OPP Officer Charged For Allegedly Falsifying Traffic Stops

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Another OPP SGT charged, this all around stand up guy, great community leader is suspended with PAY, this officer has his day in court July 13th, Unlike his Victims whom had their trial on the side of the road!
If you think you were unfairly stopped by this officer and have a complaint to make, call (905) 278-6131

Friday May 29, 2009
CityNews.ca Staff
The OPP have arrested and suspended one of their own, after an officer was accused of laying charges against three different drivers for speeding or violating the new street racing law based on false evidence.

One was accused of exceeding the posted limit, while the other two were alleged to have violated the province's street racing law and had their licences suspended and their cars temporarily seized. The OPP Professional Standards Bureau won't say how they came across the accusations but admits all charges against the trio have since been withdrawn.

Insp. Dave Ross won't say what the motive might have been.

The allegations make other stops Sgt. Dennis Mahoney-Bruer may have been involved with suspect as well and a review of all his past cases is underway. Ross tells CityNews.ca that could keep investigators busy for a while - as many as 200 provincial cases and 50 criminal cases are being given a second look.

The 49-year-old cop has been a member of the force for 12 years and is based in Port Credit. His primary patrol area is the QEW and Highway 403.

The accused has been suspended from duty with pay and will appear in a Brampton court on July 13th. He's charged with three counts of breach of trust and one of obstructing justice.

Commissioner Julian Fantino, often cited as a 'cop's cop,' is disappointed by the outcome but says it's vital the public knows he won't stand for anything untoward in the ranks.

"It was important for the OPP to initiate an immediate investigation and a comprehensive review, with the intent to bolster safeguards, to prevent similar situations in the future," he notes in a statement. "I believe that the public trust is a fundamental cornerstone of the OPP and policing."

If you think you were unfairly stopped by this officer and have a complaint to make, call (905) 278-6131.

CityNews

Withdrawn charges can stay on record, court rules

Scary stuff in the POLICE STATE of Ontario


Man says police check with false accusations ruined job prospects

Tracey Tyler
LEGAL AFFAIRS REPORTER

The stigma of being accused of a criminal offence is almost impossible to escape, a Mississauga man learned yesterday when Ontario's highest court ruled police could disseminate information about charges that were laid against him, but later withdrawn.

The man, a former group home operator in his 60s who has never been convicted of a crime, said his employment chances were ruined when Peel police disclosed that eight charges of sexual assault and sexual exploitation were laid against him in 2002 and later withdrawn by the Crown.

In a 3-0 decision yesterday, the Ontario Court of Appeal set aside an injunction issued by a Toronto trial judge two years ago, which restrained police from referring to the withdrawn charges when providing information for background checks conducted for the man's prospective employers.

The ruling has the potential to affect a large number of people. A one-day snapshot from a police database in 2005, obtained by the Star for its Crime and Punishment series last year, revealed the Canadian Police Information Centre had some 500,000 records for people without convictions. They included records for people who were acquitted as well as those whose charges were stayed or withdrawn.

Even if withdrawn charges included in reports from record checks were based on false allegations, a person applying for a job still has an opportunity to explain these circumstances to a would-be employer, said Justices Marc Rosenberg and Kathryn Feldman, who co-authored the court's decision.

But Clayton Ruby, one of the lawyers representing the former group-home operator, said the truth is that employers faced with two or more equally qualified job applicants will not hire the person who was once charged with a crime, even if they are entirely innocent.

"Essentially, it (the court's ruling) condemns people who have had charges withdrawn, innocent people, to second-class status on the employment market," Ruby said.

In an affidavit, his client said the charges were "false and without merit" and he described the group home as his sole source of income. When the charges were withdrawn in 2003, he agreed to enter into a peace bond that temporarily prohibited him from being in the company of anyone younger than 14.

The following year, he applied for work at other group homes and as a counsellor, was required to undergo police checks. He signed forms authorizing Toronto police to conduct a criminal records search, as well as a "vulnerable persons search" – which allowed the force to comb through national and local data banks. Peel police forwarded its information about the withdrawn charges to Toronto.

