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Nova Scotia premier reveals plan for probe into Rehtaeh Parsons tragedy amid fresh vigilante threats
Already in damage control over the alleged gang rape of Rehtaeh Parsons, the Nova Scotia government has announced further measures in response to the case amid mounting local and international outrage.
Heavily criticized for initially refusing to review the case, N.S. Premier Darrell Dexter today revealed that Marilyn More, minister responsible for the Advisory Council on the Status of Women, will coordinate the province’s response to the tragic suicide of the 17-year-old girl.
Separate impassioned pleas from Parsons’ parents has led public outrage at the Nova Scotia justice system which decided not to prosecute the four boys accused of gang raping the girl when she was only 15. The school system has also been accused of wiping their hands of the situation and not taking any action.
“Nova Scotia will learn from this terrible tragedy,” More said in a statement. “Right now, it is a time to care and be kind to one another. Nova Scotians have pulled together in tragic times in the past, and they are doing so now. (Facebook)
‘For the love of God do something’: Rehtaeh Parsons’ father issues emotional call to action after daughter killed by ‘disappointment’
Rehtaeh Parsons’s heart was so big, sometimes it scared her dad.
A defender of the downtrodden, Parsons was quick to hand out spare change and stand up for neglected animals.
Glen Canning prepared for the worst for his daughter after she was allegedly raped, but hoped he’d never have to face it.
Amid the angry noise generated by thousands of people around the world seeking justice for a Nova Scotia teenager, who was removed from life support on Sunday after attempting suicide a few days earlier, is the voice of a father in agony over the loss of his child.
In a heartbreaking entry posted to his personal website, Canning remembers his daughter and lambasts the justice system he says failed to help her.
“The worst nightmare of my life has just begun. I loved my beautiful baby with all my heart,” Canning writes. “She meant everything to me. I felt her heart beating in my soul from the moment she was born until the moment she died. We were a team. We were best pals.”
Canning explains how he watched his daughter suffer from repeated disappointment.
“My daughter wasn’t bullied to death, she was disappointed to death. Disappointed in people she thought she could trust, her school, and the police,” he writes. (GlenCanning.com)
‘Those are the people that took the life of my beautiful girl’: Mother goes on attack over teen’s suicide
On Sunday night, Rehtaeh Parsons’ family removed her from life support, and on Monday her mother took to Facebook to lash out at those she holds responsible for her 17-year-old daughter’s suicide.
Leah Parsons wrote that the straight-A student’s descent into agony began 15 months ago when she went to an acquaintance’s house in suburban Halifax and was sexually assaulted by four boys her age, who later distributed a photo of the assault among their classmates.
“Rehtaeh is gone today because of the four boys that thought that raping a 15 yr old girl was OK and to distribute a photo to ruin her spirit and reputation would be fun,” she wrote.
“Secondly, all the bullying and messaging and harassment that never let up are also to blame. Lastly, the justice system failed her. Those are the people that took the life of my beautiful girl.” (Facebook)
‘The justice system failed her’: Nova Scotia teenager commits suicide after being raped, bullied: mother
The mother of a 17-year-old Halifax girl who committed suicide says her daughter was raped by four boys about 18 months ago and viciously bullied after a photo of the alleged incident was passed around her school and community.
Rehtaeh Parsons tried to kill herself Thursday night and was taken off life support Sunday.
In an extensive post on a Facebook memorial page, her mother Leah Parsons described how the straight-A high school student became depressed and suicidal after the incident. (Facebook)
The mysterious case of Calgary’s frolicking arrow-shot bunnies
The calls come every year, around the time that the snow melts and Calgary’s plentiful jackrabbit population begins to lose its white winter coat.
Residents around the suburban edges of the city peek outside to see a rabbit nibbling on new grass — a common enough sight. But then, something doesn’t seem quite right: The rabbit is hopping along, healthy as anything, but what’s weird is the arrow — complete with neon tail feathers — piercing the creature clean through.
A spokesperson for the Calgary Humane Society said the organization gets about 10 calls like this per year. Police, fish and wildlife or humane officers are dispatched, but more often than not, the bunny is gone before they get to the scene. So far this spring, two targeted rabbits have been caught alive. One survived surgery. The other died.
“I think what it comes down to is that people are just tired of the bunnies. That’s probably what we’re finding, that in certain areas they certainly are a nuisance.
“But to take care of it in this type of a manner is definitely not right,” said Steve Adair, a detective with the Calgary Police Service.(Jonathon Kettler for Postmedia News)
Homophobic insults force gay restaurant owners in small Manitoba town to close up shop
A pair of gay restaurateurs is closing up shop in Morris, Man., saying they are sick of being the target of anti-gay slurs. Pots N Hands, which advertises “home cooked meals,” opened in the community of 1,700 70 kilometres south of Winnipeg just four months ago.
Ever since, alleges owner Dave Claringbould, he and his partner have been assailed by homophobic slurs, such as a customer asking if his plate of food was diseased.
“They should get the hell out of here. I don’t really like them — the service and who they are,” resident Aaron Kleinsasse told the Winnipeg Free Press this week.
