Reader “Boudica” asks;
“Is it just me or do you find it strange that the name of the person who self immolated recently at the Toronto Tim Hortons was never released?”
Perhaps our legions of curious readers can ferret that out….
update Several commentors have pointed out that his identity has been withheld “due to the family’s wishes”.
Well, big whoop. When one chooses to exit in a manner that places the public at significant risk, which destroys the property of others and closes down part of a metropolitan area, one should expect to forfeit the “right to privacy”.
Afterthought – has anyone else forgotten the March 8 announcement of the Tim Horton’s opening at the Canadian base at Kandahar? And it’s unreasonable for people to ask who was responsible for a gasoline fueled explosion in one of their restaurants in Toronto less than a month later?
Finally the real Italian Mafia have pushed the Liberal mafia out of the CBCpravda headlines.
The real mobster arrested in Corleone – after 43 years in hiding.
when was Trudeau first elected??
I don’t know if we have a right to know the name of this man but we certainly have a right to QUESTION.
I can’t believe I hear all these people calling the police “leftist”. Why are you questioning the methods of the police? Do you not believe in law and order in society? Shouldn’t we leave the investigfation to the good judgment of the police? As Ted has pointed out, if there is indeed a terrorism connection to this suicide and it is being withheld from the public, doesn’t Stockwell Day’s department have something to do with that? I’m not saying that you’re wrong in wanting more information, but don’t blame “leftists” for everything that ails you.
I hope that the next time a person not named mohammed uses an accellerant to torch a public restaurant BCL is in the next stall and can’t get out.
Maybe his last words could be to tell Ali that he’s sensitive and undersatanding.
“Kate, I rather doubt that its anybody in Saskatchewan’s business. And I do not see a right wing uprising in Toronto over the matter. Why don’t you go back to your fields and mind your own business?”
Why doesn’t BigCorruptLiberal find an effiminate pansy big city left wing blog and prance around minding his own business I wonder.
“By the way, I hear Calvert plans on footing the bill for 5,000 Muslims to immigrate to Saskatchewan every year where I hear many plan on taking up residence on the western outskirts of Saskatoon. There goes Kates neighbourhood.
Posted by: anderson at April 10, 2006 07:07 PM ”
Anderdumb why don’t you just move to a Muslim country like Syria Egypt etc etc and then send glowing reviews of how wonderful your life is and convince Kate to emmigrate. If you think its so good to bring them here in my view the places they come from must be positively wonderful for you to go to. The winters might be warmer than Saskatchewan too.
Anderson after they make the laws here and they are trying is this what you want?
http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/ReadArticle.asp?ID=16800
Who was Mr. “X”, late of the donut shutup?
The Canadian public, including “leftists”, need to know the name of Mr. “X”, late of the donut shutup. +
Which one of these should not be named in/by the MSM?
“The other four accused — Eric Niessen, 45, and Kelly Morris, 56, both of Monkton, Ont., Brett Gardner, 21, of no fixed address and Frank Mather, 32, who lived with Kellestine –”
http://www.paulding.net/bin/url.cgi/13249.31
There’s a lot of comments that were getting a bit out of hand so I didn’t read them all. I apologize if this has been mentioned before.
The media (at least it was when I was a part of it) is hesitant to cover suicides and I think that might be the central factor here. The fact that it was a public incident and caused public damage is probably the only reason why it was covered.
Including names in a suicide story isn’t the norm. Unless his intention was anything other than ending his life then there is no reason to release the name, other than adding elements which may not have been actual factors in the incident. Not every muslim is a bomber and not every asian is a gang member. A lot of times they’re just regular people who may convince themselves that the world won’t miss them.
There were enough suicides when I was in the media that never got covered. One that did was a local high profile restaurant owner and we danced around that one a bit.
“not every muslim is a bomber”
Not every muslim is a terrorist. But most terrorists are muslim.
Regardless of whether the guy was a muslim or not – and even if it was a suicide, does it not still raise questions?
Like, why was he commiting suicide with a fire bomb in the bathroom of a packed Tim Hortons?
And how is this not a crime, beyond property damage? Is suicide no longer a crime?
Irwin…suicide was never a crime. Reason being, a successful suicide resulted in the death of the potential accused, and you can’t charge someone who’s dead with a crime. Attempted suicide used to be a crime.
