have a significant savings by not having to run the buses,” he said.
Shifting the bus savings to the Eglinton-Crosstown was the plan until the TTC was cut out of the picture, Stintz said.
“In the original model we would operate the line. So anything we didn’t spend on buses we would contribute to the Crosstown. The same applied to Finch and Sheppard and (the conversion to light rail of) the Scarborough RT. But if we’re not operating those lines we’re not paying those costs,” she said.
Although Stintz said she was pleased by Metrolinx’s assurances that TTC riders wouldn’t pay an additional fare to ride the new transit, “It’s still unclear how the TTC sets fares for a private operator,” she said.
“The fare and the fare-sharing is a future discussion,” said Jack Collins, Metrolinx vice-president for Rapid Transit Implementation.
But the parties have agreed in principle that it will be a one-fare system, “that whatever the TTC’s prevailing fare is in 2020, that will be the fare the customer pays,” he said.
The details will be part of the master agreement between Metrolinx, the city and the TTC, which isn’t yet complete, said Collins.
He downplayed concerns about the impact of integrating the LRTs with the TTC, saying it would work as seamlessly as the privately operated Canada Line, which connects with the rest of the Vancouver transit system.
How the two systems will collect and divide fare revenues is still undecided, said Collins.
Also unclear, said a Metrolinx spokesman, is how the private operator would move riders in the event of a service disruption on the LRT.
Although the TTC would have preferred to maintain and operate the LRTs itself, CEO Andy Byford said Toronto transit officials will be “100 per cent” co-operative.
“To do otherwise would disadvantage the customer, so there’s no way we’re going to do that. I don’t think it’s ideal having two operators … there’s potential for confusion, and that’s what we’ve got to avoid,” he said.
With nearly a decade before the lines open, “We ought to be able to get our act together in that time,” he said.
The LRTs will have to have their own control rooms and evacuation procedures so there’s no question of who is in charge in an emergency, he said.
Byford, who worked in a public-private rail system in England, said it’s safety-critical that the TTC and Metrolinx co-operate in the design of the stations where the subway and LRT will intersect, at Kennedy, Eglinton West and Yonge St.
While Metrolinx insists that a privatized operation is better for taxpayers, some transit watchers say it will be a mess for riders.
“It’s a disaster waiting to happen. They do not have the service planning tools or any of it to make this work.” said left-wing Councillor Gord Perks (Parkdale-High Park).
“What lesson should we take from the (Highway) 407, eHealth and ORNGE? Don’t set up an arm’s-length decision-making body and have them set up contracts with the private sector.”
Adding a private operator to the mix will inevitably muddy the customer experience, said Toronto transit advocate and blogger Steve Munro.
At the very least, riders transferring between the TTC and the Crosstown will probably have to tap on and tap off with their electronic Presto fare card at the transfer point.
“Metrolinx is going to want to know down to the last detail how many people, and where they are actually riding their part of the line,” Munro said. “They’re going to be doing lots of tub-thumping for tap-on and tap-off,” Munro said.
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
‘Aryan’ Canada
John A. Macdonald wanted an ‘Aryan’ Canada
Mary Mah, 85, left, and Gim Wong, 84, both head tax payers, share a moment on June 16, 2006 before boarding a train from Vancouver to Ottawa to hear a formal apology.
Photograph by: LYLE STAFFORD, REUTERS
He did this not just in any piece of legislation, but in the Electoral Franchise Act, an act that defined the federal polity of adult male property holders and that he called “my greatest achievement.”
Macdonald’s comments came as he justified an amendment taking the vote away from anyone “of Mongolian or Chinese race.” He warned that, if the Chinese (who had been in British Columbia as long as Europeans) were allowed to vote, “they might control the vote of that whole Province” and their “Chinese representatives” would foist “Asiatic principles,” “immoralities,” and “eccentricities” on the House “which are abhorrent to the Aryan race and Aryan principles.” He further claimed that “the Aryan races will not wholesomely amalgamate with the Africans or the Asiatics” and that “the cross of those races, like the cross of the dog and the fox, is not successful; it cannot be, and never will be.” For Macdonald, Canada was to be the country that restored a pure Aryan race to its past glory, and the Chinese threatened this purity.
Lest it be thought that Macdonald was merely expressing the prejudices of the age, it should be noted that his were among the most extreme views of his era. He was the only politician in the parliamentary debates to refer to Canada as “Aryan” and to justify legalized racism on the basis not of alleged cultural practices but on the grounds that “Chinese” and “Aryans” were separate species. Even B.C. representatives who had been calling for Chinese exclusion for years objected to the supposed cultural practices of the Chinese, not to their biology.
In contrast, the second prime minister of Canada, Alexander Mackenzie, had earlier refused discriminatory proposals on the grounds that they involved invidious distinctions that were “dangerous and contrary to the law of nations and the policy which controlled Canada.”
Even members of Macdonald’s own government would have been disturbed by his comments. His secretary of state and Quebec lieutenant, Joseph-Adolphe Chapleau, had been a member of the Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration that debunked common anti-Chinese prejudices. A careful reading of the Commons debates suggests that Macdonald’s comments actually shocked members of the House. Indignation over the introduction of race as a defining characteristic of Canadianness was strong in the Senate. So strong that Senators, including many Macdonald appointees, debated whether they could get away with voting the legislation down, even though it had taken Macdonald two years to get it through the House of Commons. The Senate ultimately did defeat further anti-Chinese measures in 1886 and 1887.
The 1885 act fixed in law the idea that, at the highest levels in Canada, “race” could be the basis for voting rights. As the Opposition predicted, once the genie of race was out of the bottle, it had far-reaching effects. Ultimately race would define citizenship, immigration rights, access to jobs and services. In typically haphazard Canadian fashion, by the late 1940s exclusions based on race had been extended piecemeal federally, provincially and municipally. These enactments caught up people from India, Japanese Canadians, First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples, African and Jewish Canadians as well as Chinese Canadians.
Meanwhile, invidious distinctions of race justified practices as diverse as the residential schools and the denial of shelter to refugees of the Holocaust during the Second World War, as one official notoriously said, because, “None is too many.” “Race” as a defining characteristic of political rights would only disappear in 1960 when so-called status Indians gained the right to vote.
John A. Macdonald’s Aryan vision lives on today in contemporary imaginings of Canadianness. As a recent Citizen editorial on the removal of an apparently Asian figure from the new $100 bill correctly noted, it lives on in the mistaken assumption that whiteness is neutral and that an Asian cannot represent Canadians. We also see it in the repeated assumption that most often imagines Joe Canada as white, if not as Macdonald’s “Aryan”.
In his announcement last week that the Ottawa River Parkway was being renamed for Macdonald, Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird expressed the hope that it would stimulate Canadians’ interest in their histories. Perhaps interest in the histories of all Canadians would lead Baird and the federal government to reconsider whether in a multiracial, multi-ethnic society like that of Canada today, we should be naming public monuments after white supremacists.
How does the “Alexander Mackenzie Parkway” sound?
Timothy J. Stanley’s recent book, Contesting White Supremacy: School Segregation, Anti-Racism and the Making of Chinese Canadians (UBC Press, 2011), won a Clio award from the Canadian Historical Association.
