OCCUPATIONAL WORK EXPOSURES

O.K. this is maybe a stretch for an environmental blog but what the heck here goes. Today's Waterloo Region Record carries the following opinion piece titled "Sick workers aren't forgotten". The author is Janice Martell who is the founder of the McIntyre Powder Project. That project name refers to the powder that was liberally doused over miners in northern Ontario allegedly to protect them from silicosis I think. That lung disease was common among miners due to possibly exposure to asbestos or perhaps another underground compound. Oh heck as you can see I'm not certain which toxic compound it was supposed to protect miners from but it turns out that the McIntyre Powder itself was toxic. I have a personal friend here in Elmira whose father died when my friend was only five years old, courtesy of McIntyre Powder.

June 1 is the annual Injured Workers Day and workers and their families gather both locally and in Toronto at Queen's Park (Ontario legislature). Ms. Martell in her opinion piece is praising Greg Mercer of the Record for his series on local rubber workers in Kitchener-Waterloo and their suffering from occupational diseases. She is also points out that there currently are four known occupational disease clusters in Ontario namely the McIntyre Powder Project, GE Peterborough workers and widows, Victims of Chemical Valley (Sarnia) and Kitchener rubber workers. While neighbours, families, and residents may suffer health and environmental effects from these industries, clearly the workers spending eight hours per day or more in close proximity to the toxins involved suffer horribly. Ms. Martell is sending a rallying cry out to those victimized through no more fault then trying to provide for their families.

MORE POLICE ABUSES OF THE CHARTER OF RIGHTS

The title of this story in the June 1, 2019 Waterloo Region Record is "Supreme Court sides with man over detention in race-tinged case". Essentially police were advised by security guards that a specific address in a Toronto housing complex was a "problem address" regarding concerns about drug trafficking. Toronto police then entered a private backyard and began questioning an Asian man who was talking to four young black men. Without any reasonable cause to enter the private property police arrested the Asian man and he was found to be in possession of drugs and a weapon. He was convicted of those offences and appealed to the Ontario Court of Appeal where he also lost. The Supreme Court of Ontario however said that the Toronto police actions amounted to arbitray detention and a serious violation of the man's rights. His conviction has been overturned.

The basic principle that the Supreme Court upheld is that over-policing of racial minorities in Canada is unconstitutional. When there is no reasonable suspicion of criminal activity police do not have the right to enter either homes or properties without permission or a warrant. They especially are forbidden from doing this in the case of racial minorities unless criminal activity has been ascertained beforehand. For me what is very interesting is that two lower courts got this totally wrong. Not all citizens have the financial means to go to Canada's highest court especially after expensive legal fighting in the lower courts.

NEW PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT BEHIND POLICE INVESTIGATION?

They say a new broom sweeps clean. Well it's about time. Maybe it's not totally about our new provincial government. Maybe Kelly Donovan's book has something to do with the Ontario Civilian Police Commission's (OCPC) appointment of an administrator to oversee the Durham Regional Police while the primary investigation is underway. A preliminary probe of the Durham police and its board by the OCPC did find "potential criminal activity and a crisis in confidence among its leadership." Wow, that is stunning!

Today's Waterloo Region Record has published the following article titled "Watchdog launches investigation into Durham Regional Police leadership." The fact that both the chief and deputy chief along with the entire civilian police board are being investigated, speaks volumes. Kelly Donovan had indicated to the Waterloo Regional Police back in September 2017 that Justice Tulloch had recommended much better training for civilian police boards so that they might better understand their duties, obligations and responsibilities. It is my hope that the OCPC might decide after taking care of the Durham police to look into our very own Waterloo Regional Police. I personally along with other informed citizens have certainly lost confidence in their leadership.

OUR POLICE FORCE IS OUT OF CONTROL - THANK YOU WATERLOO REGIONAL COUNCILLORS & POLICE SERVICES BOARD

The front page article in today's Waterloo Region Record is titled "Former Cambridge woman alleges racial profiling by officer". I do not know anyone involved in this case but even if I assume that in this particular issue our local police force are completely within their legal rights (different from innocent), I have to ask the question "When will the abuse of citizens and residents end?" Over the last decade the stories about improper behaviour by our local police have been unending. These include both assaults and killings of citizens whose greatest "crime" seems to be mental illness and even if some have had small knives or other "weapons" why can a so called professional police force with pepper spray, batons, tasers, training and other less than lethal weapons not subdue them without shooting them multiple times in the torso, essentially guaranteeing death? The police assaults of citizens have even included sexual assaults of female police officers for God's sake.

I suggested in the first paragraph that I would assume that the police officer involved was within his legal rights. I did that for the sake of argument only. This article states that the officer told her that she matched the description of a person they were looking for. The problem is that the woman involved is a woman of colour. The police were looking for a man allegedly involved in a gun incident. No description of the male suspect such as white, brown or black was given. Seems to be one hell of a stretch. Also the fact that four Highway Traffic Act tickets (charges) were issued to her after her vehicle was searched and later the tickets were all withdrawn also seems awfully suspicious. It kind of smells like intimidation or blackmail to me.

It is literally years if not decades past time for our regional councillors and our Waterloo Region Police Services Board to step up and take control back from our police chief and deputy chiefs. These problems have been allowed to fester and grow with little or no supervision or discipline involved of offending officers. Whether it is attitudes, training or both these problems need to be remedied from the top down. To date they've mainly been excused, covered up and or victims paid off by those in charge. It must end.

