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The only thing which would stop him from killing again would be fear of getting caught. Since he is also described as being very arrogant, he would probably dismiss such a fear.
Let me clarify this, as upon a reread, it doesn't seem clear. Inmates are allowed to pursue simple jobs. Among them are working in the kitchen, in jobs that do not include using knives. Other jobs include mopping floors.
For kitchen jobs, at the local jail, the guys are often put on an assembly line: one guy puts a salt packet on a tray. The next guy puts a pepper packet on the tray. The next guy puts a sugar packet on the tray for coffee. The guy after him puts a Coffee-Mate packet on the tray, again for coffee. The next guy puts a napkin on the tray. And so on and so on. It is mindless and menial, but it earns the inmates some money that they can use at the canteen, and they can talk back and forth during it. "How do you like them Packers?" They're glad of the job, as it's a distraction from the dayroom, which has little more than a checkerboard, old paperback books, today's local newspaper (no Globe and Mail in the local jail) and a TV whose channel cannot be changed unless the officer in the bubble allows it. If he wants to watch "Dr. Phil" and you ask for "Family Feud," well, you're watching "Dr. Phil."
Mopping floors. At the local jail, there is a central corridor (nicknamed "The Mall") that connects every unit (i.e. cellblock), and facilities such as the gym, Admit and Discharge (A&D) unit, medical unit, and so on. To get anywhere, you'll have to travel the Mall, and it is broken up by bubbles (the equivalent of guard towers) and doors that need buzzing through at every bubble. Anyway, an inmate will be assigned to mop the floor of every section of the Mall between bubbles, and when he gets to one end, he just starts over. Again, mindless and menial, but the inmate earns a little money for luxuries from the canteen. And I can assure you, those floors shine!
How do I know this? I've been to the local correctional centre, many times, to meet with clients and to represent them in in-house institutional hearings. Typically, I've had to be "buzzed through" five doors before I can see my client. If I'm not escorted by an officer, I'm followed on CCTV, and A&D buzzes me through when they see that I get to the next door. I must leave my cellphone in the car, and if I had cigarettes and a lighter, they would have to stay in the car too. On occasion, I've had to leave my wallet and car keys with the A&D desk--with whom I have to "book in and out," by the way. My briefcase has been searched--all they ever find is a notepad, a book of crossword and other pencil puzzles (occasionally, I have to wait for my client to be produced, and the puzzles kill time), and an extra pen or two, and maybe a Time magazine. All of which are allowed.
Jail is not a nice place. I'm glad to get out of there in two hours; I shudder to think what it would be like to be in there for two-years-less-a-day.
I cannot comment, as I do not know all the facts. Acajack, can you link to a reputable news source in English (not saying that La Presse is not reputable; it's just that I cannot read it), so I may be able to offer further commentary? Fusion has a point (not including his "goodlooking guy" ), but I'll need more facts first, before I comment. Thanks in advance!
Sorry, can't find much in English which is odd as usually stories like this in Quebec do have at least some English coverage.
Here are the results of my Google searches in English:
Also, as I was searching for information in both English and French, lots of articles popped up from many other countries. It's obvious that the controversy over more lax procedures in terms of sentencing and bail is a phenomenon that is observed in quite a few countries these days. It's not just Canada.
My first thought was to look up the trial decision, but since he pleaded guilty, there would not have been a trial. There would be a hearing transcript of the proceedings on the day he pleaded guilty, but you have to order those, and they cost money. I'm not about to do that for our discussion. Hope you don't mind.
From the sources you did find, I was able to discover the following: that he claims that he had no idea what he was carrying; and that he was in a financial bind, and the payday from this action would have alleviated the pressure. No indication that he had offended before. But I also saw where he was also sentenced to five years in total.
Remember my previous remarks: a sentence is a sentence, so he's being watched and under conditions for five years (the Sword of Damocles analogy works well). Yes, he may have been in jail and in a halfway house for six months, but he still has to serve three-and-a-half years under conditions, and as I mentioned before, if he screws up, off he goes to a federal facility to serve out the remainder. There is a way to shorten the sentence to 1.5 years, but there was no indication that he did, or will, pursue it.
A word about halfway houses: they tend to be run by social service agencies. Most often, the John Howard Society (JHS) for men, and the Elizabeth Fry Society for women. They provide a place to live while transitioning back into the community, a supportive atmosphere with any necessary counselling, and they will comply with court-imposed conditions, such as curfews and a ban on drug and alcohol use, and whatever other condition applies. They may help with finding employment, since they want occupants to find a job of some kind during their stay, and if an occupant can't, the house will find something for that person (kitchen work, mopping floors, etc.). A halfway house is not a free apartment from which occupants can venture forth to do whatever while on parole, in other words. You have to obey the rules, and if you don't, authorities are alerted, and away you go. I've been to a couple of JHS halfway houses, and they are quite pleasant--certainly more pleasant than a jail or a penitentiary, so they provide an incentive to stay in line. However, they are also not averse to calling authorities when necessary, and very secure when they need to be.
