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December 15, 2011

Canada’s most dangerous city: Prince George

Most days, after Doug Leslie is back from work at the molybdenum mine in tiny Fraser Lake, B.C., he sits at his computer and writes a chatty little note to his 15-year-old daughter Loren. It’s a catch-up on the day, and maybe a bleat about those times he pulls the night shift, or about the cold of a northern B.C. winter, or about how quickly days fly by now that he shoulders the destiny Loren has inspired. “Loren, can you do anything about this weather?” he asked her recently. “It’s snowing and I hate winter, it’s cold and damp, and you are not here to warm up the room.” Invariably, he tells Loren how much he misses her, before signing off, “Love Dad.”
The notes grew increasingly plaintive as Nov. 27 approached. The pills weren’t helping him sleep, and the gulf separating father from daughter seemed impossibly wide, although he’d like to believe she reads every one of his messages. “That has been my sanity,” he says of his missives to a daughter who will forever be 15. Nov. 27 was the first anniversary of her murder.

Her alleged killer, 21-year-old Cody Alan Legebokoff, is in custody in nearby Prince George. He faces charges for the first-degree murders of Loren and three other women: Jill Stuchenko and Cynthia Maas, both 35, and Natasha Montgomery, 23.
The murders capped a grim 2010 for Prince George. For the second year in a row, it has the highest—that is to say, worst—score in Maclean’s fourth annual national crime rankings, 114 per cent above the national average. The result is no surprise to RCMP Supt. Eric Stubbs, who heads the detachment there. The year was marked by outbreaks of gang and drug-related crime. Added to that was an uncharacteristic string of nine murders in and around the community of just 74,000 people. Three homicides are alleged to have been committed by Legebokoff that year. Most of the rest are accounted for by organized crime and the drug trade, says Stubbs.
The rankings are based on our analysis of Statistics Canada’s Crime Severity Index (CSI), commissioned by Maclean’s to measure criminal activity in Canada’s 100 largest cities and police districts. Overall, the news is good. Canada’s crime score has fallen almost 23 per cent since the year 2000. Even Prince George, after a murderous year, recorded a crime score 11 per cent lower than a decade ago. The severity index is a relatively new tool StatsCan has created. It uses police reports of a broad spectrum of offences to rank their relative seriousness. More weight is allotted to the worst offences, such as murders, robberies and serious assaults, based on the length of the sentences served. Using StatsCan’s tally of seven murders in 2010, Prince George had the highest per-capita murder rate in Canada—486 per cent above the national average. It also tops the overall, violent and non-violent crime score rankings, among the 100 cities.
Maclean’s also tracked crime trends by commissioning a run of six indicator offences: homicide, sexual assault, aggravated assault, robbery, breaking and entering and auto theft. It shows Prince George residents endured far more than their share. The rate of breaking and entering was 89 per cent above the national average, the second highest in Canada. Vehicle theft was 104 per cent above the national average, eighth highest. Robbery: 57 per cent above average, 14th highest. Sexual assault: 84 per cent above average, fourth highest. Only the rate of aggravated assault was below the national average.
Turf wars over the drug trade, and related addiction issues, account for a significant share of the crime, says Stubbs. Prince George draws a large transient population. As well, gangs have shifted some operations to the B.C. Interior after a concerted effort by police in the Lower Mainland to disrupt the organized drug trade. Still, Stubbs says anti-gang initiatives have had a significant impact, and the work of a new Downtown Enforcement Unit has made the central core safer and more welcoming. “It’s an excellent community and a safe community to live in, if you’re not in that world of drugs, alcohol and violence,” Stubbs says.
But it is the four murders allegedly committed over 13 months by Legebokoff that many find inexplicable. The burly, good-looking son of a prosperous, respected family grew up in Fort St. James, outside Prince George. By most accounts, he had an unremarkable upbringing, playing hockey, snowboarding and hunting. Yet, if police allegations are proven in court, he began a killing spree at age 19 with the murder of Stuchenko in October 2009. Three other murders followed the next year. He was arrested the night of Loren’s murder after an alert RCMP member stopped his pickup as he pulled out of a logging road in a remote area northwest of Prince George. Loren’s body was found that night in the woods. Legebokoff was charged with the other three murders after a 10-month RCMP investigation.
Prince George and area has endured much sorrow and crime. It sits on Highway 16, better known as the Highway of Tears. It’s a long stretch of road cutting through resource towns and wilderness between Alberta and Prince Rupert, B.C., on the Pacific coast. Eighteen women, most of them hitchhikers, vanished or were murdered between 1969 and 2006. (Forensics and his age eliminated Legebokoff as a suspect in any of those unsolved cases.)
Sharon Hurd, who works at the Phoenix Transition Society, a local women’s shelter, says the city remains a dangerous place, especially for vulnerable women. “The viciousness of the retaliation by the gangs up here has everybody absolutely terrified,” she says. “I’m not the least bit relieved, I’m just wondering how quickly they’re going to get the next [killer].”
Loren’s parents draw some comfort from the belief that her murder was the “catalyst,” as Doug puts it, leading to her alleged killer’s arrest, and perhaps saving other lives. He has launched the Loren Donn Leslie Foundation to raise awareness about Internet predation (Loren may have met Legebokoff online) and other risks facing young people. The foundation, he says, is his destiny. A vigil and fundraiser was held on the anniversary of her death. “[E]veryone was awesome and things went really well,” he wrote Loren on the foundation website. “You would have loved it.”
Prince George, too, is moving on. For whatever reason—vigilant policing, circumstance, and, Stubbs concedes, some luck—at this time the city hasn’t recorded a single murder in 2011. “I’m knocking on all the wood I can find,” Stubbs said.

