October 29, 2016
'I want justice:' Victims call for adult sentence in school shooting
Crown prosecutor Lloyd Stang speaks to media in Meadow Lake, Sask., on Friday, October 28, 2016. A teen has admitted to killing four people in a mass shooting at a high school and in a home in northern Saskatchewan. The teen, who can't be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, sat quietly in Meadow Lake court Friday as his lawyer entered guilty pleas to first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of two teachers at the school in La Loche on Jan. 22. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Amber Bracken
MEADOW LAKE, Sask. — People who say their lives changed forever the day a teen took a gun and went to a high school and a home in northern Saskatchewan — killing four and wounding seven — want him punished as a grown man.
A hearing is to be held over two weeks in May and June to determine if the killer, who is now 18 but was 17 at the time of the shooting in the remote Dene community of La Loche, should be sentenced as a youth or an adult.
The young man, wearing a black T-shirt, sat quietly in Meadow Lake court Friday as his lawyer entered guilty pleas to first-degree murder in the deaths of two teachers at the school on Jan. 22.
He pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the deaths of two teenage brothers at a nearby house.
He also pleaded guilty to attempted murder for wounding seven others at the school.
"I want justice to be done for me and my daughter," said Jackie Janvier, after watching the court appearance via video from the courthouse in La Loche.
She lost her only child, 21-year-old Marie Janvier, a teacher's aide who had recently started working at the school.
The mother said she's glad there won't be a trial, but that the only fit sentence for the shooter is life in prison.
The maximum youth term for first-degree murder is 10 years in custody. An adult receives an automatic life sentence and, under a new provision for multiple murders, can receive consecutive periods of parole ineligibility of up to 25 years for each victim.
"Losing my beautiful daughter — my whole body went with her the day that happened," said Janvier.
"My life will never be the same. Never."
No agreed facts about what happened — including a motive — were submitted to the court.
At the time of the shooting, the teen's friends described him as the black sheep of his family and a victim of bullying at school. One person said the teen was often teased about his large ears.
Another student kept a screenshot of a chilling exchange that took place on social media just before the shooting.
"Just killed 2 ppl," said the message. "Bout to shoot ip the school."
Mounties, who responded to panicked calls from staff and students, said the shooter was inside the school for about eight minutes. The building's main doors had been blasted with holes. Some students fled; others hid in fear.
Substitute teacher Charlene Klyne said she was sitting at a desk when a student she recognized came to the window of her classroom door.
He then raised a gun and fired. She saw red.
"Everything burned like I was on fire," said the 56-year-old, who lost her sight and needed surgeries to remove pellets lodged in her upper body.
Klyne remembered the lovely teacher's aide assigned to her that day, Janvier, who ran to her side in tears. Janvier was gunned down when she went to get help, said Klyne.
She never saw the shooter bullied at school, and Klyne said she can't fathom why he pulled the trigger on her and others in the school.
"Him and I never had a disagreement. Why shoot me?" she asked.
"Marie? I don't think she ever had a disagreement with anybody."
Teacher Adam Wood, 35, of Uxbridge, Ont., was also a new teacher who didn't deserve such rage, said Klyne. Wood died of gunshot wounds in hospital.
Shortly after the shooting, officers were called to another crime scene in a nearby home where two brothers — Drayden Fontaine, 13, and Dayne Fontaine, 17 — were found dead.
Klyne believes the shooter had his 18th birthday within a month of the killings and, combined with the magnitude of his crime, is as close to an adult as a criminal can get.
"I hope he never gets out," she said.
Provincial court Judge Janet McIvor called the shooting serious and tragic, and ordered the sentencing be held in La Loche.
"It's very important that his hearing be held in the community where these events happened," she said.
— With files from Chris Purdy
An FBI bombshell lands on Hillary Clinton's clear path to the White House
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton speaks with senior aide Huma Abedin aboard her campaign plane at Westchester County Airport in White Plains, N.Y., Friday, Oct. 28, 2016, before traveling to Iowa for rallies. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)
Hillary Clinton's waltz toward the White House has just been complicated by a bombshell dropped on her path by the FBI — police announced they are examining new emails three months after they cleared her of criminal wrongdoing.
The news jolted markets that have heretofore treated a Clinton victory as a fait accompli. Stock markets, the Mexican peso, and her odds on political gambling sites all dipped slightly upon the early-afternoon news.
The political bomb arrived in a package from FBI director James Comey.
In a letter to Republicans in Congress, Comey said he had been briefed on the existence of other emails just found during an unrelated investigation, and they appeared to be pertinent to the original case. Clinton had been cleared in July of criminally mishandling classified information.
