Chief nixes on-duty workouts for police

The Winnipeg Police Service will not foot the bill for officers to do workouts while on the clock, the city's top cop says.

At least not yet, he suggested to reporters at a Wednesday news conference.

Chief Keith McCaskill says he expects his officers to maintain their physical fitness on their own time.

CBC News reported on Tuesday that police officers are seeking daily gym time during their shifts to keep pace with criminals, who are increasingly emerging from jail more fit and muscular than ever before.

Mike Sutherland, president of the Winnipeg Police Association (WPA), said many officers work out on their own time to become physically stronger for the challenges they face.

The WPA is advocating for the service to pay for half of a 40 minute to hour-long workout for officers while they're working. The other half would be considered unpaid time.

But McCaskill said the police service provides free gym memberships for officers, along with incentives if their physical fitness levels meet or surpass certain levels.

"If there's another step that has to be taken, I think we have to sit down and talk about it at length," McCaskill said.

He said the issue will be raised during contract talks toward the end of 2010, when the city's current agreement with the WPA expires.

McCaskill said he wasn't aware some police forces in Alberta and B.C. allow their officers to work out as long as they're not urgently needed to respond to calls.

Man charged in fatal Ottawa fire appears in court

An Ottawa man accused of starting an apartment building fire that killed two people on Christmas Eve has made his second court appearance.

Ali Issaky, 23, has been charged with one count of second-degree murder and arson with disregard for human life. He made a brief appearance by video conference Tuesday afternoon, and his next court appearance is Jan. 6.

Two people rescued from the blaze, which broke out about 4:20 a.m. ET Thursday in the Alta Vista area, died shortly afterwards. Police have released the identity of one — Margaret Ikkers, 57 — and are waiting to notify family before releasing the name of the second victim.

Two other people were sent to hospital and treated for smoke inhalation after the fire broke out at 1695 Playfair Dr.

Hundreds of people live in the 14-storey building. With the exception of those who live on the second floor, where the fire started, most residents returned home on Monday.

The wing where the fire started will have to be completely rebuilt, and the dozens of tenants who live there will need to find temporary homes, the building’s superintendent said.

Issaky is being held at the Ottawa Carleton detention centre.

Most Canadians think Afghan victory impossible: poll

MONTREAL — Two out of three Canadians believe a victory by NATO forces in Afghanistan is impossible, despite upcoming reinforcements of 30,000 US troops, an opinion survey said Tuesday.

Only 34 percent of Canadians thought the Afghan war was winnable, said the poll by Ipsos Reid conducted on behalf of Canwest News Service and Global National.

Two thirds, or 66 percent of Canadians disagreed with the statement that "the build-up of troops will ultimately create a military victory over the Taliban," it found.

The pessimism about the North Atlantic Treaty Organization-led war was prevalent in all Canadian regions and provinces, including ultraconservative Alberta, in the west.

Canada has contributed some 2,800 troops to the war effort in Afghanistan. They are deployed in southern Kandahar province, a Taliban stronghold. Since 2002, 134 Canadian soldiers have died in Afghanistan.

The December 9-10 opinion survey of 1,038 adults had a margin of error of 3.1 percent.

Canada court increases libel protections

TORONTO — The Supreme Court of Canada strengthened protections for journalists and bloggers in a pair of rulings, hailed as a victory for press freedom in a country with especially stringent libel laws.

Tuesday's rulings involving the Toronto Star and Ottawa Citizen newspapers, created a new responsible journalism defense giving reporters more leeway to pursue controversial stories as long as they are deemed to be in the public interest.

In both cases, the justices ruled 9-0 in the newspapers' favor.

Lawyers called it a major step toward reducing so-called "libel chill," where journalists back away from contentious stories for fear of being sued.

The rulings mean journalists cannot be held libel for factual errors in stories deemed to be in the public interest so long as they take a series of steps, outlined by the court, to ensure fairness.

Writing for the court, Chief Justice Beverly McLachlin said Canada's existing libel defenses were too restrictive and contrary to the free expression guarantees in Canada's constitution.

"Freewheeling debate on matters of public interest is to be encouraged and the vital role of the communications media in providing a vehicle for such debate is explicitly recognized," McLachlin wrote in one of the two rulings. "While the law must protect reputation — the current level of protection — in effect a regime of strict liability — is not justifiable."