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Parking ticket that’s illegal on Tim Hortons
Parking ticket on private land? It may be the ticket that’s illegal
Kaleigh Rogers/TORONTO STAR
Jonathan Sutcliffe, 23, holds up the convincing yellow ticket he received in a Tim Hortons parking lot in June.
They say no good deed goes unpunished and Jonathan Sutcliffe would likely agree.
Early last month, when a friend called him up and asked if he would drive him to the hospital for x-rays, Sutcliffe didn’t hesitate to say yes.
“Anyone who knows me will usually call me to give them a ride because they know I don’t say ‘no,’ or ask for gas money,” he said.
“He needed my help and I was happy to help him.”
But after getting slapped with a heavy parking ticket the last time he accompanied a pal to Rouge Valley Centenary hospital in Scarborough, the 23-year-old decided instead to park in the lot of a Tim Hortons across the street.
When he returned to his vehicle 30 minutes later, Sutcliffe was shocked to find a yellow slip under his wiper. A closer look at the ticket showed it wasn’t issued by the City of Toronto, but by a private firm called Parking Control Unit.
The ticket — labelled as a ‘parking invoice’ — was for a whopping $250. However, details on the back of the ticket explained the price would drop to $25 if payment was made within 10 days — $50 if made within 28 days.
Sutcliffe’s first instinct was to look up the company’s website on his phone. He said the website “looked pretty ridiculous,” and his calls to the company were directed straight to payment options, so he decided to take the ticket home.
After looking online and finding other individuals who were questioning the bizarre tickets, Sutcliffe decided to go to his local police division to find out if the ticket was legitimate.
“The cop basically said: ‘Don’t worry about it. I’ve seen these before. It’s garbage. It’s fake,’” Sutcliffe said.
He decided not to pay the ticket, but has held onto it in case the company or a collections agency tries to contact him. So far, nobody has.
According to Dave Vanrooyen, operations manager for Parking Control Unit, these notices are within the limits of city bylaws.
“The Impark way of doing business, which is giving consent on private property and posting the fee and posting the terms of use on the property, is legal,” he explained.
“So it doesn’t violate the consumer protection that the City of Toronto has.”
However, the relevant 2004 city bylaw states that agencies cannot issue tickets demanding payment in relation to vehicles parked on private property — only a municipal enforcement officer can do so.
There is one exception: Impark and similar lots are specifically and clearly commercial lots, so they are allowed to issue tickets enforcing payment on anyone who overstays their paid time.
However, all other private lots, such as a Tim Hortons, may only issue City of Toronto tickets. Any other form of parking notice demanding payment breaks the bylaw and should be reported, according to Bruce Robertson, director of licensing for the city.
“If that happens, they should phone municipal licensing and standards and make a complaint and we’ll look into it,” he said.
Sutcliffe was relieved to hear this and said he’ll probably make the call. For now, he’s been spreading the word about the iffy tickets through the Toronto page of online aggregator site, Reddit, warning other potential parkers to check their yellow slips carefully.
Early last month, when a friend called him up and asked if he would drive him to the hospital for x-rays, Sutcliffe didn’t hesitate to say yes.
“Anyone who knows me will usually call me to give them a ride because they know I don’t say ‘no,’ or ask for gas money,” he said.
“He needed my help and I was happy to help him.”
But after getting slapped with a heavy parking ticket the last time he accompanied a pal to Rouge Valley Centenary hospital in Scarborough, the 23-year-old decided instead to park in the lot of a Tim Hortons across the street.
When he returned to his vehicle 30 minutes later, Sutcliffe was shocked to find a yellow slip under his wiper. A closer look at the ticket showed it wasn’t issued by the City of Toronto, but by a private firm called Parking Control Unit.
The ticket — labelled as a ‘parking invoice’ — was for a whopping $250. However, details on the back of the ticket explained the price would drop to $25 if payment was made within 10 days — $50 if made within 28 days.
Sutcliffe’s first instinct was to look up the company’s website on his phone. He said the website “looked pretty ridiculous,” and his calls to the company were directed straight to payment options, so he decided to take the ticket home.
After looking online and finding other individuals who were questioning the bizarre tickets, Sutcliffe decided to go to his local police division to find out if the ticket was legitimate.
“The cop basically said: ‘Don’t worry about it. I’ve seen these before. It’s garbage. It’s fake,’” Sutcliffe said.
He decided not to pay the ticket, but has held onto it in case the company or a collections agency tries to contact him. So far, nobody has.
According to Dave Vanrooyen, operations manager for Parking Control Unit, these notices are within the limits of city bylaws.
“The Impark way of doing business, which is giving consent on private property and posting the fee and posting the terms of use on the property, is legal,” he explained.
“So it doesn’t violate the consumer protection that the City of Toronto has.”
However, the relevant 2004 city bylaw states that agencies cannot issue tickets demanding payment in relation to vehicles parked on private property — only a municipal enforcement officer can do so.
There is one exception: Impark and similar lots are specifically and clearly commercial lots, so they are allowed to issue tickets enforcing payment on anyone who overstays their paid time.
However, all other private lots, such as a Tim Hortons, may only issue City of Toronto tickets. Any other form of parking notice demanding payment breaks the bylaw and should be reported, according to Bruce Robertson, director of licensing for the city.
“If that happens, they should phone municipal licensing and standards and make a complaint and we’ll look into it,” he said.
Sutcliffe was relieved to hear this and said he’ll probably make the call. For now, he’s been spreading the word about the iffy tickets through the Toronto page of online aggregator site, Reddit, warning other potential parkers to check their yellow slips carefully.
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
St. Clair West bottleneck
June 24, 2012
Solving the St. Clair West bottleneck
By John Lorinc
Notorious stretch of St. Clair West has planners trying to figure out how best to break the logjam
As tight spots go, the stretch of St. Clair West that ducks beneath the Georgetown rail corridor, between Old Weston Road and Keele Street, is as close to a traffic funnel as can be found anywhere in Toronto.Densely populated neighbourhoods fan out to the east. To the west sit acres of car-friendly big box stores, with more on the way. Since construction this year closed a shortcut around the area, cars, buses and trucks crawl through the underpass, which offers one lane in either direction. Streetcars use a dedicated right-of-way.
"You stand here for a little while and you'll get a glimpse of what the people deal with everyday," Don Panos, chair of the St. Clair Gardens BIA, said recently as he stood at the corner of Old Weston, watching trucks trying to make tight right turns as cars backed up towards Caledonia. "You just see how frustrating it is."
Council is considering how best to break the logjam, recently voting for an environmental assessment. One idea, favoured by the area's representative, Cesar Palacio, is to add two lanes to the underpass, but it's a highly complex venture that would take years to complete and would cost more than $30-million.
Traffic engineers say the problem isn't just the width of the underpass; it also involves the constricted layout of busy intersections at either end, which regulate the volume of traffic passing beneath the 80-year-old bridge.
During the construction of the right-of-way, the intersections were not built according to approved designs because the city wanted to cut the cost of the land acquisitions needed to widen parts of the roadway, TTC experts said.
