Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 12, 2006, Winnipeg, Manitoba A14 Winnipeg free press Freedom of Trade saturday August 12, 2006 Liberty of religion comment editor Equality of civil rights Gerald flood 697-7269 editorials Swatski and the Law p olice chief Jack Swatski told an inquiry this week that it was not his Job nor that of the Winnipeg police service to ensure that a Man on trial for ? and then convicted of ? murder was told that a chief prosecution witness had ulterior motives and had committed perjury when testify ing. Legally or. Swatski is right the obligation to have fully disclosed such information to James Driskell rested with the crowns office. But it is a feeble justification for ignoring a miscarriage of Justice. Or. Swatski was an inspector in 1993 when he reviewed the police investigation of the murder of Perry Dean harder. A number of questions had been raised in the Media about the Quality of the evidence at trial specifically the motivations of witness Ray Janidean. Or. Swatski a report concluded there was no reason to doubt the conviction and that police handled the Case correctly. Or. Swatski came to this conclusion even though the investigating officers refused to be interviewed by him and his partner during their review. To Date the inquiry has shown there is much to be concerned about in the investigation the conviction and the Winnipeg police services conduct during and after trial. Chief witness Ray Janidean told the investigators he and or. Driskell set his Sisters Saskatchewan House on fire to collect on insurance Money. Or. Janidean never faced an arson charge the Saskatchewan ramp say Winnipeg police wrongly granted him immunity Winnipeg officers say that was done by Saskatchewan. Further they say that they told Justice officials Here about the immunity Deal. The officers knew or. Janidean lied on the stand when asked if he was compensated for his testimony. Or. Swatski knew this when he did his review three years after or. Driskell a conviction. No one including Manitoba Justice officials told or. Driskell a lawyers about any of this despite repeated inquiries. That ultimately led to or. Driskell a Freedom. Or. Swatski refused to be drawn into a discussion with or. Driskell a lawyer at the inquiry about whether he cared that a Man had sat in prison for years following his review As a result of a miscarriage of Justice. It is a pressing question because citizens have reason to expect police officers not ony to act within the Law but ethically and morally too. Winnipeg police believed they had put the right Guy behind bars but that Only counts if he got a fair trial. Or. Driskell did not. In contrast Saskatchewan ramp cared about the Quality of the conviction. They wrote to Manitoba Justice just prior to or. Driskell a Appeal of his conviction expressing concern about the Lack of disclosure to the defence and or. Janidean a seeming perjury on the stand. No one in Winnipeg who shared in that information was sufficiently moved to see that a wrong was set right. Or. Swatski and other officers Are Content that they followed the let Ter of the Law. Justice though demanded More. Guns on planes the terrorist plot uncovered this week in Britain indicates that those who would bring Down Passen Ger planes in route Are getting increasingly sophisticated in those plans. Twenty four men have been arrested in an alleged plot to blow jets out of the sky using simple bombs made of explosive liquids poured into everyday toiletries such As shampoo bottles. Canada in the immediate Wake of this recent terrorism scare is reportedly planning to expand its limited use of air marshals As a response. Air marshals ? undercover officers with guns placed upon planes ? were adopted decades ago in the United states and Israel to prevent hijackings. And some have in fact been involved in fighting terrorism most notably in 1970 when Al Al officers were instrumental in thwarting an attempt by palestinian sympathizers to seize four planes. But that was terrorism 36 years ago when groups such As the popular front for the liberation of Palestine carried guns and held hostage passengers and Crew to Exchange for imprisoned comrades. Today islamist terrorists have no use for bargaining. They bring Down planes or Fly them into buildings to inflict terror in an ideological War that Aims to Crip ple the economies of democratic countries. The terrorist attacks of sept. 11, 2001 against the . Was carried out by men with Box cutters and guns thursdays plot like the attempted shoe bombing by Richard Reid on an american plane in Decem Ber 2001, shows that the terrorists Are getting wily amid heightened Security measures in concealing their devices that Are unlikely to be discovered by an air marshal. What role then is an armed officer Likely to play in battling the new threat in the skies Canada has some ramp Riding on occasional flights to the United states. Pilots get a sense of Comfort knowing someone with a gun and training is flying amid the passengers. Experience indicates air marshals Are More Likely to be engaged by unruly passengers than terrorists. The wife of Rigoberto Alpizar pleaded with air marshals Chas ing her mentally disturbed husband off an Ameri can airlines plane Yelling that he was off his Medicine shortly before he was shot and killed. The rules and conditions for flying in and out of Canada will change and new inconveniences introduced. Putting guns on planes carries a degree of risk. And that would be justified if the guns can Avert an abiding threat. Or. Harper should establish that before sending More armed officers into the skies on planes. Have your say the free press welcomes letters from readers. They must include the authors name address and Telephone number. Letters May be edited. Letters to the editor 1355 Mountain Avenue Winnipeg r2x 3b6. Fax 697-7412. Email safety should matter i am compelled to reply to aboriginal Lead ers balk at unions involvement free press aug. 8re the idea of allowing a Manitoba government and general employee Union Ngeu rep at the table because its Man Date is to protect the current probation offi cers not allow their jobs to be moved to other i have been a Long time civil servant 32 years and i know that the mandate of the Ngeu is much More than to protect jobs. Having first hand knowledge of the issues with probation and considering the huge caseload of approximately 300 adults youth for each of the ?258 probation officers 6,259 adults 1,468 youths = 7,727 i would say that for starters health and safety would be an aspect that comes to mind to protect. The Only thing that should matter Here is everyone a safety Debbie Zavitka Winnipeg Gimli cares about Lake hats off to Gimli mayor Kevin Chudd Gimli a sewage cells to become eco Park free