45 search results for "court of appeal toronto"

Court nixes Khadr visits alone with sister who likes al-Qaeda

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Omar Khadr will not be permitted to have unsupervised visits with his sister, Zaynab, who is said to live “in the middle east” and has voiced support for al-Qaeda. That was the decision of an Edmonton court Friday even as it loosened bail conditions for the millionaire.  The judge granted Khadr greater access to the Internet as long as he stays away from anything to do with terrorism on the web. Upper left, a new trial has been ordered for Philip Grandine. He was convicted in the death of his pregnant wife Karissa Grandine, who drowned in a bathtub in 2011. The former pastor was having an affair with a parishioner. The Ontario Court of Appeal found the trial judge got befuddled by a question from the jury as to whether Grandine would be guilty if he simply knew his wife was drugged while in a hot bath. The answer opened up an avenue to conviction on terms that were never discussed at the trial. And finally, lower left, York Region school bus driver Ren “Jonathon” Zhang, 52, is in custody after allegedly chasing around after a 14-year-old girl with offers to take pictures of her.

Late Karissa Grandine and husband Philip Grandine
Ren “Jonathon” Zhang, 52
Omar Khadr

POLICE MATTERS REPORTED FRIDAY

 

Citizens must live here to vote says Ontario Appeal Court

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The thorny question question of whether Canadians living permanently abroad have the right to vote has been settled at least for the time being. The Ontario Court of Appeal, the highest in the province, has decided that an absence of five years from the country disqualifies Canadian citizens from voting. In fact, the court requires Canadians to be permanent residents to vote. The long-standing issue originates in Canada’s aggressive immigration policy and the decision of some new Canadians to immediately leave the Canada with no plan to return.  The issue has arisen more than once in recent years when Lebanese-Canadians, some 40,000 of whom live in the middle east, demanded the government fly them home when unrest occurred. This demand caused resentment. The court’s decision was a 2-1 split but the majority found that it was unfair to those who live in Canada to permit those who don’t to make decisions about Canadian laws. Canada’s “social contract” entails citizens submitting to laws because they had a voice in making them through voting, the ruling states. “Permitting all non-resident citizens to vote would allow them to participate in making laws that affect Canadian residents on a daily basis but have little to no practical consequence for their own daily lives,” Justice George Strathy wrote for the majority court. “This would erode the social contract and undermine the legitimacy of the laws.” The case was brought by two Canadian citizens living in the United States — Montreal-born Jamie Duong and Toronto-born Gillian Frank. They argued they had only left for educational and employment opportunities and still had strong attachments to Canada and a stake in its future. Their status and background sets up the contrast between career-driven expats and those who leave Canada to “go home” in effect. Theirs it seems is an attachment to a different culture.  A few Canadians leave the country to live in tax havens  Colin Perkel, Canadian Press

Day Eight of the Crisis at Toronto City Hall

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Thursday was Day Eight of the Rob Ford crisis — eight days since Police Chief Blair’s news conference releasing court documents on the surveillance of the mayor and Alexander Lisi. The day was marked by further appeals and pleadings for Mr. Ford to step down temporarily or to resign.
  • The day began with the Toronto Star  posting a previously unknown  video showing the mayor in a drunken rant. It can be seen here. It is both comic and fearful — full of threats against someone or more than one individual. It has only two possible points of reference. Mr. Ford says “Randy walks…”  Shortly after, as the mayor insists he is going to kill someone, the voice of an unidentified person says by way of warning: “These kids are pros buddy.”
  • Councillor George Mammoliti announced that this video had prompted him to ask the mayor to step down to deal with his problem.
  • The mayor commented on the video but found himself largely at a loss for words. He said he had been inebriated but he did not answer questions about who he was threatening or to whom he was talking.
  •  Finance Minister Flaherty found himself choked up as he tried to deal with the mayor’s situation. Mr. Flaherty is a friend of the family from the time he served in the Mike Harris government with Mr.Ford’s father. 
  • In the afternoon,. Kevin Donovan, the Star reporter who has been in the forefront of the Ford investigation, said the paper had paid $5,000 for the video. Donovan said it had been recorded in the home of a businessman who was a supporter of Mr.Ford”s. But he provided no specifics nor did he name the businessman or the source of the video. 
  • Still later, Stephen LeDrew was invited to the home of Mr. Ford’s mother where he interviewed both Mrs. Ford and her daughter, the mayor’s sister, Kathy Mrs. Ford said of her son “maybe he does need some help in counselling”. She said if he did this he would stay “on the straight and narrow.”  It seemed like a mother’s charitable view of her son.  His sister called the mayor’s associates “sickening”  But they both insisted he did not need “rehabilitation.” Interview
  • Finally, the Toronto Sun saysa former common-law spouse of Kathy Ford who vowed to expose the Ford family to the media was savagely beaten in jail because he was a “bother” to the Toronto mayor, a judge told his sentencing hearing. Justice Paul French said Scott MacIntyre “was viciously attacked and severely beaten” by inmates on March 12, 2012, in a “jail-house justice” episode..  

SCOC denies leave to appeal mayor’s acquittal

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Mayor Ford is finally clear form the fundraising issue that has dogged him since 2010. The Supreme Court of  Canada said today (Thursday, June 20, 2013) it will not give leave to appeal the matter as requested by Toronto lawyer Clayton Ruby. Mr. Ruby was acting on behalf of a client who launched litigation to have the mayor removed from office over $3150 raised for his football foundation. The court’s refusal was anticipated since it would have to have found important public issues in the case that might affect other jurisdictions. If it had granted the appeal the court would have left is deliberations hanging over the 2014 municipal election.  