"We have intersections that are not designed in accordance to what was agreed to," said TTC service planning manager Mitch Stambler. "Decisions were made that were outside the planning and EA process by the construction managers."
Gord MacMillan, the city's director of design and construction, acknowledged that pressure to complete the project made it impossible to buy the additional strips of land for new turn lanes. As well, city project managers encountered technical problems that didn't surface during the planning process, he said.
It's impossible to know if the original design would have eased congestion. Yet the question is not moot. Traffic will swell in coming years with waves of new development. Metrolinx's Air Rail Link, slated to run on the Georgetown corridor starting in 2015, will make it much more complicated to rebuild the underpass once it is operating.
How to open the bottleneck:
The Intersections
The city has started changing the signage at both corners to improve flow, and new $25,000 traffic controllers that can sense waits for left-turns will be installed later this year, said John Mende, director of transportation infrastructure. City staff are also looking to acquire land in front of the Delta Bingo to extend an right turn lane to reduce back-ups, with construction to begin in 2013. Mr. Palacio said the TTC is also looking at relocating the streetcar platforms.
The Underpass
The project is an engineering nightmare: the bridge would have to be replaced in phases because the rail line, which carries GO service as well as CP's main east-west freight trains, is extremely busy. Adding lanes means building a wider span with deeper piers. Also, the underpass will need to be lowered to conform to current building codes, raising the question of whether the new slope leading into the underpass could be too steep for streetcars, said Stephen Lipkus, executive director of Metrolinx's Georgetown South project.
Mr. Lipkus said if the city wants to widen the underpass, it makes sense to do so in the next two-and-a-half years, before the Air Rail Link begins operating. Mr. Mende said such timelines are "extremely aggressive." He also predicted the bridge reconstruction could take two years and possibly involve closing St. Clair.
The Streetcar
City, TTC officials and Mr. Palacio all agree that the St. Clair streetcar should not operate in mixed traffic in the underpass as a means of relieving congestion. Mr. Stambler said such a move would likely disrupt service along the rest of the line, and also has the potential to increase streetcar-vehicle collisions. Mr. Palacio wants the TTC to consider allowing its buses to use the right of way.
The Alternatives
The level crossing at Junction Road and Old Weston carries 7,000 vehicles a day and serves as a relief valve. It will be closed on and off until next year as Metrolinx builds tunnels for the GO/air link tracks beneath the Junction Road crossing. But the environmental assessment, city and TTC officials say, should also look at creating new crossings, either north or south of St. Clair, to provide drivers with other east-west routes.
Special to the Globe and Mail.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Toronto activists rally for May Day
ctvtoronto.ca
Community activists, supporters of the working class and
anti-establishment firebrands will take to streets across Canada on
Tuesday to mark International Workers' Day.Updated: Tue. May. 1 2012 4:31 PM ET Activists groups in Toronto have been urging residents to call in sick to work and join May Day protests demanding respect for minority groups, urging for improvements to public services and attacking corporate handouts. The gatherings are likely to cause delays and traffic jams on city roads. In Toronto, the main rally will be held at City Hall at 4 p.m. by immigrant workers' rights group No One is Illegal and Occupy Toronto. Shortly before 4 p.m. at least 200 protestors started marching south on University Avenue and towards Nathan Phillips Square. Organizers say the rally includes thousands of people on parade, music and balloons, and a 25-foot banner. "We are responding to calls from across North America to have a May Day rally. It is important because May Day is celebrated around the world but it isn't celebrated here," Lana Goldberg, a member of the Occupy Toronto movement, told CTV News Channel. "We want to celebrate in solidarity with workers around the world for worker struggles and also for immigrant struggles." The rally will be followed by a march several blocks west into Chinatown, where protesters will gather in Alexandra Park, at Bathurst Street and Dundas Street West, to protest the state of immigrant workers rights. Other events behind held in Toronto include a potluck garden party outside Queen's Park at 2 p.m. Occupy Toronto also plans a 24-hour occupation at a yet-to-be-announced location referred to as the "Heart of the Beast." A number of groups gathered outside Harper's office around the noon hour to voice their opposition to cuts to the federal public service and other austerity measures. CTV News Channel's Mercedes Stephenson tweeted that protesters held up cut-outs of federal cabinet ministers wearing T-shirts with critical messages. May Day protests in other cities include:
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Friday, April 27, 2012
Star’s errors:
Report on the Star’s errors: Who are you going to blame?
April 27, 2012Kathy English
Star readers knew the animal slain by Donald Trump Jr. in Africa was a cape buffalo, not a wildebeest.
Are you smarter than the average Star journalist working on constant round-the-clock deadlines to report, write, edit and, increasingly, blog, tweet and shoot photos and video, too?
Do you know the answers to the following? Or do you have to check a source?
• Who stayed at the Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge in 1939: A) King George VI or King George IV?
• Who created Diorissmo perfume: A) Edmond Roudnitska or B) Guy Robert?
• Who was a key Canadian spy figure of World War II: A) Owen Roberts or B) Arthur Owens?
• What is the capital of Australia: A) Canberra or B) Sydney?
• Is Chernobyl, the site of the world’s worst nuclear accident, part of A) Russia or B) Ukraine?
• Who are the only two quarterbacks to have won four Super Bowl titles?
• How many Academy Awards for best director has Steven Spielberg won?
• Is the animal in this photo, shot down recently in Africa by Donald Trump Jr., A) a wildebeest or B) a cape buffalo?
The answers, if you didn’t know, are: A, A, B, A, B, Joe Montana and Terry Bradshaw, two, and B) a cape buffalo.
In recent months, the wrong information in all of the above was published in the Star. Readers brought each of these errors to our attention, the norm in most mistakes requiring correction. Indeed, our readers play a significant role in the ongoing accuracy of the Star.
In the first three months of 2012, the Star has published 123 corrections. Only 31 of these mistakes were reported to me by the newsroom journalists who erred. I don’t think that’s because journalists aim to hide their mistakes. Most often, they haven’t realized their error until it’s raised by a reader or source.
Readers and sources pointed out the majority of those errors with 58 error reports coming from readers and 34 from sources.
While the Star has long encouraged readers to report errors for correction, easy access to digital information about almost anything means every reader is now a fact checker. There was a day when you may have questioned whether that animal was in fact a wildebeest, but not be so sure as to question a newspaper. Now, via the magic of Google, instant encyclopedic verification is available to all.
Indeed, in the case involving Trump Jr. and the beast he bagged, dozens of readers called or emailed to tell the Star that the animal in the photo was certainly not a wildebeest. Given that I didn’t have a clue about the animal’s identity (had to use Google to check too), it surprised me that so many readers caught the Star out on this.
I have posed many questions for you here but the big question of course is why do such basic factual errors occur in the Star? Why did readers have to tell journalists of Canada’s largest circulation newspaper that the capital of Australia is Canberra?
If readers can so easily Google for accurate information, why can’t the Star’s journalists do so before mistakes are published?
Of course readers don’t operate on deadlines. Still with corrections up more than 50 per cent in the first quarter of this year compared to last — from 80 in the first three months of 2011 to 123 in 2012 — these are important questions for the newsroom.
My corrections data indicate the majority of mistakes were made by writers; 93 of the 123 corrections were attributed to reporters, columnists and freelancers. Only 25 were classified as editing errors.
