Did Domenic Violi and the Calabrians in Hamilton execute the Rizzutos in Montreal?

Freddy’s talk about Vito Rizzuto getting out of prison on Friday reminded me I better finally spit it out. Back when there was a rash of murders attacking the Rizzutos in Montreal, I said that I think the Hells Angels are behind it. Again people said I was crazy. Although the Hells Angels worked closely with the Rizzutos in the past, I pointed out that the D’Amicos in Granby were empowered to threaten the Rizzutos because they had the backing of the Hells Angels. People claim the D’Amicos in Granby are a small family. There was a kidnapping and confrontation between the Hells Angels and the Rizzutos around that time.

The rationale behind my theory was simple. The Hells Angels are compulsive liars and consistent betrayers. They are taking over the drug trade all over Canada. It was strange that no one was claiming responsibility for the Montreal murders. Back in Ireland, someone always claims responsibility for the murder. It is the Hells Angels that lie and deny every murder they commit. Why sometimes they even attend the funeral of people they have been accused of hiring the hit on.

The sniper in the bushes killing one of the Rizzutos in their home in front of their family was a red flag. That’s not a Sicilian hit. It almost looked military. Not to claim the CIA has been involved in any drug trafficking in Vietnam, Nicaragua or Mexico. Much. But if they were, they would no doubt chose sides like they did in Operation Fast and Furious.

The flaming red flag was the firebombing of a funeral home. I don’t know any Catholic that would do that whether they be Sicilian, Irish or French. It had to be someone else. That sounded more like the MO of your local 666. When I had mentioned to my author friend from Montreal when he was visiting about more Rizzutos being killed, he instantly said he thought it was the Calabrians working with the Hells Angels. Others have said similar things. Not an earth shattering theory since I am told it was the subject of one of the Godfather movies. The Calabrian part that is, not the Hells Angels.

So finally I recently heard from someone in the know in Quebec and I asked them who was killing the Rizzutos. Their answer was simple and concise, the Calabrians in Hamilton, namely Domenic Violi. They said Domenic Violi is now in power in Canada and is cleaning up. That is who the people in Quebec think it is. They said it was in retaliation for the murder of Paolo Violi and for pushing them out of Montreal in the first place.

“Sources told QMI Agency Dominic and Giuseppe Violi were seen in Little Italy and the city's downtown district just days before the Mafia don was felled by a sniper's bullet in the kitchen of his north-end home late last year.”

Since the Hells Angels have a huge control of the drug trade in Ontario, it would make sense that they would align themselves with the Violis there. It also makes sense that if the Rizzutos were supplying the Bloods and the Rock Machine cocaine, they would want to put a stop to that. After all, that is why they shot Chenier Dupuy from the Bo-Gars who are aligned with the Bloods in Montreal. The Hells Angels supply the Crips through Greg Wooley. Chenier Dupuy refused to work for the Hells Angels so the neo Nazis shot him dead. Or at least paid someone to do so.

Even Italian prosecutors claim that Ontario has become a base for the Calabrian Mafia, or 'Ndrangheta. It’s not that I’m choosing sides. I don’t support the sale of crack or crystal meth period. I just hate liars and betrayers and that is all the Hells Angels do in Canada.

Update: Police bust Hamilton crime group tied to Gambino family in New York

Christmas Epiphany 2011

Well here it is. I'm going to post the Christmas Epiphany early this year because I have a ton of stuff to do and my computer is screwed. An epistle is a letter. An epiphany is an awakening. Buddhists say Nirvana. In Zen they say enlightenment. An epiphany isn't a full scale Nirvana or enlightenment. It's just a small step in that direction. A light goes on and after connecting the dots in two previously unrelated items things all of a sudden make sense.

When I first started this blog and web site people kept asking me what my hate is for the Hells Angels. By now they don't ask that any more because the Hells Angels violent control of the drug trade has become clear.

One thing is certain and that's the Rizzuto family are getting wiped off the planet by what appears to be non Italians. Most of the hits aren't following the norm. A sniper shooting the patriarch through the window in front of his family. Firebombing a funeral home where a funeral was to take place. That was abnormally disrespectful. That's something that neither the Italians or the French would do. They have more respect for the dead than that.

People ask me who I think is responsible and I say the Hells Angels to which they respond of course you do. Yet while combing through some English translations of some French news articles I had an Epiphany. It was at that time my computer had an intrusion attempt that crashed my whole system completely.

Speaking of talking about things I have no idea about, I'm going to mention the Italian Mafia in Canada. Since I'm from the West coat, I know next to nothing on the subject. I know the Italians use to have gill nets and wine with a small bonfire in Ambleside beach back in the day. No harm in that. Yet I went for lunch with an author from Montreal last month and he said what surprised him most was when the Rizzutos gave Mom Boucher the heroin trade way back when. I said the Rizzutos gave the Hells Angels the heroin trade in Montreal? and he said yes. They had to pay the Rizzutos a cut but the family let the Hells Angels take it over because it was easier for them to manage.

