Thursday, August 23, 2007

 

Today's CanWest news on yesterday's courtroom developments

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Adjusting our minds to CanWest's concept of news:

It's NEWZ that a Bollywood star is out of jail.

It's NEWZ that abdominal fat is worse for Asians and that a Victoria City Council-person just had a baby.

It's NEWZ that there's way too much long unsightly grass in Vancouver parks but the washrooms are OK.

But according to CanWest it is not news that another milestone in the BC Rail Case was dealt with in Supreme Court yesterday ... therefore, there's no acknowledgement of that milestone or information about Madam Justice Bennett's decision in either Vancouver Sun, The Province or Victoria Times Colonist.

Readers who rely upon CanWest for up-to-date information, therefore, might think that Case No. 23299 taking up 7 pages of Supreme Court listings for appearance on Monday 21 August 2007 just never happened. Blank. Did not compute. The issue is gone ... and besides, as the Sun's Managing Editor said, they "haven't been consuming resources during this heavy holiday season on non-news." But wait ...!

The Province -- CanWest's other Vancouver newspaper -- did send a reporter to B.C. Supreme Court yesterday to cover another case which apparently was big enough or suitable enough to qualify as NEWZ ["Charges stayed against accused in McMynn kidnapping case" after "a short pre-trial conference". See full story at: http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/story.htm]

But as for the pre-trial hearing for Basi Virk Basi BC Rail, we only know -- from doing our own checking of the completed Supreme Court listings online -- that the next milestone event in B.C. Supreme Court is scheduled for 17 September 2007. And that, so far, is all we've found out about yesterday's hearing.

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Noted in passing: There's a worthy article in today's media on Ujjal Dosanjh and the renewed threats he is receiving. For this, however, British Columbians must look to The Globe and Mail, Thursday 23 August 2007. [See update below.]

In looking for B.C. news, one thing tends to lead to another. Check out last week's Business in Vancouver and read up on the Powder Mountain Ski Resort issue. RCMP Inspector DeBruyckere, who heads the Basi-Virk investigation, is working on that case, too, which first erupted in BC Supreme Court about 10 years ago, when then-Premier Vander Zalm was the defendant. Many familiar names in this story but this, too, was NOT NEWZ for quite some time. And will probably be NOT NEWZ even now that it's connected to VANOC issues, either.
- BC Mary

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CanWest apparently is not going to touch the Ujjal Dosanjh story although he's a Vancouver MP and former B.C. Premier. How come?? You decide. Here's the story:


SIKH EXTREMISM
VANCOUVER MP RECEIVES CHILLING THREAT
ROD MICKLEBURGH
The Globe and Mail Section A front - August 23, 2007

VANCOUVER -- The vile message was posted, of all places, on Facebook. While this was new, the sentiments, sadly, were not. Once again, MP Ujjal Dosanjh had been targeted for a threat to his physical safety.

An e-mail sent late last week to the Vancouver MP's Facebook site said that he should be beaten "just like they did before," a chilling reference to the near-fatal beating Mr. Dosanjh received in 1985 after speaking out against violence within the Sikh community.

It was the second reference to violence against the federal Liberals' foreign affairs critic and one-time NDP premier in recent months.

An editorial in an Ontario Sikh newspaper last May referred to the brutal attack on Mr. Dosanjh as a time when "some guru's loved one beat him well" and left it as an open question for readers to decide whether the beating was deserved or not.

Yesterday, an undeterred Mr. Dosanjh said the time has come for politicians of all stripes to wake up to the dangers such threats pose to the fabric of free speech in the country.

"We like to believe these things can't happen in Canada. That's naive. They can happen here," Mr. Dosanjh said.

"I've never been afraid in my life and I don't intend to be afraid. But the fact is, there are always dangers lurking out there and people need to speak out. We can't allow these hate-mongers to stifle the free expression of those they don't agree with."

The most recent threats against Mr. Dosanjh follow his call for police to investigate a huge Sikh parade this spring that featured a float extolling Talwinder Singh Parmar as a martyr.

Mr. Parmar, named in the Air India judgment as ringleader of the 1985 terrorist bombing plot that claimed 331 lives, was subsequently killed by police in India.

The Facebook e-mail that urged Mr. Dosanjh's beating referred to the veteran politician as "the biggest disgrace to the Sikh panth [community].

"It's disgusting to know that a person like you calls themselves a Sikh. ... you support those moderates."

The sender's Facebook site contained pictures of some elderly Sikhs and the Sikh Golden Temple of Amritsar. The sender identified himself as Jag Singh.

Mr. Dosanjh, who has turned both recent threats over to the RCMP, said he is taking the Facebook warning far more seriously than the provocative editorial.

"I hope it is a harmless crank. Nothing would make me happier. But this is a strong threat. More direct. You just never know. One has to be concerned," said Mr. Dosanjh, for years a consistent, outspoken opponent of Sikh extremism.

"The fact that there have been two of these so close together tells me that there is a systematic campaign going on out there to intimidate and silence anyone who has the courage to speak out."
[BC Mary received one such e.mail following Terry Melewski's CBC documentary on Sikh militant extremists.]