But it’s too simplistic to lay all the blame for errors on writers. Writers working on deadline have long depended on eagle-eyed copy editors to catch minor errors and double-check basic facts. A newsroom has always been a team operation.
But the digital 24/7 newsroom has brought more deadlines and more demands for writers and editors alike. A decade ago, who would have known that newspaper writers would now be shooting and editing video?
It’s not unusual for writers who’ve made mistakes in the rush to deadline to feel humiliated and take ownership but also lament the fact that an editor didn’t catch their error. But the reality in most every newsroom in North America is fewer editors editing more work on tighter deadlines for the paper and websites than in past years.
As one Star writer caught out by a reader this week for a grammatical gaffe in his first sentence of an online file told me: “I accept full responsibility for my work. I was sloppy.”
But he added, “I can't recall the last time a Star editor called me to ask about what appeared to him or her to be a mistake in my copy, which routinely happened in my first eight years here.
“I really think we need a Star-wide discussion about this,” he added.
Given the significant increase in errors our smart readers have found, I think that’s a fact we can all agree on.
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Physicist claims victory over traffic ticket with physics paper
Physicist claims victory over traffic ticket with physics paper
A physicist at the University of California San Diego used his knowledge of measuring bodies in motion to show in court why he couldn't be guilty of a ticket for failing to halt at a stop sign. The argument, now a four-page paper delving into the differences between angular and linear motion, supposedly got the physicist out of a $400 ticket. If you want to use this excuse, you'll have to learn a little math -- and some powers of persuasion.
The paper by Dmitri Krioukov titled "The Proof of Innocence," notes in the abstract that it's "a way to fight your traffic tickets," and was "awarded a special prize of $400 that the author did not have to pay to the state of California." (It's also posted with a date of April 1, so downloader beware.) Krioukov claims he was approaching a stop sign in his Toyota Yaris when a police officer saw him roll through the intersection, apparently without stopping, and pulled him over. Case closed — except that Krioukov says he was able to show a confluence of events that only made it seem he hadn't stopped.First, the officer was watching the stop sign saw Krioukov's car from the side, distorting his idea of how fast Krioukov was traveling before the stop. At the stop sign itself, Krioukov contended he had stopped — but the officer's view was briefly blocked by a passing car. When Krioukov started again, the officer's sense of Krioukov's speed made it seem he had never stopped at all.
Krioukov told PhysicsCentral that the case and his argument were real, but that he left a flaw in his work for others to find, and sure enough a few commenters found the Yaris-based defect quickly. Leave it to a physicist to create an explanation that ends with people doubting whether the problem explained actually existed at all.
Thursday, March 29, 2012
OAS and CPP
Canada Pension Plan vs. Old Age Security
CBC News
Posted: Feb 1, 2012 5:55 AM ET
Last Updated: Feb 1, 2012 4:50 PM ET
The Old Age Security benefit is available to Canadians and legal residents depending on how long they have lived in the country. The Canada Pension Plan, on the other hand, depends on how much and for how long a person has contributed. (iStock)
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Income Tax
- Special Report on income tax: Making the most of your return
- Calendar: Important tax-related dates and deadlines throughout the year
- 7 new tax rules that could save you money
Tax-saving Options
- 5 reasons why TFSAs are becoming a top tax-saving investment
- 8 must-know facts about RDSP investing plans for the disabled
Retirement Planning
- Many Canadians' retirement plans in dire need of reality check
- Quiz: Think you know Canada's RRSP and retirement investing rules? Find out
- What you need to know about registered retirement savings plans
- Guide to online retirement investing calculators: How to sort the good from the bad
Investing Tips
The federal government has sought to assure Canadians that their pensions are secure after Prime Minister Stephen Harper suggested last week that there could be changes coming to Old Age Security benefits.
On Monday, Harper revisited the issue and said the government would not cut the OAS, but would examine challenges facing the country's retirement income system.
"We will ensure our vital programs are sustainable in the long-term and for future generations," Harper said.
"The reality is that we aren’t cutting programs for seniors."
Apart from private money squirreled away in an RRSP or other savings vehicles, the OAS and complementary Canada Pension Plan are key components in the retirement planning of many Canadians. But many people confuse the two programs, how much they pay, and who's eligible for them.
Here is a look at OAS and the CPP and how they differ.
The Old Age Security pension is a monthly payment available to Canadians aged 65 and older who apply and meet certain requirements. Unlike CPP, it is not dependent on a person's employment history and a person does not need to be retired from a job to qualify.
The government adjusts the OAS payment every three months to account for increases in the cost of living according to the Consumer Price Index. The average monthly amount was $508.35 in the last quarter of 2011. The maximum payout for the first quarter of 2012 is $540.12.
There are also supplementary programs, including the Guaranteed Income Supplement, which provide additional income to low-income seniors.
The government claws back OAS payments from high-income Canadians. In 2011, for example, if you were retired but had an income of more than $67,668 (from things like pensions and personal investments), the government would reclaim part of your OAS payment - 15 cents for every dollar of income that you had above the $67,668 threshold. That means that if you were retired with an annual income of around $110,000 or more in 2011, your OAS payout would be reduced to zero.
Who is eligible?
OAS is available to Canadian citizens and legal residents living in the country who have spent at least 10 years in Canada after they turned 18.
It is also open to people outside of the country who were Canadian citizens or legal residents on the day they left the country, as long as they spent at least 20 years of their adult life in Canada.
When should you apply?
A person should apply for OAS six months before they turn 65. If you have not lived in Canada continuously or were not born in Canada, the government requires a statement containing all the dates when you entered and left the country. It may also ask for supporting documentation.
If a person applies after age 65, they can receive up to 11 months in retroactive payments along with a payout for the month in which a person applies to receive OAS. So if a person applied after their 66th birthday, they would receive 12 months of OAS payments.
How is the rate calculated?
In order to qualify for a full pension, a person must have lived in Canada for at least 40 years after turning 18. People also qualify if they reached the age of 25 on or before July 1, 1977, and either lived in Canada, had some residency in the country after age 18, or held a valid Canadian immigration visa and spent the 10 years immediately before appying in Canada.
For those who do not qualify for a full pension, a partial amount is paid out based on the number of years spent living in Canada. For instance, if a person has spent 36 years of their adult life in the country, they will earn 36/40th of the full OAS amount.
Based on the eligibilty requirements, the minimum payout is one-quarter of the total, to account for a total of 10 years spent in Canada.
Once a partial pension has been approved, the percentage of the total OAS pension received will never increase even if a person spends more years in Canada.
The Canada Pension Plan is a form of retirement income that is open to all Canadians who have worked and paid into the system through deductions from their paycheques. The amount a person receives under the system depends on how much and for how long a person contributed, along with the age at which a person started receiving CPP payments.
There are three types of CPP benefits: disability benefits, retirement pension and survivor benefits. For the purposes of clarity, this article focuses on retirement pension form of CPP.
The average monthly CPP benefit in 2011 was $512.64. The maximum payment in 2012 is $987.67. The government adjusts the CPP rate every January to account for changes in cost of living as measured by the Consumer Price Index.
