#ottawashooting

[polestarphotographyottawa]

💅🏻@polestar photographyottawa 🍻@houseoftarg 📸Photographer: @mandihutchinson 💡Lighting Assistant: @nigelmurrayphotography #ottawashooting #photoshoot #mandihutchinsonphotography #photography #portrait #portraitphotography #bluegel #houseoftarg #barshoot #ottawa #totoro #noface #butterflytattoo #pastel #highlights #braids #forever21 (at House of TARG)

[trendamonium]

6 PEOPLE DEAD IN BARRHAVEN MASS SHOOTING

6 PEOPLE DEAD IN BARRHAVEN MASS SHOOTING 6 people found dead in barrhaven this morning! 4 of which were children.Around 11 pm on March 6th,

[freecityradio]

Surveillance legislation deepening the Conservative authoritarian matrix in Canada

graphic by Eric Drooker

Conservative politicians have moved quickly to fully exploit the shooting incident in Ottawa last October, introducing a series of extremely draconian surveillance measures under the Protection of Canada from Terrorists Act, also known by the less dramatic legislative name, Bill C-44.

Far from being an organized “terrorist attack,” the Ottawa shooting instead speaks to the quickly deteriorating social infrastructure in Canada. A real crisis faces public institutions under the heavy siege of Conservative austerity, like the health care facilities essential to addressing the actual needs of people in our communities, like Michael Zehaf Bibeau, who face mental health and substance abuse struggles. 

As human rights lawyer Yavar Hameed recently wrote, "there is tremendous work to be done to respond to the burgeoning crises in Canadian society — not of terrorism, but of poverty, social alienation and mental health supports for offenders."

Zehaf Bibeau, shot to death inside Parliament Hill, was living in homeless shelters and hostels for an extended period over recent years, clearly not a person involved with any armed organization opposed to the Canadian government, but someone in a desperate situation, a deeply isolated individual in need of support from public health institutions.

Public Safety Minister Steven Blaney’s quick and cynical assertion, strongly backed by the Conservative party and Prime Minister Harper, that the incident was a “terrorist attack,” is clearly a ridiculous and ideologically-driven conclusion. 

Instead of asking real questions about the deepening social crisis of inequality in our society, illustrated by the experiences of Zehaf Bibeau, Conservative politicians have been moving to deepen legislative frameworks of repression and surveillance.

A solid legal critique on Bill C-44, recently published on rabble.ca, clearly outlines some of the repressive elements included in the Conservative’s “Protection of Canada from Terrorists Act” ...

Bill C‑44 amends the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act (CSISA) in two main ways. It authorizes the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) to conduct activities within and outside Canada, whether or not these activities  comply with the laws of any foreign jurisdiction. Secondly, it adds in protection for "human sources" who share information with CSIS. A human source is defined as an individual "who, after having received a promise of confidentiality, has provided, provides or is likely to provide information to [CSIS]."

The bill also amends provisions in the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, allowing the government to revoke the citizenship of dual citizens in certain circumstances, including convictions of terrorism.

The changes to the CSISA in particular reflect recent restrictions introduced by both the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) and the Federal Court of Appeal on the ability of the government to engage in surveillance activities and limit rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the Charter).

...

Bill C‑44 is a systematic attempt by the government to circumvent the limits Canadian courts have placed on its investigative and surveillance powers, through legislative amendments. It expands the powers of CSIS to allow for surveillance activities in Canada and abroad, consequentially allowing CSEC to intercept, or allow other foreign agencies to intercept, telecommunications of Canadian citizens when travelling abroad.

In addition, it requires that CSIS's human sources remain confidential, unless a court orders otherwise. This is despite a clear finding by the SCC in Harkat that this protection was not necessary given the broad powers which prevent public disclosure of harmful information under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

Finally, it explicitly permits Canadian officials to violate international law and the laws of a foreign country by giving the Federal Court the power to issue a warrant authorizing activities that allow CSIS to investigate a security threat, whether or not those activities comply with the laws of the jurisdiction where they are being carried out.

The proposed amendments may ultimately be found to be unconstitutional, but the government has nevertheless capitalized on the court’s suggestion that the principles of international law and the protections of the Charter can be legislated away.

In the rapid parliamentary meetings on Bill C-44, the Conservatives quickly rejected even the minimal changes proposed by opposition politicians, "voting down each and every amendment emanating from the opposition side of the table," according to a CBC report. 

