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Home My WebLink AboutClinton News Record, 2016-08-10, Page 44 News Record • Wednesday, August 10, 2016 1111.1 J., 11 www.clintonnewsrecord.com NowsCl Record PUBLISHED WEEKLY — EST. 1860 53 Albert St. P.O. 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Canada Al ocna Member of the Canadian Community Newspaper Association and the Ontario Community Newspapers Association Nomination process much improved Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's announcement that he will peel back the shroud of secrecy surround- ing appointments to Canada's highest court in favour of a more independent and trans- parent selection process is a welcome development To choose who sits on the bench of the Supreme Court of Canada is, ultimately, to shape the society we live in. While elected parliamentari- ans pass the laws that govem the land, the Supreme Court can strike them down in whole or in part. This is among the most fundamental checks and balances in a Constitutional democracy. Itis also a dynamic that has been on very public display in recent years, as the top court acted as a counterweight to the previous Conservative government's efforts to make Canada's legal system "tougher on crime:' In addi- tion, the court declared pro- scriptions on prostitution and medically assisted dying unconstitutional, ordering Parliament to draft new legislation. In a countrywhere laws are subject to the test of the Char- ter of Rights and Freedoms, the integrity, independence and competence of the nine members of the top court must be unimpeachable. An alreadyflawednomina- tion process conducted largely by politicians behind closed doors became down- right troubling under former prime minister Stephen Harper. It reached its nadir with the debacle over the failed bid to appoint Marc Nadon, a judge whose rulings more closely reflected the government's law -and -order agenda, to a vacancy reserved for Quebec, although he did not meet the technical criteria Fatality highlights need for cop cameras Nobody knows precisely what happened when Abdirahman Abdi died after Ottawa police arrested him. There were plenty of wit- nesses, some reporting Abdi being beaten with batons. For many commentators, those reports are enough to make judgments. Butwitness accounts aren't always as dependable as we mighthope. This is why police officers need to wear body cameras. Last Thursday, Const. James Forcillo of the Toronto police was sentenced to six years in prison for the attempted murder of Sammy Yatim, the agitated Toronto teenager gunned down as he exited a streetcar in 2013. For - cillo is appealing the decision. Outside the courthouse, Julian Falconer, the Yatim family's lawyer, said, "Repeat- edly, it has been video that has been a game changer" When Robert Dziekanski died in 2007 after being Tasered in the Vancouver air- port, video evidence put the lie to the police narrative. Even as far back as 1991, in the Los Angeles beating of Rodney King, video showed indisputably what happened. In Abdi's death, the public has seen video from wit- nesses of the immediate after- math -- but no video of the arrest. Such video would be hugely important. It would tell a story difficult to challenge. Things would be different if police wore body cams to record their actions. Ottawa Police Association presi- dent Matt Skof favours this, as do several union bosses and chiefs; they believe it can provide evidence to exonerate officers in many circumstances. Some forces around the country are doing pilot pro- jects with body -worn video, and the technology has been discussed within Ottawa's force. There are issues, such as storage capacity for all that data. But that's a problem to overcome, not an excuse for inaction. The Ottawa Police Service should equip its offic- ers with body -worn video. Two other issues arise. First: Should officers have dis- cretion to turn their body cams on and off? Research for that seat Apublic skirmish between the Prime Minister's Office and the top justice and a rare Supreme Court ruling rejecting Nadon's candidacy undermined public confi- dence in the system that named him. The approach proposed by Trudeau is a huge improve- ment: a committee of inde- pendent experts presided over by former Conservative prime minister Kim Camp- bell Will winnow down alist of candidates; the justice minis- ter will have to explain the ultimate choice; members of the justice committee will be permitted to question the nominee in a moderated forum. Diversitywill be a con- sideration. Bilingualism will be required. The committee's composition will be modified when a new Quebec nomi- nee is sought to reflect the province's civil law tradition. Transparency will prevail with the public release of a questionnaire completed by the newjustice. The ultimate decision, however, will rest with the prime minister. But at least all possible input will be sought - Postmedia Network (James Park, Postmedia Network) Demonstrators shout and chant for justice as they arrive at Ottawa Police headquarter during the March for Justice - In Memory of Abdirahman Abdi. Saturday, July 30, 2016. suggests that discretion can heighten tensions, because flipping video on can antago- nize suspects and amp up officers. Not only that, but incidents in the United States showvideo evidence mysteri- ously vanishing, or, curiously, the cameras being off at exactly the moment when they should be on. Second: Video from police body cams is useless if it's kept from the public. We need trans- parency: either through proac- tive release of the video and/or its inclusion under access to information laws. The confusion and suspi- cion swirling around the death ofAbd rahmanAbdiisanargu- ment for police wearing body video. Let's getitdone. - Postmedia Network FROM THE ARCHIVES 15 years ago... • An injured bald eagle was found in Bayfield; it was missing the top part of its beak. It was sent to a veterinary college and wild bird clinic, but was eventually euthanized as it was determined that it couldn't survive with- out its upper beak. They didn't know how it got injured. • A shoe store in Seaforth called Wuerth's Shoes closed. It had been around since 1938. 25 years ago... • The Ausable Bayfield Conservation Author- ity held information sessions in Varna about the eroding shoreline of the Great Lakes. They said the process was natural, inevitable and necessary, but it could also threaten homes and buildings close on the shoreline. (These conversations have been going on again recently.) • A local Jamaican born mother and daugh- ter, who is a local track star, became Cana- dian citizens. Vivienne and Joyce Stephens had been trying to become citizens since moving to Canada five years prior. 35 years ago... • Children's Day was celebrated in Auburn. It was put on by the Auburn Women's Institute. 70 children and their mothers attended the event at Auburn Community Memorial Hall and the day included games, activities and food for kids. • A postal strike was 37 days in, and it was starting to hurt local businesses. One busi- ness especially affected was the mail order photo processing service, Clinton Foto Ser- vice. Thoughts, observations or concerns about this community? Share them with Clinton and the surrounding area. Email your letters to the editor to Justine at jalkema@postmedia.com. 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