Gunman and daycare worker dead, 53 kids OK in shooting
By The Canadian Press - Friday, April 5, 2013 - 0 Comments
GATINEAU, Que. – Terror-stricken parents and caregivers scrambled to retrieve their children from a…
GATINEAU, Que. – Terror-stricken parents and caregivers scrambled to retrieve their children from a Quebec daycare Friday after a brazen daylight shooting that left two adults dead — violence police say was likely witnessed by some of the kids.
Police in the city of Gatineau, Que., across the river from Parliament Hill, say they safely evacuated 53 children — five of them infants — from the Montessori daycare after responding to a report of shots being been fired.
Two people were found dead at the scene — a man who worked at the daycare and the suspected gunman himself. Gatineau police Chief Mario Harel said it’s likely at least some of the kids witnessed the violence.
Omar Eltalawi rushed to the scene from his nearby home as soon as he heard about the shooting, fearful for his three-year-old daughter, Zain.
“It was horrible,” Eltalawi said as he described the fear of not knowing what was going on inside the two side-by-side homes that house the Racines De Vie Montessori daycare.
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Senator Brazeau goes to court
By Aaron Wherry - Friday, February 8, 2013 at 1:31 PM - 0 Comments
The mob—maybe a dozen cameramen, a half dozen photographers and more than a dozen reporters and producers—had positioned itself in front of the elevators, in vague anticipation that the Senator would at some point soon be emerging from the floor above and walking a short distance to a nearby office where he would be required to deal with the necessary paperwork.
Courtgoers and staff stood around watching the mob as the mob stood around watching the elevators. There was some dispute with the courthouse security over the precise positioning of the mob—something about not blocking a nearby set of doors. Sheets of paper with the rules for the proper placement of an accredited mob were handed out. Negotiations eventually brokered a compromise whereby the mob would be able to maintain a position in view of the elevators without blocking anyone who wished to enter or exit the building.
And then the Senator came from a different direction, toward a different office, and the mob was forced to charge across the lobby to film the back of his head as he spoke to a woman at a kiosk who was seated behind Plexiglas.
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Senator Brazeau out of Conservative caucus
By Aaron Wherry - Thursday, February 7, 2013 at 12:51 PM - 0 Comments
Senator Patrick Brazeau has been ejected from the Conservative caucus, reportedly after an alleged incident of domestic violence. Senator Brazeau is reportedly in jail in Gatineau.
Here is the statement from Conservative Senate leader Marjory LeBreton.
“In light of the serious nature of the events reported today, Senator Brazeau has been removed from the Conservative Caucus. As this is a legal matter, I cannot comment further.”
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In Gatineau, the squeaky wheel gets investigated
By Gabriela Perdomo - Tuesday, January 31, 2012 at 10:40 AM - 0 Comments
A resident files a human rights complaint after city officials dig up his past
The city of Gatineau in Quebec laid out its “statement of values” for immigrants late last year and immediately set off a firestorm of criticism. Among Gatineau’s instructions to immigrants: avoid cooking “smelly foods,” maintain good “personal hygiene” and abstain from bribing. One of those incensed by the guide was Kamal Maghri, a 38-year-old Moroccan immigrant who moved to Canada 11 years ago. But when Maghri sent an email to the city to say he would like to file a complaint, what he got back surprised him. City officials accidentally copied him on an internal exchange that showed they’d dug extensively into his background, calling a local Islamic centre to ask about him and prying into his financial situation.
In the emails, one employee noted Maghri had come to Canada “just before the September 11 attacks” and that he was in debt. “I was shocked. This is racial profiling,” he says. Even more astonishing, he says he later learned that the city official who wrote the email was a “diversity coordinator.” “They [Gatineau City] have people working on diversity and integration of immigrants who don’t even believe in it,” he says. Only after Maghri went to the media did officials apologize to him.
In mid-December, Maghri was contacted by the Montreal-based Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations offering to help file a human rights complaint, which he did in mid-January. The complaint claims discrimination and racial profiling on the part of the city of Gatineau, both based on the values guide and on the email that Maghri read.
At least one expert believes Maghri has a strong case. Jeffrey Reitz, a professor with the Munk School of Global Affairs at the University of Toronto and an immigration expert, says the guide “stereotypes immigrants in a negative way,” portraying them as “a threat” to our society.
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The Commons: Pledging allegiance
By Aaron Wherry - Friday, July 1, 2011 at 1:50 PM - 13 Comments
The royal couple, newish icons of the iconic notion of nobility, descended upon the escalator of the grandly named Museum of Civilization. Behind them came the Governor General and his wife and behind them Immigration Minister Jason Kenney. Below sat 25 candidates for citizenship, waiting to partake of the final formality before they can officially take patriotic pride in Ryan Reynolds’ present reign as the Sexiest Man Alive.The Duke wore navy blue. The Duchess wore white, with red heels and a reasonably elaborate red hat featuring maple leaves. He looked serious and charming and upstanding. She looked the same, but with fabulous hair as well. Continue…
