Canadian bar owners to defy law -NL
by Rosie Gillingham The St. John's Telegram - August 31, 2005
October 10, 2005. And this time, they intend to make government take notice. "The civil disobedience that will come into play ... is something that will be tested here, he said.
http://www.smokersclubinc.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2021
Smoke less (but drink more if you must) -ON
By The Georgetown Independent Wednesday, August 31, 2005
Much is made of the ironic life of the college student. While we necessarily possess uncommon intelligence and aptitude, we are also remarkably prone to make exceedingly ill-informed decisions and to participate in reckless, often destructive behavior. We devote a seemingly immeasurable amount of time and effort to our academic pursuits with a brand of passion matched only by our desire to unwind by over-indulging in alcohol, pizza and the like. These activities reside on opposing poles of the spectrum of quality decisions, yet they are routinely performed by sensible beings with a disregard for logic only a college student can appreciate or understand. Smoking cigarettes also happens to fit neatly into this paradigm.
When the end goal of an evening is to, among other things, alter one's state of mind, a cigarette or two or eighteen seems a natural choice. The buzz provided by the nicotine entering the bloodstream is, to many, a welcome complement to the alcohol already there. However, a parallel between these two should not be drawn, as one does not exist. This is not an instance of 'pick your poison' in which all options are equally destructive. While alcohol indeed destroys brain cells, causes undue liver stress, and can, obviously, lead to further, um, unwise decisions, it is most often a poison that can be successfully abandoned once the days of Village A rooftops, the Tombs, and Wagner's are nothing but memories.
Routinely smoking cigarettes as a college student, however, is akin to signing a contract with the cancer devil that will ultimately be cashed in against decades of your life. If ever there were a slippery slope, tobacco consumption is it. Smoking just four cigarettes a day leads to a ninety percent chance of becoming addicted. Social smoking turns into smoking alone outside the library turns into buying a carton or two a week before you can say, "Joe Cool." Then you're likely stuck with a lifetime habit that is not only unhygienic and unattractive, but also life-threatening. Talk about playing with fire. You will rue the day, as a forty year old embarrassment to your family, that you thought holding a burning cancer stick was a good idea.
So, the next time you feel like stepping outside for a quick cigarette, ask yourself if you want to be lurking in the parking lot at your kid's little league games, ashamed to smoke in plain sight of the other parents because, odds are good that if you smoke now, you'll still be addicted in a couple of decades. The days of smoking to look cool are over, as are those of stealing beer out of your parents' fridge; this is for real now. As you strive to form your identity and uncover your future self, decide whether or not you really want that cowboy or camel guy hanging out with you.
In our profoundly unscientific opinion, when then opportunity presents itself, we recommend that you ditch the cigarette and have another beer instead - hell, have two. If you really need the flame, light your shot of 151, and leave the smoking to, oh, I don't know, the French.
Landmark hypertension study shows reductions in mortality and strokes
- Clinical study provides new evidence for optimal treatment of Canadians with high blood pressure -
LONDON, ON, Sept. 4 /CNW/ - Results from the Anglo-Scandinavian Cardiac Outcomes Trial (ASCOT), a landmark hypertension study, were presented today at the European Society of Cardiology meeting in Stockholm, Sweden. The results of ASCOT show that patients taking a calcium channel blocker-based treatment regimen (amlodipine besylate) experienced significant reductions in cardiovascular mortality, all-cause mortality, and incidence of strokes.
Study participants were required to have hypertension and at least three other cardiovascular risk factors, such as being 55 years of age or older, smoking or having diabetes. Additionally, more than half of the patients with mildly elevated cholesterol received either a cholesterol lowering medication (atorvastatin) or placebo to determine whether decreasing cholesterol provides additional cardiovascular benefits.
"ASCOT offers an important insight into a simple treatment solution for patients at risk of heart attack or stroke. It provides physicians with new evidence to assist them in helping their patients lower their blood pressure. The novelty of the study is that it looks at the 'real-world' hypertensive patient scenario
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/September2005/04/c5706.html
Smoking policy baffles -MB
Mon, September 5, 2005
I am completely perplexed by this whole issue of allowing smoking in Winnipeg School Division.
Walk into any convenience store, cigarettes are hidden from view. The logic being that kids will see them and want to buy them of course. Tobacco companies can no longer advertise and sponsor major sporting events -- kids will, of course, see this and, therefore, want to smoke.
