Questions abound on Toronto mass shooting
As investigators examine the life of Faisal Hussain, the Danforth shooter in Toronto who killed two people and wounded a dozen others, it seems a bit glib to chalk up his murderous shooting rampage to a “lifetime of severe mental health challenges.”
This does little to advance an awareness or a constructive understanding of mental illness, its effects and needs.
While experts tell us that self-harm is the most common consequence from actions taken in a psychotic episode, more questions swirl around this case than answers.
How Hussain obtained a handgun through his Toronto gang connections — one report suggests it was a pistol, stolen years earlier in a Saskatoon break-in — brings increased scrutiny on his background and his family’s. In the fog of fake news, political correctness and opinion passed off as fact, it has never been more important to get as much information as possible and then critically think your way to conclusions.
Police agencies and governments can also help by refuting information they know to be false and, at the same time, transparently y passing along what they are able to confirm.
This week, each of us, as taxpayers, came closer to owning a share of a $4.5-billion pipeline, Kinder Morgan’s Trans Mountain extension. Of course, we will also be on the hook for another $3 billion or $4 billion for actual construction of the pipeline (heck, it’s government, why not throw in an additional $5 billion or better?)
Kinder Morgan had complied with dozens of additional and onerous conditions imposed by the Trudeau government but grew tired of the risk surrounding construction of the line. They agreed to work with Ottawa to find a buyer by July 22, after which Kinder Morgan will sell the pipeline to the federal government for $4.5 billion plus installation costs.
Even though the feds talked a good game about potentially interested investors, who in their right mind would attempt getting construction done in the current climate of uncertainty, opposition and protest?
This week, Premier Scott Moe observed on Twitter that “now, almost two months since the federal government announced plans to build the Trans Mountain pipeline and, with the first deadline to find another private buyer missed, no sign of shovels in the ground. Every week Saskatchewan producers are losing $4 million to oil differential. We need to get this pipeline built NOW.”
Ottawa now promises to establish a Crown corporation and to build the pipeline which, presumably if finished, will then see investors likely wanting to snap up the project. This is how energy investment looks in Canada’s 2018.
Last year, 102 people died on Saskatchewan roads, the lowest number since 1954, when there was just onethird the number of vehicles as today. Sadly, 2018’s numbers will not be so low, with the Humboldt Broncos bus disaster and several other multi-fatality crashes like the Gasper family tragedy near Elrose.
As SGI reported the record low number of traffic deaths in 2017, 39 of them were attributable to impaired driving — which is the lowest number since Saskatchewan began keeping impaired driving stats 30 years ago. While the province’s overall impaired driving rates are not good, they’re a fraction of what they once were.
Something positive is happening. It’s noticeable in improved attitudes and behaviour toward impaired driving, along with tougher laws, more enforcement and greater public awareness.
On the awareness front, a social media campaign promoted by MADD Canada (Saskatchewan) will roll out on the August long weekend. On Facebook, Instagram and Twitter the goal is to get people talking about planning a safe ride home in advance.
The co-ordinates are @Sask0804 and it’s a campaign worth getting involved in.
Gormley is a broadcaster, lawyer, author and former Progressive Conservative MP whose radio talk show is heard weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on 650 CKOM Saskatoon & 980 CJME Regina