One of the rejected NDP recommendations was a proposal to require "CSIS to get a warrant for any extraterritorial investigation that would require such authorization if conducted in Canada."

Important critiques on this recent legislation have been circulating, indicating the various ways that the Conservatives and by extension government agencies, like the torture complicit CSIS and the NSA linked CSEC, who will move to deeply exploit this bill as a tool for mass surveillance and extrajudicial repression.

It also seems that legal challenges to the repressive bill are in discussion, which is good, however also in parallel there also needs to be protest action based grassroots opposition. Grassroots activism against Bill C-44 can win with time and persistence, as the draconian bill is a blatant attack on collective rights by an authoritarian government exploiting the political shock of a 'crisis' incident, linked to their very own austerity policies. 

Bill C-44 embodies the political injustice essential to the Conservative ideology, that if clearly articulated and contextualized could spark a broader mobilization of public opposition. — Stefan Christoff, Dec. 14, 2014

[lightworker29501]

Russell Brand Criticizes Stephen Harper's Reaction To Ottawa Shooting (VIDEO)

Russell Brand Criticizes Stephen Harper’s Reaction To Ottawa Shooting (VIDEO)

Can you believe that it has already been a month since the Ottawa Shooting? Russell Brand really takes apart the “official story” for the recent Ottawa Shooting. Some of his comments really made me laugh! -LW

(Canadian Press) TORONTO – A British celebrity isn’t wowed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s handling of the aftermath of…

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[colonialbeavershit-blog]

"Western governments have been able to shape and manipulate their citizenries in the name of terrorism...it's the kind of authoritarian dynamic where if you scare the population enough, they will almost demand that the government acquire more power..."

Glenn Greenwald: The Magic Word is "Terrorism"

[04525162]

And this is exactly what happened in the Ottawa shooting. Even before any information about Michael - the shooter was even known AT ALL, witnesses said it must have been an Islamic extremist terrorist attack because he looked 'Arabian' (long hair with scruff), news were already calling it a terrorist attack, speculating it was a 'radical' associated with the governments decision to 'get involved' with the war in the Middle East. But, AFTER information about him was known to the public - that he was a new convert, was white, that he had a history of crime etc. etc. the tables were turned all of a sudden peoples comments changed from a terrorist radical that would burn in hell to sympathy - he suffered mental illness, the system failed him, his upbringing failed him etc. etc.

So, that being said - now who will suffer the consequences for his actions, who will be most affected by what he did - socioculturally, legally, societally etc? will it be white Quebecers? will it be white born or converts? No. Brown and black Muslims will suffer for this - for what he did, for his excuse as a reason to why he wanted to hurt people. What would have happened if Islam was not part of the equation - at all? You probably wouldn't have heard HALF as much as we heard about him, it would have been just a dude that lost it - like that guy in Moncton who NOT ONLY went on a shooting spree targeting ONLY officers - he also KILLED 3 of them - ACTUAL RCMP officers, not just one guy standing ceremonially/symbolically. Did anyone even hear about that guy - it literally happened just a few months ago?  

What happened and what will continue to happen is that Islam and Muslims have become racialized where people now associate 'those dirty terrorist radical Moslums' with brown and black Muslims, NOT whites even if they are Muslims. Even if we all believe in the same religion, we suffer, they don't. We are not seen on the same level societally here, white Muslims have privilege whatever that may be - coming from some White european country or convert - no one associates them with being 'like us' ie. different, foreign, dirty, radical, immoral, sexist, barbaric etc.

[lightworker29501]

In Tuesday’s Sun: enough of the wannabe police, already

In Tuesday’s Sun: enough of the wannabe police, already

Get this: in both of last week’s attacks in Canada, the politicians were announcing the deaths of Patrice Vincent and Nathan Cirillo, and labelling them as “terrorist” attacks ahead of any such police announcements. If this doesn’t lend itself to being considered as evidence of carefully planned events, I don’t know what does. -LW

Keeping church and state separate is important. Keeping the…

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[lightworker29501]

Journalism and the Ottawa shooting: We need to remain calm and Canadian

Journalism and the Ottawa shooting: We need to remain calm and Canadian

BY STEPHEN KIMBER | OCTOBER 28, 2014

Last Wednesday, I was glued to CBC radio’s coverage of the Ottawa shootings while trying — and failing — to focus on my upcoming class. At 12:54 p.m., as a CBC reporter relayed the shocking news shots may have been fired inside the Rideau Mall — meaning there might be “more than one shooter” — a Facebook post popped up on my screen.

It was from Spencer…

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