Since word of the verbal attacks first became public, other locals have tried to bolster the new business by eating there or sending messages of support. But Claringbould says he has experienced homophobia in a small town before and knows some people will never change their attitudes. (Trevor Hagan / The Canadian Press)
There’s a ‘little’ slice of Canada nestled deep in Minnesota
Founded by a French Canadian who wandered just a little too far south, the Minnesota town of Little Canada was born in 1844 – a full two decades before Canadian Confederation. It was called “New Canada” then, when Benjamin Gervais decided to settle the area, now a suburb of St. Paul. The town of 10,000 still proudly displays a red maple leaf and a fleur de lis as its symbol. The Post’s Jen Gerson spoke Tuesday to Little Canada town councillor Michael McGraw.
Dressed to impress, Canada curling fans cheer during an evening draw at the World Men’s Curling Championship in Victoria, B.C. Tuesday, April 2, 2013. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
‘Spectacular’ 1,000 kilometre-long crack rips across ice in Canada’s Beaufort Sea
The ice in Canada’s western Arctic ripped open in a massive “fracturing event” this spring that spread like a wave across 1,000 kilometres of the Beaufort Sea.
Huge leads of water – some more than 500 kilometres long and as much as 70 kilometres across – opened up from Alaska to Canada’s Arctic islands as the massive ice sheet cracked as it was pushed around by strong winds and currents.
“It took just seven days for the fractures to progress across the entire area from west to east,” said Trudy Wohlleben, senior ice forecaster at the Canadian Ice Service.
She said it was “spectacular” to watch from Ottawa, where she and her colleagues track the ice with satellites. (NASA)
Missile train spotted on Vancouver Island turns out to be Godzilla movie prop
Residents along a disused Vancouver Island rail spur may have been justifiably spooked by the sudden appearance of a weapons train loaded down with U.S. ballistic missiles several days ago — although the train was nothing more than a movie prop for a big-budget reboot of Godzilla.
“Yes, those are large US Ballistic Missiles headed for CFB Nanoose,” read a March 21 email being passed around in Victoria by an aloof bystander, alongside a photo of backed-up highway traffic waiting for the train to pass.
By “CFB Nanoose,” the author is referring to Canadian Forces Maritime Experimental and Test Ranges, a military facility located at nearby Nanoose Bay used for testing unarmed torpedoes.
Nevertheless, despite the missile’s “USAF” markings and faux armed escort, the missiles were simply set pieces for the first shots of the film, which stars Aaron Johnson and is set for release in May, 2014.
Nasty neighbour note didn’t stop Nova Scotia family from embracing ‘tacky’ Easter decor
Lori Perron was intrigued. A trip to the community post office box not far from her Peachtree Hill home in Halifax, N.S., typically yields a stack of bills, some coupons, junk mail and nothing more.
But on March 4 there was something more. Tucked amid the standard correspondence was a plain white envelope with “Home owner” typed across the front.
“I thought we must have won something,” Ms. Perron says. “It is pretty exciting whenever you get something in the mail that isn’t a bill.”
The excitement, alas, was fleeting, and it vanished altogether after the 45-year-old stay-at-home mom sat down on her front porch to read the envelope’s contents, a letter consisting of three sentences.
“Dear Home owners,” it reads.
“Before Easter comes the community asks that you do not demoralize our subdivision and street with yet again your very tacky decorations. Halloween and Christmas was enough.
“Perhaps you should consider that this area is a step above you.” The letter was signed: “A Concerned Neighbour.” (Devaan Ingraham for the National Post)
Voices from the backbench: Some MP opinions that their political parties don’t want you to know
With some Conservative backbenchers expressing concern that their opinions on abortion and other issues are being muzzled by the Prime Minister, the National Postp‘s Steve Murray looks at some other opinions MPs might have that go against their party lines
We stand on guard for… Iceland: Canada takes its turn defending only NATO country without an army
With no air force of its own, for the next five weeks the only thing guarding Iceland from air invasion will be a sextet of Canadian fighter planes.
In mid-March, six CF-18s and more than 160 Canadian Forces personnel bunked down at a Cold War-era base just outside Reykjavik to kick off Operation Ignition, a periodic mission in which Canada takes its turn defending the island nation, which is the only NATO member without a single soldier or pilot on the payroll.
Canadians will monitor radar, escort “unauthorized” aircraft out of Icelandic airspace and practice scrambling jets to “intercept and identify unknown airborne objects,” according to a statement by the Department of National Defense. (Cpl Pierre Habib/DND)
Prime Minister Stephen Harper welcomed temporary legal immigrants, pandas Er Shun and Da Mao, as the arrived via FedEx to Toronto on Monday. Harper officially signed for the pandas, making us wonder, “What other deliveries does he sign for?” Steve Murray has a few ideas.
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What’s the taste of spring beer? In Canada this year, it’s maple syrup Whether in a porter, a Belgian ale or a smoked beechwood malt beer, maple syrup is finding its way out of the sugar shack and into the mash tun this spring. Jason Rehel examines the trend in the latest instalment of The Beer Frontier.[Photo credit: Jason Rehel]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/c3c2a35c43db2a4de3f63e7e6b38cea3/tumblr_mk86frzey11s0oiwfo1_1280.jpg)
What’s the taste of spring beer? In Canada this year, it’s maple syrup Whether in a porter, a Belgian ale or a smoked beechwood malt beer, maple syrup is finding its way out of the sugar shack and into the mash tun this spring. Jason Rehel examines the trend in the latest instalment of The Beer Frontier.
[Photo credit: Jason Rehel]