But in a decision last year, Superior Court Justice William Somers said disclosing information about withdrawn charges was not authorized by statute and seemed to be just a practice or custom, one that had "a basic unfairness" about it.

Although the man signed forms consenting to the search and disclosure of information, the forms didn't specify that withdrawn charges might be included in information and he may well have expected that to remain private, Somers said. The appeal court yesterday, however, accepted Peel police arguments that there were good reasons for believing the man knew information about the withdrawn charges could be disclosed.

After receiving the results of the criminal records search, the man was asked to consent to another search – the "vulnerable persons search" – that would have signalled that information other than a criminal record could be disseminated.

As well, the man kept applying for record checks after having been turned down for jobs. Even if he didn't initially know the withdrawn charges would be mentioned in the police reports, "he certainly knew once he received the reports and once he was turned down for the social work jobs he was applying for."

The Toronto Star

'Bury' new tax, McGuinty told

Why would he bury it, when everybody likes this NEW TAX according to his Finance Minister Dwight Duncan!

Mr Duncan, do the sensible thing and follow Mr. Bryant, Rumor has it that Toronto is looking for a project leader for painting the yellow lines down Jarvis St.



Premier faces pressure from fellow Liberals to embed blended levy in prices next year

May 28, 2009 04:30 AM

Robert Benzie
Queen's Park Bureau Chief

The Liberal government is struggling over whether to bury Premier Dalton McGuinty's new 13 per cent harmonized sales tax in the price tags of goods and services, sources told the Toronto Star.

Insiders say there is mounting pressure on McGuinty to follow the lead of such places as the United Kingdom, where the price tags on items displayed in shops incorporate the retail price and a 15 per cent value-added tax.

The Liberals have had difficulty marketing the tax change, which is designed to be business friendly and enable Ontario to better compete with jurisdictions already boasting harmonized taxes, such as Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.

Some Liberals are urging the premier to embed the HST, which will combine the 8 per cent provincial sales tax and the 5 per cent GST, in prices after it takes effect July 1, 2010.

Proponents of incorporating the tax into price tags argue it would simplify things for consumers and businesses alike so a product or service labelled $10 would actually cost that – rather than $11.30.

A post-budget analysis by the law firm Blakes predicts the HST "will likely have less of a psychological impact on consumers if tax-inclusive pricing is adopted (i.e., if the sticker price is the final sale price)" – a consideration unlikely to be lost on a government that has been scrambling for a way to sell the tax to dubious Ontarians.

A Star-Nanos Research poll published May 16 found 67 per cent of people polled have a negative view of the melded tax compared with 23 per cent who see it as positive and 10 per cent who are unsure.

Other Liberals, however, are concerned "tax-inclusive pricing" would only highlight how much more goods and services are costing after the HST is implemented, which could hurt in the 2011 election.

McGuinty confirmed yesterday that the change is on his radar.

"That's something that's been talked about," the premier said. "It's not something that's been actively considered at this point in time. It wasn't part of our original proposal," he said before pointedly leaving open the possibility of just such a move. "It might end up being there. But what ... I certainly made clear that, whatever we do, we'd want transparency to be there."

When Ottawa in 1991 replaced the manufacturers' tax, which was included in price tags, with the GST, the visibility of the new levy was touted as a benefit.

Despite growing anxiety within the government, the premier and Finance Minister Dwight Duncan are insisting any pricing revamp would have to indicate the amount of HST.

To get around criticism of gouging, two figures could be printed on a price tag: the retail price and the price including the 13 per cent HST.

"What I mean ... by transparency is even if you go shopping ... you'd have the final price right there in front of you like they do in the U.K.," said the premier. "But also we'd want to have made visible in that final price the actual tax that you're paying."

Duncan, who unveiled the melding of the provincial and federal consumption taxes in the March 26 budget, said "people have to see what the harmonized tax will be.

"Both in my view on the price tag and on the receipt," he said, adding "you could have both" prices on a retail product.