There is constant talk that we need to educate our kids against the dangers of smoking. We keep putting the onus on society and businesses to teach children right from wrong. Yet, in the one place where they get their education, where we teach them life skills and give them the tools to succeed, we aren't doing that.
Are we really saying that convenience stores and sporting events do a better job of teaching our children than schools? And if so, perhaps we should move some of our classes to those places -- at least they won't be able smoke.
Michelle Baines Winnipeg
(Might be a good way for the students to learn some basic arithmetic, too.)
http://www.winnipegsun.com/Comment/Letters/2005/09/05/1202349.html
New law targets allergy risk -ON
SANDY NAIMAN, AND PETER GEIGEN-MILLER, Free Press Reporter 2005-09-05
Schools must have a plan to protect staff and students with severe allergies.
Back-to-school time can be stressful enough for parents, children and educators, what with new classrooms, new friends, new challenges.
But this year in Ontario, you can add a controversial new law to safeguard kids with severe, potentially life-threatening food allergies.
The precedent-setting guidelines must go into effect at all publicly funded Ontario schools on Jan. 1, 2006.
The law -- also known as Sabrina's Law -- is a first in North America.
It requires all publicly funded schools to educate staff and students about a severe allergic reaction known as anaphylaxis and to have response procedures in place.
The legislation will affect entire schools, from principals and teachers to parents and children.
Everyone, whether they want to or not, will share the responsibility of ensuring the safety of the minority for whom certain foods can be deadly.
It might mean no peanut-butter sandwiches for lunch or a segregated "peanut table" in the cafeteria.
Some parents may be infuriated by that.
But the law is welcomed by Kim Chinnick of Chatham, whose daughter, Kelly, 9, died in 1987 while sharing a potluck lunch with classmates at Ecole Ste. Catherine in Pain Court.
Kelly mistakenly ingested a small bit of peanut butter icing and died 45 minutes later of anaphylaxis.
Chinnick and husband Dave have campaigned ever since to prevent similar deaths.
Kim Chinnick said it's too easy for kids to be exposed accidentally to nuts and other allergens at school. The problem was pretty much off the public radar when Kelly died, but the number of kids experiencing severe food allergies at school has since multiplied, she said.
"Something needed to be done, for sure," she said.
The new law is named for Sabrina Shannon, 13, a Pembroke student who died in 2003 after eating french fries in her school cafeteria.
Because of severe allergies to peanuts, milk products and soy, she'd checked that the potatoes were not fried in peanut oil, but it's believed they were cross-contaminated by tongs used to serve poutine, which contains cheese.
The law might mean a steep learning curve for staff and a change in school culture.
For Laurie Harada, whose son Julian, 11, has a long list of potentially life-threatening food allergies, it will mean less stress while he is at school.
"When Julian was younger, the first days of school made me very nervous. My heart was always skipping a beat," says Harada, executive director of Anaphylaxis Canada.
If Julian ingests even a trace of peanuts, tree nuts, chickpeas, split peas, shrimp or soy, he might have an anaphylactic reaction.
His symptoms may include tingling in his mouth, swelling of his tongue and throat, itchy skin, hives, abdominal cramps, breathing difficulty, wheezing, vomiting, faintness because of a sudden drop in blood pressure and -- in a severe reaction -- loss of consciousness and death.
Such a reaction can be instantaneous. And terrifying.
Many people with severe allergies carry EpiPens, devices used to inject epinephrine to counter the reaction.
But the law is not welcomed by all parents.
"Where do you draw the line?" asks Charles Greene, father of a 12-year-old boy who loves peanut butter, but can't take it to school.
"What else is dangerous to kids that they'll start banning? These kids shouldn't be allowed to go into cafeterias or to restaurants. It's the responsibility of the allergic kids and their parents. The onus is on them."
Brant Liberal MPP Dave Levac, a former high school principal, proposed the law as a private member's bill.
http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/LondonFreePress/News/2005/09/05/1202611-sun.html
YM BioSciences to present results of Norelin(TM) study at Cancer Vaccines/Adjuvants/Delivery 2005 Congress in Lisbon
MISSISSAUGA, ON, Sept. 5 /CNW/ - YM BioSciences Inc. (AMEX:YMI, TSX:YM, AIM:YMBA), the cancer product development company, today announced that it will present positive clinical trial results for its anti-GnRH prostate cancer vaccine, Norelin(TM), at the "Cancer Vaccines/Adjuvants/Delivery for the Next Decade" conference in Lisbon, Portugal September 5-7, 2005.
