David Pierson’s Article
NEWARK — The Toronto Maple Leafs found an extraordinary way to commemorate a 10-game start that has exceeded the expectations of general manager Cliff Fletcher and head coach Ron Wilson.
They not only battled back twice in their 6-5 shootout victory over the New Jersey Devils Wednesday night, but the Leafs also fired 48 shots at Martin Brodeur, the most the all-world goalie has faced in his storied 15-season career.
Wilson has preached patience with this new group because he has dramatically increased the tempo and skating game of the team. His concern was that it might take until Christmas before the Leafs were able to play three periods of swift-skating hockey without coasting or reverting back to their old ways.
But that certainly wasn't the case against the Devils. Playing 24 hours after a difficult 3-2 home loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Leafs exhibited plenty of jump against a team known for its stingy defence-first play. In their eight previous games this season, the Devils had not surrendered more than 33 shots on goal.
Toronto Maple Leafs' Ryan Hollweg skates off the ice with a cut on his face after a fight with New Jersey Devils' Mike Rupp in the second period. (Rich Schultz/The Associated Press)
"It's coming along," Wilson said. "I had to shake some trees earlier [with the benching of Matt Stajan and Jason Blake], but everyone is starting to grasp the message. They are certainly playing with confidence and that shows in the work ethic."
The victory, which saw Stajan score two goals and assist on another before a sparse Prudential Center crowd, allowed the Leafs to finish the month of October with 11 points and a 4-3-3 record.
How does this compare with the three previous playoff-less seasons after 10 games? Not quite as good as Pat Quinn's final season behind the bench, when the Leafs were 5-3-2, but identical to Paul Maurice's first year and better than last season, 3-4-3.
"I'm proud of these guys, the way they have grasped what were trying to accomplish here," Wilson said.
There still are flaws in Toronto's game. The Leafs found themselves down 2-0 after the opening 20 minutes, a trend that has occurred in four of their past five outings. But they did correct one of their defects by finally winning their first shootout after three failures.
Toronto goaltender Vesa Toskala deserves some credit, as does his fellow Finn, Niklas Hagman, who delivered the winner in the fourth round of shooters.
Hagman skated in on Brodeur with a strange move that saw him show his backhand early before sticking with the backhand to score his second goal in five career attempts. In doing so, he was merely following in a long line of Finnish shootout marksman, such as Jussi Jokinen of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Montreal Canadiens captain Saku Koivu.
"It's not something we work at," Hagman confessed.
"If you go to a shootout against Finland, then you're dead," Wilson added.
Toskala won only his third shootout competition in 12 tries. After the Leafs lost their third shootout of the season on Oct. 21 against the Anaheim Ducks, a game in which Wilson brought in a cold Curtis Joseph off the bench, goalie coach Corey Hirsch came up with a plan for his student.
Hirsch watched tapes of the best shootout goalies and noticed that they stayed back in the net longer, a tactic that Toskala had not employed. Armed with this new strategy, Toskala stopped three of four shooters. He also was brilliant in killing a Devils power play in overtime to make sure the game got to the tiebreaker.
"I had a plan and it worked this time," Toskala said.
The 10-game mark also was significant for Leafs rookie defenceman Luke Schenn, who will turn 19 on Sunday. Earlier in the week, the Toronto brass stated the obvious when they announced that Schenn was here to stay for the season.
By playing in his 10th game, the first year of his three-season, entry-level contract kicks in. He marked the occasion by registering his first NHL point, an assist in the second period.
Link: Hockey was a winter version of an early type of lacrosse game that was invented by the First Nations hundreds of years ago. There are people are trying to prove that the First Nations did invent hockey.
Questions:
Do you think Ron Wilson Will help the Toronto Maple Leafs become a better team?
Do you think Ron Wilson will try putting in Curtis Joseph for another shootout and see how he does?
3. Do you think Vesa Toskala will get better at shootouts from the confidence he got from the shootout win?
Friday, October 31, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
mitchell current events
Health worsens after immigration, study showsOctober 27, 2008
Shabnam Janet Janani
The health of immigrants decreases over time in Canada and actually gets worse than the health of people born here, a study shows.
"The health of immigrants worsens with each decade they stay in the country," said Dr. Scott Lear, a kinesiologist at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia who is to present the study today at the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress in Toronto.