Alberta’s future closely linked to Asia, Mar says

Province’s new envoy heads to Hong Kong in January

EDMONTON - Whether through energy, agriculture or investment, the key to Alberta’s economic future lies in growing markets across the Pacific Ocean, the province’s new representative to Asia says.
In his first media conference since being defeated in the Progressive Conservative leadership race, Gary Mar said he will heading to Hong Kong in early January with a mandate to increase exports and investment in the province.
“This is a tremendous opportunity for Alberta, but I will say there is great competition. Albertans are not the first to recognize the importance of this marketplace,” he told reporters Wednesday.
“Other jurisdictions, countries and states are also interested in working in this area, which emphasizes the need for us to have a strong and co-ordinated approach.”
The Asia representative is a newly created position by the provincial government. Mar, who previously served three years as Alberta’s envoy to Washington, will oversee the province’s six Asian offices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Taipei, Tokyo and Seoul. He said he will also spend time in other Asian regions, such as India.
Opposition parties have criticized the fact that no other candidates were considered for the job, which will pay Mar a salary of $265,000.
Mar, 49, said one of his greatest challenges will be to increase awareness of Alberta and its various products throughout Asia. As an example, he said he recently met with officials from the Alberta Livestock and Meat Agency, who are interested in exporting beef to China.
“I asked them if they would be interested in buying ham from Yunnan, and they said, ‘Where’s Yunnan?’ And I said, ‘Precisely,’” Mar said. “Just as Canadians are not able to distinguish Yunnan province, where the ham in China is very famous, neither can the Chinese distinguish Alberta from the rest of Canada.
“There is very little understanding of Alberta in Asia overall.”
Mar said the value of Alberta’s exports to Asia last year was approximately $6.5 billion, though it’s also been pegged as high as $8 billion. Regardless, he said Alberta enjoys some advantages in getting a bigger piece of that marketplace, in particular its energy reserves.
He said China is currently the No. 2 consumer of oil in the world and is on track to increase demand as more people buy cars. However, he acknowledged for Alberta to become a large-scale supplier to Asia, the development of new infrastructure such as the controversial Northern Gateway pipeline must become a “national economic priority.”
In the meantime, a pipeline for natural gas to British Columbia ports is in the works, which should help Alberta since Asian prices for that commodity are much higher than in North America, Mar said.
He said there will also be demand for Alberta coal, food and wood, and the province could see increased tourism. In addition, he said he plans to encourage more Asian investment in Alberta industries.
“There is tremendous potential but you have to be there to make that happen.”
Media were informed prior to the news conference that Mar would not answer questions on the PC leadership race, and he stuck to that plan.
“I’ve lived my yesterdays and I’m thinking about my tomorrows,” he said.
The Ralph Klein-era cabinet minister was considered the front-runner for much of the campaign and held a seemingly insurmountable lead after the first ballot, but then watched as Alison Redford squeaked past him on the Oct. 1 second ballot. He has never offered an explanation as to what he thinks happened.
Mar said during the campaign that after three years in Washington he wanted to come home and would run as an MLA regardless of how he fared in the race.
Asked Tuesday why he was now taking another position outside the country, he became emotional, saying he wanted to help ensure Alberta’s economic prosperity for his children.
“It’s with mixed emotions,” he said, choking up. “This province has been my family’s home for over 100 years and I want it to be my family’s home for the next 100 years. By taking on this responsibility I can help make that happen.”