Norelin(TM) is a unique, biological approach to the management of hormone levels in sex-hormone driven cancers and is initially targeting early stage, hormone-sensitive prostate cancer (HSPC). The drug is a fusion protein that combines a proprietary protein sequence in a potent adjuvant formulation. The formulation could represent a well-tolerated and long-lasting control of testosterone and PSA in hormone-dependent patients with prostate cancer thereby affording treatment to a larger population of HSPC patients. That would include those subject to "watchful waiting".
http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/September2005/05/c5855.html
Beaten by butt bummer -MB
By DAVID SCHMEICHEL, STAFF REPORTER September 6, 2005
Confronted again while at hospital
They say that cigarettes will kill you, but what about the people who panhandle a little too aggressively for free smokes?
They can be pretty dangerous too, as downtown resident Leonard Hogg found out over the weekend.
A Health Sciences Centre employee, Hogg had finished grocery shopping Saturday afternoon when he was accosted on the corner of Graham Avenue and Vaughan Street by a man who wanted a cigarette.
Hogg -- who deals with a constant stream of such requests every day -- said no.
"And I guess I was a little abrupt when I said no," said Hogg. "The next thing I knew he had backhanded me ... and knocked me to the ground."
While Hogg lay on the ground, his assailant kicked him twice in the back before fleeing east on Graham.
A crowd soon gathered to help get Hogg back on his feet, but no one was in much of a hurry to chase the attacker down, he said.
'CHOKE-HOLD'
"Everyone was concerned, but because this guy was so big, they didn't really do anything," he said. "I can't really say I blame them."
Later the same night, Hogg was awakened by a persistent pain in his ribs, so he went to Health Sciences Centre to have some X-rays taken.
Hogg was told it would be a while before he was seen, so he ducked outside onto McDermot Avenue for a quick smoke. Again, he was confronted by a man who demanded a cigarette, but this time, he was ready.
"He got right up in my face," Hogg said of the man. "I put a choke-hold on him and pushed him away, and he ended up slipping off the curb."
Hogg's would-be assailant took off, but not before he was caught on the hospital's surveillance tape.
The assailant was arrested when he returned to be treated for injuries he'd received in an earlier dispute at the McLaren Hotel, police Staff Sgt. Gord Friesen told The Sun.
A 52-year-old man is in police custody, and charges of robbery are pending, Friesen said.
Hogg still has a sore back and swollen lip, but said he's more worried about panhandlers who get too aggressive with younger kids or seniors. As for the possibility he'll give up smoking rather than run the risk of further incidents?
"It's on my to-do list," he joked.
http://www.winnipegsun.com/News/Winnipeg/2005/09/06/1203700-sun.html
Tobacco smuggling hearing begins
CANADIAN PRESS Sep. 6, 2005. 02:33 PM
A preliminary hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence to proceed to trial has started into the activities of a tobacco conglomerate accused of cross-border cigarette smuggling in the 1990s.
After a four-year investigation, the RCMP laid charges in 2003 against Toronto-based JTI-Macdonald Corp., three affiliated U.S. companies and eight former senior executives.
The Mounties accuse the company of fraud and conspiracy for knowingly selling cigarettes to smugglers.
Investigators say tobacco produced at the company's plants in Montreal and Puerto Rico were exported legally to the United States.
But from there, the accused allegedly sold cigarettes to smugglers, who brought them into Canada illegally, primarily through the Cornwall area in southeastern Ontario.
The hearing is expected to end some time in November.
The accused face six counts of conspiracy to commit fraud over $5,000 and another of possessing the proceeds of crime.
Police allege that Canada, Ontario and Quebec lost $1.2 billion in taxes because of contraband smokes.
Charged are Stanley Smith from British Columbia, a former vice-president of sales for RJR-Macdonald Inc.; Edward Lang of Naples, Fla.; Dale Sisel of Gillette, Wyo.; Jaap Uittenbogaard of Jupiter, Fla.; Peter MacGregor of Atlanta; and Pierre Brunelle, Paul Neumann and Roland Kostantos of Geneva, Switzerland.
JTI-Macdonald sells several brands of cigarettes in Canada, including Export A and Vantage.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=
971358637177&c=Article&cid=1126002431987
Your cellphone could spy on you
Cristin Schmitz CanWest News Service Tuesday, September 06, 2005
OTTAWA -- Police and security agencies would be able to surreptitiously track unwitting Canadians via their cellphones, BlackBerrys and laptop computers, even when the devices are turned off or their location features are disabled, under a "creepy" measure contemplated as part of the federal government's planned electronic surveillance bill.