Boosters of an all-inclusive price tag also argue a switch to "what-you-see-is-what-you-get" pricing, which would require federal legislation, might force businesses to pass along savings realized after the taxes are streamlined.

Because pricing is a finely honed craft, there would be more of an onus on businesses to keep prices reasonable to remain competitive.

"This lets the marketplace decide. Business costs will be lower, the tax on take-home pay will be lower," one insider said.

The Retail Council of Canada warned Feb. 17 that "practices for the pricing of merchandise must be a business decision, not a government decision, and should not be legislated."

Blakes' report published April 1 said if Ontario adapted an embedded tax, other provinces with harmonized sales taxes would likely follow suit.

The Toronto Star

McGuinty at his finest!!

I just love how our tax dollars get pissed away and Daddy Dalton gets all concerned!

Government concerned by eHealth spending: McGuinty

Premier's concern 'cold comfort' for taxpayers: Runciman

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty admitted his government is concerned with news of nearly $5 million in untendered contracts by newly minted eHealth Ontario and wants to speed up a review of their spending practices.

In the face of sharp criticism from opposition parties at Queen's Park Thursday, McGuinty responded, "This is a concern to us, as well."

"There are some facts that have been brought to the fore which do not sit easy with us," he added.

CBC News reported Wednesday that eHealth Ontario CEO Sarah Kramer approved about $4.8 million in contracts without opening up the deals to outside bidders during the first four months of the agency's operation.

"This is your appointee, this is your agency. To say that you're concerned is cold comfort, I would think, to taxpayers," interim Progressive Conservative Leader Bob Runciman replied to McGuinty in the legislature.

Late last September, McGuinty announced the creation of eHealth to set up to create a digital record system by 2015 to allow health-care providers to electronically share patient information.

It was formed as a merger of an e-health program at the Ministry of Health and Long-term Care and Smart Systems for Health Agency (SSHA), an organization that had come under criticism for spending on consultants and for lacking a strategic plan.

"The very reason that we want to move ahead with an electronic health record system in Ontario is to deliver better health care by finding greater efficiencies and being more respectful of the Ontario taxpayer dollar," McGuinty said in the legislature.

Workers fired for challenging procurement: sources
New information also surfaced Thursday that nine senior eHealth employees — including the acting director of procurement and chief legal counsel — were fired between December and March. Sources told CBC News that some of them had challenged the agency's tendering practices.

Kramer denied the allegations, saying workers were let go due to skill-based reasons and said the agency has encouraged its workers to express any concerns they have.

The eHealth CEO has defended the agency's procurement policy as justified because of the rapid transition process from SSHA to eHealth.

"We needed to turn a big ship around very quickly. If you don't turn a big ship around quickly, it'll be 2015 and we'll be floating out to sea," Kramer said.

She wouldn't speak to specifics about questions raised about bills obtained by CBC News showing an executive assistant hired for $213 per hour, or about $1,700 a day.

Ontario's auditor general is currently investigating spending at eHealth and its predecessor, SSHA, with plans to unveil his findings in a December annual report.

But McGuinty said he welcomes recommendations "sooner rather than later" from the auditor general.

Documents show Kramer earns a base salary of $380,000 and received a $114,000 bonus in March, about five months after her start date.

The next month, Kramer announced in a memo that the company was cutting back on employee bonuses.

Kramer's expenditures also came under scrutiny in April when opposition members complained she spent $51,500 on office furniture.

Documents also raised concerns about two of eHealth's consultants who are listed as senior vice-presidents and commute to Toronto on a regular basis from their homes in Alberta, at a cost of $1.5 million a year for flights, accommodation and per diems.

Another consultant, who charged $300 an hour, billed the agency for reading a New York Times article, reviewing Kramer's holiday voicemail greeting and a debriefing that took place during a chat on the Toronto subway system.

Asked whether Kramer got value for some of the questioned expenses, she replied, "I do think I got value for money and the way I know is everything that we wanted to get done got done on time, on budget, and in many cases much better than we hoped could be done."

cbcnews.ca

Oldie but a Goodie !