Go Airlines penalised Rs 25,000


Panchkula, December 15
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum-I slapped a fine of Rs 25,000 on Go Airlines for its failure to provide connecting flight from Mumbai to Nagpur to an official of the Punjab Mandi Board.
The district forum comprising president PD Goel and members Rajinder Singh Gill and Madanjit Kaur Sahota also directed the opposite party to refund Rs 18,186 which he and his two colleagues had spent on purchasing air tickets of Indigo Flight and Rs 9,830 for three officials of the board. The forum also directed the opposite party to pay Rs 10,000 as cost of litigation to the complainants.
The complainants submitted that they had booked air tickets for their official tour from Chandigarh to Mumbai for attending the 71st Session of Indian Road Congress as official delegates. They reached the airport on time and got the boarding passes issued. Thereafter, the opposite party announced that the flight was late due to a technical fault and likely to take off at 2 pm. At 1 pm, the opposite party further announced that the flight would take off at 4 pm. They immediately approached the officer-in-charge of the opposite party and requested him to make some alternative arrangement for them to reach Mumbai through some other flight. The officer-in-charge assured them of arranging a connecting flight. But to their utter shock and surprise, when they reached Mumbai, the connecting flight had already been taken off. They averred that they had to purchase fresh air tickets of Indigo Airline for November 12 besides staying at a hotel in Mumbai at their own expenses.
The counsel for the opposite party pleaded that the flight had delayed due to some technical fault, which was beyond the control of the Airlines. The forum observed that the delayed flight had defeated the purpose of the complainants who were to attend the 71st Session of Indian Road Congress at Nagpur.

PIL Against Transport Policy

Approach probe agency, High Court to petitioner
Chandigarh, December 15
The Punjab and Haryana High Court today made it clear that Barrister-at-Law Himmat Singh Shergill could move the investigating agency for action against the Badals in the transport policy case.
Disposing of a petition filed by Shergill alleging manipulation in the transport policy to drive private bus operators towards profits, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Surya Kant asserted: “We decline to entertain this public interest litigation in the present form and deem it appropriate to close the same by grant of liberty to the petitioner to approach the investigating agency for redress of his grievance and, thereafter, to approach the Court if he has any subsisting grievance in the matter".
Going into the reasons behind issuing the directions, the Bench asserted: “We will like to put on record, at the very outset, that we find it difficult to entertain this public interest litigation.
“If respondents number one and two (Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister) have committed any wrong, while in office, which has injured the public exchequer and has benefited their own interests, the petitioner should have taken recourse to the remedy available under the provisions of the Code of Criminal Procedure, rather than approaching the Court by way of this public interest litigation seeking directions for registration of a criminal case and investigation of the same.
“If a criminal act has been occasioned, the affected party or any interested party is expected to approach the investigating agency by filing a FIR, instead of seeking orders from the Court by means of a public interest litigation. The role of the Court in such matters is extremely limited. By way of illustration, persistent refusal by the investigating agency to act in the matter or to carry out an investigation in a fair and proper manner may justify an approach to the Court and its intervention”.
According to the petitioner, such investigation should be in respect of the information available in the news-items published in The Tribune, details of which are available in the writ petition.

’84 anti-Sikh riots: Another witness comes forward against Bachchan

Amritsar, December 15
After various Sikh outfits pointed fingers towards Amitabh Bachchan in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, an "eyewitness" has come forward alleging that the actor had provoked the rioters in the aftermath of assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.
As per a release issued by Gurpatwant S. Pannun, legal adviser to 'Sikhs for Justice', 52-year-old Manjit Singh Saini, originally hailing from Kalu Sarai, Delhi, and at present residing in California, was present in front of the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences on October 31, 1984, when Bachchan allegedly incited a mob to target a Sikh present there.
Pannun said Saini decided to break his silence after Bachchan approached Sri Akal Takht Sahib pleading innocence.

New taxi agreement is good for passengers but cab drivers say bad for them

EDMONTON - A system that, for the past five years, has determined where cab drivers can pick up and drop off passengers is about to change.

When the Leduc-based company, Airport Taxi won the contract to serve the Edmonton International Airport in 2006, its drivers weren't allowed to pick up passengers in Edmonton, and Edmonton cabbies couldn't take an airport fare back.

An agreement reached on Wednesday between City Council and the airport authority will see that the next company to win the contract serving the airport when the current one is up in May, must have a license for its drivers to serve in Edmonton, as well, though.

That means more cabs on city streets, which is a win for passengers, but has a lot of cab drivers up in arms.

"We are issuing 100 new addition licenses for the taxi industry in return for having the Edmonton International Airport available to Edmonton taxi drivers," says Councillor Amarjeet Sohi.

