Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - August 25, 2006, Winnipeg, Manitoba a4 Winnipeg free press Friday August 25, 2006 top news paedophile demands evidence . Lawyer May ask judge to toss charges out. Justice officials refuse to disclose details of Case by Mike Mcintyre c convicted paedophile Peter Whit More will ask a judge to throw out his kidnapping and sex assault charges if the Crown does to immediately hand Over evidence gathered against him his lawyer told the free press yesterday. Daniel Brodsky says his clients rights Are being violated and accused Saskatchewan Justice officials of trying to gain a tactical advantage by Refus ing to disclose specific details of the High profile Case to Whitmore. Whitmore faces charges of abducting and sexually assaulting a 14-year-old Winnipeg boy and 10-year-old Saskatchewan boy. If this situation persists i will bring an application on Peter Whitmore a behalf to stay the proceedings said Brodsky who is seeking items such As statements from victims forensic Analy Sis and witness statements. I be written the Crown and he wrote me Back saying he will not release Dis closure to me and he did not give it to Peter As of yesterday. I a very Whitmore has been rejected from receiving Legal Aid funding for Brodsky who is based out of Toronto and has rep resented Whitmore during several pre Vious sex cases in the past decade. Brodsky says he has been officially retained by Whitmore and is currently working pro Bono ? for free ? while his client appeals the funding denial. In a letter to Crown attorney Anthony Gerein ? a copy of which was forwarded to the free press ? Brodsky says Whitmore Slegal funding issues should it play a role in his denial of disclosure. In Canada the crowns obligation to provide timely disclosure is not dependent upon the affluence of its citizens. The Crown cannot withhold disclosure from one lawyer in the Hope that another perhaps More deserving comes along. Similarly you cannot discriminate against the poor or the unrepresented by suppressing disclosure Brodsky wrote. At this juncture the funding of or. Whitmore a defence is simply not your concern. Indeed your duty to or. Whit More would remain the same even if he discharged me and chose to defend him self. Crown disclosure should be provided with dispatch. If you will not Send material to me then give it directly to Peter Whitmore. He has a fair trial inter est and your delay certainly impacts upon Gerein said yesterday the Crown expects to get a conviction against Whit More and is waiting for him to sort out his Legal issues before proceeding or commenting further. Whitmore will Likely be rejected on his Legal Aid funding Appeal because he has been denied Access to the allegations against him and was unable to mount a proper argument said Brodsky. He does to know the Case he has to meet so he can to reasonably explain Why out of province counsel should be appointed he said. If the Legal Aid Appeal is denied Brod sky said his next step is to ask for court appointed counsel through a Legal application where lawyers argue for reasonable compensation for their role in High profile and often costly cases. Brodsky also expects to lose that bid if disclosure in to turned Over. As Long As the Crown sits on the Dis closure for now Peter will lose his application to have out of town counsel appointed and i will lose my bid to have a court appointed lawyer because it is almost impossible to explain the details of the Case against him properly said Brodsky. But in to that the Point it sure seems like the Crown is suppressing particulars to gain a tactical advantage.?. a 12-year-old boy was killed wednesday on Sage eng first nation As he walked along the main Highway through the Community. Ramp said the boy was walking on Hwy. 11 at about 10 . When a West bound car hit him. Police said the car was passing another vehicle that had slowed for the Pedes Trian traffic on the Road. The Highway and its shoulders Are often used by peo ple to get around the Pine Falls area Community. The boy was pronounced dead at the scene. A 38-year-old Sage eng first nation resident has been taken into custody. Alcohol is suspected to be involved. An investigation continues. More people Are collecting welfare in Manitoba province giving less to those in poverty by Paul Samyn Ottawa ? Manitoba a welfare Rolls Are growing and those living in poverty Are having to make do with less from the province. The disturbing portrait of the 60,900 Manitoban on social assistance painted by the National Council of welfare shows the province bucking a National trend that saw a decline in the number of canadians on the Dole. In 2005, Manitoba experienced a 4.3 per cent increase in the number of social assistance cases ? by far the largest increase of any