Do street racing laws actually violate the Charter of Rights?

Written by Michael Friscolanti for Macleans.ca on Thursday, April 30, 2009


If nothing else, Ontario’s new “street racing” law has made for some amusing police blotter. There was that heavy-footed firefighter who had his emergency vehicle impounded for seven days (he was off-duty when a North Bay cop clocked him at 70 km/h over the limit). Another driver nabbed in the same part of the province also lost his wheels for a week—as did the speeding tow truck driver who came to impound the car. And then, of course, there was Antonio Talarico, the 26-year-old who made headlines across the country last month when his Infiniti G35 was spotted tearing down a Toronto highway at a whopping 250 km/h. His first words after being pulled over? “I’m sorry.”

The Ontario Provincial Police certainly isn’t apologizing. Or laughing. The force says the tough new street racing penalties—including possible prison time for anyone caught driving more than 50 km/h over the limit—are doing exactly what they were designed to do: save lives. In 2008, the law’s first full year on the books, fatalities on OPP-patrolled roads plummeted by almost one-third (from 451 to 322), and in the first three months of 2009 there were 17 speed-related deaths, a 29 per cent drop from the same period last year.

But 18 months and 11,000 charges after the law was first introduced, police and prosecutors are revving up for a legal showdown that threatens to quash some of cops’ newfound powers—including the luxury of treating every excessive speeder like a hard-core street racer. One justice of the peace has already ruled that a key section of the law is unconstitutional, and if defence lawyers have their way, the province’s highest court will have to weigh in on a question already being asked in traffic courts across Ontario: do jail sentences for speeders violate the Charter of Rights and Freedoms?

Adopted in September 2007, Section 172 of Ontario’s Highway Traffic Act was created to crack down on the fast and the furious. Anyone caught racing or “stunting” (doing doughnuts in a parking lot, for example, or cruising around town with a passenger in the trunk) will automatically lose his car and his licence for seven days. If convicted, the penalties range from a minimum fine of $2,000 to six months behind bars. At last count, 24 drivers have served at least one night in jail because they thought they were Paul Tracy.

But the “50 over” provision—though widely supported by the public—presents a constitutional conundrum. Nobody is saying that a jail sentence isn’t appropriate for a pair of reckless pals weaving through traffic on their way to an imaginary finish line. But that off-duty fireman driving 70 km/h over the limit? Or a late-night commuter who’s rushing home? Their infraction—plain old speeding—is already covered in the Highway Traffic Act, and the maximum penalty isn’t anywhere near prison. “At 49 km/h over the speed limit, you’re a member of society and you’re welcome to live amongst us,” says Gary Parker, a paralegal who has represented dozens of drivers netted by the new law. “At 50 over, you’re now a monster worthy of jail. It makes absolutely no sense at all.”

Simply put, speeding has always been considered an “absolute liability” offence. Once a person is clocked over the limit, there is basically no possible defence (unless he can prove the radar gun was defective). As a trade-off for such swift justice, the Charter guarantees that anyone who commits an absolute liability offence—i.e., he has no fighting chance to defend himself—can’t be locked away. Yet now, thanks to the new stunt-driving legislation, a form of speeding is suddenly punishable with prison. “It is unconstitutional,” says Brian Starkman, a lawyer who specializes in street-racing cases. “You can’t have an absolute liability offence co-exist with the potential for jail. That is settled in law.”

Starkman, among others, has tried to argue that point in court, hoping to have the “50 over” section scratched from the act. The courts have been unsympathetic—until now. Maclean’s has learned that earlier this month, a man in Burlington who was clocked at 60 km/h over the limit had his charges stayed after a justice of the peace, Barbara Waugh, agreed with the constitutional challenge. “I am the first one to win,” says Gary Lewin, the man’s paralegal. “She ruled that speeding is speeding, it is an absolute liability offence, and that the stunt-driving law breaches the Charter because now you can go to jail.”

