Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 19, 2006, Winnipeg, Manitoba A14 Winnipeg free press Freedom of Trade saturday August 19, 2006 Liberty of religion comment editor Equality of civil rights Gerald flood 697-7269 editorials a culture of cover up t he inquiry into the murder conviction of James Driskell has heard two senior actors in the Manitoba prosecutions Branch apologize for failing in their duties contributing to the mis Carriage of Justice that put or. Driskell in jail for 12 years. Or. Driskell should not expect to be declared an innocent Man ? his conviction was overturned but he was not exonerated ? because that is not the inquiry a mandate. Yet he and Manitoban Are beginning to see some accountability. The evidence heard by commissioner Patrick Lesage to Date makes Clear there were Many people in positions of authority who knew the chief wit Ness had lots to gain from testifying against or. Driskell who was found guilty in 1991 of the murder of Perry Dean harder. One of the senior officials ? for Mer senior prosecutor George Dangerfield knew enough about the facts behind a Deal with the witness Ray Janidean either during the trial or afterwards that he had a responsibility to disclose that to the defence. He failed in his duties. Former Assis Tant Deputy attorney general Stu Whitley took responsibility because the events took place on his watch. Or. Whitley was involved in a review of the evidence after the trial that talked about the Deal with Janidean. The acts of contrition now have a perfunctory veneer because both men said they did not directly negotiate a Deal with or. Janidean and so someone else had a More direct responsibility. But Between the lines lawyers at the inquiry were Able to draw from or. Whitley an admission that a culture of denial pervaded the crowns office deny ing Justice in the conviction and in the years Fol lowing thwarting any attempt in the numerous reviews of that trial and the Quality of evidence to set things right. He said Crown attorneys Are human they make mistakes and Are Apt to defend their work for fear of being made a Scapegoat. He agreed that a Sham had been perpetrated by both prosecutors and the police ? a number of them have deflected responsibility for disclosing the Deal to the defence. Further he explored the idea that Crown attorneys work in a do no wrong culture that makes it very difficult to admit to a mistake. It is the commissions Job to decide if such a culture derailed for so Long or. Driskell a attempts to get an honest answer out of someone in Manitoba Justice. Or. Lesage would do Manitoba and Canada a ser vice by launching the discussion on whether a Cul Ture of cover up threatens the administration of Justice in the country a courts. The medical Community knows How Tough it is to get health care practitioners to confess to errors ? their mistakes too can have terrible lasting consequences ? in order to prevent mistakes from repeating. A prosecutors first Job is to ensure a trial is fair because it is the Best Means available to see that Justice is done. As or. Whitley implied All the workshops and pamphlets in the world will not make a Dent in a culture of cover up if prosecutors believe admitting mis takes will Cost them dearly. A policy Puzzle in the world of Canadian politics particularly in the world of Liberal party politics Afghanistan has become a major Issue. When the Liberal government of former prime minister Paul Martin committed Canadian troops to Afghanistan the opposition parties including the now governing conservatives were mostly supportive As were Many canadians. Earlier this year prime minister Stephen Harper a government extended the mandate of Canadian forces in Afghanistan after a Brief six hour debate in the House of commons. The opposition parties opposed that Extension. Two of them the new democrats and bloc sub Cois were Clear on the reasons for their opposition ? they do not want Canadian soldiers involved in combat missions in a foreign War which was what or. Martin had committed the troops to and which or. Harper has extended. That position is shortsighted but it is at least Clear and it is now shared by Many canadians the Public View has shifted As casualties climb. With conservatives committed to the afghan War the Only major Canadian political party that is not Clear about its policy there is the liberals. A cynical Canadian might suggest that the liberals years ago abandoned policy for polls but that would perhaps be unfair. Or. Martins government did attempt to enunciate a general foreign policy and specifically committed troops to Afghanistan. The leadership race also makes it difficult for liberals to present a consistent policy on anything until a Leader has been chosen and is Able to put his stamp on the party. It is easier to believe that most of the hopefuls Are More driven by polls than any principle when it comes to Afghanistan particularly because they mostly justify their objection to the Extension of the commitment by the Brevity of the debate on it rather than any actual position or policy. With the exceptions of Michael Ignatieff Bob Rae and Martha Hall Findlay All were members of the government that sent canadians troops to Afghanistan but As opinion in the polls has shifted against Canadas role there All except or. Ignatieff and Scott Brison have hardened their opposition to this country a participation. Bring the troops Home is Likely to be a chorus at the party Conven Tion on dec. 3, unless perhaps the polls change dramatically 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 Issue is mental illness re stabbing at the Forks on aug. 13 families of individuals suffering from paranoid schizophrenia live in fear of just such an occurrence Wanton stabbing and i a sure they wince in pain for the injury inflicted on the hapless victim. She want killed but the fact that she is alive is just As happenstance As the occur rence in the first place. The