Well I said. That would kinda support my theory that it's the Hells Angels putting hits on the Rizzuto family simply because they don't want to pay them a cut any more. Now before you scoff and cry blasphemy, let's look at an interesting article in French from January 2007. Translated into English it claims:

A family of Granby has used threats and intimidation for two years to recover $900,000 with the leaders of the Rizzuto clan, learned the Royal Canadian Mounted Police during its investigation of the Sicilian Mafia. The conflict has almost degenerated into bloody war.

In a document of 131 pages to accompany requests for search warrants, the RCMP said the episode in detail, as the organization (the Rizzuto clan) is having a conflict with the D'Amico family of Granby.

In January 2004, the clan chief, Vito Rizzuto, was arrested at the request of the Americans who accuse him of being involved in a triple murder on behalf of the Bonanno family in New York. His lieutenant, Francesco Arcadi, takes the lace. A month later, Luigi D'Amico him phone the restaurant to his son, St. Charles La Trattoria, in Granby, to make an appointment.

At the end of the afternoon, the RCMP hidden cameras reveal the presence of Arcadi, Luigi d'Amico and his son Tiziano back in the office of the Consenza social club, which serves as the headquarters of the clan Rizzuto, Saint-Léonard. It is unclear what men have said. But in August 2005, Arcadi told a sidekick that "bikers" of Granby wanted to "cut off his head."

Halloween night, 2005 Nicola Varacalli from the Rizzuto clan is kidnapped. The police know who the kidnappers. But it seems that they have kidnapped Varacalli to send a message to the Rizzuto clan.

Negotiations continue with the kidnappers. RCMP captures a multitude of conversations. Thus, in the bar Laennec, another haunt of the Rizzuto clan in Laval, a henchman of Arcadi, Lorenzo Giordano, mentions the name Patrizio D'Amico, he associates the "frenchman" (Hells Angels). He suggested paying half a million now and $ 400 000 later, when Varacalli will be released. It has been said that D'Amico family of Granby is linked to the Hells Angels.

This article is in English: Montreal kingpins rattled by small-town gang. On Aug. 22, 2006, a scuffle outside a downtown restaurant between Mr. Del Balso and Hells Angels supporter Charles Huneault ended with the Mafia men opening fire on Mr. Huneault's Porsche.

When an underling urged him to cool off, Mr. Del Balso said: “So why does this guy (Mr. Huneault) have the honours of grabbing my throat?” A week later, the gang was flustered further when one member, Domenico Macri, was shot dead by two motorcyclists as he was motoring towards Mr. Arcadi's home.

This French article translated into English claims: The report, citing a New York journalist and confidential sources, shows that the decision to kill Rizzuto did not require approval of the Bonanno family in New York as many have suggested. The decision would come from Hamilton, Ontario where three Calabrian families share the power, Papalio the Luppino and Musitano.

These clans could ally with Calabrian already well established in Quebec, as Luigi D'Amico, of Granby, who would do business with the Hells Angels Sherbrooke and Francesco Del Balso, a specialist in money laundering.

Sources also assume that Francesco ACARD, a close Rizzuto might change sides. "Everything is possible, says John Galianos. We saw the Rock Machine to join the Hells Angels." (Must be referring to Mom Boucher's old friend Salvatore Cazzetta who crossed over to become the President of the Montreal Hells Angels)

To make a long story short, the kidnapping of Nicola Varacalli Halloween 2005 was pivotal. The Hells Angels were behind it. They were blackmailing the Rizzuto family. They said they were ready to cut off their head and were ready to bring them a war like in Iraq. That tension increased in 2006 with the retaliatory murders of Charles Huneault and Domenico Macri. Mon Dieu! I may be crazy but the Hells Angels are clearly at the root of our drug and organized crime violence in Canada.

Operation Phoenix Revisited

Operation Phoenix was a significant police operation targeting the Hells Angels in the 1990's. I think it's time to revisit that case since it is the very nature of the legendary Phoenix to rise again from the ashes.

Allen Dalstrom was fired by OCABC chief officer David Douglas in 2004 after concerns were raised about Dalstrom's handling of Project Phoenix, a multimillion-dollar investigation of the Hells Angels that was never prosecuted, and over comments Dalstrom allegedly made to a journalist writing a book about the Angels.

Dalstrom alleged in court documents that Phoenix failed because of a turf war between the RCMP and the OCABC. His trial threatened to expose deep divisions between the RCMP and municipal police in B.C. and call some of the most senior officers in the province to the stand.

Insp. Andy Richards, a former investigator with the OCABC who now works for Port Moody police, said Wednesday that Phoenix targeted nine suspects, including three full-patch members of the Hells Angels, and the case should have gone to trial.

"It was a very compelling case and ... highly prosecutable," Richards said. "But because so much baggage had been raised and so much mud had been thrown, Crown was not willing to proceed because ... it was not in the public interest to publicize the level and extent of the infighting."