The study, released yesterday, looked at 618 people – 158 Canadian-born and 460 immigrants from South Asia, China and Europe. Researchers found length of stay remained an independent factor for atherosclerosis – narrowing of arteries – even after considering age, sex, ethnicity or family history of cardiovascular disease.
Dr. Chi-Ming Chow of the Heart and Stroke Foundation adds length of stay is also a "predictor of developing cardiovascular disease." Stress, language barriers and changes to diet and physical activity are likely to blame, doctors say.
summary:
three questions: If you were an immigrant, would this article scare you?
link to our course:
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
6-01 current events post
A picture and a thousand words
ALAN BLEWETT PHOTO
It's been 112 years since Ontario outlawed the autumn wild-turkey hunt. This week, it returns. With a robust population of 70,000 across the province, it's hard to believe they were once hunted to extinction
Oct 12, 2008 04:30 AM
Be the first to comment on this article... Robert Alison Special to the Star
Let us now consider the humble turkey.
In the late 1700s, wild turkeys were so abundant in Ontario that settlers and farmers considered them to be pests. The birds' habit of pillaging crops became so rampant that periodic bounties were paid in parts of southern Ontario to thin their ranks.
Scarcely 100 years later, they were extinct here.
This year, Thanksgiving brings mixed blessings for Ontario's wild turkeys: The province's first autumn wild turkey hunt in 112 years – originally planned for early October – has been deferred until after tomorrow's poultry-unfriendly holiday. Once it starts on Tuesday, however, it will run for almost two weeks (till Oct. 26).
"We delayed it to avoid potential conflicts with other outdoor activities, particularly on Thanksgiving weekend," says Patrick Hubert, an avian specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.
The postponement also addresses a concern: Recent sightings of newly hatched wild turkeys suggest there will be a lot of small turkey chicks in family groups. The late hatch is apparently due to a cold, wet spring, which killed off earlier broods. In addition, many hens appear to have re-nested late.
"There could be a lot of inexperienced young turkeys around," Hubert says, "and, in general, fall turkeys are less wary than in the spring."
In Ontario, spring wild turkey hunting has taken place since 1987, but only gobblers (males), not hens, may be lawfully harvested in that season. There has not been an open season on hen turkeys in Ontario since the 1890s, only a decade or so before Ontario's native wild turkeys vanished. (The last one died near Aurora in 1909.)
Between 1909 and 1975, Ontario had no wild turkey management program and no wild turkeys. The following year, I initiated the current re-introduction program. Its original aim was to provide opportunities for people to see wild turkeys in their original Ontario range. But, since then, hunting has emerged as a primary goal.
The current Ontario wild turkey population is about 70,000, enough to warrant a fall turkey hunt, according to the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. To quote the province's official wild-turkey management plan: "The wild turkey has been restored as an important component of the biodiversity of southern Ontario."
The earliest record of wild turkeys in Ontario was in 1624, when Recollect priest Gabriel Sagard reported them near Georgian Bay. A 1931 Royal Ontario Museum report, authored by zoologist L.L. Snyder, confirmed that wild turkeys were "common" in Ontario until the 1880s.
Live trapping for sale in public markets was a major reason for the disappearance of Ontario's original wild turkeys. The practice was first described in 1838 by Thomas Need. In 1866, Major Ross King wrote that wild turkey trapping was "rampant," even though it had been outlawed in 1839.
The banning of wild-turkey trapping was one of Ontario's first conservation laws. In the 1970s, Ontario prepared to launch a wild-turkey reintroduction program. The MNR invited James Pack, a West Virginia wild turkey specialist, to identify suitable turkey habitat. "I saw some very good sites," he reported.
By 1983, most of the logistics had been worked out, and the next year, 74 wild turkeys that had been live-trapped in Michigan and Missouri were released in Ontario near Napanee.
A few local residents complained that the birds were too tame, venturing into gardens and yards, scratching in flowerbeds and fouling lawns. Over the next few years, wilder and more elusive stock was imported from Iowa, New York, Vermont, New Jersey and Tennessee and released at dozens of sites. Local flocks began to grow.
Eventually, Ontario stopped importing turkeys from the United States and began relocating turkeys from established Ontario populations. According to MNR records, between 1987 and 2005, about 4,000 wild turkeys were relocated to 275 different sites.
