Mar 16, 2015
Toronto Star – Alex Boutilier
CSIS highlights white supremacist threat ahead of radical Islam
According to internal documents from CSIS, it appears that there is likely a higher threat to terrorism from ‘lone wolf’ individuals caught up in white supremacist and racist groups than from radical Islamism. On a world-wide basis, the supremacist group breeds terrorists in 17% of the cases vs 15% for the Islamic radical. In 40% of the cases there is no clear motive or association for the lone wolf act. “Lone actors tend to create their own ideologies that combine personal frustrations and grievances, with wider political, social, or religious issues,” note the documents prepared for Michael Peirce, assistant director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.” http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/03/15/csis-highlights-white-supremacist-threat-ahead-of-radical-islam.html Related article: Canada.com / Ottawa Citizen – Jason Fekete, Lee Berthiaume, and Ian MacLeod Reports link Islamic State recruiter to Canadian Embassy in Jordan http://www.canada.com/News/canada/Reports+link+Islamic+state+recruiter+Canadian+Embassy+Jordan/10887293/story.html
Winnipeg Free Press – Carol Saunders
Canadians less welcoming of immigrants, visible minorities, survey says
A new EKOS poll around attitudes of Canadians towards immigrants and refugees has many advocates making a connection between the effort to engender fear of the foreigner and a sizeable increase in negative views of the aliens who arrive on our shores. “The survey found 46 per cent of Canadians say too many immigrants are coming — up from 25 per cent in 2005. Forty-one per cent said too many immigrants are visible minorities — up from 18 per cent in 2005.” http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/local/Canadians-less-welcoming-of-immigrants-296285151.html?cx_navSource=d-top-story
CTV News – Question Period interview with Elizabeth May
This link is a 7 ½ minute video in which Elizabeth May voices her objections to the C-51 and the denial of the majority federal Conservatives to allow her to ask questions at the committee hearing. http://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=570703 Related article: CTV News – Rallies from Coast to Coast – Reject fear! http://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=570614 Cf also http://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=564253 (Search the CTV News site for C-51 to get individual reports from various locales.) Related article: CBC News Bill C-51 ‘Day of Action’ protests denounce new policing powers http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/bill-c-51-day-of-action-protests-denounce-new-policing-powers-1.2994226
National Newswatch – Bruce Cheadle, Canadian Press
Parole Board says no more funding to clear old pardons applications in backlog
The rules around pardons were changed in 2012. There was a considerable backlog of applications at the time and the responsibility of the National Parole Board to process. Now, with 5800 in the backlog, the NPB is saying that it can no longer use its resources to process the outstanding applications. There is some confusion about what happens with the applications now, about how long a new application would take, and whether the announcement by the NFB is simply a tactic to get the elevated fee (the fee went from $150 to $631). http://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2015/03/16/parole-board-says-no-more-funding-to-clear-old-pardons-applications-in-backlog/#.VQbXbeFQRUZ
The Sentencing Project (US)
Girls in the School-to-Prison Pipeline
A report from the Civil Rights Project at UCLA “documents gross disparities in the use of out-of-school suspension experienced by students with disabilities and those from historically disadvantaged racial, ethnic, and gender subgroups.” Most research to date is focused on black male youth suspended or expelled to become part of the school-to-prison pipeline. The numbers are frightening: 3.5 million youth are implicated. Sentencing Project Link: http://www.sentencingproject.org/template/index.cfm Link to the Civil Rights Project summary and detail: http://civilrightsproject.ucla.edu/resources/projects/center-for-civil-rights-remedies/school-to-prison-folder/federal-reports/are-we-closing-the-school-discipline-gap
CBS Blue Bloods – 10/9PM
An Emotional Blue Bloods Leads Frank to Consider a Controversial Stance
This is an unusual post for us. But recognizing the influence often flowing from odd sources, we draw attention to a TV crime series based in N.Y. City. The star of the series, Tom Selleck, plays N.Y. Police Commission Frank Reagan and tonight offers an opinion on Restorative Justice. http://tvline.com/2015/03/13/blue-bloods-season-5-preview-frank-restorative-justice/