province. Nationally the number of welfare cases fell by 1.9 per cent from 2004 to 2005. More troubling for those on welfare is the fact that the poor Are getting poorer in Manitoba and across the country once payments Are adjusted for inflation. According to the National Council of welfare a report released yesterday there has been a steady erosion in Wel fare payments in Manitoba from the High Point of social assistance in 1992. For instance a single employable per son is getting $3,218 less in constant Dol Lars ? a 35.6 per cent decline. A couple with two children has seen the value of their payments fall by 21.4 per cent or $5,555, since 1992. Manitoba was among five provinces singled out for recording the lowest level of welfare incomes Over the past five years. It is a very discouraging document said John Murphy chairman of the fed eral advisory body. The report shows that without exception that welfare incomes were below the poverty Murphy said it is High time that Ottawa and the provinces work on a pan Canadian poverty strategy to Deal with what he called a National disgrace. But Murphy said he is discouraged that human resources minister Diane Finley has yet to meet with the group to discuss the report handed to her office much earlier. Jan Forster director of policy and welfare facts the falling value of Manitoba a welfare payments once inflation is factored in single employable person. 1992 payment $9,036. 2005 payment $5,818. % decline -35.6% single disabled person. 1992 payment $11,416. 2005 payment $8,601. % decline -24.7% Lone Parent one child. 1992 payment $15,630. 2005 payment $13,282. % decline -15.0% couple with two children. 1992 payment $25,912. 2005 payment $20,357. % decline -21.4% ? source National Council of welfare planning for Manitoba family services said her office is still reviewing the report but believes the 2,500 jump in the number of provincial welfare recipients May be due to the doer governments decision to take Over a number of social assistance cases in Rural areas. However Forster notes there Are 8,000 fewer Manitoban collecting Wel fare than when the nip took Power in 1999. Similarly Forster said the provinces child poverty rate has fallen by one third in the same period. Forster said the province has recently taken a number of Steps to help the poor such As a new shelter Benefit that kicked in july 1, As Well this weeks Deci Sion aimed at the disabled living in institutions. The province announced previously that it will not claw Back the new Federal child tax credit that flows $100 each month to families for each child under the age of six. High schools await human rights ruling to decide if girls can try out for boys hockey by Nick Martin Manitoba a school sports coaches and players Are anxiously awaiting the Immi nent ruling on a human rights Challenge which could have a huge Impact on sep Arate boys and girls sports. There could be a drastic reduction in the number of girls participating if the ruling goes against the Manitoba High schools athletics association a Hasa executive director Morris Glimcher said. Adjudicator m. Lynne Harrison has until the end of this month to make a Rul ing on the Challenge against the a Hasa by the Manitoba human rights com Mission on behalf of twin Sisters Amy and Jesse Pasternak. The Sisters who Are entering Grade 12 at West Kildonan collegiate want to try out for the boys hockey team. The a Hasa argued at a precedent setting june hearing that female High school sports Are trying to overcome an historical disadvantage and need to be separated by gender if girls and boys Are to have equal opportunities and resources. Having the top female athletes play on boys teams would weaken female teams the a Hasa said while opening up the possibility of boys wanting to try out for girls teams. Witnesses for the a Hasa told Harri son that if the Pasternak want to play at the highest Levels of hockey and to play with boys those opportunities Are Avail Able through Community sports ? High school sports purpose is not to produce elite athletes but to provide As much participation As possible. The a Hasa does not have the Money to Appeal should the Pasternak win Glimcher said. We re a non profit organization. This has Cost us a lot of Money ? the Money should go to the kids he said. The human rights commission said a lot about Merit he said. One possibility is we could have an a team and a b team and let everybody try out for coed competitive teams. There a be a drastic reduction in the number of girls participating. If the Manitoba government wants female participation to decline that a up to them said Glimcher. Should the Pasternak win the a Hasa May simply let them try out and continue its policy of not allowing girls to play on boys teams if a school has a girls team available. ;