Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - December 7, 2007, Winnipeg, Manitoba Comment editor Gerald flood 697 7269 Gerald. Flood free press. My. Ca v new fro the w est a n d b e y o n d a 13 Winnipeg free press Friday december 7, 2007 Winnipeg repress. Com a after serving seven years of his life sentence Robert Latimer was eligible to apply for Day parole. The principal Job of the National parole Board in hearing applications is to judge whether the applicant poses a danger to the Community. If the applicant is not Likely to re offend then the request for Day parole should be granted. Since Latimer poses no conceivable danger to the Community agreeing to his request should have been a no brainer. But Latimer refused to play the parole game. He believes that he did the right thing and refuses to pretend otherwise. Latimer is a Plain speaking Farmer from Wilkie sask. He does not do hypocrisy. The parole Board impressed with its own Power and unimpressed by latimers Independence put this uppity inferior in his place. Latimer will suffer for his refusal to Grovel but the reputation of the Canadian Legal system will suffer equally. To make sense of what happened at the parole Board hearing we need to revisit the beginning of this Story on oct. 24, 1993, Robert Latimer killed his daughter Tracy. He was charged with murder and after a series of appeals and a retrial he was convicted of second degree murder. The Saskatoon jury found that he had been motivated by love and concern for the suffering of his daughter. They recommended unanimously that he receive a sentence of Only one year in prison. They were unaware that in Canada a conviction for murder carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment. For second degree murder there is no parole eligibility for at least 10 years. When the jurors discovered this some wept. Judge Ted Noble agreed with the jurors recommendation and ruled that life imprisonment in this Case would constitute cruel and unusual punishment. Accordingly Noble sentenced Latimer to one year in prison and one year on his farm. The supreme court overruled Noble partly on Legal grounds but partly because so it claimed the Latimer family had rejected effective pain control options for Tracy including a feeding tube into her stomach. On this Point the supreme court seems to have got its facts drastically wrong. Tracy is orthopaedic surgeon testified unequivocally at trial that even with a feeding tube Tracy could not tolerate the kind of medication she would need to control her severe pain. Moreover such a tube could be easily pulled out by an agitated child. Did the court want Latimer to add to Tracy is miseries by wrapping her so that her movements were totally restrained that would have been to pile misery and cruelty on top of pain and suffering. Its noteworthy however that despite rejecting latimers Appeal the supreme court offered Strong hints that the government should rethink its policy on mandatory minimum sentences where the courts Are unable to provide an appropriate remedy in cases that the executive sees As unjust imprisonment the executive is permitted to dispense mercy and order the release of the offender. The government of Canada did not take the hint. That same Day Jan. 18, 2001, Latimer turned himself in to authorities and began serving his sentence. Critics of Latimer including some disability rights activists repeatedly describe his killing of Tracy As a hate crime against the disabled. They refer to Latimer As a remorseless killer and argue that had he not received a harsh punishment society would have declared open season on the disabled. Technically remorseless killer is an accurate description. Latimer did kill his daughter and he feels no remorse for what he did. But though technically accurate the description is profoundly misleading. He feels no remorse because he believes it was his moral duty to save his daughter from a life of unbearable pain. Many canadians agree with him at least to the extent of thinking that if they were in Tracy is position they would want Robert As their father. Even those who worry about the wider social implications of mercy killing feel sympathy for the family is tragic plight. Both judge and jury rejected the View that Latimer killed his daughter because of her disability. Tracy suffered from the most severe kind of cerebral palsy but there was no evidence whatsoever that Latimer was motivated by her disability. On the contrary As summarized by judge Noble All of the evidence Points to his concern for the pain which he saw flowing from her illness. The supreme court though it rejected latimers Appeal on Legal grounds nevertheless agreed that this was a crime of compassion. Interestingly Robert Latimer is the Only person in Canadian history to spend even a single Day in prison for a mercy killing. Thatus partly because prosecutors often exercise their discretion to charge the accused with an offence other than murder. Conviction on a lesser charge such As manslaughter or administering a noxious substance allows the court flexibility to make the punishment fit the criminal As Well As the crime. Another significant Factor Canadian juries have generally been reluctant to convict those who kill in order to bring an end to unbearable suffering. To illustrate. In 1941, an Alberta couple asphyxiated their Young son with exhaust from their car. He had been suffering unremitting pain from cancer. The prosecution proved that the parents were guilty of premeditated murder nevertheless the jury voted to acquit. Legally it was murder. But common humanity led the jury to recognize that neither hanging nor lengthy incarceration was a morally appropriate response. In essentials the Latimer Case is identical. Robert killed Tracy with exhaust from his truck. She too was suffering from pain that could not be relieved or so the latimers were told by Tracy is doctors. Death seemed to be a merciful release. Tracy is situation is fortunately rare and it is implausible to suggest that parents of disabled children will kill their children unless deterred by the threat of a heavy sentence. There was after All no wave of such killings prior to the Latimer sentencing. Very few people