Richards said that in his view, Phoenix was scuttled by senior RCMP officers because they were jealous another agency had succeeded against the Angels on what they saw as the Mounties' turf.

Asked if he thought the RCMP had learned from the Dalstrom case, Richards replied: "I hope so. But I'm just not convinced they're an organization that necessarily learns from these lessons. ... I'm not sure they learn unless they take it on the chin publicly."

RCMP Supt. Pat Fogarty said Wednesday the four-member board that fired Dalstrom had only one RCMP member on it, with the other three from municipal police forces. "The decision to do what they did was not exclusively the RCMP," he said. "They were only one vote out of four."

Pat Fogarty, the man from space. I am told he is a buffoon. Literally. It is a great concern how someone so completely out of touch with reality could have risen so high in RCMP leadership. It's as though the RCMP didn't want cases against the bikers to proceed so they promoted an idiot to be in charge.

After the VPD caught two Hells Angels in a drug ring, the NDP government created OCABC, a provincial gang task force that was effective at it's job. The RCMP were jealous and did everything in their power to successfully scuttle it's operations. It is a travesty of justice that after the RCMP sabotaged OCABC, it was the provincial taxpayers that had to pay the $2 million settlement to hide what the RCMP had done. Pat Fogarty's allusion to the claim that it wasn't the RCMP that fired Allen Dalstrom is further evidence of that cover up. RCMP Bev Busson was the chair. She fired Dalstrom.

According to Mr. Woodall’s opening statements, Allen Dalstrom’s troubles began when he opposed the RCMP’s attempt to shut down a major drug investigation by the OCABC. Mr. Dalstrom was the lead investigator on the probe, called Project Phoenix, which was targeting Hells Angels.

Rob Gordon, head of criminology at Simon Fraser University, said if Dalstrom’s allegations are true, and key Hells Angels members escaped justice because of police infighting, the provincial government needs to take a hard look at how B.C. is policed.

“It’s outrageous,” he said. “And no professional police service anywhere else on the face of the earth would tolerate it.” Gordon said the current patchwork of RCMP and municipal police in Metro Vancouver simply isn’t working. Gordon added that he suspects Phoenix isn’t the only B.C. investigation that’s been derailed by police turf wars. “If there was an inquiry into all of this, we’d probably find a lot more,” he said.It’s time that we have a very thorough look at the issue of regional policing,” he said.

Project Pheonix never went to trial because they thought it wasn't in the "public's" best interest to air all this dirty laundry. To show how vindictive and controlling the RCMP administration could be in preventing an organized crime case going to trial.

I may be naive and I may be cynical but I like to give people the benefit of the doubt. Yet I do believe in the three strike rule. The RCMP scuttled Operation Phoenix and the provincial gang task force called OCABC. Strike one. Then the RCMP through Richard Barszczewski stopped an investigation against the Hells angels dead after 2 1/2 tons of cocaine were discovered aboard the Western Wind. Strike two. Then Pat the Buffoon Fogarty has the brazen audacity to make the amazingly absurd statement to the press that the Hells angels are no longer a threat in BC. Strike three you're out!

There is no reason Operation Phoenix can't proceed. The evidence has been collected. We don't care what the RCMP did to stop that investigation. Stopping it let's them accomplish their misguided goal. Proceeding with it is in the public's best interest. Suppressing it is not. BTW I'm told one of the three patch members that were targeted in Operation Phoenix was the ridiculous Weird Hal Porteous.

I think we should preserve the RCMP. If Jim Chu won't take the commissioner's job then Robert Paulson should get the job. Barbara George is dishonest.

However, I do not think the RCMP should be in charge of investigating the Hells Angels or be in charge of the gang task force any more. After three hugely successful attempts to stop cases against the Hells angels going to trial, their misdeeds have proven they should not be in charge of those investigations and the authority over the gang task force should be returned to the Provinces.

It was an act of Provincial legislation that created OCABC in the first place. That legislation still existed as does OCABC. It has loaned out it's members to the RCMP because of their campaign of dirty tricks to gain control then promote a buffoon who makes sure nothing gets accomplished.



BTW One of the reasons cited by Douglas for firing Dalstrom is that he believed Dalstrom was the “OCA insider” quoted in Julian Sher’s book about the Angels, The Road To Hell, How the Biker Gangs Are Conquering Canada, who said that, when it came to organized-crime investigations, the RCMP had done “f--- all here for 25 years”. So once again we see someone fired for telling the truth. The Ontario Biker Enforcement Unit is successful because the RCMP doesn’t have anything to do with it’s administration.

Ontario Hells Angels

We know Julian Sher is on top of the situation. In this Globe and Mail article from July 17 2004 we read: The RCMP's criminal intelligence service has said for years that Canada's Hells Angels are involved in murder, drug trafficking, prostitution, illegal gambling, extortion, intimidation, fraud and theft. Much of that goes unreported, reflecting the enormous fear factor.

