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Tough Tory stance on offender transfers raises ire of U.S.

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Mon, 07/26/2010 - 6:00pm
OTTAWA — After years of cordial relations with the United States on the issue of prison transfers, the Harper government’s recent crackdown on repatriating offenders may be causing a diplomatic rift.
 
Documents obtained by Postmedia News under Access To Information indicate the U.S. Department of State sent a diplomatic note to the Canadian Embassy in Washington last December outlining concerns raised by the U.S. Department of Justice regarding the transfer of offenders.
 
The documents indicate U.S. officials were seeking to meet “face-to-face” with their Canadian counterparts to discuss the matter further.
 

Minister downplays prison double-bunking

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Wed, 05/05/2010 - 4:06am
By: Janice Tibbetts, Canwest News Service Published: National Post
 
OTTAWA -- Public Safety Minister Vic Toews says double-bunking in Canadian prisons "is not a big deal" but critics say his plan to impose more cell sharing contradicts the government's own policy and is bound to breed more penitentiary violence.
 
More than half of Canada's 54 federal prisons recently applied to the Correctional Service of Canada to double bunk, according to a Toronto researcher.
 
The practice requires approval from headquarters because it contradicts a 2001 prison service directive that "single occupancy accommodation is the most desirable and correctionally appropriate method of housing offenders."
 

Feds seek to toughen prisoner transfer laws

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Fri, 03/19/2010 - 3:00pm
By Kim Bolan, Vancouver Sun
 
B.C. gangsters imprisoned in the U.S. could have a tougher time returning to Canada to serve their sentences.
 
The federal government reintroduced legislation Thursday that would create more restrictions on when an offender would be able to return home.
 
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews said the amendment to the International Transfer of Offenders Act would make the protection of society the primary focus of the Canadian corrections system.
 

Vic Toews blames media for Rahim Jaffer 'smear job'

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Wed, 03/10/2010 - 8:42pm
Jane Taber, Globe and Mail
 
Stephen Harper’s senior Manitoba minister has launched a public attack on a journalist from his province over her reporting of the Rahim Jaffer affair, calling it a “smear job.”
 
In an angry letter, Public Safety Minister Vic Toews accuses Winnipeg Free Press reporter Mia Rabson, the only Manitoba reporter covering Parliament Hill, of advancing the “Liberal spin.”
 
Mr. Toews writes that Ms. Rabson “regularly engages” in “conspiracy theory” stories “because they don’t involve a lot of thought or work.”
 

41 judges who got promotions had given Tories money: study

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Tue, 03/02/2010 - 6:42pm
By Janice Tibbetts And Glen McGregor, Canwest News Service
 
A strong majority of judges who made political donations before being elevated to the federal bench in recent years contributed to the Conservative party.
 
It's a finding that suggests the Harper government is favouring those who are politically like-minded.
 
An Ottawa Citizen- Canwest News Service analysis found that 41 judges appointed by the Conservatives to the prestigious postings had donated to the party or its candidates since 2004.
 
The Tory donors represented almost two-thirds of judicial appointees who backed political parties by contributing cash before they were promoted to their postings, which pay salaries of $267,200-a-year.
 

Free Marc Emery! The FREE MARC Campaign

Submitted by Nicole Seguin on Sat, 11/21/2009 - 7:48pm
Canada's best-known marijuana activist needs your help!
 
Marc Emery has fought for the end of marijuana prohibition for over a decade, through direct action civil disobedience, and funding anti-prohibition activists and campaigns, but now he needs your help.
 
Marc Emery has been extradited to the United States for the sale of cannabis seeds to American customers where he will serve a 5 year US prison sentence. You can help reverse this abrogation of our sovereignty by joining in calling for his immediate return to Canada:
 
Contact Vic Toews to approve Marc Emery's treaty transfer request
 
Participate in the FREE MARC Campaign to raise awareness about Marc Emery's extradition
 
Call Your MP and ask them to support Marc Emery's return to Canada
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