On top of the official re-introductions, there were several unofficial releases in parts of Ontario. Officials with The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Ontario surmise that unofficial releases were responsible for current turkey sightings in Thunder Bay and Rainy River.
According to the MNR's Hubert, Ontario's wild turkey population is robust and the birds widespread. Atlas information indicates the birds can be found as far north as Ottawa, northern Georgian Bay, Lake Nipissing and the Bruce Peninsula.
The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters says Ontario's wild-turkey program has been enormously popular with hunters. "On my travels around the province, I am hearing that a lot of folks are up for fall turkey hunting," says Mark Clifford, a National Wild Turkey Federation representative in Aylmer. "I will be out there myself."
However, there have been some drawbacks. Negative "human-turkey interactions" have generated a variety of complaints.
"Most negative interactions develop as a result of the birds searching for food," the management plan states. "The most common complaints: feeding on recently planted fields, scratching in winter wheat and hay bales, causing damage to fruit crops, and being aggressive towards people and pets."
Once the fall hunt concludes, another concern will come into play. Ontario is on the northern edge of the continental wild turkey range, and winter survival is an unknown factor. "Cold temperatures and snow depths over 25 cm for several weeks" can be fatal to wild turkeys, says MNR's Pack.
According to Josef Hamr, an ecologist at Cambrian College, in some severe Ontario winters, emaciated wild turkeys are frequently encountered.
"They often die in such conditions," adds biologist Linh Nguyen of Laurentian University, who studied wild turkeys in several Ontario winters.
Ontario's harsh winter of 2008 did cause some wild turkey "mortality events," according to the MNR. But, while the birds' numbers no longer rival those of the 1700s, the province's turkey population remains substantial.
Robert Alison, now retired, was an avian specialist with the Ministry of Natural Resources
Summary: In the late 17oo's there were so many wild turkeys that they damaged crops. Farmers hunted them and people trapped them to sell in markets and they became extinct in Ontario by the late 1800's. In the early 1980's the Ministry of Natural Resources started to release new turkeys in Ontario by bringing them from the United States. Now there are about 70,000 turkeys in Ontario and the MNR has created a two week fall turkey hunt for the first time in 112 years.
Qeustions:
1. Will turkys ever become extinct in Ontario again?
2. Do you think the MNR has made the turkey hunt long enough or should they make it longer?
3. Have you ever seen a wild turkey and if so where?
Link to course topics:
I think my artical can connect to our coures topics because, the first nations people had to hunt to animals for their food and to survive.
ALAN BLEWETT PHOTO
It's been 112 years since Ontario outlawed the autumn wild-turkey hunt. This week, it returns. With a robust population of 70,000 across the province, it's hard to believe they were once hunted to extinction
Oct 12, 2008 04:30 AM
Be the first to comment on this article... Robert Alison Special to the Star
Let us now consider the humble turkey.
In the late 1700s, wild turkeys were so abundant in Ontario that settlers and farmers considered them to be pests. The birds' habit of pillaging crops became so rampant that periodic bounties were paid in parts of southern Ontario to thin their ranks.
Scarcely 100 years later, they were extinct here.
This year, Thanksgiving brings mixed blessings for Ontario's wild turkeys: The province's first autumn wild turkey hunt in 112 years – originally planned for early October – has been deferred until after tomorrow's poultry-unfriendly holiday. Once it starts on Tuesday, however, it will run for almost two weeks (till Oct. 26).
"We delayed it to avoid potential conflicts with other outdoor activities, particularly on Thanksgiving weekend," says Patrick Hubert, an avian specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources.
The postponement also addresses a concern: Recent sightings of newly hatched wild turkeys suggest there will be a lot of small turkey chicks in family groups. The late hatch is apparently due to a cold, wet spring, which killed off earlier broods. In addition, many hens appear to have re-nested late.
"There could be a lot of inexperienced young turkeys around," Hubert says, "and, in general, fall turkeys are less wary than in the spring."
In Ontario, spring wild turkey hunting has taken place since 1987, but only gobblers (males), not hens, may be lawfully harvested in that season. There has not been an open season on hen turkeys in Ontario since the 1890s, only a decade or so before Ontario's native wild turkeys vanished. (The last one died near Aurora in 1909.)
Between 1909 and 1975, Ontario had no wild turkey management program and no wild turkeys. The following year, I initiated the current re-introduction program. Its original aim was to provide opportunities for people to see wild turkeys in their original Ontario range. But, since then, hunting has emerged as a primary goal.