Though significant, the decision does not set a precedent. Fellow JPs are free to follow Waugh’s opinion or ignore it. However, two similar cases have already been appealed to a provincial judge, and as the legal arguments creep toward the country’s highest courts, the results may force the Ontario government to raise the checkered flag. “If you’re using a highway as your own personal racetrack, that’s criminal,” Starkman says. “But if all you’re doing is speeding, then you should be charged with speeding

Ex-cop boss stole crime cash

Hamilton Spectator File Photo


Another all around upstanding Police officer in HOT WATER!

May 15, 2009
Paul Morse
The Hamilton Spectator
Former Hamilton police Inspector Rick Wills is charged with stealing crime money destined for public coffers and directly from three in-house operational funds, the OPP said Friday.

Wills, 54, who faces almost four dozen charges of fraud, theft, breach of trust, concealment, breaching court orders and forgery, was released on bail Thursday.

“The investigation is continuing, and there is a chance that further charges are forthcoming,” OPP Detective Inspector Greg Walton said Friday.

Wills, the former commander of the force’s top crime units, including homicide, intelligence and vice and drugs, is accused of pilfering more than $57,000, beginning as far back as 2003, according to a court document outlining the charges.

Wills is alleged to have fraudulently taken more than $46,000 out of a special City of Hamilton account that holds crime cash.

“It’s one fund where all the funds seized by police will go, and how they are dispersed depends on what comes out of the judicial process,” Walton said.

A judge orders crime cash to be either forfeited to public coffers or returned to the original owner, the victim or a lawyer to pay legal fees, Walton said.

Wills had control of that account and is charged with ordering $46,530 worth of cheques made out to eight people, then forging their signatures and depositing the money into his personal bank accounts, Walton said.

According to the court document outlining the charges, the money had already been ordered turned over to the Crown.

Wills is also charged with stealing directly from Hamilton police operational funds he controlled while head of the Investigative Services Division.

“There were some thefts from three funds — the seized property management fund, an informant fund and the Investigative Services Fund,” Walton said.

Provincial police allege that in one case, Wills took $1,000 from the Investigative Services Fund and issued a fraudulent receipt with another Hamilton police officer’s name on it. In another instance, he allegedly did not turn over thousands in cash seized along with drug packaging, lottery gift packs and a large knife in a sheath.

Wills was one of the Hamilton police service’s highest ranking and highest profile officers until his sudden retirement under a cloud last summer.

Hamilton police Chief Brian Mullan would not comment on the specifics of the case Friday.

“We called the OPP to do a job when suspicions were developed,” he said. “The investigation itself was low-key in as much as many people in this organization had no clue it was going on. That was intentional.

“It came to many, no question, as a shock, and I can appreciate that reaction given the history that Rick Wills had with us.”

OPP investigators are asking anyone with information to call the Cayuga detachment at 905-772-3322.

Wills was released on $20,000 bail and returns to court on May 28.

pmorse@thespec.com
905-526-3434

Off-duty officer investigated in road rage incident!

SIU investigates airport assault against taxi driver
Updated: Wed May. 13 2009 17:51:07

ctvottawa.ca

The Special Investigations Unit has been brought in to determine whether charges should be laid against an Ottawa police officer who allegedly assaulted a taxi driver earlier this week.

Sami Aldoboni says the assault happened after a vehicle tried to pass his taxi unsuccessfully on Ottawa's Airport Parkway on Monday.

After that, Aldoboni says the driver followed his cab to the taxi holding area at Ottawa's International Airport where the beating happened.

Police now confirm an off-duty police constable is the suspect in the Monday altercation that put Aldoboni in hospital with three broken bones.

Aldoboni, a computer systems analyst who has driven a cab for the last eight months, says he wants the officer to be charged with assault.

In the meantime, the unidentified officer has been reassigned to desk duty.


With a report from CTV Ottawa's Kate Eggins

Another Cop who could legally steal your car, gets charged!