Investigators are now examining the new emails for classified information, Comey said.
''The FBI cannot assess whether or not this material may be significant,'' he wrote. ''I cannot predict how long it will take us to complete this additional work.''
Vague as it was, the news prompted celebration from Republicans.
Cheers erupted at a Donald Trump rally as he arrived on stage and told a New Hampshire crowd: ''I need to open with a very critical breaking news announcement.'' His fans had clearly heard the news already, as they immediately began chanting, ''Lock her up!''
He applauded the FBI for reopening Clinton's case — other Republicans used similar language. The FBI, however, never went that far in its letter. Comey's letter only referred to an examination of new emails.
The Associated Press reported on a surprise source for the discovery: an investigation into the sex messages of disgraced former congressman Anthony Weiner. The agency said police found the emails while investigating reports of his illicit communications with a minor, the latest of his several sexting scandals.
Weiner is the estranged husband of senior Clinton aide Huma Abedin.
Democrats implored the FBI to release more information. They called the vaguely worded, sensitively timed letter deeply unfair, given that it was released without context or explanation less than two weeks before an election.
''We are 11 days out from perhaps the most important national election of our lifetimes,'' Clinton told reporters late Friday.
''The American people deserve to get the full and complete facts immediately. The director himself has said he doesn't know whether the emails referenced in his letter are significant or not... That's why it is incumbent upon the FBI to tell us what they're talking about... Because right now your guess is as good as mine.
''They need to share whatever facts they claim to have, with the American people.''
To Canadians, the phenomenon might smack of deja vu.
In the midst of a federal election a decade ago, the national police force sent a letter to the opposition confirming a criminal investigation into the governing party. In that case, it was the RCMP investigating the Martin Liberals for insider trading.
The letter from Giuliano Zaccardelli proved devastating.
The scandal-plagued Liberals had been leading in the polls, despite being battered by controversies over corruption in federal advertising and insider-trading allegations related to a tax-policy announcement. Within days, they lost about five percentage points, fell into second place, never recovered, and spent 10 years in opposition.
A former aide to Paul Martin said some of his friends Friday immediately noted the similarities. But he said he had another reaction.
Former Martin communications director Scott Reid predicted there won't be the same fallout — for a variety of reasons. They include the state of the race, the lack of any specific accusation against Clinton, and his own view that Comey is less motivated by partisan malice.
''I think the circumstances are different,'' Reid said.
''It's closer to election day (now), she's well in command of the campaign, this is a much less pointed allegation. So I don't see them as exact analogues. And most importantly there's no reason to suspect the head of the FBI is attempting to influence the campaign in a way that would harm Hillary Clinton.''
After the 2006 election, Zaccardelli refused to participate in a review by the RCMP watchdog body, which found that he'd insisted upon adding then-finance minister Ralph Goodale's name to the letter.
Nobody from the governing party was ever charged in the investigation, related to a spike in stock purchases on the eve of the Liberal government announcing a share-boosting tax policy.
One federal employee pleaded guilty to breach of trust, and was fined $14,000.
Ottawa, Nova Scotia announce funding for new Halifax women's shelter
The Bryony House logo
HALIFAX — An aging women's shelter in Nova Scotia will be replaced with a new building through a federal program that will provide up to $3 million to help with construction.
The official announcement for Bryony House was made Friday by federal and provincial officials in Halifax.
The funding comes from money included in the 2016 federal budget for affordable housing to support victims of domestic violence. Nova Scotia's total share of the funding is $5.2 million.
Sharon Skaling, who chairs the Bryony House board, says the replacement is needed for a 24-bed shelter that is the province's largest.
"The house was built in the 1800s," said Skaling. "We don't have what we need now to accommodate the changing needs of the woman who are coming to us, from different cultures and different backgrounds."
Skaling said there is no timetable yet for construction with the home discussing details on design and location with Housing Nova Scotia.
She said under the funding rules the home would have to remain at its current size and offer the same services.
"We can add, but we can't take anything away," Skaling said. "There is lots of stuff we are still working on and it's a fresh start."
The funding allotted to Bryony House means there is about $2.2 million left to assist in the construction or renovation of other shelters and transition homes across the province.
The Nova Scotia Advisory Council on the Status of Women will assist organizations with the formal application process to access the funding. Under the rules the funding commitments through the affordable housing program must be made by March 31, 2018.
Joanne Bernard, the provincial community services minister, said starting with Bryony House, which has the highest rate of occupancy in the province, is the logical thing to do.
"The Bryony House building has been in continual decline that has proven to be near impossible to stay on top of," said Bernard. "The structure has become stressed much like many of the families who live there."