According to Service Canada, "If you have lived and worked in Canada most years between age 18 and 65 and earned about the average Canadian wage ($39,100 in 2002), at age 65 you would receive a CPP retirement pension of about $788 a month."
Who is eligible?
Anyone who has made at least one payment into CPP is eligible for benefits once they reach the age of 65, but the size of the benefits depends on how much and for how long a person contributed into the plan and at what age they start receiving benefits.
A person can begin receiving CPP anytime after age 60, although they incur a financial penalty by doing so. In 2012, a person receiving CPP early will be subject to a 0.52 per cent reduction for each month before the age of 65 that they received payments. That number is slated to rise to 0.6 per cent each month in 2016.
On the other hand, if a person chooses to delay CPP payments they receive a similar increase for each month they wait between the age of 65 and 70. In 2012, that increase works out to 0.64 per cent per month and will rise to 0.7 per cent next year.
When should you apply?
This is really up to the individual and whether they want to receive a smaller or larger CPP benefit. However, the government recommends applying six months before a person wants their pension to begin.
Canadians can apply online or print out an application and deliver it to a Service Canada location.
Similar to OAS, a person can receive retroactive payments covering up to 12 months if they delay applying for CPP until after their 71st birthday.
How much do I contribute to CPP?
An employed person's annual contribution to the CPP is the equivalent of 9.9 per cent of their total pensionable income, half of which is paid by the employee and half by the employer. Annual pensionable earnings are capped at a maximum that is adjusted each January (for 2012, it is $50,100), and there is a basic exemption amount of $3,500. For 2012, that brings the maximum employer and employee contribution to $2,306.70 each.
Self-employed people must contribute 9.9 per cent of their net business income, with the same $50,100 cap and $3,500 basic exemption, bring their maximum CPP contribution for 2012 to $4,613.40.
Anyone earning less than $3,500 is automatically exempt from CPP contributions.
At age 70, a person stops contributing to CPP even if they continue working.
On Monday, Harper revisited the issue and said the government would not cut the OAS, but would examine challenges facing the country's retirement income system.
"We will ensure our vital programs are sustainable in the long-term and for future generations," Harper said.
"The reality is that we aren’t cutting programs for seniors."
Apart from private money squirreled away in an RRSP or other savings vehicles, the OAS and complementary Canada Pension Plan are key components in the retirement planning of many Canadians. But many people confuse the two programs, how much they pay, and who's eligible for them.
Here is a look at OAS and the CPP and how they differ.
Old Age Security
What is OAS?The Old Age Security pension is a monthly payment available to Canadians aged 65 and older who apply and meet certain requirements. Unlike CPP, it is not dependent on a person's employment history and a person does not need to be retired from a job to qualify.
The government adjusts the OAS payment every three months to account for increases in the cost of living according to the Consumer Price Index. The average monthly amount was $508.35 in the last quarter of 2011. The maximum payout for the first quarter of 2012 is $540.12.
There are also supplementary programs, including the Guaranteed Income Supplement, which provide additional income to low-income seniors.
The government claws back OAS payments from high-income Canadians. In 2011, for example, if you were retired but had an income of more than $67,668 (from things like pensions and personal investments), the government would reclaim part of your OAS payment - 15 cents for every dollar of income that you had above the $67,668 threshold. That means that if you were retired with an annual income of around $110,000 or more in 2011, your OAS payout would be reduced to zero.
Who is eligible?
OAS is available to Canadian citizens and legal residents living in the country who have spent at least 10 years in Canada after they turned 18.
It is also open to people outside of the country who were Canadian citizens or legal residents on the day they left the country, as long as they spent at least 20 years of their adult life in Canada.
When should you apply?
A person should apply for OAS six months before they turn 65. If you have not lived in Canada continuously or were not born in Canada, the government requires a statement containing all the dates when you entered and left the country. It may also ask for supporting documentation.
If a person applies after age 65, they can receive up to 11 months in retroactive payments along with a payout for the month in which a person applies to receive OAS. So if a person applied after their 66th birthday, they would receive 12 months of OAS payments.
How is the rate calculated?
In order to qualify for a full pension, a person must have lived in Canada for at least 40 years after turning 18. People also qualify if they reached the age of 25 on or before July 1, 1977, and either lived in Canada, had some residency in the country after age 18, or held a valid Canadian immigration visa and spent the 10 years immediately before appying in Canada.
For those who do not qualify for a full pension, a partial amount is paid out based on the number of years spent living in Canada. For instance, if a person has spent 36 years of their adult life in the country, they will earn 36/40th of the full OAS amount.
Based on the eligibilty requirements, the minimum payout is one-quarter of the total, to account for a total of 10 years spent in Canada.
Once a partial pension has been approved, the percentage of the total OAS pension received will never increase even if a person spends more years in Canada.
Canada Pension Plan
What is CPP?The Canada Pension Plan is a form of retirement income that is open to all Canadians who have worked and paid into the system through deductions from their paycheques. The amount a person receives under the system depends on how much and for how long a person contributed, along with the age at which a person started receiving CPP payments.
There are three types of CPP benefits: disability benefits, retirement pension and survivor benefits. For the purposes of clarity, this article focuses on retirement pension form of CPP.
The average monthly CPP benefit in 2011 was $512.64. The maximum payment in 2012 is $987.67. The government adjusts the CPP rate every January to account for changes in cost of living as measured by the Consumer Price Index.
According to Service Canada, "If you have lived and worked in Canada most years between age 18 and 65 and earned about the average Canadian wage ($39,100 in 2002), at age 65 you would receive a CPP retirement pension of about $788 a month."
Who is eligible?
Anyone who has made at least one payment into CPP is eligible for benefits once they reach the age of 65, but the size of the benefits depends on how much and for how long a person contributed into the plan and at what age they start receiving benefits.
A person can begin receiving CPP anytime after age 60, although they incur a financial penalty by doing so. In 2012, a person receiving CPP early will be subject to a 0.52 per cent reduction for each month before the age of 65 that they received payments. That number is slated to rise to 0.6 per cent each month in 2016.
On the other hand, if a person chooses to delay CPP payments they receive a similar increase for each month they wait between the age of 65 and 70. In 2012, that increase works out to 0.64 per cent per month and will rise to 0.7 per cent next year.
When should you apply?
This is really up to the individual and whether they want to receive a smaller or larger CPP benefit. However, the government recommends applying six months before a person wants their pension to begin.
Canadians can apply online or print out an application and deliver it to a Service Canada location.
Similar to OAS, a person can receive retroactive payments covering up to 12 months if they delay applying for CPP until after their 71st birthday.
How much do I contribute to CPP?
An employed person's annual contribution to the CPP is the equivalent of 9.9 per cent of their total pensionable income, half of which is paid by the employee and half by the employer. Annual pensionable earnings are capped at a maximum that is adjusted each January (for 2012, it is $50,100), and there is a basic exemption amount of $3,500. For 2012, that brings the maximum employer and employee contribution to $2,306.70 each.
Self-employed people must contribute 9.9 per cent of their net business income, with the same $50,100 cap and $3,500 basic exemption, bring their maximum CPP contribution for 2012 to $4,613.40.