Mayor Ford wins his appeal to remain in office

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A three-judge panel of Ontario Divisional Court has granted the appeal of Mayor Rob Ford of the lower court judgement which had ordered him from office. Thus Mayor Ford is restored to the office of chief magistrate and will serve out his term to the next election. The court found that Judge Hackland erred in his original decision and that decision is dismissed   The 15-page decision, with no dissent, indicates that there was no conflict of interest because the mayor had no pecuniary interest in the outcome of the council decision. The judges in the appeal were Regional Senior Justice Edward Then, Justice Lynne Leitch, and Justice Katherine Swinton.  CBC

Judges to deliberate on Ford appeal

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Three Divisional Court judges will spend a week or ten days considering their decision on whether Mayor Ford should be re-instated as Toronto’s Chief Magistrate. Key to their finding will a determination of the argument of Ford’s counsel Alan Lenczner that city counsel had no authority to require the Mayor to re-pay some $3,100 he solicited for a kids sports charity using certain resources of his office. The court panel is  comprised of f Regional Senior Justice Edward Then, Justice Lynne Leitch, and Justice Katherine Swinton. CP24

Mayor Ford can stay in office until appeal is heard

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An Ontario judge says Toronto Mayor Rob Ford can remain in office while he appeals a decision that turfs him for breaking conflict-of-interest rules. If not for the “stay” granted by Superior Court Justice Gladys Pardu, the mayor would have had to vacate his seat Dec. 10, as so ordered by Justice Charles Hackland. Now he can remain until a judgement is rendered on his appeal, scheduled for Jan. 7. Speaking to reporters outside his office minutes after the decision came down, Mr. Ford said he was happy with the outcome. National Post 

City sets up “email parking ticket court”

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The City of Toronto has launched a page on the municipal website which explains how drivers may quickly appeal parking tickets. In fact, the appeal may be submitted by email or facsimile. The appeal must come with a valid pay-and-display receipt. Reasons for appeal include tickets that have been issued as a result of a broken or out of service pay-and-display machine or parking meter, pay-and-display receipts that have not been displayed properly, or pay-and-display receipts that were printed incorrectly. Some comment has arisen as to how an out-of-service meter can provide proof of payment but this may another reason to make sure you have your camera handy. A picture can identify a faulty meter. It’s a beginning as they say. Here is a previous post of parking ticket rules.

Ottawa Chief Sloly makes public request for more officers

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Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly has addressed a public appeal to all levels of government for more officers and jurisdictional powers to end the sprawling trucker demonstration that has occupied the capital for more than a week. Sloly, a former deputy chief of the Toronto Police, said many additional police have been placed under his authority from the OPP and RCMP but it is not enough. He said that most of his men have been at work for days without going home.

Sloly says he needs 1,800 more cops and civilians to handle the ongoing convoy protests, representing a massive increase in his police workforce. Sloly said his force can’t handle the demonstrators alone. “They need more help and they need it now,” Sloly told city council during a special meeting Monday. The entire Ottawa Police Service is about 2,100 staff, of which 1,200 are officers. In letters to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Premier Doug Ford and their ministers, Mayor Jim Watson and Coun. Diane Deans, the chair of the police services board, say Ottawa police need 1,000 regular officers, 600 public order officers, 100 investigators and 100 civilian staff to “quell the insurrection that the Ottawa Police Service is not able to contain.” Ottawa Citizen

Judge grants injunction to stop honking horns

An Ottawa judge has granted an interim injunction seeking to silence the honking horns that have plagued residents of downtown Ottawa for the past 11 days. The request for an injunction came out of a proposed class-action lawsuit filed with the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on Friday by lawyer Paul Champ on behalf of his client, Zexi Li.

Karygiannis hoofed from office (again) for $26,000 dinner

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Councillor Jim Karygiannis has been removed from office a second time for overspending public money to contest and celebrate his election victory in 2018. This time it was the Ontario Court of Appeal that overturned a lower court decision that had re-instated the Ward 22 member. Justices were particularly offended by a dinner that featured wine, pasta, racks of lamb and cake for some 50 people. The nearly $26,000 bill was sent to the taxpayers. City of Toronto release

Bathurst postal attack, set me free lover and poppy box perp

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Sought in assault of postal delivery man (mailman)
Shaun Rootenberg
Sindi Ingram

Toronto police are seeking the man at the left for the attack Friday on a postal delivery person in a condo at Lake Shore Blvd and Bathurst St. The mailman was beaten up and robbed of his belongings. The suspect is described as 5’9” and unshaven with dark short hair. He was wearing a black North Face jacket, blue pants and black/white running shoes At the centre is Shaun Rootenberg, 48. He is using an interesting Hail Mary appeal to escape his conviction for defrauding an eHarmony partner out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Mr Rootenberg says that he was strip-searched unnecessarily in prison. “Absent judicial condemnation, this systemic violation will only continue,” Rootenberg argues in his court filings. “(It) is a wide-scale and ongoing constitutional violation that the courts cannot condone,” he has told Ontario Superior Court. Finally, at the right, a minor crime of emotional impact as Peel Regional Police seek Sindi Ingram, 34, of no fixed address, for stealing two poppy boxes.

Will SCOC approve local challenges of provincial cabinets?

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The Supreme Court of Canada will decide whether the rights of Toronto residents and Councillors were violated by the Ford government’s decision to unilaterally reduce the size of Council from 47 down to 25 in the middle of the 2018 election. The Ontario Court of Appeal slammed the door on that notion back in September 2018. It will be fascinating to see if SCOC justices will reopen that portal to a potential flood of municipal challenges to the rule of provincial cabinets. Appeal Court issues stay, Oct. 22 Toronto election on track