The government made the proposal during consultations this year on a legislative package that is anticipated to be unveiled in the fall, CanWest News Service has learned.
The proposal, which was raised by justice officials with groups consulted by the government, would amend the Criminal Code to expand the types of "tracking devices" available to police under a warrant.
The definition of a "tracking device" would be changed to include a computer program, in addition to any other device that can be used to help identify the location of any thing or person.
The new definition of tracking device would take in such ubiquitous products as laptops with wireless Internet connections, cellphones with global positioning systems, and wireless personal digital assistants.
"What they are talking about clearly is devices which have an active and a passive component in the sense that the active component could be controllable by the user who could turn the machine on or off, but the passive device will be built in and accessible to police," said Richard Rosenberg, a retired University of British Columbia computer science professor and board member of the B.C. Civil Liberties Association.
"I think the assumption is that we should be trackable whether we want to or not," he said. "It's very creepy. We will be in a society where we will have this incredible density of interconnections which will make it almost impossible to ... exercise what I think is one of our basic rights, which is anonymity in a free and democratic society."
Rosenberg said it is possible to build devices that retain select functions, even when they seem to be completely turned off. "There's no reason it couldn't happen because it's not a big complex thing to do," he explained.
Police are able to obtain warrants for tracking devices much more easily than for other types of electronic surveillance such as wiretaps.
To get a warrant for a tracking device, police need only convince a justice of the peace they have "reasonable suspicion" an offence has been or will be committed, and the tracking order would help their investigation. By contrast, for other types of surveillance authorities must at least demonstrate to a JP they have "reasonable and probable grounds to believe" that an offence has been or will be committed, and information relevant to that offence will become available via the surveillance.
Vancouver lawyer Greg DelBigio, vice-chair of the national criminal law section of the Canadian Bar Association, said computers and cellphones may reveal a lot more information than the types of tracking devices presently contemplated by the Criminal Code. His 34,000-lawyer association does not accept that such a serious erosion of privacy should be allowed simply on the basis of police "suspicion" a crime might be in he offing.
"Technology is rapidly making it increasingly difficult to remain anonymous within the world and retain privacy, despite positive steps one might take to protect these interests," DelBigio said. "We must ask: 'Just because the technology exists, is it the case that law enforcement should have access to the technology, or information available through that technology and, if so, in what circumstances and with what control?"'
http://www.canada.com/regina/leaderpost/news/story.html?id=fdfbc310-44c5-4c73-9131-903cd4ca7897
Under the G: Greedy -MB
By TOM BRODBECK September 7, 2005
Penny-ante bingo targeted
The provincial government is cracking down on nickel-and-dime bingo operations -- some with pots as puny as $10 a game -- to help raise more money for government coffers.
And it's got a small group of seniors in East Kildonan, who have been playing bingo in the privacy of their seniors home for years, pretty damn angry.
With good reason.
Under changes made earlier this year to the Gaming Control Act, any bingo operation with yearly gross revenues of $5,000 or more now has to buy a bingo licence and submit quarterly financial reports to the government.
Even those in private dwellings that raise no money whatsoever have to comply with the new rules.
"This is absolutely ludicrous -- it's nickel-and-dime stuff," said Kate Kehler, 71, who lives at Edgewood Estates, a seniors complex in East Kildonan. "This is our home, and they're invading us."
Kehler and 20 to 25 of her tenant friends have been playing bingo in the basement of their complex Tuesday nights for 13 years.
They play for chump change -- pots of maybe $10 to $12. It's not a fundraiser, and nobody's making any money off it. It's a social event -- a chance to get out of the apartment once a week.
Now government wants a piece of the action.
The group has been told by the Gaming Control Commission that they have to pay for an annual $500 bingo licence and submit quarterly financial reports to the government, including the names of who won, how much they won and what the group's expenses were.
Doesn't government have anything better to do than harass little groups of seniors on fixed incomes and burden them with more taxes and paperwork?
Under the old system, as long as payouts for a single bingo event didn't exceed $150, groups did not have to buy a licence or report winnings to the government.
But government wasn't making enough money off that. So they dropped the threshold to $5,000 a year -- or $96 per event for weekly games -- so they could capture the smaller nickel-and-dime games.
TO REDUCE POTS
"Does the government not make enough money through the slot machines and their casinos?" said Kehler. "They've got to go after senior citizens on fixed incomes?"