Anyone earning less than $3,500 is automatically exempt from CPP contributions.
At age 70, a person stops contributing to CPP even if they continue working.
Wednesday, March 14, 2012
Daltoni
Kelly McParland: The Amazing Daltoni reveals Ontario’s new non-Drummond plan for debt reduction
Mar 14, 2012 – 9:55 AM ET | Last Updated: Mar 14, 2012 12:54 PM ET
Ontarians are starting to get a picture of the Liberal government’s strategy for reducing the huge deficit it ran up in its first eight years in office.It turns out it has little if anything to do with the 362 recommendations offered up in the year-long analysis it commissioned from economist Don Drummond. That report — much anticipated and released to great fanfare by members of the media who had been fooled into believing the government actually planned to treat it seriously — has evidently been assigned to some remote shelf deep in the dusty underground storage area used to keep MPs from being infected by good ideas. Instead, Premier Dalton McGuinty and his capable financial henchman in chief, who goes by the alias Dwight Duncan, have concocted their own game plan.
One key element was revealed Tuesday, when Mr. McGuinty reprised one of his favourite moves. Remember when he was first elected premier, and pledged — in writing — not to raise taxes, only to fool everyone by jacking up healthcare charges anyway? The charges weren’t a “tax”, he insisted, therefore weren’t a violation of his promise. Well, welcome back: Mr. McGuinty has been telling everyone there’s no way he’ll introduce “new” taxes to raise money. But that doesn’t mean he can’t cancel a promised tax cut (see: corporate tax pledge), or hike existing “fees” and “levies.” Presto: watch carefully folks, my hand never leaves my arm. On Tuesday The Amazing Daltoni (Knows all, Spends all) revealed that drivers’ fees, licence fees, examination fees, trailer fees, renewal fees, fee-increase fees, ugly licence-photo fees and any other fees they can find on the books will be increased forthwith. I may have invented a couple of those fees, just as Transport Minister Bob Chiarelli invented the justification that fee hikes were a “thoughtful” way to raise money. No Bob, they’re what governments do when they’re as bankrupt of ideas as they are of cash.
The Big Fee Trick came a day after another part of the non-Drummond plan was revealed: The Education Premier plans to pay for some of his various big-spending programs by extracting more money from people who were never educated enough to realize that trying to finance your retirement by playing blackjack is not a winning strategy. Ontario’s gaming program will be revamped in hopes of emptying billions more from the pockets of casino lovers, including a big new casino in Toronto and easier access to lottery tickets by placing more of them in the kind of commercial locations in which ticket-buyers like to hang out. There is a real logic to this: if people want to waste their money by losing at the card tables, why make them travel long distances to do it? The casinos are there, as are the lottery tickets. It’s not like gamblers who can’t get to a roulette wheel will use the money wisely instead. And it fits with one of the province’s most reliable sources of revenue: booze taxes. Every year like clockwork the LCBO hands over a fat “dividend” to Queen’s Park to blow as it sees fit. In 2010 it was $1.55 billion, up from $975 million when McGuinty became premier. Easy money or what? The great thing about casinos is that they can also be used to stimulate even more drinking, which in turn further loosens wallets, a win-win for a government that needs money and isn’t fussy about where it comes from.
If only Mr. Drummond had appreciated some of these realities he could have avoided a wasted year spent on such dead-end ideas as better-managed health care. Here’s another McGuinty brainwave: let’s stop paying absurdly high prices to suppliers who generate power under alternative energy programs. Whispers from inside government ranks suggest feed-in tariffs will be reduced when a review of the government’s much-beloved alternative energy scheme is released. Now that’s a good idea: paying ten times the going rate for power never made sense in the first place. It just increased the price to consumers, scared away real businesses (as opposed to the subsidized kind that are thick in the alternative energy sector) and forced more borrowing. Like, whose idea was that anyway? Anyone remember? If the premier ever finds out, you can be sure a stern lecture will be delivered.
These aren’t the only proposals the Liberals have been working on. Mr. Duncan has suggested the government stop paying a “subsidy” to Ontario racetracks (which is actually the tracks’ share of slot machine revenues), and keep the money for itself. OK, so a few tracks might close down in an industry that supports 60,000 jobs: rural Ontario doesn’t vote Liberal anyway, so who cares? And teachers are going to face a two-year wage freeze, unless they make a big enough fuss to scare the government into backing down. Which would in turn encourage doctors to make an equally big fuss about plans to freeze their pay as well. There are suggestions the government wouldn’t mind a teachers’ strike, since you can save a lot of money by not paying teachers. But a doctors strike? That wouldn’t be good.
Let’s see, how to avoid it? I know, let’s ask Don Drummond. Then we can kill a year waiting for his report, and another year burying it somewhere we’ll never have to think of it again.
National Post
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Ronald Phipps, Black Mailman, Was Stopped By Cop Because Of The Color Of His Skin: Court
TORONTO - A police officer who suspected a black letter carrier doing his rounds in an affluent neighbourhood was up to no good was racially motivated in those suspicions, Ontario's top court ruled Tuesday.
In dismissing an appeal by the officer, the Appeal Court sided with a lower court decision that upheld an Ontario Human Rights Tribunal finding of discrimination.
Evidence was that the letter carrier, Ronald Phipps, was dressed in a Canada Post uniform and was carrying a Canada Post satchel as he delivered mail door-to-door.
At the time, Const. Michael Shaw, who was on patrol in the neighbourhood, was on the lookout for white men in a vehicle who were suspected of cutting telephone lines.
Even though Phipps did not match that description, Shaw suspected the carrier might have been wearing a postal uniform as a ruse.
The officer claimed his suspicions had nothing to do with the fact that Phipps was a black man.
According to court documents, the officer stopped and questioned the mailman, ran his name through a police check, and talked to a homeowner and a white letter carrier in the area seeking more information about Phipps.
The officer found nothing adverse and Phipps was allowed to continue his deliveries.
In June 2009, the rights tribunal concluded that Phipps had established discrimination in that his skin colour was probably the "predominant factor" in Shaw's actions.
The rights adjudicator also decided Shaw had not offered a credible explanation for his actions to refute the discrimination claim and that police cannot attempt to fight crime based on racial factors.
In a split decision in October, Divisional Court backed the adjudicator, calling her finding reasonable.
Shaw, along with chief of police Bill Blair, appealed to the province's top court.
They argued the adjudicator failed to give enough weight to Shaw's evidence and to the "legitimate role and duty of the police to investigate circumstances of possible wrongdoing."
In its ruling, the Appeal Court noted Shaw stopped and questioned Phipps even though his appearance did not match the white, eastern European men driving a vehicle he had been directed to watch out for.
Nor did Shaw approach or question any white service or construction workers in the same neighbourhood, and he approached a white letter carrier to inquire about Phipps.
Ultimately, the court agreed with the tribunal that Shaw's actions were motivated by race in that Phipps was an unknown black man in an affluent neighbourhood and therefore, he might have been disguised as a postal worker for a potentially criminal purpose.
In dismissing an appeal by the officer, the Appeal Court sided with a lower court decision that upheld an Ontario Human Rights Tribunal finding of discrimination.