BIG PHARMA STRIKES AGAIN

A very recent Waterloo Region Record article was published titled "Drug firms promoted opioids despite risks, $1.1 B suit alleges". A class action suit alleges that Canadian drug makers enriched themselves at the expense of patients by deceptively promoting highly addictive opioids that have killed thousands. Some of the firms included in the suit are Apotex, Bristol-Myers, Johnson and Johnson, and the Jean Coutu group.The lawsuit claims that the drug companies were negligent in how they researched, developed and marketed opioids starting in the 1990s. Opiods kill more people in the U.S. than car crashes.

THE MYTH THAT SPEED "CAUSES" ACCIDENTS

It's a similar myth to the one that guns cause murders. News flash: People commit murders and whether the tool used is fists, baseball bats, knives, poison, or whatever the point is the same. Neither cars nor their speed cause car accidents. Extraordinarily rarely it could be a mechanical breakdown including a blown tire that suddenly and immediately renders the car uncontrollable. That is rare but driver inattention or as I like to say HUA (head up ass) is the single major cause of accidents. In our busy world too many people continue to view driving as something to be done on autopilot i.e. I'll automatically react when an emergency occurs versus paying attention in the first place and seeing problems developing ahead of or around you. This takes both driving experience and close attention 100% of the time.

Yes alcohol has been and unfortunately may still be a major factor in accidents. Likely so are cellphones and other distractions. My term HUA is the same as distracted driving. Many drivers simply get bored watching out for potential driving problems. While paying attention will avoid the vast majority of serious issues it is not 100% going to make you impervious to another driver falling asleep or coming across the centre line towards you. It will however give you a split second to attempt avoidance. Not the best scenario.

Yesterday's K-W Record carried a Letter To The Editor titled "The truth about higher speed fine revenues". The fact is that higher speed limits relevant to the vast technical improvements in cars suspension and handling, steering, braking, and safety systems including seatbelts and air bags over the last sixty years should have occurred a long time ago. Of course that would greatly reduce the revenue stream for municipal, regional and provincial budgets. That has been the major impediment. All traffic travelling between 100 and 115 km per hour for example is much safer than traffic travelling between 80 and 115 km per hour with too many drivers feeling that they really don't need to pay such close attention.

JURY SELECTION AND THE DISRESPECTFUL JUDGE

Alan MARSHALL2
Yahoo
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Inbox


JUS-G-MAG-Kitchener Jury (MAG)
To:
Alan Marshall

Apr. 29 at 4:32 p.m.

Good afternoon,



Your request to be deferred from attending the jury selection panel on Tuesday, May 21, 2019 has been granted. You are no longer required to attend on that date. You may be summoned for a later panel. Should you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.











Cathy Sterling – Jury Clerk

Ministry of the Attorney General | Superior Court of Justice

Waterloo Region Courthouse | 85 Frederick Street, Kitchener, ON N2H 0A7

T: (519) 741-3300 ext. 3279 | F: (519) 741-3278

E: kitchenerjury@ontario.ca





For more information about jury duty in Ontario, please visit the

“Jury Duty” section on the Ministry of the Attorney General website:

http://www.attorneygeneral.jus.gov.on.ca/english/courts/jury/







From: Alan Marshall [mailto:agmarshall@rogers.com]
Sent: April-05-19 11:56 AM
To: JUS-G-MAG-Kitchener Jury (MAG)
Subject: My Jury Summons



Dear Ms. Hughes



My name is Alan Marshall and I am a retired pensioner in my seventieth year. While I am competent to drive, since I've been retired I am intelligent enough not to drive during rush hours, if at all possible. Part of the reason is that my wife survived a very serious accident during rush hour on the K-W Expressway a couple of years ago. I live in Elmira, Ontario which also fortunately does not really have much of a rush hour. My personal mobility is negatively affected by arthritis including having received one artificial joint. The second one is likely due within the year. This is the second time in recent years that I have received a jury summons. The last time I attended court for this matter I was treated rudely and dismissively by the dishonourable Robert Reilly. Mr. Reilly recognized me from a civil case that is more than twenty years old and made inferences and subtle comments to the defence and prosecution suggesting that I was not juror material. I was not impressed by that.



I am not carte blanche suggesting that I am incapable of doing my civic duty and potentially being a juror in a trial. What I am strongly suggesting however is that I do not need either my time nor my health and wellness negatively impacted by attending another jury summons in which Mr. Reilly is in charge. I was a self represented litigant (SRL) twenty years ago and his behaviour was outrageous and unethical and the decision he came to was shameful. If I had any money at the time I would have appealed it. As I was a SRL however he knew I could not afford to appeal. With the assistance from a lawyer working pro bono we were able over a period of five years to reduce a libel award from the second highest in Canadian history (after the Church of Scientology ? case) down to zero. Yes zero from Mr. Reilly's award of $604,000. The new settlement was filed with Superior Court in 2004.



Therefore Ms. Hughes I would ask you to please advise me in writing (or e-mail) significantly prior to my attending court on May 21/19 at 9 am. in the morning that I will not be wasting my time nor putting myself at physical risk only to be disrespected yet again by Mr. Reilly.



Thank you very much in advance for your consideration and understanding.



Sincerely Alan Marshall





Juror No. 4592 Panel No. 12