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Newsstand: April 17, 2015
News you can use: a Canadian teacher convicted of child abuse in Indonesia criticizes the federal government's silence, a pillar in downtown Toronto may be more than it appears, and Bill Blair's last days as police chief are filled with conflict.
In yet another apparent case of the federal government refusing to come to the aid of a citizen in need abroad, Neil Bantleman has spoken out about the government’s silence on his trial and conviction over child abuse charges in Indonesia. In an open letter distributed by his brother, Bantleman said he doesn’t expect the federal government to meddle in another country’s legal process, but that he would appreciate some support. He also reiterated his innocence and said he plans to appeal his conviction. Mohamed Fahmy faces similar silence in Egypt, where he’s awaiting retrial for charges of aiding the Muslim Brotherhood, a banned group in that country. Fahmy was a journalist with Al Jazeera at the time of his and two colleagues’ arrest, and the process was loudly decried as politically motivated. Right now both Fahmy and his lawyers say the only reason he hasn’t been deported home to Canada is the government’s ongoing silence.
It’s Friday, so here’s a fun bit of clickbait for you from the Toronto Star, of all places: is a downtown Toronto pillar actually part of the Stone of Destiny? (Probably not, but also please stop touching it if you’re outside the Hero Burger on Queen and Spadina.)
The last year of Toronto police chief Bill Blair’s 10-year term has been marked by a public battle with the Toronto Police Services Board, the group charged with overseeing the police. A big part of that battle has been Blair’s firmness on the issue of carding—stopping people not suspected of any crime. This process usually involves getting the personal information of those stopped, and officers disproportionately target young black people. The latest scene in this ongoing fight took place yesterday at the final TPSB meeting Blair would attend as chief (his term ends April 25), where Blair delivered a speech directed at board chair Alok Mukherjee asking him to retract statements hinting that Blair has been insubordinate, and claiming the board itself may have knowingly overstepped its legal authority. Blair also insisted that the law was on his side regarding carding, which he has fought to keep in place despite public and board backlash.