One of the rulings upheld an Ontario Court of Appeal decision striking down Ontario businessman Peter Grant's $1.5-million Canadian (US$1.4 million) libel award against the Toronto Star and ordered a new trial.

A lawyer for the Star, Paul Schabas, told The Associated Press that the rulings are a major step toward bringing Canada's archaic defamation law into line with other nations like the United Kingdom and Australia.

"It's a historic decision. The most important libel decision ever decided by the Supreme Court of Canada," said Schabas.

Robert Cribb, an investigative reporter for The Toronto Star and journalism professor at Ryerson University praised the decision saying it would enable Canadian journalists to do far-reaching, controversial stories similar to their American counterparts.

"It's a fabulous victory, much anticipated and awaited," said Cribb. "I'm on the board of an American organization of investigative reporters and editors, and ... they are able to do stories that are more difficult for us to do here because the restrictions have been so tight so until now."

The other case, had to do with an Ontario Provincial Police officer who was awarded $125,000 Canadian (US$119,000) after the Ottawa Citizen produced a series of articles casting his unauthorized trip to New York City after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in a negative light.

The Supreme Court ordered a new trial striking down Danno Cusson's financial award. "It brings us into the 21st century," said Richard Dearden, a lawyer representing the Ottawa Citizen. "It's a huge victory for the freedom of press in terms of the types of stories you can publish up here and not be sued for libel."

News helicopter crashes near Montreal highway, injuring two

MONTREAL — The mundane morning drive for Marc Gingras came to an abrupt end Wednesday when a helicopter plunged out of the sky.

Rush-hour riders watched as a news chopper dropped into a snowy ditch near the service road of Montreal's busy Bonaventure Expressway, just as they were driving by.

"From the instant it hit, it was like slow motion - the propeller flew across the Bonaventure, right in front of my bus," said Gingras, a city-bus driver who was carrying 80 passengers at the time.

The helicopter's pilot and passenger - a veteran journalist for the French-language TVA television network - both sustained serious injuries in the impact, which prompted a frantic rescue effort.

After the crash, Gingras hit the brakes, grabbed the bus's fire extinguisher and instructed a passenger to call 911.

He and two passengers dashed for the downed chopper, which was pinned to a chain-link fence. There was a pungent whiff of gasoline in the air, Gingras recalled.

"The pilot was trying to get out on his own, so I jumped the fence and we tried to help them on the other side," said Gingras, who works for the transit department in suburban Longueuil.

"He said, 'Help me, come over and help me.' "

The men in the helicopter were identified as reporter Rejean Leveille and Antoine Leger, a professional pilot with about 12 years' experience.

Leger managed to free himself from the wreckage and was even standing up on his own when Gingras arrived.

Leveille, wincing in pain, remained pinned inside.

"He was really uncomfortable," Gingras said.

The chopper crashed at 7:30 a.m. and it took about 15 minutes for rescue crews to arrive, he said.

Leveille, who has more than 30 years' experience as a TV, radio and print journalist, was trapped inside the chopper for over an hour while rescuers scrambled to free him.

Ambulance service spokesman Benoit Garneau said the journalist was conscious and talking to firefighters as they rushed to cut through the metal shell of the helicopter.

"His legs were crushed, so firemen had to be very delicate (when taking) him out," said Garneau, standing a few metres from the wreck.

"How bad was the helicopter? It was completely crushed."

With temperatures well below freezing, rescue workers pumped hot air into the crumpled copter to keep Leveille warm during the rescue. Both men were transported to hospital.

Hospital spokesman Jean-Marc Troquet said the men suffered fractures and were in stable condition. Their lives were not believed to be in danger.

Gingras said it looked like Leger was trying to make an emergency landing with the Robinson R-44 Newscopter on a nearby heli-pad at the time of the crash.

Troquet praised Leger for steering the helicopter away from the busy freeway. It slammed into a small vacant patch of land between the road and a building in an industrial area.

"We can only imagine what would have happened if it had fallen in traffic or on a building or anything else," he said.

"We have to congratulate him for keeping his cool and for his extraordinary manoeuvre."

Transportation Department investigators were examining the wreck Wednesday, but the cause of the crash is still unknown.

CTV cameraman Hugh Haugland and helicopter pilot Roger Belanger died in August when their chopper had a mechanical breakdown and clipped power lines before slamming into the ground in western Quebec.

