Want you do, to go to a concert, but just after the supposed start time for ticket sales, all the tickets are gone. You, again, have lucked out. Minutes later these tickets are all available on reseller sites for double the price. It really does sound like a scam. While the US just enacted a federal law, here in Ontario we are just starting the investigation phase. I hope that we can adopt something as strong as the US in order to keep an even keel with bot technology and online shopping safe.
Love Canada, I do. The people are generally very nice, though there are exceptions. In general we treat everyone equally. The air is generally very clean and the streets similarly. We have lots of green space and the kids love playing in our parks. Crime is low and we generally do not have a violence or gun problem. Our political system is very stable. Our legal system is fair and impartial.
Driven by a sense of futility with the Chinese justice system and willing to kill himself and others, motorcycle taxi driver Ji Zhongxing went to the Beijing Airport from his home town of Heze, Shandong Province and tried to blow himself up with a home made bomb. Seemingly a rare occurrence of such cases in China, was this guy just a crackpot that blew his lid, or does this point to a deeper and troubling issue in Chinese society? Let us consider the Chinese perspective.
For me, Toronto’s loss of democracy at the G20 Summit in 2010 has not faded one bit. I have commented on this debacle of an event in 2010 and have kept current with the news and have updated my blog accordingly. So critical is this issue that I will remember it for the upcoming provincial and federal elections. I know Canadians have a very short term memory and that politicians would rather us all forget the past and vote for them in the future, but the complete breakdown of democracy and the brutal beatings by the hands of our once trusted police cannot go unpunished. Justice must be served.
It has been a long time coming, but Chinese fugitive Lai Changxing has finally been deported from Canada. His case took 12 years and went right to the Supreme Court of Canada, the highest court of the land. The twists and turns in this case are numerous. The conclusion of this case is also interesting. The Canadian Consulate in Beijing posted the court results in English on Sina Weibo, a Twitter equivalent in China, but was deleted two days later, presumably not by the original posters. A link was posted to direct readers to the court ruling, and this was also deleted. Here is the court ruling, in full. This court ruling was somewhat difficult to find for me, being inconveniently not indexed by Google. Still I was able to find this Federal Court decision online and in full. The contrast between the Chinese and Canadian legal systems has never been more striking.
Foreign reporters in China have it tough. While they try to stay out of trouble, their very profession puts them in harm’s way. It could be worse: They could be local reporters. The Toronto Star’s Asia Bureau reporter Bill Schiller was detained and interrogated by undercover police in Beijing. He was eventually released. At least they did not beat the crap out of him. They could have, and there would be nothing he could do about it before, during or after. From a Canadian standpoint, being detained by Beijing police was quite illegal, by Chinese law, and should not have occurred. Such incidents with foreign reporters are quite common. The message to Mr. Schiller, from a Chinese government perspective is as follows: You are in China and you play by our rules. You were covering an event that you should not have. We can detain you, search through your things and confiscate whatever we wish. Being a reporter offers you absolutely no protection from the police. You were committing an illegal act and you signed a document admitting this. You admitted guilt, so now we have the legal right to not only detain you but to deport you from China for your crime. We own you.
Blatant as blatant can be at the Toronto G20 Summit in June 2010. Police abuse and brutality, much caught on video or photos. Police use of the crowd control technique called “kettling”, which is not approved nor part of the training of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP). Abuse of the legal system to create a law that was not disclosed to the public and then abused by the police. Numerous cases of abuse of our rights to free speech, as documented by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. Frivolous spending of over $1 billion Canadian taxpayer dollars. Yet at Canada’s federal and Ontario provincial governments, refusal to call a public inquiry. We Canadians deserve much better. These politicians should be removed from office immediately. What more is physical abuse, political manipulation and financial bungling is needed to prompt a public inquiry here in Canada?
Wu Yuren, husband of Canadian Karen Patterson and daughter Hannah
No doubt about it, I am Canadian, and for a short time, I lived in China. Thinking that the Rule of Law in Canada is interpreted the same in China would seem logical but incorrect. Just because there are laws on the books, decreed by the government, similar in both countries, is insufficient to take the Canadian view of law and apply it to the People’s Republic of China. A case in point is Karen Patterson’s Chinese husband, Wu Yuren, who offered moral support for a friend and ended up beaten up and detained, with little access to his family or lawyer. He is still detained. His case is a good lesson to both Chinese and foreigners that China’s legal system works differently from Canada.
For the life of me I could not find the definitions for the various grades of frozen orange juice for Canada. Personal experience has shown me that Canada Grade A frozen orange juice tastes better than Canada Grade C. I searched Google and came up empty. I then got onto the Canada Food Inspection Agency website and sent them a question. Here is their answer as a followup to yesterday’s blog, thanks to Jean-Claude Jura, Ontario Region Manufactured Food, Food Labelling Line: Processed Products Regulations, Schedule I, Table II, Section 27.2.