Bernard said there are further needs across the province which the provincial government hopes to address with the remaining money in the federal fund.
She said there is also money from the $700,000 federal shelter enhancement program that the province can use.
"Between those two funds we should be able to meet the needs of what's happening in the communities," Bernard said.
October 28, 2016
First Look: 2018 Volkswagen Atlas
SANTA MONICA, Calif. – Volkswagen‘s all new midsize SUV, officially named “Atlas,” demonstrates two tenets of concept vehicles: First, manufacturers can indeed construct attractive vehicles that stay true to the designers’ original vision; secondly, a whole lot can happen between conception and the eventual birth of the model.
No one knows this better than VW, which for the past year has struggled with a US$15-billion albatross of its own creation — the diesel emissions scandal that not only forced the company to take a humbling look at itself but to halt sales of diesel vehicles and recast plans for diesel and hybrid-diesels in its upcoming cars and SUVs. Where stout, ol’-fashioned diesel was once a viable and growing alternative for consumers kicking tires on hybrid or plug-in cars, the VW emissions-cheating saga effectively killed diesel’s promise in North America, snuffing out whatever appetite existed for the fuel outside commercial use.
That’s partly why we won’t see the promising diesel-hybrid drivetrain touted when the Atlas debuted in 2013 as the CrossBlue concept. Back then, much noise was made about its earth-shattering, 516 lb.-ft. of torque, delivered through the unique marriage of diesel and electricity. With beefy good looks, 37 miles per gallon on the highway and 305 horsepower, the CrossBlue concept was a darling of the 2013 North American International Auto Show. We wanted one immediately.
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2018 Volkswagen Atlas
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2018 Volkswagen Atlas
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2018 Volkswagen Atlas
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2018 Volkswagen Atlas
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2018 Volkswagen Atlas
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2018 Volkswagen Atlas
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2018 Volkswagen Atlas
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2018 Volkswagen Atlas
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2018 Volkswagen Atlas
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2018 Volkswagen Atlas
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2018 Volkswagen Atlas
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2018 Volkswagen Atlas
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2018 Volkswagen Atlas
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2018 Volkswagen Atlas
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2018 Volkswagen Atlas
Handout, Volkswagen
Now, through the percolation of time, public perception and simple economics related to the diesel disaster, VW finally brings us the real thing — the 2018 Atlas, a seven-passenger SUV. And while it may have lost its powerhouse diesel/hybrid powertrain, it remains great looking, giving up nothing in the odyssey from sketch to genuine sheetmetal, sitting low and wide, with a big, Jeep Cherokee-eating grin and an interior the size of an army tent. The front end, in particular, looks almost identical to that concept so many of us fell for four years ago.
Designed primarily for the North American market and with three rows of useable seats — the third row surprisingly accessible — the Atlas will come to __canada in late May as a 2018 model in either front- or all-wheel-drive variants. FWD versions will automatically get the turbocharged 2.0-litre inline-four used in the Golf GTI, but with 238 horsepower. AWD units receive the same 3.6-litre V6 in the Touareg, with 280 horsepower and an expected 266 lb.-ft. of torque. It’s unclear if FWD models will be available with the V6. Either engine will be mated to a new eight-speed automatic with manual mode, but no DSG transmission for now. AWD Atlases will use the same 4Motion full-time Haldex system Volkswagen currently employs in other models, although the Atlas gets a dial that offers selections for all-wheel drive modes.
But the real story of the Atlas is the interior. To be assembled alongside the Passat in Chattanooga, Tennessee, starting in December, the Atlas borrows some control switches from the Passat but gets a new, and very large, touchscreen infotainment screen with incredibly sharp graphics and response times. Like other VW models, trim levels will include a Trendline, Comfortline, Highline and Execline, the latter receiving a new TFT colour instrumentation screen. Other models get the attractive instruments found in the Passat.
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Built on VW’s MQB platform, the Atlas has only slightly less interior space than GMC’s Acadia — putting it at No. 2 for interior space in the segment, says VW, edging out the Ford Explorer, Nissan Pathfinder and the Honda Pilot. That would put it at just under 79 cubic feet behind the first row, and about 40 behind the second. Second- and third-row seats fold completely flat. VW says it has the best forward visibility of any other SUV and is second best behind the Pilot for rear visibility.
A heated steering wheel will be available, as will be a full suite of safety features, including an around-view monitor, blind-spot monitoring, active cruise control, lane-keeping assists and park assist functions. VW also says the Atlas will be “competitively” priced for the segment, meaning it will cost less than a Touareg, but more than a Tiguan.
If that’s the case, expect the Atlas to become a key player in the popular segment.