But the gang's primary moneymaker in Ontario is narcotics -- cocaine especially, but also homegrown marijuana and prescription drugs. Indeed, the Hells Angels bring to the drug trade what Wal-Mart brings to retailing -- economies of scale, better access to suppliers, a broad distribution network, an unbeatable brand -- and are funnelling more cocaine to the province's streets than ever before, police and drug-treatment experts say.

"When you arrest someone for drugs and ask who it's from, they say it's HA coke. Ninety per cent of the time it's HA coke," says a police officer in the Kitchener area, a Hells Angels stronghold. "I see more cocaine in our town."

The Globe and Mail has pieced together a picture of the network, a rare glimpse into the underground cocaine economy that thrives in Toronto and across the province, much of it under the control of the Hells Angels.

A Colombian drug trafficker named Reinaldo Trujillo supplied some of the cocaine that passed through the Bebops bar, according to court documents. But most of it came from the bikers' "Quebec connection," a steady stream of coke brought by car along Highway 401 from Montreal, where the Angels have long had a power base.

Times have changed. Five years ago, Ontario's outlaw bikers were scattered among a handful of gangs, such as the Satan's Choice, Outlaws and Para-Dice Riders, whose interests lay chiefly in motorcycle runs, small-scale drug trafficking and extortion. They jousted for position and occasionally clashed, but for the most part kept to themselves.

The ground began shifting in the late 1990s, when emissaries from the Quebec branch of the Hells Angels launched a methodical campaign to gather all of Ontario's bikers under the Angels' death's-head emblem. Heading up the membership drive was Hamilton-born Walter (Nurget) Stadnick, who was convicted in Montreal last month of drug trafficking, conspiracy to commit murder and gangsterism.

"The greatest myth the public has is that these individuals are motorcycle enthusiasts; they are not," says Detective Inspector Don Bell, head of the BEU. "This is sophisticated organized crime, people that you do not want in our community."

No single crime organization controls the cocaine trade, says RCMP Superintendent Ron Allen, who oversees drug enforcement in the Greater Toronto Area. "The different groups work the same way the police do; they integrate.

"But in the majority of major shipments of cocaine we find -- meaning loads of say, 20 kilos or 60 kilos -- when we peel back the layers we constantly find some level of involvement by the bikers. They have their hands in it at all levels: shipment, distribution, money collection."

That's in Southern and Central Ontario. Elsewhere in the province, there's less sharing. "In the north, the HA more or less control the market. It's red-and-white coke or no coke," says the BEU's Det. Insp. Bell, referring to the Hells Angels' colours.

That monopoly is reflected in the quality of the product. In Toronto, cocaine seizures commonly yield a drug that is 85-per-cent or even 90-per-cent pure. In Sudbury, Thunder Bay or Timmins, the purity can be as low as 25 per cent.

Data compiled by Toronto's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health paints a more disturbing picture. Cocaine abuse among Ontarians in Grades 7, 9 and 11 peaked in 1979, when 5.3 per cent admitted using the drug in the previous 12 months. Then came a steady decline, to a 1993 low of 1.5 per cent.

Detective Constable J. D. Lapell, a veteran drug officer with the Guelph detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police, says police across Southwestern Ontario are for the first time seeing an increase in the use of methamphetamine and powdered cocaine at high schools.

"And the information we're getting is that a lot of this goes back to the bikers, channelled through many sets of hands."

In 1997, the figure had edged up to 2.7 per cent -- roughly the same as with ecstasy use -- while the figure for marijuana was 25.9 per cent. By last year, among that same group, both ecstasy and marijuana use had increased slightly. But the rise in cocaine use was much more pronounced, almost double the 1997 figure, reaching 5.1 per cent.

Ed Adlaf, a research scientist at the centre, offers a twofold explanation for the recent jump. One is a diminished realization of the damage cocaine causes. The second, he says, is that there's far more cocaine on the street than there used to be. "More and more students are reporting easy availability, compared to the early 1990s."

George Siciliano, a Hells Angels "hangaround," made extensive use of his contacts with the gang to establish a drug network in Thunder Bay, court documents show. He bought cocaine and marijuana in British Columbia's Lower Mainland and shipped it east on cars, buses and airplanes. Distribution was through the Thunder Bay chapter of the Hells Angels and their associates.

In August of last year, police arrested Mr. Siciliano and seven other people in Northern Ontario and Vancouver. In January, he pleaded guilty to three drug-related charges in exchange for a 10-year prison sentence.

But the full scope of the Hells Angels' international ties, and the scale of their cocaine business in Ontario, came to light only in June of 2002, in the Kingston area, when police seized as astonishing 600 kg of cocaine.

On June 13 of that year, on the open ocean near the Grenadines and St. Vincent, RCMP agent Callen took delivery of the 600 kg of cocaine, compressed into book-sized bricks. The shipment had originated in Venezuela but was delivered by two well-dressed Colombians in a war canoe, guarded by a dozen men armed with Mac 10 and Uzi submachine guns.