The current Ontario wild turkey population is about 70,000, enough to warrant a fall turkey hunt, according to the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources. To quote the province's official wild-turkey management plan: "The wild turkey has been restored as an important component of the biodiversity of southern Ontario."
The earliest record of wild turkeys in Ontario was in 1624, when Recollect priest Gabriel Sagard reported them near Georgian Bay. A 1931 Royal Ontario Museum report, authored by zoologist L.L. Snyder, confirmed that wild turkeys were "common" in Ontario until the 1880s.
Live trapping for sale in public markets was a major reason for the disappearance of Ontario's original wild turkeys. The practice was first described in 1838 by Thomas Need. In 1866, Major Ross King wrote that wild turkey trapping was "rampant," even though it had been outlawed in 1839.
The banning of wild-turkey trapping was one of Ontario's first conservation laws. In the 1970s, Ontario prepared to launch a wild-turkey reintroduction program. The MNR invited James Pack, a West Virginia wild turkey specialist, to identify suitable turkey habitat. "I saw some very good sites," he reported.
By 1983, most of the logistics had been worked out, and the next year, 74 wild turkeys that had been live-trapped in Michigan and Missouri were released in Ontario near Napanee.
A few local residents complained that the birds were too tame, venturing into gardens and yards, scratching in flowerbeds and fouling lawns. Over the next few years, wilder and more elusive stock was imported from Iowa, New York, Vermont, New Jersey and Tennessee and released at dozens of sites. Local flocks began to grow.
Eventually, Ontario stopped importing turkeys from the United States and began relocating turkeys from established Ontario populations. According to MNR records, between 1987 and 2005, about 4,000 wild turkeys were relocated to 275 different sites.
On top of the official re-introductions, there were several unofficial releases in parts of Ontario. Officials with The Atlas of the Breeding Birds of Ontario surmise that unofficial releases were responsible for current turkey sightings in Thunder Bay and Rainy River.
According to the MNR's Hubert, Ontario's wild turkey population is robust and the birds widespread. Atlas information indicates the birds can be found as far north as Ottawa, northern Georgian Bay, Lake Nipissing and the Bruce Peninsula.
The Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters says Ontario's wild-turkey program has been enormously popular with hunters. "On my travels around the province, I am hearing that a lot of folks are up for fall turkey hunting," says Mark Clifford, a National Wild Turkey Federation representative in Aylmer. "I will be out there myself."
However, there have been some drawbacks. Negative "human-turkey interactions" have generated a variety of complaints.
"Most negative interactions develop as a result of the birds searching for food," the management plan states. "The most common complaints: feeding on recently planted fields, scratching in winter wheat and hay bales, causing damage to fruit crops, and being aggressive towards people and pets."
Once the fall hunt concludes, another concern will come into play. Ontario is on the northern edge of the continental wild turkey range, and winter survival is an unknown factor. "Cold temperatures and snow depths over 25 cm for several weeks" can be fatal to wild turkeys, says MNR's Pack.
According to Josef Hamr, an ecologist at Cambrian College, in some severe Ontario winters, emaciated wild turkeys are frequently encountered.
"They often die in such conditions," adds biologist Linh Nguyen of Laurentian University, who studied wild turkeys in several Ontario winters.
Ontario's harsh winter of 2008 did cause some wild turkey "mortality events," according to the MNR. But, while the birds' numbers no longer rival those of the 1700s, the province's turkey population remains substantial.
Robert Alison, now retired, was an avian specialist with the Ministry of Natural Resources
Summary: In the late 17oo's there were so many wild turkeys that they damaged crops. Farmers hunted them and people trapped them to sell in markets and they became extinct in Ontario by the late 1800's. In the early 1980's the Ministry of Natural Resources started to release new turkeys in Ontario by bringing them from the United States. Now there are about 70,000 turkeys in Ontario and the MNR has created a two week fall turkey hunt for the first time in 112 years.
Qeustions:
1. Will turkys ever become extinct in Ontario again?
2. Do you think the MNR has made the turkey hunt long enough or should they make it longer?
3. Have you ever seen a wild turkey and if so where?
Link to course topics:
I think my artical can connect to our coures topics because, the first nations people had to hunt to animals for their food and to survive.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Conrad's report
Aboriginal communities are out of sight from most Canadians. Our family spent two weeks one summer on Vancouver Island. My children were hoping to see the people who made the wonderful totem poles of Stanley Park. We didn't see a single Aboriginal person in our travels.