Evidence was that the letter carrier, Ronald Phipps, was dressed in a Canada Post uniform and was carrying a Canada Post satchel as he delivered mail door-to-door.
At the time, Const. Michael Shaw, who was on patrol in the neighbourhood, was on the lookout for white men in a vehicle who were suspected of cutting telephone lines.
Even though Phipps did not match that description, Shaw suspected the carrier might have been wearing a postal uniform as a ruse.
The officer claimed his suspicions had nothing to do with the fact that Phipps was a black man.
According to court documents, the officer stopped and questioned the mailman, ran his name through a police check, and talked to a homeowner and a white letter carrier in the area seeking more information about Phipps.
In June 2009, the rights tribunal concluded that Phipps had established discrimination in that his skin colour was probably the "predominant factor" in Shaw's actions.
The rights adjudicator also decided Shaw had not offered a credible explanation for his actions to refute the discrimination claim and that police cannot attempt to fight crime based on racial factors.
In a split decision in October, Divisional Court backed the adjudicator, calling her finding reasonable.
Shaw, along with chief of police Bill Blair, appealed to the province's top court.
They argued the adjudicator failed to give enough weight to Shaw's evidence and to the "legitimate role and duty of the police to investigate circumstances of possible wrongdoing."
In its ruling, the Appeal Court noted Shaw stopped and questioned Phipps even though his appearance did not match the white, eastern European men driving a vehicle he had been directed to watch out for.
Nor did Shaw approach or question any white service or construction workers in the same neighbourhood, and he approached a white letter carrier to inquire about Phipps.
Ultimately, the court agreed with the tribunal that Shaw's actions were motivated by race in that Phipps was an unknown black man in an affluent neighbourhood and therefore, he might have been disguised as a postal worker for a potentially criminal purpose.
Thursday, March 8, 2012
medical dudction
10 medical tax deductions that can save you money
Most people are aware they can claim the medical expenses tax credit but many don't keep a running tally, either because they simply forget or don't think it will add up to worthwhile savings, tax experts say.
Most people are aware they can claim the medical expenses tax credit, but many don’t keep a running tally because they simply forget or don’t think it will add up to worthwhile savings, tax experts say. For many people, that's a potentially costly mistake.
“I put it down as being one of the most well known and least utilized [tax credits],” says Alan Rowell, tax specialist and president of Hamilton, Ont.-based Accounting Place.
MORE RELATED TO THIS STORY —9 tax deductions Canadians often miss
—7 new tax rules that could save you money
—Six wealth-building tips for Canadian couples
The tax credit applies to any number of medical expenses — including prescription drugs, eyeglasses, medical-related home renovations, dental work and even buying gluten-free bread or medical marijuana.MORE RELATED TO THIS STORY —9 tax deductions Canadians often miss
—7 new tax rules that could save you money
—Six wealth-building tips for Canadian couples
The list of eligible expenses is quite exhaustive so it is worth checking out. “If you don’t start adding them up, you’ll never know,” Rowell says.
The CRA website offers a list of available medical expenses, and at the end of this article CBC News has compiled some that you may know, some you ought to know and some you’ve likely never heard before.
The caveat is that the government automatically deducts the lesser of either $2,052 or three per cent of your net income from a person's total expenses. For some that means the credit may be small or even nonexistent, but for others it's definitely worthwhile to make a claim.
You do need to do some homework, in terms of keeping your medical expense receipts. It's something that is not easy to do over the course of a year unless you make a conscious effort to put the receipts aside, Rowell says.
For those who make the effort, anything over the amount automatically deducted by the Canada Revenue Agency means money in your pocket.
One trick worth being aware of is that the CRA also lets you choose any 12-month period for which to claim, says chartered accountant James Gustafson from Victoria-based Gustafson Accounting. So if you had a number of medical expenses over several months between 2010 and 2011, but they fell within a period of 12 consecutive months, you can arrange your claim to get the maximum benefit.
Another time-saver that Rowell recommends is to contact your local drugstore — where you usually get prescriptions — to see if they can provide one single receipt for the whole year, thereby avoiding the hassle of compiling 12-months worth of receipts.
Taxpayers should also be aware that for the 2011 tax year the government has eliminated the $10,000 limit for medical expenses incurred while caring for an adult dependent, he says. So, if you've been caring for a child over the age of 18 or a relative, you can claim the full amount of eligible expenses.
Another of the most often overlooked credits is the disability tax credit — which coincidentally happens to be the most lucrative non-refundable tax credit, worth $1,500 or more in real money depending on the province.
The credit is intended for those with severe and prolonged physical or mental impairments. To be eligible, the disability must significantly restrict activities of daily living, including walking, eating, speaking or some combination thereof. A physician or licensed practitioner must complete and certify the medical section on form T2201.
Rowell says part of the reason it is often missed is because it is poorly named.
“I think they should call it a restricted quality of life tax credit, because I think that’s really what it is,” he says.
The disability tax credit can be claimed retroactively up to 10 years if a person has been experiencing eligible impairments but has only now applied for the credit. That can add up to a major tax refund.
“We can get into some real money and people just don’t realize it,” Rowell says.
The credit can also be transferred to a spouse or other family member, he adds.
Rowell recommends a person speak with their doctor if they think they might qualify for the disability tax credit.
“It’s one of those things,” he says. “If you don’t ask, you don’t get.”
Good advice for anyone looking to reduce the amount of tax they have to pay each year, medical expenses included.
It appears the CRA has dealt with every possibility for health care expenses, which has made for a wide range of products and procedures that can be claimed. Some you may know, some you should know and some are downright surprising. Below is a partial list of excerpts taken from the CRA website.
Air conditioner — The lesser of $1,000 and 50 per cent of the amount paid for the air conditioner for an individual with a severe chronic ailment, disease, or disorder — prescription required.
Attendant care expenses — Attendant care expenses are amounts you or your spouse or common-law partner paid for attendant care or care in any of the following places:
Self-contained domestic establishments.
Retirement homes, homes for seniors, or other institutions.
Nursing homes (full-time care).
Special schools, institutions, or other places (providing care or care and training).
Group homes in Canada.
Bathroom aids — To help a person get in or out of a bathtub or shower or to get on or off a toilet — prescription required.
Bone marrow transplant — Reasonable amounts paid to locate a compatible donor to arrange the transplant, including legal fees and insurance premiums, and reasonable travelling costs including board and lodging for the patient, the donor, and their respective companions.
Cancer treatment — In or outside Canada, provided by a medical practitioner or a public or licensed private hospital.
Cosmetic surgery — Generally, expenses for purely cosmetic procedures are eligible only if incurred before March 4, 2010. An expense will continue to qualify as a medical expense if it is necessary for medical or reconstructive purposes, such as surgery to address a deformity related to a congenital abnormality, a personal injury resulting from an accident or trauma, or a disfiguring disease.
Eyes — eyeglasses, contact lenses or other vision devices for the treatment of vision correction, and artificial eye — prescription required.
Furnace — The amount paid for an electric or sealed combustion furnace to replace a furnace that is neither of these, where the replacement is necessary because of a person's severe chronic respiratory ailment or immune system disorder — prescription required.
Hospitals services — Public or private, that are designated as hospitals by the province, territory or jurisdiction where they are located.