Mr. Denault and a co-conspirator both told Mr. Callen the huge drug haul was destined for the Hells Angels, prosecutor Ron Sonley said before Mr. Denault was sentenced to a 15-year penitentiary term.

That really doesn't sound to me like the Hells angels are no longer a threat to public safety. Julian Sher's book The Road to Hell is the story of how the Hells have taken over the Canadian crime scene.



Steven Lindsay and Raymond Bonner from the Hells Agnels lost their criminal organization appeal in Ontario June 2009.

Ecstasy case thrown out over charter violations

My first thought when reading the headline was another crackpot judge throwing out another gang related drug bust over a stupid technicality. Like the case where police when exercising a search warrant knocked on the front door but failed to knock on the back door too. Throwing out all that evidence over that technicality was absurd. Or setting Jon Bacon free after he was caught with two machines gun and a silencer.

However, this case is a little more complicated and warrants a discussion on the importance of the Charter and the right to be protected from unnecessary searches and seizures. Obviously that clause has many of us dealing with the violence of a drug related gang war frustrated.

Historically, the clause was added to the US Constitution after the founding fathers in the American revolution said they didn't want big brother meddling in their affairs all the time. The purpose of the clause was not to help organized crime. The purpose of the clause was to prevent us from becoming a police state like in a Communist country or under the Third Reich where citizens can be randomly searched at any time for any reason. It is easy to see how that could easily be exploited if the police simply wanted to harass someone for their religious or political beliefs.

Personally I think if you're a known gang member then that would suffice as just cause to randomly search that known gang member when they go out in public for drugs or guns. If you're a known gang member with a firearms ban then that would be just cause to randomly search that known gang member or their vehicle for firearms. Not in their home in the middle of the night. When they go out in public and threaten public safety.

The courts don't necessarily see it that way but I don't think we should change the Charter and water it down. The problem rises in what the police define as a gang member or a terrorist. If you are a Branch Dividian, does that make you a gang member or a terrorist? No it does not. What if you are a member of a trade union or a Muslim? Does that make you a terrorist or a risk to public safety? No it does not.

Protecting the charter is an important thing. Yet it is also important to remember the spirit of the Charter and the reason it was introduced. The purpose of the charter is not to protect organized crime it is to protect individuals right to freedom of association. Now that freedom of association does not include the right to commit crime or belong to a criminal organization and no, joining a bowling league or motorcycle club does not automatically mean criminal organization.

However, the case law has been long established that the Hells angels use the name and reputation of their organization to sell and protect people who sell drugs for them. It has become clear that the Hells Angels use puppet clubs to sell drugs and to commit crime for them. After it had been legally established that the hells angels are a criminal organization, their clubhouse was seized in Halifax. Changing the name of that clubhouse to Darksiders, Bacchus or Anarchy bikers does not removed the Hells angels criminal involvement and vested interest in that clubhouse.

We have seen televised fictional drama about police investigating large drug operations and how important timing is to make the bust. The comedy Bad Boys showed the police getting a search warrant in the middle of the night for an urgent application before the drugs were moved. Likely that was the intent of the police getting a telephone warrant from a court outside of their jurisdiction in the Richmond Ecstasy bust.

I have two points. First, the human ego is apparent. Judges and police are all human. They can and do sometimes become arrogant thinking they are god and the other organization is subordinate to them. As common as that seems, there is no place for arrogance or power struggles in law enforcement.

My other point is that in my opinion one of the most important reasons for requiring the police to get a search warrant is to see what kind of evidence the police have that would give them reason to believe drugs or firearms are in that locations. If the police are going to use dynamic entry with weapons drawn, then they better be sure they have the right house or the right suite number.

Not long ago we saw a case in Ontario where the police broke in with guns drawn and had the wrong house. In another case in Ontario SWAT had the wrong house and the tenant fired back thinking it was a home invasion. Getting a search warrant hopefully minimizes the number of mistakes of crashing down the wrong door.

I do think knocking on the door is important. My father always used to object to ERT wearing balaclavas. He'd say if some guy with an automatic weapon wearing army fatigues and a balaclava comes baning on my door yelling open up it's the police, I'm sure not going to open the door. I have no idea it's not a terrorist.

Stun grenades sure sounds excessive too, especially when they get the wrong house. I realize that when making a large drug bust surprise is important. Every extra minute they take in opening the door they could be poring the drugs down the sink or toilet. Yet the whole idea of the police having a search warrant thinking that gives them the right to break down your door without notice and start throwing stun grenades anywhere they want is disturbing.

Protection from unnecessary searches and seizures, protection from arbitrary arrest and detainment, the requirement to be charged with an offense for an arrest and the right to a fair and reasonably speedy trial are indeed important rights in a world where strange things are happening in our political climate. The Constitution and the charter of rights in the spirit of the intent they were framed are still important measuring sticks to safeguard democracy.

