Lady Justice no friend to women
The three women who came forward to charge Jian Ghomeshi are to be commended for their bravery and their willingness to face the shame and stress of a public trial (NOW, February 18-24). Almost every woman in Toronto could come up with her own list of men needing to be outed for these very same charges. Let justice be done. But truly, can woman ever take refuge in the law?
Sahara Spracklin, Toronto
Was Big Ears packing a camera?
Jian Ghomeshi showed the CBC brass videotape of a BSDM encounter with what he says was a consensual partner. But who knows if consent was given for the recording of said encounter?
Big Ears Teddy may not have been a witness, but did police ever check if there was a camera recording from the back of Teddy? Or was that another missed opportunity?
Coco S., Toronto
Presumption of truth versus innocence
There is too much lamenting and criticism about how the criminal justice system unfairly treats sexual assault victims, who are already afforded protection of identity and restrictions on cross-examination of prior sexual history.
There is no presumption of truthfulness for any victim, and credibility is always an issue unless there is some corroboration by way of medical or physical evidence.
Regardless of victims’ post-incident behaviour that “the system just does not get,” a trial is not a tea party.
It’s naive to expect or assume that every misdeed in life, particularly those committed in very private situations, will end up penalized under the Criminal Code.
Garry Lamourie, Toronto
Ghomeshi conviction won’t change much
The four articles in the last issue covering the Ghomeshi trial do not refer to the decades-old statistic that only 6 per cent of sexual assaults ever get reported and only 10 per cent of those ever lead to a conviction.
Hitching all your hopes for changes in the law or the justice system to one high-profile case reminds me of the Einstein definition of insanity. Even a conviction in this case will not change the incidence of low reporting and high acquittal.
At least Antonia Zerbisias and Jane Doe offer a few activist options that may lead to cultural and systemic solutions.
Ray Fredette, Toronto
City shelters animals better than people
Re OCAP Descends On City Hall (Again) (NOW, February 18). As the Toronto Disaster Relief Committee’s co-founder, it’s nice to be missed. Thank you. I miss it, too, and weirdly, regularly visit our archives at the city of Toronto to glean new ideas around issues that have only worsened.
You’re right, we worked with OCAP a lot over those years and still do around issues of homelessness. The response from City Hall is not only pitiful but dangerous, in that it leaves people in dire circumstances and at risk of death and injury.
To date no member of the media, no politician and likely no city bureaucrat has gone in the middle of the night to see for themselves the conditions at the warming centres and Out of the Cold programs.
As I’ve said before, if the Humane Society or city animal shelters held animals in these conditions, people in Toronto would not tolerate it.
Cathy Crowe, Street nurse and visiting practitioner at Ryerson, Toronto
John Tory as Rogers’s rabbit
Re John Tory Doesn’t Seem To Get What A Conflict Of Interest Is, by Jonathan Goldsbie (NOW, February 5).
Tory apparently thinks his letter to the federal cabinet supporting Bell’s bid to stifle competition for its next-generation high-speed internet service can be justified on the grounds that he’s a “free-enterpriser” whose “stance on the issue was a sincere matter of principle to him.” This line sounds as if it might have been taken right from the Municipal Conflict Of Interest Act itself. A classic lawyerspeak spin job.
Tory the “free-enterpriser” might want to know that Merriam-Webster defines free enterprise as “freedom of private business to organize and operate for profit in a competitive system without interference by government beyond regulation necessary to protect public interest and keep the national economy in balance.”
That’s all the CRTC is doing with its decision. End of story. Roger(s) dodger, over and out.
Robert McBride, Thornhill
Bathhouse raids revisited
James Dubro, in his excellent article on the 1981 police raids on Toronto bathhouses (NOW, February 4-10), writes, “Since the raids, the bathhouses have been essentially off limits to the police.”
Unwritten agreements between the gay community and the police have allowed these commercial establishments to operate outside the law as drug dens of the worst sort. It’s time for the gay community to acknowledge a dangerous, rising epidemic.
Ian Young, Toronto
Street smarts on harm reduction work
Re Cops In Harm Reduction’s Way, by Kelly Rose Pflug-Back (NOW, February 4-10). Why is it every article I have read regarding the Street Outreach project contains comments from Zoe Dodd yet none from the people doing the outreach for The Works and John Howard Society? This is beginning to reek of a bullying campaign by harm reduction workers and drug users.
Let’s hear the voices of the people doing the work, the police officers and outreach workers who are on the streets, not just the people running the program.
Meredith Bolander, From nowtoronto.com