In 1998, Surrey, B.C. newspaper publisher Tara Singh Hayer, who wrote numerous scathing editorials against Sikh extremists and their sometimes violent quest for an independent Sikh homeland, was assassinated.

Mr. Hayer's son David, a member of the provincial legislature, joined Mr. Dosanjh yesterday in urging politicians of all parties to begin speaking out more forcefully against groups who support such terrorism.

David Hayer said that he, too, receives threats when he condemns supporters of Sikh violence.

"All politicians have to stand up and say clearly that terrorism is wrong, and societies that promote terrorism are not acceptable," he said. "If we close our minds to it, then these kinds of threats will just continue."

Mr. Dosanjh, 59, said the many threats he has weathered over the years have taken a toll.

"My kids were young in the 1980s when I used to receive dozens of threats. They've grown up with it," he said. "They're always worried about their father, and their father's always worried about them."

But neither the savage beating he received more than 20 years ago, nor the fire-bombing of his office in the 1990s, nor any of the numerous verbal threats have weakened his will to speak his mind.

"I've lived through this stuff for years. If anything, it always makes me more determined to exercise my right to free speech," Mr. Dosanjh said.


http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070824.wnowak0824/BNStory/Front/?page=rss&id=RTGAM.20070824.wnowak0824

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Comments:
Are you keeping us on our toes Mary? Or do you have another source for court dates on the Leg Raids? I notice in your banner that you have entered Sept. 4, 2007.
 
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You're right, anon. Things have been busy, behind the scenes ... and I forgot to do that.

What could be happening behind the scenes, you may well ask. Well, for example, I've just spent 2 hours this morning (as I do every morning) raking through the three big daily newspapers for Basi Virk news or CN/BCRail news, or even the big feature article which the Sun's Managing Editor foretold ... but nope, nothing today.

I'll change that date right nowwww.

Thanks.

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Btw, anon: did you see The Globe and Mail's story on Ujjal Dosanjh?

While searching BC's 3 big CanWest daily newspapers today, it suddenly dawned upon me that it's downright peculiar that

* the life of a Vancouver MP and former premier has been threatened

* that the national newspaper gave it a 1/2 page spread in their front section yesterday,

* but CanWest doesn't seem to think it's news ... not even NEWZ news.

How do you figure that??

I thought more British Columbians should see the G&M story so it's posted ... hope you have some thoughts about such a serious matter.

I mean, for gosh sakes, is B.C. getting to the point where these things are just ... well, ho hum, yawn, nuthin' to worry about folks, just move along ... ?

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http://www.opinion250.com/blog/view/6804/1/quesnel+mayor+asks+how+many+cn+derailments+have+there+been%3f?

This, too, is interesting - more than the gang here at TLR are starting to ask questions.

BTW can anyone tell me who the largest shareholder in CN is these days?
 
Time's up, here's the answer...
Gates puts CN in his toy chest
BRENT JANG

G&M TRANSPORTATION REPORTER

Already the world's richest man, Bill Gates has chugged his way to the top of another list as the largest shareholder in Canadian National Railway Co.In a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the Microsoft Corp. chairman and founder disclosed that he holds nearly 30.91 million CN shares through Cascade Investment LLC, or a 5.8-per-cent stake now worth $1.63-billion.

Feeling any better now?

I reckon Bill will be right on it, eh?

gw
 
Actually Bill's only the world's second richest guy according to the latest ranking. The new richest rich guy is a Mexican telecom magnate who has surpassed ole Bill by a few billion.

Of course I guess all these guys' worth is pretty "volatile" these days as the stock market yoyos up and down.

My son and I eventually plan to hire Bill Gates as our gardener, we will sip mint juleps on the porch as we watch him trim our roses etc.
 
"In looking for B.C. news, one thing tends to lead to another. Check out last week's Business in Vancouver and read up on the Powder Mountain Ski Resort issue. RCMP Inspector DeBruyckere, who heads the Basi-Virk investigation, is working on that case, too,"

I guess DeBruyckere is the go to guy for any case where there MAY be politicians to be ignored as suspects - that takes a special broom for sweeping stuff under a special rug..............
 
Isn't this like the 10th time in the past 3 years that Ujjal has claimed that his life has been threatened?

I can see why some newspapers think that this is no longer NEWz
 
AnonoMouse AT 7:52:

Did you ever consider that you might have watched the same 5th Estate over and over, 10 times.

The Police raided Glen Clark's home in East Van two or three times a day, everyday for weeks, didn't you know? I think that was about a deck built by Italian terrorists or some such wacky scheme.
 
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Anon 7:52, just so you know: BC Mary has had some of these nasty messages, too, right here on this Basi Virk Basi BC Rail web-site. It's nothing to joke about.

I was not so much scared as disgusted. People should never accept threats as normal or, heaven forbid, laughable.

And I believe that Ujjal Dosanjh has been a target for a long time -- ever since the 1980s when he was beaten almost to death for ... well, speaking out against the use of violence to achieve political objectives.

Give the guy credit for that, eh.


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