Harper's conflicted Jets and Helicopters

Raymond Sturgeon is a Conservative candidate in northern Ontario. He is a senior partner at the Ottawa-based lobbying firm CFN Consultants. It specializes in defence and security and Lockheed Martin is one of several clients that sells aircraft and equipment to government departments.

The registry shows he was an active lobbyist for Lockheed Martin until December 15, 2010. Shortly after his registration as a lobbyist for Lockheed Martin ended, Sturgeon was selected as the Conservative candidate in January.

Lockheed Martin has won a number of contracts with DND over the years, but the big one that has proven to be a divisive issue on Parliament Hill is the F-35 fighter jet deal — the largest military procurement in Canada's history.

Michael Forrestall claimed that Raymond Sturgeon was also involved with lobbying Ballard Power Systems and the purchase of Sea King Helicopters. But of course the CONservatives once again pulled the Privacy act card and refused to answer the question. Deja vu. Didn't they also hide and black out most of the documents that tied them to torture in Afghanistan over a claim of national defense privacy?

Lost: Honest transparent government.

Meanwhile back on the campaign trail Harper is kissing babies and handing out free candy. Well not exactly. He's handing out IOU's for free candy. He's promising he'll reduce taxes for families at some later date in the future while he posed with a family and their children. Tell ya what. Instead of handing out free candy during an election only to rip away the bread and butter from working families across the country, keep your tax break. If we have a budget surplus, stop the HST and keep lowering the GST until it hits zero. That is what's best for all of Canada.

BTW US sources claim the jets cost more like $100 million each. Why did the Harper government refuse to tell the real cost to the House when it was supposed to be debated? That's not very... honest.

Adolf Hitler and George Lucas

Let's have a look at something abstract then take a look at Central America while we take a closer look at ourselves and organized crime. Adolf Hitler did in reality exist. He wasn't a figment of our imagination and concerns about him were not conspiracy theories. We all know that Hitler was bad but do we all know how he tricked the German people? Twice.

George Lucas wrote an allegory in his Star Wars saga. The first three episodes of his classic saga were pretty clear cut good versus evil. The bad guys were referred to as Stormtroopers just like Hitler referred to his SA. Yet the first three episodes didn't explain how the Empire took over the Republic and chased them around the galaxy as a handful of rebels. That was explained in the next three episodes which as we know happened before the original three.

So, once upon a time there was an aspiring senator named Palpatine. He wanted to become a dictator and turn the free republic into an empire that he controlled. To accomplish this he had a cunning plan. He would hire mercenaries to attack his home planet. He would then use that attack to gain sympathy in the senate and become elected chancellor or head of state.

Hitler did the same thing. Hitler got his SA to burn down the German parliament buildings and blame it on terrorists to enrage the German people and give him special powers as the head of state. He too became chancellor. Hitler used that false flag attack to gain control of the senate so he could become a dictator.

Then he got his SA to burn down a German radio station and blame it on Poland to enrage the public and justify his invasion of Poland. The rest is history. I'm not saying the entire Star Wars saga is about Hitler. I'm saying George Lucas took small bits of what Hitler did and wrote about it in an elaborate fictional allegory about how an evil power took over a free people and oppressed them.

Although I agree with Eileen Mohan in that criminals are abusing our sacred Charter of Rights, I also agree with Justin Trudeau. The Charter of Rights is a sacred document we can all be proud of. We should not at any time remove individual rights and freedoms to respond to any emergency be it real or manufactured.

The judges in BC are not enforcing the same federal laws here as they are in Ontario. Ontario has deemed the Hells Angels to be a criminal organization because of their documented criminal activity. There is no reason we can't do the same without throwing away the charter of rights. We need more public accountability not less.

The Patriot Act in the US is far from patriotic. The intrusive security measures at the border are suspicious. The 9/11 terrorists did not enter the US from Canada. They entered the US directly from other countries. In fact, it was the CIA who over ruled the governing body that refused to issue the 9/11 terrorists passports so if anyone needs more security and accountability it's the CIA not Canada.

Oh and Sarah Palin is whacked. Islam is a world religion that is safeguarded under the US Constitution. Too many US extremists are too quick to throw out the Constitution over manufactured emergencies just like Senator Palpatine.

When the Government becomes PIMP

I am told the truth hurts and abuse of sex trade workers does go on in indoor brothels as well. I'm glad to hear the Tories are appealing the Ontario decision. I'm not sure Iggy would. I've already talked about some of my concerns with giving courts power to over ride democratic laws in society. I'll just clarify the concerns with how they specifically relate to the Ontario court's decision to strike down existing anti prostitution laws.

Like every decision there are up sides and down sides. As the decision stated, prostitution itself wasn't illegal in Canada. Some laws were created making some kinds of public prostitution illegal. All anyone has to do is open up a copy of the Georgia Straight or read the personal adds of any newspaper to see that there currently exists a huge tolerance for private prostitution.

