This week in Canadia

Some of the News, every Once in a While

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Lethal Interjection
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This week in Canadia

Post by Lethal Interjection »

I thought I'd start this thread since I've regularly been torn about whether various Canadian news stories fit better in the "I Read the News Today Oh Boy" or the "Canadian Politics" threads... And since Australia has their own news thread and the ratio of Canadian to Australian forum regulars is fairly even... I present to you... and it's about time for... THIS WEEK IN CANADIA!!!



Today was the resolution of the Tim Bosma murder case. The jury went into deliberation earlier this week and today emerged with a "guilty in the first degree" for both of the accused. Which means they both get life (25 years) without parole.

I think I've probably posted something about this in the past, but let me give an overview:
In May 2013 Tim Bosma was reported missing. He'd listed his truck for sale on Kijiji and went out with two men for a test drive. He never returned. After a fairly long search and investigation (a month or so), involving several properties and several potential suspects, a case was made against two men: Dellen Millard and Mark Smich. The trial started in late 2015.
The evidence and trial pretty much cemented the guilt of both parties. There were very probably links made to the truck, a Millard airport hanger and an incinerator (with remains that were almost assuredly Bosma's) which were pretty condemning. That said, the level of guilt was somewhat in question since there were still a few holes in the story which evidence/timeline/testimony couldn't quite fill. Smich did end up testifying in attempt to distance himself while putting a smoking-gun in the hands of Millard. But at the end of the trial both received first degree murder charges.

This trial was kind of important in Canadian news but I also have a bit of a personal relationship to it.
Tim Bosma lived in the outskirts of Hamilton quite near to where I have worked and lived (the 'suburb' of Ancaster) for the majority of the last 10-15 years. Tim Bosma was also a part of the Christian Reformed Church, a Protestant denomination that I grew and learned in (both schooling and churching) and still have significant ties with. And to make it even more personal, the wife of a long-time friend actually dated Tim Bosma back when they were in their early teens.

I can't say I had all that much of an emotional/personal response to the investigation/trial, but I have had quite a few friends/coworkers/neighbours who immersed themselves in the trial.
My Facebook feed is full of folks who are rejoicing in the verdict. I, myself, also find that I'm pretty pleased with the results of the trial and more than I thought I'd be. Mostly because I wasn't super-optimistic that the trial would end with two first-degree murder charges. There were enough questions about the case that I wasn't sure the jury would be able to bring back a first-degree charge even though I don't think 'guilty' was ever in question.

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Lethal Interjection
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Re: This week in Canadia

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http://tinyurl.com/z3moqk2
A CBC article featuring an university friend of mine who works in a small east-coast town where there aren't many black people.

It's kind of a laughable race-related article when compared to a lot of the headline-grabbing stuff that comes from the US, but I'm really happy that it was brought to the CBC's attention (likely by Louis himself).
Because while Canadia seldom has a headline-grabbing race-related incident* I think it's important to recognize that there are threads of the same systematic racism in Canadia, which many might not realize.

Also I love that it was likely Louis who contacted the press. We were only close for about a year, but we loved talking sociology/philosophy and joked about starting a university club (at our very WASPy university). I can't remember what we called it at the time, but it was something like The Muck-Rakers Society.

*Well, not in regards to black people. Native people and maybe middle-eastern or south-asian but that doesn't typically make headlines either, but for different reasons.

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Re: This week in Canadia

Post by DonRetrasado »

In more Local Racism news, I went to high school with this guy: http://www.cbc.ca/news/Canadia/kitchener ... -1.3668307

Get a load of the weasel who rejected his resume:
"I didn't think the person was Somalian. The email was about how the person misunderstood the culture of the financial services world," Matheson said.

Matheson said he mentioned Somali culture because he had recently read an article in a newspaper and it was top of mind.

"The culture of lawlessness would make such people difficult to, find difficulty integrating into a country that's founded for peace, order and good government was a subject of an editorial I read.

"It was just something in the top of my mind, had nothing, I did not think him to be Somali," Matheson said. "He told me he was educated here and I knew that."
Astrogirl wrote:Lethal, nobody wants to know about your herpes.
Lethal Interjection wrote:That's good to know. I can avoid a few awkward phone calls now.

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