In vitro fertility program — Paid to a medical practitioner or a public or licensed private hospital, not including donations to a sperm bank.
Orthodontic work including braces — Expenses for purely cosmetic procedures are not eligible.
Scooter — The amount paid for a scooter that is used in place of a wheelchair.
Tests — The cost of medical tests such as cardiographs, electrocardiograms, metabolism tests, radiological services or procedures, spinal fluid tests, stool examinations, sugar content tests, urine analysis, and x-ray services. Also claim the cost of any related interpretation or diagnosis — prescription required.
Travel expenses — If medical treatment is not available to you within 40 kilometres from your locality, you may be able to claim the cost of public transportation (for example, taxi, bus, or train) to get the treatment somewhere else. However, if public transportation is not readily available, you can claim vehicle expenses to get medical treatment. In addition, if you have to travel more than 80 kilometres from your locality for medical treatment, you may be able to claim the cost of your meals and accommodations. You can also claim travel expenses for someone to accompany you if a medical practitioner certifies in writing that you are unable to travel without assistance.
Walking aids — The amount paid for devices designed exclusively to help a person who has a mobility impairment to walk — prescription required.
Water filter, cleaner, or purifier — The amount paid for a person to cope with or overcome a severe chronic respiratory ailment, or severe chronic immune system disregulation — prescription required.
Whirlpool bath treatments — The amount paid to a medical practitioner. A hot tub that you install in your home, even if prescribed by a medical practitioner, is not eligible.
Wigs — The amount paid for a person who has suffered abnormal hair loss due to a disease, accident, or medical treatment — prescription required.
The full list of eligible expenses can be found at the CRA site. It's user-friendly and arranged alphabetically.
There are a number of expenses that are commonly claimed as medical expenses but don't qualify. Here is the complete non-eligible expenses list from the CRA.
Athletic or fitness club fees.
Birth control devices (non-prescription).
Blood pressure monitors.
Cosmetic surgery — Expenses for purely cosmetic procedures, including any related services and other expenses such as travel, incurred after March 4, 2010, cannot be claimed as medical expenses. Both surgical and non-surgical procedures purely aimed at enhancing one's appearance are not eligible.
There are a number of expenses that people commonly try to claim as medical expenses but which don't qualify.
Liposuction.
Hair replacement procedures.
Botulinum injections.
Teeth whitening.
An expense, including those identified above, may qualify as a medical expense if it is necessary for medical or reconstructive purposes, such as surgery to address a deformity related to a congenital abnormality, a personal injury resulting from an accident or trauma, or a disfiguring disease.
Diaper services.
Health plan premiums paid by an employer and not included in your income.
Health programs.
Organic food.
Over-the-counter medications.
Vitamins, and supplements, even if prescribed by a medical practitioner.
Personal response systems such as Lifeline and Health Line Services.
Travel expenses for which you can get reimbursed.
The following provincial and territorial plans:
Alberta Health Care Insurance Plan.
Manitoba Health Plan.
Medical Services Plan of British Columbia
New Brunswick Medicare Division of Provincial Department of Health.
Newfoundland Medical Care Plan.
Northwest Territories Health Insurance Services Agency of Territorial Government.
Nova Scotia Medical Services Insurance.
Ontario Health Insurance Plan.
Prince Edward Island Health Services Payment Plan.
Quebec Health Insurance Board (including payments made to the Health Services Fund).
Saskatchewan Medical Care Insurance Plan.
Yukon Territorial Insurance Commission.
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
MV Sun Sea human smuggling case
RCMP charge first suspect in MV Sun Sea human smuggling case
Mar 7, 2012 – 4:42 PM ET | Last Updated: Mar 7, 2012 7:41 PM ET
Brent Lewin for National Post
Markandu Thayakaran, who travels on a French passport, was arrested in a Bangkok apartment building where he and three others were allegedly amassing supplies for the MV Sun Sea.
They were let off with a fine.
But on Wednesday, the RCMP issued an arrest warrant for a man with that same name, alleging he helped organize the MV Sun Sea, the cargo vessel that arrived off the British Columbia coast in August 2010 carrying 492 Sri Lankan asylum seekers.
While police would not confirm it was the same man, Mr. Markandu is the first suspect to be charged over the Sun Sea, a well-organized smuggling operation that was centred in Bangkok. He is accused of organizing entry into Canada. He is living abroad and has not been arrested.
“Obtaining enough evidence to have Mr. Markandu charged is an important step in holding those responsible for perpetrating this human smuggling scheme accountable,” said Superintendent Derek Simmonds, the officer in charge of the RCMP’s Federal Border Integrity Program in B.C.
Brent Lewin for National Post
A passport photo of smuggling ring suspect Thayakaran Narkandu.
He could face life imprisonment and a $1-million fine if convicted.
The charge comes three weeks after the Conservative government introduced a controversial bill it says will make it easier to prosecute and jail human smugglers. Opposition parties oppose the bill, saying it punishes refugee claimants rather than smugglers. But with a majority of seats, the Tories can pass it into law without opposition support.
“Canada is a generous and compassionate country that welcomes newcomers,” Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said in a statement. “But no Canadian thinks it’s acceptable to abuse our immigration system for financial gain through the despicable crime of human smuggling.”
Since the Sun Sea smugglers began organizing their trip to Vancouver Island, charging up to tens of thousands of dollars for passage, Canadian police have been working in Southeast Asia to stop migrant ships before they head out to sea.
Even before the Sun Sea left Thailand for Canada, Mr. Markandu was apparently on the police radar. Royal Thai Police arrested a man by that name in a Bangkok apartment building along with the owner of the Sun Sea and two Sri Lankan-Canadians from Toronto.
MCpl Angela Abbey, Canadian Forces Combat Camera
Hundreds of passengers crowd the deck of MV Sun Sea after spotting the arrival of HMCS Winnipeg.
During the raid, Thai police seized 529 litres of engine lubricant in dozens of plastic oil drums, sacks of food and engine parts. Police photographed Mr. Markandu posing in front of the supplies. He was using a French passport at the time that identified him as a native of Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka.
But the arrests resulted in only charges of improper storage of materials and the men were released after paying a 10,000 Thai Baht fine, about $320. The Mounties would not confirm the man arrested in Bangkok was the same man they had charged.
Mr. Markandu is the fifth Sri Lankan to be charged with smuggling migrants to Canada by sea since the MV Ocean Lady arrived in October 2009 carrying 76 passengers and crew. Last June, four suspected organizers of the Ocean Lady were arrested around Toronto.
Refugee hearings for the migrants who travelled aboard the two ships are only now getting underway. Almost all are members of Sri Lanka’s ethnic Tamil minority and claim they will face persecution at the hands of the Sri Lankan government, pro-government militias and Tamil rebels if they are sent home.
But while Canada has long taken in Sri Lankan refugees, since the end of the country’s civil war the acceptance rate has dropped to 57% from 76% in 2010 and 91% in 2009. Of the 568 migrants on the Sun Sea and Ocean Lady, only four had been accepted as refugees as of a month ago. Several others have been ordered deported because of alleged involvement with the Tamil Tigers rebels.
National Post
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