press aug. 10. His decision to decommission the Gimli sewage Lagoon and transform it into an eco tourism attraction of a wetland Marsh is first rate. Not Only is Gimli a Beautiful Beac Side Community on the Western shores of Lake Winnipeg but its also thinking about the future health of the Inland Ocean and its sur rounding environments. The estimated economic Benefit of a single acre of wetland is said to be $150, 000 to $200, 000. And this site is said to be 28 foot Ball Fields big what an innovative economic boost to the local town Economy by creating wetlands. Adapting and converting Industrial areas into open Green space is a must not Only for wildlife and tourists but also for the current health of Lake Winnipeg. If people Are going to be living near the Lake then its up to the towns people to live More sustainably and in the natural rhythm of the Lake. Gimli has just demonstrated that this town does care about the Lake. Corey Mohr Winnipeg no one offered help As i walked along Stra Brook Avenue on the evening of aug. 9, i came across a woman collapsed and pleading for help in the Middle of the sidewalk outside a restaurant. Dozens of cars sat at the red Light with rolled Down windows. People were walking on the sidewalk and in the restaurant. No one stopped to help her. When i returned from seeking help at the nearby fire station still no Friendly Manito ban had stopped. I Don to know what Circum stances brought that woman there. It Only matters that she was there and she needed help. Are we so Busy so scared so self involved that we can to take a moment to offer mercy when the Van of a visiting american family is broken into we Bend Over backwards to make Nice and bring them Back and show them our spirited when one of our letter of the Day Don to feed ducks geese if you be been feeding waterfowl bread or Popcorn you be been harming them you could give them Angel Wing a disease that deforms their wings and makes them lose their ability to float and Fly. Fortunately the Young Are Able to be cured by taping their wings in the Nat ural position for two weeks. Here comes the bad news Angel Wing is per manent for the adults. Recently my brother Misha and i went to Assiniboine Park and went to the Duck Pond. We were very disappointed at the number of people feed ing the ducks and geese bread. if you would like to see More information about Angel Wing go to or go to Google and Type in Angel Kira Sweet 11, and Misha Sweet 9 Winnipeg own lies helpless in front of us we walk by. Rachel Stone Winnipeg Stop targeting civilians re a deliberate abuse of language free press aug. 6 the topic of Trevor Harrison a article is Noble How to save civilians lives in the mid dle East conflict. The answer would seem obvious the perfect Start should be to Stop unashamedly targeting civilians with suicide bombings and barrages of rockets this associated with termination of bombings in Lebanon would help tremendously would to it oddly the author completely overlooked the first part not a Mere mentioning of it ? does it appear so insignificant in his Noble search instead or. Harrison makes an unlikely suggestion Why would to Israel use less aviation in favour of foot soldiers ? this would reduce civilian casualties in Lebanon even if increase israeli soldiers ones because even though Israel a claim that civilian casual ties resulting from israeli military operations Are not deliberate ? is for the most part technically accurate.?, still the author goes on dead is and this is the sad dest thing. But or. Harrison decidedly made it sound like All the fault for the High rate of civilian casualties in the conflict lies squarely on Israel who by use of the term deliberate obscures or shifts responsibility for the Hezbollah and Hamas never do bother with such niceties they May argue but we Are militarily weak so suicide bombings and rockets Are our Only Way of fighting would it justify sacrificing civilian lives dead is a Strong military is rightly supposed to deter responsible people from bloodshed and turn opposing parties to meaningful negotiations its Only blatant disregard for human lives that makes Hezbollah reject this Way. Sophie Shulman Winnipeg and lacks imagination in the entertainment Section of the Winnipeg free press on aug. 6, the paper ran an advertisement for the Blue bombers game against the . Lions. I take exception to the nature of the and wherein Ryan Thelwell of the Lions is in the sights of a Rifle with the caption Lions one step closer to i know football is a violent game but with All the tragedy in the world these Days i for one would have thought the tall foreheads would have shown More imagination and creativity than the killing off of an endangered animal during a time where daily dozens of people Are being slaughtered in the Middle East including Many Canadian members of the military. In addition we have just recently lost two ramp members to gun violence. Rob Elgar Winnipeg end afghan Mission re support the troops free press letter of the Day aug. 9. Why Are Canadian soldiers shouldering the Burden of helping the afghan people rebuild their shattered country As the Ameri cans discreetly withdraw All the americans do now is provide air support ? bombing enemy positions As often As not innocent civilians and some times our own Canadian soldiers. Exactly what Are Canadian soldiers doing to win the hearts and minds of the afghan people All i read about in the papers is about Macho missions to take strategic objectives ? like an old schoolhouse which led to the deaths of three Canadian soldiers id like to see some positive coverage. What exactly have Canadian soldiers done to improve the lives of the afghan people Canada had a worldwide reputation As a peacekeeper ? now we Are throwing our Young men and women into a combat role and an unwinnable one at that they could be there forever and nothing will change. What did the russians accomplish Why did the americans give up on finding Osama Why did a Young Canadian Soldier exclaim get me out of this hell Hole support our troops is the deceitful ploy of the War Hawks. Of course we support our troops. That a Why we want to get them out the afghan hell Hole Herb Bjarnason Winnipeg Winnipeg free press. Today a question previous question does the thwarted terror plot to blow up have you visited or do you plan to visit a Fol Lorama aircraft Over the Atlantic make you reluctant to Fly Pavilion this year yes 29% / no 64% / not sure 7% / total 652 poll vote online at ? 2006 Winnipeg free press a division of up Canadian Andrew s. Ritchie / publisher newspapers limited partnership Bob Cox / editor published seven Days a week at 1355 Mountain Avenue Patrick Flynn / Deputy editor Winnipeg free press est 1872 / Winnipeg Tribune est 1890 Winnipeg Manitoba r2x 3b6, pm 697-7000 ;