think that Latimer deserves a harsh sentence he clearly does not and even fewer favour Public denunciation of what he did. The Best Way to defend and protect the disabled is to provide adequate funding for the services and care they need. As Long ago As 1995, the special Senate committee on euthanasia and assisted suicide recommended unanimously that Canada adopt a new category of homicide to be called compassionate homicide. Conviction would allow courts the sentencing discretion and flexibility our current Law of murder does not permit. Countries such As Sweden and Switzerland have adopted this sensible proposal. As the Latimer Case proves our current Law could do nicely with an infusion of Justice and humanity. Arthur Schafer is professor of philosophy and director of the Centre for professional and applied ethics at the University of Manitoba. S Ummer is arriving in Australia and to me that Means two things the sugar Cane Harvest is nearing its end and a frosty slice of Pavlova is on its Way. Australia does not really have a National dish despite what you May hear about the meat pie. Like canadians we were too Busy roaming vast uncharted territories to worry about what was for dinner and ended up settling for British food without realizing the contradiction in terms. Credulous souls australians spent the 19th Century believing Black pudding sausage made by cooking animal blood was a perfectly reasonable item to place inside the human digestive system. Then somewhere in the 1930s this wondrous blinding White meringue dessert named after the russian Ballet dancer Anna Pavlova was conjured up and australian cuisine suddenly had a dash of Chic. A crust crispy on the outside yet Light and Fluffy on the inner Pavlova provides a delicious bed for a pile of fresh Cream and fruit. Saturated with sugar the Pav is so much More than a simple source of cholesterol. To truly understand its glory its contribution to the National character and its wonderful status As a Symbol of summer i must take you to the land where its principal ingredient came from. On the sprawling sugar Cane farms of far North Queensland where i grew up and where a frosty summer Pav in the fridge is As australian As a Melanoma the crushing harvesting dominates lifers Cycle starting in mid Winter and ending late november As the summer holidays loom. One night in june a group of muttering men would assemble in a paddock near our House netted Index fingers pointed to the stars to test the wind. Then at some tacit but mutually agreeable time one would suddenly seize a drip fed kerosene flame thrower from a truck and Torch a perfectly Good crop of sugar Cane. Orange flames would leap into the night sky As kangaroos and possums fur ablaze fled the paddock into the jaws of our dog a dour old Dingo whose ancient soul revelled in All this wild pyromania. And for the next six months the District was a War zone thundering with tractors and Semi trailers blazing through the smoke and dust shearing the blackened Fields of sugar Cane. Our Neighbour Bob Mcnichol who helped dad would Roar past our House every 30 minutes hauling out Cane bins always appearing half a metre above the seat of his battered Ford 5000 tractor As he bounced Down Rock strewn headlands. Blue singlet shorts a cigarette clamped Between his Teeth head grip the wheel with the determination of an infantryman clutching his carbine until he saw us kids waving. Then head deliver a literal High Speed standing ovation standing in the stirrups and performing a hand clapping sky punching display of exuberance which had us believing this Cane carting business must be More fun than tying fire crackers to Cane toads. Around november with the swelling Mulberry coloured Clouds muttering of the wet seasons return the madness would end. Dad would Crown his last bin with a broken tree Bough and leave it and a six pack of Cairns draught for the Semi trailer Drivers. The soot would Clear the Mill towns would Wail with sirens As the last of the Cane disappeared through the crushers and the dog would gaze wistfully at denuded Fields that had provided so Many pre cooked dinners. And preparations would begin for the end of Harvest party the official venue for an annual Competition among the districts women who coveted the title of Pavlova Princess the Queen of cholesterol. The week before the party the women would grimly Lay out their weaponry on the Kitchen table Fine sugar White vinegar baking soda Corn flour egg Whites Vanilla fresh Cream. The passion fruit Pav was and remains the Staple but the Pav is like great Art rules Are broken boundaries redefined. Theress the peach the Strawberry the rustic simplicity of the mandarin Pav the exuberance of the fruit salad. At the party there might be other edible items of wonder. Watermelon wedges marinated in Asti Spuma Nti wine coloured cocktail onions or Kabana and Kraft cheese stuck on a cocktail stick and implanted in a pineapple the effect resembling that of a startled Porcupine. But nothing matched the Pav. There could be 10 of them All taking Centre stage on the table and we kids could Gorge to make ourselves sick Safe in the knowledge More were to come. Christmas was Only weeks away. Wed spend it in the state capital of Brisbane where my aunts despite the limitations imposed upon them by their City addresses structured activities for children familiarity with restaurant etiquette no dingoes in the dining room would ensure Pavs were plentiful. For they like All right thinking australians knew that when summer is upon us a frosted Pavlova is not a luxury but a Symbol of patriotic fraternity. The dish links Region to Region country to City state to state. Come summer and it is in fact a National imperative the imperative of the Pav. Michael Madigan is the free press correspondent in Australia. He writes about politics for the Brisbane based courier mail. Pavlova so much More than dessert to aussies Arthur Schafer Michael Madigan Justice denied Latimer Case exposes flaws in Legal system the Canadian press archives critics of Robert Latimer repeatedly describe his killing of daughter Tracy As a hate crime against the disabled. They refer to Latimer As a remorseless killer. Robert Latimer and daughter Tracy ;