Kehler says there's no way they're going to pay $500 a year to the government to play bingo in their basement.
So they've decided to reduce their pots to fall below the $96 bar, which -- unbelievably -- Gaming Control Commission inspectors came out to verify two weeks ago.
What's next, are they going to regulate Friday night poker games in the privacy of our living rooms?
"This is just a tax grab," said Tory lotteries critic Ron Schuler. "The push is on to get as much money as possible -- they're going after everybody and anybody."
GCC spokeswoman Liz Stephenson says they're regulating small bingo outfits to make sure everybody is playing by the rules.
"We try not to be onerous, we recognize that these are voluntary organizations," said Stephenson.
"But we also recognize that people who are playing require protection, and that's essentially the role of the Gaming Control Commission."
Protection? You mean like the mob?
"We need to see where the money goes, how much came in and who won the money," said Stephenson.
Give me strength.
And call Dave Chomiak, minister responsible for the Gaming Control Act, at 945-5356 if you object.
This is ridiculous.
http://www.winnipegsun.com/News/Columnists/Brodbeck_Tom/2005/09/07/1204889.html
Slain man linked to smuggling -ON
BETSY POWELL CRIME REPORTER Sep. 1, 2005. 06:22 AM
Cigarette dealer was shot in May
$500,000 seizure may have led to death
The spring shooting death of a 36-year-old man may be linked to the seizure by provincial investigators of $500,000 in contraband cigarettes weeks earlier at a home in Maple, sources familiar with the case say.
Sung Woo Lee, known as Jack Lee, had been out with friends at a Bloor St. W. karaoke bar before he was dropped off in the area of Lee Centre Dr., near Highway 401 and McCowan Rd., around 2:40 a.m. on May 15.
The divorced father of two then called his girlfriend and was waiting for her to arrive when he was approached by someone who shot him outside a condominium complex on nearby Corporate Rd.
Police, who have no eyewitnesses to the crime, are at a loss to explain how anyone could have tracked Lee to that location at that time, since his rendezvous with his girlfriend seems to have been unplanned.
But they are looking at the possibility that the killing wasn't a random act.
While police initially described Lee as a self-employed tobacco wholesaler, it now appears he was an unlicensed tobacco distributor trading in contraband cigarettes.
The Toronto Star has learned police are investigating whether his dealings in the illicit tobacco trade cost him his life and what, if any, links there may be to organized crime.
Homicide Det. Sgt. Gerry Cashman said the investigation is progressing but he had no comment on any specifics.
But there is another element in the case and that is the role played by the provincial finance ministry's special investigations branch.
In May, branch investigators intercepted a truck parked at a home in Maple, north of Toronto, and seized $500,000 worth of cigarettes.
It is believed the truck driver transporting the cigarettes did not know he was under surveillance when he stopped to have lunch at the house, nor did he attempt to unload the cigarettes. Details of the seizure are sketchy, sources say, and questions are being asked as to whether proper procedures were followed.
There are also questions about Lee's connection to the cargo and whether his killer targeted him because the money owed for the cigarettes seized by the ministry had not yet been paid.
It's not known why the finance ministry initiated an investigation.
A spokesman for the ministry declined comment.
"Any investigation or alleged investigation under the Ontario tax statues is highly confidential," said Manuel Alas-Sevillano.
"The ministry does not discuss any matter about investigations or alleged investigations out of concern for jeopardizing the ministry's investigations processing."
Concerns about freedom of information and privacy legislation were also raised by the ministry as the reason for not sharing information about the investigation and seizure with Toronto police, despite the fact they are conducting a homicide investigation, said a source.
On the night he was killed, Lee and friends, including the owner of the house in Maple — described by a source as a close friend and business associate — were at the Emerald Restaurant and Sports Bar on Bloor St. W. near Christie St.
His companions dropped Lee off in Scarborough at about 2:40 a.m. His girlfriend arrived and found him on the ground suffering from gunshot wounds just after 3 a.m.
The coroner said the cause of death was "penetrating gunshot wounds to the head and torso."
He was Toronto's 24th homicide victim of the year and is now among the 33 gun-related homicide victims so far in 2005.
The finance ministry has undertaken a major crackdown on contraband cigarettes by increasing fines and beefing up enforcement. The ministry seized 54,800 cartons of contraband cigarettes in 2004-05, compared with 11,600 cartons in the previous fiscal year.
http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&call_pageid=
971358637177&c=Article&cid=1125526233198&DPL=IvsNDS%2f7ChAX&tacodalogin=yes