pain we All feel is for the scars that will never heal. This is not about Lack of Security or get Ting Tough on crime or a photo of for our Brave politicians. This is about mental illness. I am saddened by the fact that someone in the position of mayor Sam Katz did not pick up on the Opportunity afforded by this tragic incident to Advance the profile of the plight of the mentally ill. Every Agency of government health social services and yes even Justice and every family trying to Cope with this difficult illness is crying for help not just for themselves but also to avoid an incident such As this. I for one would be Content to live with the potholes on our streets if i could be assured that those individuals among us who Are hearing voices referring to paranoid schizophrenic were receiving the support they need to live safely within our Community. Robert k Froese Winnipeg family knows Best How insensitive society is to Label a Young Man As a schizophrenic rather than to describe him As a Young Man suffering from schizophrenia. As the Mother of a Young Man who battled schizophrenia before he died by suicide i Felt great pain when the Label was used to describe our son without also saying what else he was ? Bright funny hard working Loving Etc. While the voices and the paranoia do not excuse the attack at the Forks they do explain it. How Many More people will fail to get their loved ones checked in to a mental health facility because the officials Don to perceive that there is a problem Arent we the family the Best judges that our loved one needs help Susan Berry Ile Desch nes Pluto makes the news what a Relief it is no More worries about our planet being in danger of global warming with hotter and drier Summers and receding Polar icecaps with Ocean Levels rising. No More worries with mans interference on the environment. There is no need to worry about a grim future if any for our children and their offspring. Scientists today Are concentrating their time and efforts on deciding whether Pluto is a planet. The importance of that decision has been in the forefront of the Media in the past few letter of the Day not living in fear i a tired of the attitude i have seen about air travel lately. The fact that new guidelines Are being put in place for our safety does not make us a culture living in fear. The attitude that the terrorists won because they have frightened us into these new procedures is idiotic. By the same logic that i have seen Dis played in some columns in the free press crime has won because we have police. Valuing human life does not make you a Coward the fact that we responded to a previously unseen threat shows that we won this one and made air travel just a Little safer. Brendan Rex Sanford weeks. Obviously the global situation is not so drastic after All. Happy Days Are Here again ? or Are they John Bacik Winnipeg not cynical to question Gwynne dyers column terrorism scare a cynical charade free press aug. 12 should be must Reading for every Canadian citizen. It not Only raises the question about who is really being cynical but also about the nature of terrorism. Is it cynical to question the War against terrorism or is the real cynicism displayed by those who exploit the conspiratorial plans of angry and hate filled fundamentalists into scaring everyone to support unjust wars Are not those who use fear tactics to implement greater capacity of the state to restrict Freedom human rights the Rule of Law and Pursuit of happiness just As guilty of terror ism As those who seek revenge it is Clear that the regimes of . Presi Dent George w. Bush and British prime min ister Tony Blair and their puppets such As prime minister Stephen harpers administration Are using scare tactics to support their unjust wars. I would Only add a further motivation cynical ploys to influence voting patterns in their favour. When Leonard Cohen sings democracy is coming to America he is making a positive and humanitarian statement. That is not dark and cynical it is a wonderful expression of Hope. Len Sawatsky Winnipeg wonk in to a Job title Why has every single article mentioning Jennifer Howard referred to her As a policy wonk Winnipeg free press. Today a question previous question should Canadian soldiers executed for should racial profiling be used in screening desertion and cowardice in the first world War be pardoned airline passengers yes 65% / no 26% / not sure 9% / total 450 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 the article health activists hat in fort Rouge ring free press aug. 11 does to even put the Slang term in quotation Marks telling us that is. Howard worked As a policy wonk for the nip As if it were a Job title. Is. Howard had a responsible Job with the provincial government. The task of people who specialize in policy analysis and development is to bring in depth knowledge careful evidence based research and policy expertise to Bear on the development of government policy and pro Grams. If is. Howard had been doing this work at a University you would have referred to her As an it is precisely is. Howard a expertise and Many years of commitment to Manitoba communities including women that led to her being hired to Lead the women a health clinic. Policy wonk is a joking insiders term for people who take their policy Job very seriously. Surely that a what we need in an la. Susan White Winnipeg let businesses decide it has been written that our provincial government is Between a political Rock and a hard place. While this is True there is a third option. Why not just let each individual business or company decide whether they want to allow smoking with no interference from government this is How this should have been done in the first place. In this Way government is off the Hook and no one is inconvenienced. There is Only a relatively Small group of people that actively support the smoking ban anyway and apparently they like to stay Home. Vince Harden Winnipeg ;