OPP cop charged in $15-million fraud
Wed, May 13, 2009
By SUN MEDIA

GREAT JOB DALTON

TORONTO - A veteran OPP sergeant is among four people charged after Bombardier was defrauded of more than $15 million.

The officer, a 28-year member of the force assigned to the Toronto detachment, will be appearing in court this morning.

The investigation began in January, 2007 as a result of information received by the OPP Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB) in relation to criminal allegations against the officer, the OPP said in a news release today.

Police allege the officer and a female business associate conspired with two employees of Bombardier Incorporated to defraud the company of in excess of $15 million through fraudulent activity and secret commissions.

The Bombardier employees no longer work for the company, police said.

The investigation relates to three distinct incidents, the OPP said.

OPP Sgt. Pierre Chamberland said the allegations against the officer have nothing to do with his duties as a police officer.

He said the officer and his business associate owned a company together and they were allegedly receiving contracts for aircraft repairs with help from the two Bombardier workers.

"There was also some overcharging and other things going on," Chamberland alleged.

Sgt. Michael Leonard Rutigliano, 49, of Mississauga, is charged with corruptly giving a secret commission, three counts of conspiracy, laundering the proceeds of crime, fraud over $5,000, two counts of obstructing justice and breach of trust by a public officer.

Barry Pierson, 56, of Thornhill, and Maurice Clark, 46, of L’Orignal, Ont., are charged with corruptly receiving a secret commission, conspiracy, laundering proceeds of crime and fraud over $5,000.

Lynda Viola, 46, of Woodbridge, is charged with conspiracy, laundering the proceeds of crime and fraud over $5,000.

Rutigliano, Clark and Pierson are being held in custody pending a bail hearing in Brampton today.

Viola has been released on an undertaking to appear in Brampton court on June 8.

Anyone with information is urged to call the OPP at 1-888-310-1122.

A 'liberal' state of mind

This article speaks volumes about the Liberal party in Ontario

By LORRIE GOLDSTEIN, The Toronto Sun

Last Updated: 10th May 2009, 3:49am

If a gaffe is defined as a politician mistakenly saying what he really thinks, I'd argue Ontario Liberal cabinet minister Michael Bryant committed a huge gaffe last week.

It arose out of a bizarre speech he gave to the Canadian Club on Monday, in which the economic development minister -- a lawyer by training representing a downtown Toronto riding -- waxed enthusiastically about the need for governments to invest billions of taxpayers' dollars into those businesses they deem "winners," as opposed to "losers," on a "company by company" and "industry by industry" basis.

Asked later about Bryant's idea of the state as, to use his phrase, the "uber-entrepreneur," Premier Dalton McGuinty backed away, but only slightly, saying while supporting businesses on a "company by company" basis was extreme, supporting "particular sectors" of the economy was wise public policy. (And indeed, already widely accepted practice .)

But there was another observation Bryant made in passing which received far less attention, but which to me, provided much greater insight into his thinking on this issue.

At first blush, it may seem out of place in a speech by an economic development minister to a largely business audience in Toronto, but, as you'll see below, I don't think it is at all, considering the modern "liberal" political tradition from which Bryant appears to come.

What he said was: "It's preposterous to imagine that government in this century or the last century is not the most impactful institution in our day-to-day lives, outside of the family," as part of his justification for making the state society's "uber" or ultimate entrepreneur. (Which, to an increasing extent, it is, regardless of whether "Liberals" or "Conservatives" are in charge.)

In other words, since, save for the family, the modern liberal state has more impact on individuals (i.e. "in our day-to-day lives") than anything else, it's a logical and just extension of the state's power that it should use public money to pick which businesses succeed and which fail in the marketplace, for the greater social good.

But I'd argue Bryant is actually underselling the activist role of the modern liberal state as he and those who share such views envision it. I'd suggest what they really believe is that the modern liberal state -- guided by wise elites such as themselves -- should take precedence over the family, in the pursuit of what they conceive is the greater social good.

In that sense, Bryant's theory of the modern liberal state as the "uber-entrepreneur" is only part of the equation.

Universal daycare is another -- the state as the "uber" parent.