50 of those new licenses will be for regular cab plates, while the other 50 will be for accessible cab plates, which some drivers say there is not enough demand for.

"There's very few people calling handicapped vans. They end up taking regular trips. It becomes totally pointless adding more into what's already congested," says taxi driver Naz Goray.

Drivers who normally service the airport are also upset, saying they're losing their bread and butter.

"The city council look like they giving the people who can't even cover the city of edmonton more job...and taking our job away (sic)," says Airport Taxi driver, Ali Dhorre.

The new cabs are expected to hit city streets this spring. Those selected for the new plates will have 60 days to bring the new cabs into service.

City Council is also looking at one other change: in most major cities around the world, passengers simply flag down a cab to get a ride. Here in Edmonton, though, there are restrictive rules as to where a cab can pick up a fare. City councillors say they want to loosen those rules and will be talking more about how to do it this spring.

Now, retired Army jawans can join paramilitary forcesin India

New Delhi, December 15
Jawans who retire from the armed forces will have the option of joining paramilitary forces such as the CRPF and BSF among others. The Ministry of Home Affairs has agreed to fill 10 per cent of Group ‘B’ posts - up to the level of inspector - in the Central paramilitary forces from ex-servicemen, Defence Minister AK Antony informed the Parliamentary Consultative Committee on Defence today.
Antony told the MPs about opportunities for jawans who retire in their 30s. The move to absorb them in paramilitary forces will allow optimum use of their talent and skills besides reducing the pension bill of the government. can be easily used there.
It will be like a lateral entry into the paramilitary forces. For long, it has been the opinion of the government that jawans retiring from the forces
Antony said that efforts were now being made to persuade public sector undertakings and the private sector to tap this reservoir of talented and disciplined ex-servicemen.
The MPs also wanted to know the status of ‘one rank, one pension’. Other suggestions were that the government should take urgent steps to build a suitable national memorial for martyrs in the national capital and inclusion of MPs in the zila sainik board meetings.
Antony said the issue of setting up of a war memorial in the capital was a long pending one and hoped that the issue may be settled in the near future.
Referring to the issue of ‘one rank, one pension’, Antony said the issue was not a ‘closed chapter’, but it has to be approached in a phased manner.
Antony assured the MPs that the government was taking measures for the all-round welfare of ex-servicemen. He said the health of ex-servicemen and their dependents was a prime concern with the government.
Giving details of the Ex-Servicemen Contributory Health Scheme (ECHS) which has been operating since April 2003, Antony said that presently, the scheme caters to 38 lakh beneficiaries including 12 lakh ex-servicemen and over 26 lakh dependents. During 2010-11, a total of 89 lakh patients attended the polyclinics.

Sibal initiates dialogue with networking sites

New Delhi, December 15
Facing flak for suggesting policing of the internet, Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal today sought to douse the fire by initiating a dialogue with leading social networking firms Google, Facebook and Twitter.
Sibal had said last week that the government would take steps to screen and remove “derogatory” contents from these sites following posting of such comments against Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The Minister on Thusday appeared reconciliatory as he sought suggestions from the representatives of these sites on effective usage of these platforms.
The minister’s comment came a day after representatives from Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Microsoft met him and declined to remove “offensive” content.
The minister last week stressed these firms would have to evolve a mechanism and come back with a solution. At the same time, he made it clear the government did not believe in either directly or indirectly interfering in the freedom of expression.
The minister’s comment led to a controversy over policing the internet. On Thursday, he came out with a statement, saying “the government called for an open dialogue with the social media firms and ask for opinions on how social media and e-governance can empower citizens of this country.”
Striking the reconciliatory mode the minister added, “This discussion and this dialogue are about how the social media can empower government, because under the normal processes of government, there is always a limited dialogue with representatives of society because the means are limited”.
In an apparent effort to bring around the defiant social network sites, the minister said, “But with the social media platforms that are now in place, there is a huge expansion of the space within which the dialogue can take place and therefore, that expansion of space should be used by us as a bridge that will help government to be empowered through the citizens”.
The minister was of the view that the reach of the social media was enormous, but those who use the social media were limited. “So it should not be that the government represents the point of view of a certain section of society,” he said.
Sibal said he asked the social network representatives, “How does the social media use its own platform to ensure that the voice of the marginalised is heard by government, which otherwise sometimes is not heard?”
He added that government wanted a constructive dialogue with these sites which “would help them to empower us when we move forward in our decision-making”.
Sibal sought to ignore the question when asked whether discussion took place with regard to monitoring of defamatory and derogatory content on the internet.