All but one victim sustained minor injuries to the upper body and didn’t require medical attention. The 20-year-old victim, who was rendered unconscious and lost a tooth due to the assault, was transported to hospital for treatment.
Quote:
A 22-year-old Winnipeg man is facing charges of three counts of assault and assault causing bodily harm. The suspect was released from custody to appear in court at a later date.
What I wanna know is, where do those Italian mobsters in the GTA eat?
I will go where they go!
Yeh, I need to hit up GTA this summer. I even heard all the good chinese chefs are up there now. NYC chinese is terrible now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
Canada has a very predominantly urban population, so that's at least part of the explanation.
Even though I don't think Canada's cities are particularly overrun buy gangs. But I suppose that people who expect us to have none (due to the placid Canada image) might be surprised that we have some.
My take on gangs in central Canadian cities:
Organized crime in Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto for a long time was dominated by the Italian mafia. They're still around but the police cracked down on them and they've been quieter, at least in terms of violent crime.
Montreal also has criminal biker gangs who were made up of French Canadian Québécois members primarily. They were hit hard in the 90s by dedicated police squads to break them up. They're still around but less powerful.
Montreal has seen an upsurge of Afro-Caribbean gang activity in recent years. Many of the members are of Haitian origin.
Gangs in Toronto and Ottawa were historically Afro-Caribbean mostly (especially Jamaican) but in recent years a lot of the gang crime has involved young men with origins in the "Horn of Africa", ie Somalia.
Montreal also had the Dubois Brothers, and the Irish West End Gang
The crime in the media is totally sensationalized and people hear about the news the moment it happens due to the 24h news cycle and the internet. Crime and violent crime has been declining since the early 90s. Big cities in Canada are the safest they ever have been if you look at the numbers. People are just quicker to freak out if it’s youth gangs, understandably cause no one wants their kid to get caught up in that. Still even youth gangs are minuscule here compared to the states. Show someone from any big American city Surrey BC, Montreal North or Scarborough and tell them it’s “the hood” and they’ll laugh in your face.
I was in Montreal just last weekend. I did not see any place I can deem sketchy by an American experience. I went to Kim Fat on the north of the island and continued north to Rte 25. The worst I saw was between Chinatown, and the Old Port. There is a mission there called Old Brewery Mission, and a bunch of addicts/homeless were hanging around it.
Really? In order to know that, you'd have to know the average gang/100k population of countries. So, what is it?
You know, the city of New York has gangs. And you know, Canada has 5x as many people as the city of New York. How does the number of gangs in New York city compare to the number of gangs in Canada? You have no idea, do you? So how can you possibly make any assertions as to whether or not Canada has comparatively 'a lot' of gangs?
PS - Canada ranks about 40th out of about 200 countries in terms of population. In other words, it has more people than most countries. In terms of sheer numbers, it's almost right at the global average for population. So it's not a 'small country population wise'.
If there is any similar sized country with more gangs; I'd say they have too many gangs; way too many. If the are similar sized country with less; I can still say they have a lot of gangs. It depends on how much less. I do not need to be that pedantic and pseudo-intellectual when talking about this topic.
Canada has a high QOL. It does have diversity, but is largely selective immigration. Its wealth parity is much better than America's. It is not like America where there is horrible social stratification with a massive underclass. And America has a lot of gangs, even for a country its size.
If there is any similar sized country with more gangs; I'd say they have too many gangs; way too many. If the are similar sized country with less; I can still say they have a lot of gangs. It depends on how much less. I do not need to be that pedantic and pseudo-intellectual when talking about this topic.
Canada has a high QOL. It does have diversity, but is largely selective immigration. Its wealth parity is much better than America's. It is not like America where there is horrible social stratification with a massive underclass. And America has a lot of gangs, even for a country its size.
It's true, America does have a lot of gangs, presently estimated by FBI to be 33,000 gangs.
I don't know how "gang" is defined, but the Maritimes were pretty tough 50 years ago. Halifax had a reputation of the worst city in Canada for street turf, and Saint John not far behind. Even Moncton, teenage gangs controlled the Riverview bridge. But none of this was at the big-money gang presence involving adult king-pins of today.
In St. John's, police walked the beat unarmed, until the 80s.
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), but I'll need more facts first, before I comment. Thanks in advance!
