St. Mike’s sex assault and Trump impeachment; In The News for Dec. 19

During the wide-ranging interview with The Canadian Press, Trudeau said the epidemic requires a complex set of answers and not simply decriminalizing opioids to undercut a tainted black-market supply, as some jurisdictions have suggested.

The prime minister said his government plans to focus on solutions such as giving doctors more authority to prescribe alternatives to street drugs and creating more supervised consumption sites across the country.

However, opening supervised sites is more difficult in places where people are leery of supplying sterile drug paraphernalia and workers who can respond quickly to overdoses, he said, particularly in provinces headed by “capital-C conservative” governments.

The most recent figures from the Public Health Agency of Canada showed that nearly 14,000 Canadians have been killed by opioids since 2016, a staggering number that Trudeau said makes him want to pull whatever levers are at the government’s disposal.

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Also this …

Three former students of an all-boys Catholic school in Toronto are expected to be sentenced today for their roles in an assault and two sexual assaults on campus.

Court has heard that the three incidents occurred in a locker room at St. Michael’s College School last year.

The three teens pleaded guilty in October to sexual assault with a weapon and assault with a weapon. One of the teens, who recorded the sex assault on his cellphone, also pleaded guilty to making child pornography.

An agreed statement of facts says there were two separate incidents at the private school last fall where boys on one of the school’s football teams pinned down two different victims and sexually assaulted them with a broom handle.

The Crown is seeking a sentence of 12 to 15 months in jail for two teens and 10 to 12 months for the third boy. The lawyers for each teen have asked for two years probation with no jail time.

None of the accused or the victims can be identified due to provisions in the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

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ICYMI (in case you missed it) …

Nanami Ushiroji was walking her dog one chilly day in North Vancouver when she experienced a nightmare she couldn’t have imagined.

Coby, her seven-year-old Doberman mix, stepped on a grate, jumped up and yelped. A few moments later, he was dead — electrocuted by the ground beneath his feet, according to court documents filed earlier this year.

The phenomenon, known as “contact voltage,” is far from unique. It’s caused by a perfect storm of poor conditions and aging equipment, most commonly achieved in miserable weather.

Ushiroji and her partner are now suing the city of North Vancouver, maintenance company Cobra Electric and the utility FortisBC, arguing they all failed in their responsibility to ensure the sidewalk was safe that day in February 2018.

“She’s still traumatized by this. She still cries every time she talks about it. They’re learning to manage their emotions as opposed to being fully recovered,” said Rebeka Breder, who’s representing the couple in court. “Those images would haunt any person with a heart.”

The couple’s statement of claim alleges that several other dogs had been similarly shocked while stepping on that same grate — which was covering a junction box that was allegedly electrified — or on others nearby.

In a statement of defence, FortisBC denies any wrongdoing and refutes that Coby was electrocuted when he stepped on the junction box. Cobra Electric also denies any wrongdoing, saying it was unaware of any incidents involving dogs being shocked in the area and that when it last checked the junction box, it was in good working order.

The city has yet to file a statement of defence and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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What we are watching in the U.S. …

President Donald Trump was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives, becoming only the third American chief executive to be formally charged under the Constitution’s ultimate remedy for high crimes and misdemeanours.

The historic vote split along party lines, much the way it has divided the nation, over a charge that the 45th president abused the power of his office by enlisting a foreign government to investigate a political rival ahead of the 2020 election. The House then approved a second charge, that he obstructed Congress in its investigation.

The articles of impeachment, the political equivalent of an indictment, now go to the Senate for trial. If Trump is acquitted by the Republican-led chamber, as expected, he still would have to run for reelection carrying the enduring stain of impeachment on his purposely disruptive presidency.

“The president is impeached,” Pelosi declared after the vote. She called it “great day for the Constitution of the United States, a sad one for America that the president’s reckless activities necessitated us having to introduce articles of impeachment.”

Trump, who began Wednesday tweeting his anger at the proceedings, pumped his fist before an evening rally in Battle Creek, Michigan, boasting of “tremendous support” in the Republican Party and saying, “By the way it doesn’t feel like I’m being impeached.”

The votes for impeachment were 230-197-1 on the first charge, 229-198-1 on the second.

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What we are watching in the rest of the world …

The United States and India agreed to expand defence, science and technology co-operation as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said impeachment would not distract the Trump administration on national security matters.

Pompeo and Defence Secretary Mark Esper met their Indian counterparts for security talks at the State Department as the House debated impeachment charges against President Donald Trump. The House voted later Wednesday to impeach the president, setting up a Senate trial.

Pompeo said “the noise and silliness” in Washington would not affect the administration’s focus on U.S. national security.

The U.S. and India are each dealing with domestic political crises: the U.S. with impeachment, India with widespread protests and violent clashes in India over a new citizenship law.

“The world should know that despite all the noise, the chaos, the media asking questions that are completely unrelated to the reason we are here today, that the leaders of our two nations are working diligently to protect the American people, to develop a relationship that’s important strategically for the coming decades between the United States and India,” Pompeo said.

“We won’t let the noise and the silliness in Washington, D.C., distract us from that,” he said at a news conference with Esper, Indian Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Dec. 19, 2019.

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

St. Mike’s sex assault and Trump impeachment; In The News for Dec. 19

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