It's kind of like the difference between legalizing marijuana and decriminalizing it. Human nature takes a mile when given an inch. If we legalized pot, would that mean we have to offer urine samples at road blocks instead of breath tests because driving under the influence of pot is just as bad as driving under the influence of alcohol. Sometimes things are just better off left alone.

So what's the next step - legalize prostitution completely and tax it? I spoke with one sex trade worker who opposes legalization. Most cities already make people pay for escort licenses. In Kamloops they have to pay $3,000.00 a year for an escort license. Right now the city is the pimp. If we legalized prostitution would these escorts now have to pay income tax? Would that not make escorts a target for laundering drug money?

Many would rightfully argue that the government would be a nicer pimp than the Hells Angels would. Metaphorically speaking of course. Yet if prostitution was legalized that would not get rid of the Hells Angels control and involvement. It didn't in Amsterdam. In Amsterdam the city hall was upset that the Hells Angels used extortion and bully tactics to buy a brothel for far less than what it was worth.

I'm not concerned about what goes on between consenting adults. I am concerned about dealers and pimps who turn someone into an addict then force them to a life of prostitution and abuse. Especially minors. I say abuse because most street prostitutes are abused.

I remember driving around Surrey when my kids were younger and seeing all the prostitutes pretending to be hitchhikers I said I remember back in my day when hitch hikers were really hitch hikers.

Back in the day, things were different. In Vancouver you'd see the classy hooker around Richards. If you were a heterosexual John you had to be careful around Seymour Street as that was referred to as Tranny Alley. Back in the day, enforcers would beat up Johns for abusing or mistreating the ladies. That has certainly changed.

The East Van prostitutes were very different. They were drug addicted beaten and abused. It was really sad to see. No one in their right mind would want to pay money to have sex with them. Since the crack explosion, that's what happened to the Surrey prostitute. The drugs quickly took their toll and what used to be a pretty young girl quickly became a deformed shadow of what that young laddie used to be. They're scary.

That's why I get so upset when I hear court decisions that tell me I must have a safe injection site in my neighbourhood and I must pay for it with my tax doctors. Like hell I do. There isn't enough money for real hospitals and schools so there certainly isn't enough money to buy addicts drugs. No doctor in their right mind would prescribe alcohol for alcoholics yet in essence that is exactly what some are saying.

On another side note, I heard that Judge Walker in California just overturned Prop 8 and has been getting a lot of slack over it. I also heard that he just announced that he is resigning effective December 31 2010. I'm not going to get into the Prop 8 argument. I'm just concerned when a judge starts overstepping their boundaries and starts telling me what to believe and what to spend my tax dollars on.

As a reader has pointed out in my previous post the Notwithstanding Clause of section 33 of the Charter of Rights is well worth examining. I was not aware of that loop hole and am not sure I am comfortable with it. The government can violate the Charter of Rights if it says notwithstanding. I'm not sure that's a good thing. I think the better route would be to make judges publicly accountable by creating a provision were bad judges could be recalled or simply fired.

When courts have too much power

Well we all know that power tends to corrupt and how some say absolute power corrupts absolutely. Well I think the latest decision from an Ontario court is a perfect example of that. Now I know this is going to be controversial because I totally oppose violence against and exploitation of sex trade workers. Yet there are two points to make about this slippery slope.

In BC we have witnessed the other extreme, when courts have too little power to deal with gangs and organized crime. We see the limp noodle effect or the shocking extreme of a judge throwing out good evidence for no real reason. One threw out a case even though the police got a search warrant. They said the judge erred in giving them the search warrant. Another threw out a case because although the police got a search warrant and knocked on the front door before entering, they didn’t knock on the back door as well. I kid you not.

One poor cop was so worried about these wacko judges he got written permission to search a guy’s car. The judge even threw that case out because the cop did a pat down of the suspect which was in violation of his rights. Clearly we see judges in BC that are inept or corrupt. I don’t know why McLean’s ran an article about Quebec being the most corrupt province. Clearly BC is.

OK s here’s the deal. An Ontario court has ruled that anti prostitution laws are “not in accord with the principles of fundamental justice." This decision has completely stepped off the limb into the real of the Twilight zone. It’s one thing to hold a law up to the Constitution or the Charter of Rights. All laws are subject to that higher law but to say a law created by a democratically elected government violates fundamental justice? What the hell is that?

The common term in natural justice. Regardless the term fundamental justice is subjective. Who’s definition? Who holds the golden measuring stick? Would that definition change with each person we poll? A constitution or a Charter of Rights is clearly defined on paper. The subjective concept of fundamental justice as a measuring stick gives judges absolute power over a democratic society and that is not a good thing.

Before we discuss prostitution let’s look at NAFTA. Free trade is fine but giving courts power over elected governments is not a good thing. TILMA is the same idea but more extreme. It is a trade agreement that exists between BC and Alberta that some are trying to extend across the country.