To understand this aspect of the modern liberal mind (as opposed to classical liberal thinkers who were primarily concerned about the rights of the individual, not the power of the state) we can look to what I suggest is another gaffe by a modern liberal thinker.

That was Scott Reid, then a powerful aide to prime minister Paul Martin, who, in the 2006 federal election, blurted out during a talk show that the problem with Stephen Harper's plan to give parents back a small amount of their own money to help them deal with the costs of raising their own children, was that parents would just -- his words -- "blow" it on "beer and popcorn," compared to the advantage of leaving that money (and perhaps more) with the state, to let it provide for the daycare needs of infant children. (Reid, of course, immediately apologized for his gaffe.)

For those inclined to explore such issues and their implications for society, I highly recommend The Liberal Mind -- The Psychological Causes of Political Madness -- by Dr. Lyle H. Rossiter, Jr., an MD and general and forensic psychiatrist, who has testified as an expert in thousands of American civil and criminal cases.

Rossiter argues modern liberalism leads to political madness, because it seeks to override the individual's psychological need for freedom, in the name of social engineering.

As Rossiter diagnoses it: "This bias is destructive to the ideals of liberty and social order and to the growth of the individual to adult competence.

"Instead of promoting a rational society of competent adults who solve the problems of living through voluntary co-operation, the modern liberal agenda creates an irrational society of child-like adults who depend upon governments to take care of them. In its ongoing efforts to collectivize society's basic economic, social and political processes, the liberal agenda undermines the character traits essential for individual liberty, material security, voluntary co-operation and social order."

Sound like anyone we know?

LORRIE.GOLDSTEIN@SUNMEDIA.CA

Dhalla resigns as critic, vows to fight to clear her name in nanny scandal

It all comes out in the wash for the hypocritical LIBERALS EH


The controversy swirling around Liberal Ruby Dhalla has forced the Toronto-area MP to resign from her critic's portfolio after accusations that she illegally hired and then mistreated two caregivers.

The accusations were made in the Toronto Star.

Two nannies, Magdalene Gordo, 31 and Richelyn Tongson, 37, said they were hired to look after Dhalla's mother but ended up washing cars, cleaning chiropractic offices, even polishing the shoes of Dhalla's brother.

Dhalla says she's giving up her post as the party's multiculturalism critic while she works to clear her name.

Gordo and Tongson claim they earned $250 a week working 12- to 16-hour days at the Dhalla family home in Mississauga, Ont., and that Dhalla seized their passports.

In a statement released to the media, Dhalla says she is giving up her critic's role "in order to focus my attention on clearing my name" and that she will "vigorously" defend her reputation.

"I will work with the appropriate officials to ensure the facts of the matter are clarified and corrected regarding my family's experience with live-in caregivers and will work vigorously to defend my reputation," she wrote in a short statement.

Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff also released a terse statement on Wednesday. In it he said he was looking forward to "a determination of the facts regarding her family's experience with live-in caregivers."

Staying on as MP
Dhalla says she is not stepping down as MP for Brampton-Springdale.

In the House of Commons on Tuesday, Immigration Minister Jason Kenney said he couldn't comment on specific allegations nor would he deign to "politicize the complaints process."

But his assistant, Alykhan Velshi, later circulated to reporters a press release from the Independent Workers Association that called on Ontario's attorney general to investigate Dhalla.

Kenney himself, while saying he didn't know the facts of the Dhalla allegations, was emphatic that holding the passports of foreign caregivers is offside.

"Employers should not be taking their employees' passports and that's the kind of tactic which a lot of, which some caregivers indicate makes them feel that they're especially vulnerable — that if they don't have access to their own travel documents they can be easily exploited," Kenney said outside the Commons.

NDP MP Olivia Chow noted that the allegations range from mistreatment to tax evasion and lack of proper worker documentation.

Chow suggested the police might need to be involved because "if all those allegations are true, then there are three or four laws at least that have been broken, whether it's labour laws or immigration regulations."

Gordo told CBC News she was hired by Dhalla in February 2008, but she didn't last long.