I understand better now, after a frustrating drive back and forth on the same highway this summer looking for the Nanoose Band Reserve near Lantzville, B.C. There aren't many off ramps for reserves.
Few of the communities I visited this year, as part of my research on addiction among Aboriginal people, are marked on road maps, or signposted on provincial highways. Not even the largest reserve in Manitoba — Sagkeeng, population 3,000.
To get there I drove a couple of hours from Winnipeg to the Pine Falls turnoff. A gas station attendant pointed me towards town and said "drive that way." I drove past prosperous middle-class homes. The source of wealth — a large paper mill. Alongside it are railway tracks. On the other side of the tracks is a long line of cookie-cutter CMHC bungalows stretching as far as the eye can see.
I knew I was on the reserve because I'd also run out of pavement. This was the pattern wherever I travelled and I began to see the lack of pavement as a metaphor for neglect. Neighbours to reserves have told me over the years, "pavement isn't a priority for them." Or, "I guess they've got other priorities." The assumption is, Aboriginal people choose bad roads.
The Aboriginal community has been fighting assumptions for more than a century, most of them about the money — "our money," as one friend pointed out — being spent on their welfare and problems. This year, it is about $9 billion, out of Canada's total budget of $227 billion.
Sometimes the money doesn't make it to them. In 2005, $700 million was allocated for Aboriginal health care, but the money never left Ottawa. The bill to free up this money was not passed before the Liberal government fell. Yet that same year, $2.6 billion was fast-tracked for Newfoundland after Premier Danny Williams insisted on getting a fair share of offshore oil and gas revenues. The message: There are twice as many Aboriginal people in this country as there are Newfoundlanders, but they don't count as much.
1) do you think we should care more about aboriganals?
2) why do you think the aboriganals have been ignored?
3) do you think the aboriganals should move forward or continue to be a devoted and mystical group
I understand better now, after a frustrating drive back and forth on the same highway this summer looking for the Nanoose Band Reserve near Lantzville, B.C. There aren't many off ramps for reserves.
Few of the communities I visited this year, as part of my research on addiction among Aboriginal people, are marked on road maps, or signposted on provincial highways. Not even the largest reserve in Manitoba — Sagkeeng, population 3,000.
To get there I drove a couple of hours from Winnipeg to the Pine Falls turnoff. A gas station attendant pointed me towards town and said "drive that way." I drove past prosperous middle-class homes. The source of wealth — a large paper mill. Alongside it are railway tracks. On the other side of the tracks is a long line of cookie-cutter CMHC bungalows stretching as far as the eye can see.
I knew I was on the reserve because I'd also run out of pavement. This was the pattern wherever I travelled and I began to see the lack of pavement as a metaphor for neglect. Neighbours to reserves have told me over the years, "pavement isn't a priority for them." Or, "I guess they've got other priorities." The assumption is, Aboriginal people choose bad roads.
The Aboriginal community has been fighting assumptions for more than a century, most of them about the money — "our money," as one friend pointed out — being spent on their welfare and problems. This year, it is about $9 billion, out of Canada's total budget of $227 billion.
Sometimes the money doesn't make it to them. In 2005, $700 million was allocated for Aboriginal health care, but the money never left Ottawa. The bill to free up this money was not passed before the Liberal government fell. Yet that same year, $2.6 billion was fast-tracked for Newfoundland after Premier Danny Williams insisted on getting a fair share of offshore oil and gas revenues. The message: There are twice as many Aboriginal people in this country as there are Newfoundlanders, but they don't count as much.
1) do you think we should care more about aboriganals?
2) why do you think the aboriganals have been ignored?
3) do you think the aboriganals should move forward or continue to be a devoted and mystical group
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Saad's Current Events Post
Elections Canada aims to stimulate Aboriginal voters
Just like the youth, Aboriginal voters tend to steer clear of the ballot box on election day, said an Elections Canada spokesperson.
Elections Canada’s Anthony Angus explained the voting process to a small class at the Thunder Bay Indian Friendship Centre, Monday, During his explanation to the classroom, Angus stressed the fact that their votes can make a difference.