The agreement makes it illegal for any level of government to make a law that would inhibit a Corporation’s ability to make a profit. I kid you not. The implications are frightening. What if the people say they want to create a law that protects the environment?

Say a province has a lot of environmentalists in it’s constituency and says they want to ban off shore drilling or oil sands cultivation within their jurisdiction. TILMA says a Corporation could then sure that government for creating a law that inhibits their ability to make a profit and win. That is absurd. The case isn’t even heard in a court of law it’s heard in some tribunal.

What if a province wants public health care? According to the trade agreement a private corporation could sue the government because public health care inhibits their ability to make a profit. Here we see a trade agreement and a tribunal over ride a democratic society’s rights.

They say prostitution is the oldest profession. What goes on between two consenting adults is really their business. Yet the effects of prostitution and drug addiction can make a serious impact on a community. To say that it is illegal for a community to ban prostitution is as absurd as saying it is illegal for a community to ban crack houses. Yet that is clearly what some lobbyists are trying to do.

I don’t think this would help reduce violence against sex trade workers any more than legalizing crack would see a reduction in organized crime. It would only make it more prevalent and much harder to prosecute.

The point is a democratic society has the right to create just laws to govern that society. Saying a community is legally bound to buy drug addicts needles and drugs is absurd. This law would only benefit organized crime and is the very reason it is being pushed. Upholding individual rights is a good thing. Expanding that to the erroneous claim that it is a human right to commit crime is nonsense.

If a community has democratically chosen to legalize prostitution or crack then that is their choice. Forcing that decision upon a democratic society against their will is lawlessness.

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Just as we thought, extremists are billing this as "emancipation day" also known as anarchy. Yet here's another wacko abusing the Charter of Rights once again. He runs a clothing optional nudist colony and was charged with public nudity when he and two other guys went through a drive through at Wendy's in their car naked. The teller was offended but they didn't care. They said their rights were more important than hers and they are counter suing under the Charter of Rights. They say laws baning public nudity violate a persons charter rights.

This is what I'm talking about. Wackos will take as much as we let them. Giving a judge power to override just laws in a democratic society is absolute lawlessness. It has nothing to do with justice whatsoever. One persons rights don't overrun another persons rights. No doubt the nudist case will be thrown out but imagine what would happen if some wacko judge said he's right. Laws banning public nudity violate his individual rights?

So when the dirty old pervert in a trench coat starts flashing old ladies or little girls, the police can't arrest him. That is insane. So when the three amigos pull up to the drive through at Wendy's naked in their car and start doing the pee wee Herman or when someone decides to go to a movie theatre naked and start doing the pee wee Herman in public, that's ok and if someone is offended by that, that's their problem. Nonsense.

We did have something similar in the Newton Wave pool in Surrey. The pool stopped renting out then pool to a nudist colony for them to use at their leisure so to speak. The nudists sued and said it was discrimination and they won. I'm certainly not swimming in a public pool after they had their orgy in it.

My concern with striking down the prostitution laws is the whole can of worms it opens. Like I said what consenting adults do behind closed doors is their business. But when you have open prostitution and open crack use that wrecks havoc on a community. No wacked out judge has the right to tell me I have to put up with that in my community.

That's the time to change the laws that govern the selection and retention of judges. It's the time we enact legislation that lets us fire bad judges because they clearly have too much power and it has clearly gone to their head. Legalization of prostitution will not stop the exploitation. It will only make in impossible to control.

Regional Police force

In dealing with gang violence there has been debate about the formation of a Regional Police Force since criminals move between police jurisdictions. That certainly makes sense. In fact criminals also move between regions so why not consider a National Police force?

Yeah that’s the ticket. In keeping with the historical framework of Canadian heritage let’s call it the Royal Canadian Mountain Police. Oh right, we already have a national police force.

The debate is contentious since no one wants to give up power. City police are unionized, the RCMP is not. That’s just one factor. I do see benefits in letting police officers from one city being permitted to transfer to another city to avoid burnout. People can only patrol East Van for so long before getting discouraged and frustrated. Yet it’s all problematic.

We need cooperation between the forces and public accountability. We have seen petty politics rise in dealing with investigations that cross policing boundaries. We need to rise above this. We also need to maintain or improve public accountability. I’m still very concerned with RCMP official Richard Barszczewski stopping charges against the Hells Angels from proceeding in Canada.

I’m told the new Solicitor General is an advocate for a Regional Police force. Although problematic it is possible. However, criminals also cross national boundaries and there is no need to merge our police force with other countries. We simply need to cooperate with them.

Likewise, there is no reason city police forces cannot cooperate with each other in the formation of a Regional Gang Task Force like the B.E.U. in Ontario. Creating a Regional Police force will not address the judicial Reform we need in BC where the federal laws are administered differently here than they are in other provinces nor would it force the judges in BC to recognize criminal organization legislation. Talk is indeed cheap and actions still speak louder than words.