She and Tongson had come to Canada from the Philippines on temporary foreign caregivers visas and were sent to Dhalla's Mississauga home by an agency.

When Gordo arrived she found there was no infant or sick, elderly person to take care of, which is what the federal program is intended for. Her only caregiver job was looking after Dhalla's mother, Tavinder.

Both Gordo and Tongson said Tavinder Dhalla looked fine but she had a foot problem that meant her feet needed to be massaged every evening.

Gordo claimed she never signed a contract with Dhalla, which is required. She also claimed that Dhalla asked for and kept her passport.

She alleged she was forced to work hours that were longer than mandated by the Ontario Ministry of Labour. Finally, after three weeks, Gordo found the conditions so bad she quit.

Gordo recalled a conversation when she asked Dhalla that she pay her for the time Gordo worked.

"She was raising her voice and starting to yell at me, 'And you stay away from me because I'm going to call the police and I have the power to throw you [out of the country] ... And I was tortured because I was so scared. I know exactly that she is powerful," Gordo said.

"She is so rich and powerful and why is she not giving me this couple of hundreds [of dollars] that i earned from seven o'clock in the morning until 11, 12 o'clock in the night. Like, it is so painful."

Spoke out at meeting
Gordo and Tongson's stories came to light after they spoke openly at a meeting which was attended by Ontario Labour Minister Peter Fonseca and provincial Education Minister Kathleen Wynne, about two weeks ago.

The presence of those ministers led to an eruption at Queen's Park on Wednesday.

PC critic Lisa MacLeod told the legislature that Fonseca personally heard claims from the caregivers that their passports were withheld and they were paid $1.56 an hour.

Fonseca wouldn't speak directly to the issue, but said he had heard many stories from caregivers and told the federal government to fix the program that brings in foreign workers as live-in caregivers.

With files from The Canadian Press

Toronto police officer charged with drunk-driving

This is absolutely outrageous and she will still be getting the weekly pay she is entitled to, until she is found GUILTY in a court of law.

By Melissa Leong, National Post
A Toronto police officer with 21 years of service has been charged with drunk driving after she crashed her vehicle on the Don Valley Parkway.

The officer, who was off duty at the time, got into an accident with another vehicle in the northbound lanes of the Don Valley Parkway, south of Eglinton Avenue, at about 5 p.m. yesterday.

Constable Tamara Rodin, 42, has been charged with impaired driving, operating a vehicle with more than 80 milligrams of alcohol in her blood and failing to comply with bail conditions.

Cst. Rodin was previously charged with robbery and disguise with intent after a Markham pharmacy was reportedly robbed of prescription drugs.


She was to appear in a Newmarket court in November for a trial on those charges. A police press release today indicated that she worked in the staff planning and community mobilization unit at police headquarters.




ROB a pharmacy, get caught, get you're day in court............
Blow .08 or more you get you're day in court.............

Blow .05 on the side of the road, and get fucked for years to come and the "DALTON GANG" calls it administrative with NO APPEAL, it's a good thing I don't drink!

New Drinking and Driving Laws from the "Dalton Gang"

The new recession buster from the "DALTON GANG"

What a shocker from Daddy Dalton with new laws for the POLICE STATE OF ONTARIO


As of May 1st, a driver caught with a blood alcohol level between 0.05 and 0.08 — the so-called warn range — will have their licence suspended for three days

WITH NO APPEAL

If caught with a similar level of booze in their system a second time, their licence will be suspended for seven days and the driver will have to attend an alcohol education program.

WITH NO APPEAL

If caught a third time, the driver's licence will be suspended for 30 days, and the motorist will have to complete a remedial alcohol treatment program.
Drivers caught a third time will also have an ignition interlock condition placed on their licence for six months.

WITH NO APPEAL

The roadside licence suspensions CANNOT BE APPEALED and will be recorded on the driver's record.

So much for having your right to a fair trial.
This has to be a good law with the prohibitionists MADD giving full support to the "Dalton Gang"