'The Aboriginal population is quote high across the country and the voter turnout is not as great as the rest of the country,' Angus said. 'But, hopefully if they get to know their candidates and know the issues that affect them, then hopefully they can make a wise decision and vote for the candidates that’s more likely to make a difference in their life.'
Angus said he is trying to visit all of the local Aboriginal organizations to get information out. He said some people are unaware that an election campaign is even going on.
The instructor of the class was planning to bring the group to the polls today, but none of the students were interested in casting an early ballot through the advanced polls.
Angus said the act of voting is a pretty tough sell.
'The history will tell you that there’s a lot of issues of trust in here, too,' he said. 'So, it’s kind of a little bit of a struggle to try and get everyone out and vote. And mainly for that issue, there’s that trust issue you know, why should we vote? It doesn’t really make a difference, you know, kind of have that attitude towards it.'
The Chiefs of Ontario recently challenged candidates to make First Nations issues a priority, saying that Aboriginal voters have the potential to affect the outcomes of the election, especially in ridings which had close results in the last election.
1) Do you think Elections Canada should simulate the "first nations" vote? Why?
2) Why do you think First Nations are always treated like a minority group?
Just like the youth, Aboriginal voters tend to steer clear of the ballot box on election day, said an Elections Canada spokesperson.
Elections Canada’s Anthony Angus explained the voting process to a small class at the Thunder Bay Indian Friendship Centre, Monday, During his explanation to the classroom, Angus stressed the fact that their votes can make a difference.
'The Aboriginal population is quote high across the country and the voter turnout is not as great as the rest of the country,' Angus said. 'But, hopefully if they get to know their candidates and know the issues that affect them, then hopefully they can make a wise decision and vote for the candidates that’s more likely to make a difference in their life.'
Angus said he is trying to visit all of the local Aboriginal organizations to get information out. He said some people are unaware that an election campaign is even going on.
The instructor of the class was planning to bring the group to the polls today, but none of the students were interested in casting an early ballot through the advanced polls.
Angus said the act of voting is a pretty tough sell.
'The history will tell you that there’s a lot of issues of trust in here, too,' he said. 'So, it’s kind of a little bit of a struggle to try and get everyone out and vote. And mainly for that issue, there’s that trust issue you know, why should we vote? It doesn’t really make a difference, you know, kind of have that attitude towards it.'
The Chiefs of Ontario recently challenged candidates to make First Nations issues a priority, saying that Aboriginal voters have the potential to affect the outcomes of the election, especially in ridings which had close results in the last election.
1) Do you think Elections Canada should simulate the "first nations" vote? Why?
2) Why do you think First Nations are always treated like a minority group?
Friday, October 3, 2008
Wills current event post
First Nations say their names left off jury lists.
Demand inquiry after Kenora proceeding reveals virtual absence of aboriginals from district rolls
Sep 12, 2008 04:30 AM
Tracey Tyler LEGAL AFFAIRS REPORTER
A coalition of First Nations is calling for an inquiry into why its members appear to have been systemically excluded from Ontario's jury rolls for nearly a decade.
The problem came to light this week during a coroner's inquest into the deaths of Ricardo Wesley and Jamie Goodwin, 20-year-old inmates who died in a fire at the Kashechewan jail in January 2006.
Relatives of the two men wanted to make sure members of First Nations communities were represented on the coroner's jury. However, the inquest was told by a court services supervisor for the judicial district of Kenora that nobody living on the Kashechewan Reserve was on the jury roll.
In fact, while the district has 12,111 people living in 42 First Nations communities, only 44 were on the prospective jurors list in 2007, says an affidavit from Rolanda Peacock, the area's acting supervisor of court operations.
In a letter sent to Attorney General Chris Bentley on Wednesday, Julian Falconer, a lawyer representing a coalition of 49 First Nations communities and Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto, said the exclusion denies members their rights to a fair trial by a jury of their peers.
Peacock said the province had been using band-election lists to obtain the names of prospective First Nations jurors, but the federal government stopped providing the lists in 2000.
Falconer said nobody told First Nations' leaders about the move.
"What we've been saying all along is that the justice system, which the jury is part of, is failing our communities," said Deputy Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation.
Sheamus Murphy, a spokesperson for Bentley, said the minister became aware of Falconer's letter last night and takes First Nations concerns seriously.
Frank Addario, president of the Criminal Lawyers Association, said the provincial jury centre in London, Ont. or the local sheriff's office has a duty to notify litigants and the court when jury selection legislation is not being complied with.