Re “right to QUESTION” – of course, but we replaced questions with insinuations with Kate’s first post in this thread.
Re “the Canadian public … need to know” – what? That this was or was not a terrorist act, that there is or is not a consequent threat to public safety, or the family name and address for sympathy cards? The first has been answered by competent authority, the answer to the second follows from the first, so maybe try the last.
I’ve sugggested this before, but perhaps not clearly enough: if you feel wronged by the Toronto police, get onto the Solicitor General of Ontario. On the other hand, if your suspicions are that great, you might try a sympathetic conservative ear in the Hon. Stockwell Day. Let us know how you made out.
Does anyone get the feeling the fair city of Toronto isn’t releasing info about the Tim Horton’s suicide mainly to protect the city’s reputation?
Anyone remember T.O.’s irresponsibile SAR’s rhetoric that lulled many into a false sense of security and may have in no small part contributed to the deaths of health care workers that caught the disease? I guess the public’s need to know was about as important back then as it is now.
Seconds, anyone?
“Any guesses as to the honouree?” Mr. “X”?
Mud & donuts free. +
Monday, April 10, 2006
Press Freedom Day?
From The Hill Times’s “Parliamentary Calendar” (April 10th):
WEDNESDAY,MAY 3
World Press Freedom Day�The National Press Club
will hold a luncheon reception to celebrate World Press
Freedom Day with an awards ceremony. Guest speakers
include Liberal MP Michael Ignatieff and Matthew Fisher.
For more information, please call 613-233-5641.
Any guesses as to the honouree?
Posted by Russ Kuykendall on April 10, 2006 at 09:23 PM
http://westernstandard.blogs.com/
It has not made one bit of difference from the first flash of news who the guy is and what his name is. What matters is that the media and or the government decides what we can and cannot and must not know, not on rational grounds but because they generally infantalise the population of Canada. The elitist and gnostic views of the intelligentsia today are no different from those of any other time. But the people are generally less inclined to accept that elitist view and infantalisation.
The public has the right to know the public business, and if a private family have a private tragedy that occurs in public, it’s a public affair. The private person has no right that supercedes the public in public affairs. There is no innate privilege for those who might claim to have some exceptional attributes to claim anything from the public in this regard. Why should there be one set of laws for one family and another set of laws for a different family? If i don’t like the laws as they are, I suffer if I break them. No one, regardless of the lack of sense behind it, elected me king.
But the true point is not this case of exceptionalism, it is the infantalisation of the public — again.
“This man committed suicide in a manner and place that put the public and the employees there at huge risk, closing down a large part of a major metropolitan city in a wider terrorism scare. His family’s wishes should not trump the facts.”
No facts have been “trumped.”
“Public safety and security are more important than privacy.”
“Boudica’s right: what’s so bloody special about the Tim’s decedent that special treatment is accorded whereas it is NOT standard practice to not release the name, regardless of familial wishes?”
Bullshit. Don’t know where you get your idea about “standard practice” from; a fantasy in your mind perhaps?
“I am waiting for a terrorist attack to shake up Canada into understanding what is as stake.”
Hmmm.. he REALLY IS hoping for one!
“Afterthought – has anyone else forgotten the March 8 announcement of the Tim Horton’s opening at the Canadian base at Kandahar? And it’s unreasonable for people to ask who was responsible for a gasoline fueled explosion in one of their restaurants in Toronto less than a month later?”
Hey, anyone notice that this was done to Tim Hortons, at the same time as their Roll Up The Rim to Win contest, while Country Style have their own prizes under the rim at the same time??
Corporate terrorism, anyone?
“With all due respect to his family, it seems to me that the public has a right to know who this man was in order to, as someone else pointed out, discover what groups he might or might not have belonged to.”
You mean like what Masonic lodge he might have attended? What Pentecostal Church he might have been a member at? Which Knights of Columbus he did or did not claim membership in?
Define public safety and security. You think you have a right to know every person that has the common cold right this very minute?
“Anyone who places the public at risk is dangerous”
Stupidness. You put yourself and others at “risk” simply by staying alive everyday.
The Kate McMillan Fantastical Projection Fantasy Contest
“Afterthought – has anyone else forgotten the March 8 announcement of the Tim Horton’s opening at the Canadian base at Kandahar? And it’s unreasonable for people to ask who was responsible for a gasoline fueled explosion in one of th…