Under the Criminal Code, accused people are entitled to be tried by a jury that is a representative cross-section of the community, Addario said.
"If you're a black guy in Kenora and it turns out you're the only black guy, it doesn't mean you get black people on your jury. It means jury panels are designed in a fair way to achieve representativeness."
Peacock said court officials in Kenora have tried to obtain band lists directly from First Nations reserves, noting letters were faxed to 42 chiefs in August 2006. Only four responded. The community of Kashechewan wasn't sent a letter, she said.
The jury centre also sent questionnaires to residents of reserves, with a letter translated into Ojibway and Oji-Cree, to elicit names of potential jurors.
More than 72 per cent of the forms were never returned, Peacock said.
The First Nations people cliam that their names are being left off of jury lists. They think this is unfair because all Canadians should be treated equally and allowed to be judged by people like them. The goverment says this is because First Nation people didn't return their forms to be put on the jury, lists.
Question:
1) Do you think First Nation people should be allowed on a jury?
2) Do you think most Canadians care if First Nantions people are included on jury lists?
3) Do you care who is on your jury?
4) Why would someone want to leave First Nation people off a jury?
The articale links to what we have learned in class about how the French andEnglish people took advantage of the First Nation people.
Demand inquiry after Kenora proceeding reveals virtual absence of aboriginals from district rolls
Sep 12, 2008 04:30 AM
Tracey Tyler LEGAL AFFAIRS REPORTER
A coalition of First Nations is calling for an inquiry into why its members appear to have been systemically excluded from Ontario's jury rolls for nearly a decade.
The problem came to light this week during a coroner's inquest into the deaths of Ricardo Wesley and Jamie Goodwin, 20-year-old inmates who died in a fire at the Kashechewan jail in January 2006.
Relatives of the two men wanted to make sure members of First Nations communities were represented on the coroner's jury. However, the inquest was told by a court services supervisor for the judicial district of Kenora that nobody living on the Kashechewan Reserve was on the jury roll.
In fact, while the district has 12,111 people living in 42 First Nations communities, only 44 were on the prospective jurors list in 2007, says an affidavit from Rolanda Peacock, the area's acting supervisor of court operations.
In a letter sent to Attorney General Chris Bentley on Wednesday, Julian Falconer, a lawyer representing a coalition of 49 First Nations communities and Aboriginal Legal Services of Toronto, said the exclusion denies members their rights to a fair trial by a jury of their peers.
Peacock said the province had been using band-election lists to obtain the names of prospective First Nations jurors, but the federal government stopped providing the lists in 2000.
Falconer said nobody told First Nations' leaders about the move.
"What we've been saying all along is that the justice system, which the jury is part of, is failing our communities," said Deputy Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation.
Sheamus Murphy, a spokesperson for Bentley, said the minister became aware of Falconer's letter last night and takes First Nations concerns seriously.
Frank Addario, president of the Criminal Lawyers Association, said the provincial jury centre in London, Ont. or the local sheriff's office has a duty to notify litigants and the court when jury selection legislation is not being complied with.
Under the Criminal Code, accused people are entitled to be tried by a jury that is a representative cross-section of the community, Addario said.
"If you're a black guy in Kenora and it turns out you're the only black guy, it doesn't mean you get black people on your jury. It means jury panels are designed in a fair way to achieve representativeness."
Peacock said court officials in Kenora have tried to obtain band lists directly from First Nations reserves, noting letters were faxed to 42 chiefs in August 2006. Only four responded. The community of Kashechewan wasn't sent a letter, she said.
The jury centre also sent questionnaires to residents of reserves, with a letter translated into Ojibway and Oji-Cree, to elicit names of potential jurors.
More than 72 per cent of the forms were never returned, Peacock said.
The First Nations people cliam that their names are being left off of jury lists. They think this is unfair because all Canadians should be treated equally and allowed to be judged by people like them. The goverment says this is because First Nation people didn't return their forms to be put on the jury, lists.
Question:
1) Do you think First Nation people should be allowed on a jury?
2) Do you think most Canadians care if First Nantions people are included on jury lists?
3) Do you care who is on your jury?
4) Why would someone want to leave First Nation people off a jury?
The articale links to what we have learned in class about how the French andEnglish people took advantage of the First Nation people.
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