At the time of the accident, the men were surveying damage caused after a powerful tornado that had swept through the town of Mont-Laurier.

The Ass That Lays Money

Italy

There was once a poor widow with an only son, and whose brother-in-law was a steward. One day she said to her child, "Go to your uncle and ask him to give you something to keep you from starving."

The boy went to the farm and asked his uncle to help him a little. "We are dying of hunger, uncle. My mother earns a little by weaving, and I am too small to find anything. Be charitable to us, for we are your relatives."

The steward answered, "Why not? You should have come sooner, and I would have helped you the sooner. But now I will give you something to support you always, without need of anything more. I will give you this little ass that lays money. You have only to put a cloth under him, and he will fill it for you with handsome coins. But take care! Don't tell it, and don't leave this animal with anyone."

The youth departed in joy, and after he had traveled a long way, he stopped at an inn to sleep, for his house was distant. He said to the landlord, "Give me a lodging, but look! my ass spends the night with me."

"What!" said the landlord. "What are you thinking about! It cannot be."

The youth replied, "Yes it can be, because my ass does not leave my side."

They disputed a while, but the landlord finally consented. But he had some suspicions; and when the boy and his beast were shut in the room, he looked through the keyhole, and saw that wonder of an ass that laid money in abundance.

"Bless me!" cried the host. "I should be a fool, indeed, if I let this piece of good fortune escape my hands!"

He at once looked for another ass of the same color and size, and while the lad was asleep, exchanged them. In the morning the boy paid his bill and departed, but on the way, the ass no longer laid any money. The stupefied child did not know what to think at first, but afterward examining it more closely, it appeared to him that the ass was not his, and straightway he returned to the innkeeper, to complain of his deception.

The landlord cried out, "I wonder at your saying such a thing! We are all honest people here, and don't steal anything from anybody. Go away, blockhead, or you will find something to remember a while."

The child, weeping, had to depart with his ass, and he went back to his uncle's farm, and told him what had happened. The uncle said, "If you had not stopped at the innkeeper's, you could not have met with this misfortune. However, I have another present to help you and you mother. But take care! Do not mention it to anyone, and take good care of it. Here it is. I give you a tablecloth, and whenever you say, 'Tablecloth, make ready,' after having spread it out, you will see a fine repast at your pleasure."

The youth took the tablecloth in delight, thanked his uncle, and departed. But like the fool he was, he stopped again at the same inn. He said to the landlord, "Give you a room, and you need not prepare anything to eat. I have all I want with me."

The crafty innkeeper suspected that there was something beneath this, and when the lad was in his room, he looked through the keyhole, and saw the tablecloth preparing the supper. The host exclaimed, "What good luck for my inn! I will not let it escape me."

He quickly looked for another tablecloth like this one, with the same embroidery and fringe, and while the child was sleeping, he exchanged it for the magic one, so that in the morning the lad did not perceive the knavery.

Not until he had reached a forest where he was hungry, did he want to make use of the tablecloth. But it was in vain that he spread it out and cried, "Tablecloth, make ready." The tablecloth was not the same one, and made nothing ready for him. In despair the boy went back to the innkeeper to complain, and the landlord would have thrashed him if he had not run away, and he ran until he reached his uncle's.

His uncle, when he saw him in such a plight, said, "Oh! What is the matter?"

"Uncle!" said the boy, "the same innkeeper has changed the tablecloth, too, for me."

The uncle was on the point of giving the dunce a good thrashing; but afterward, seeing that it was a child, he calmed his anger, and said, "I understand. But I will give you a remedy by which you can get back everything from that thief of a landlord. Here it is! It is a stick. Hide it under your bolster, and if anyone comes to rob you of it, say to it, in a low voice, 'Beat, beat!' and it will continue to do so until you say to it, 'Stop.'"

Imagine how joyfully the boy took the stick! It was a handsome polished stick, with a gold handle, and delighted one only to see it. So the boy thanked his uncle for his kindness, and after he had journeyed a while, he came to the same inn. He said, "Landlord, I wish to lodge here tonight."

The landlord at once drew his conclusions about the stick, which the boy carried openly in his hands, and at night when the lad appeared to be sound asleep, but really was on the watch, the landlord felt softly under the bolster and drew out the stick.

The boy, although it was dark, perceived the theft, and said in a low voice, "Beat, beat, beat!"

Suddenly blows were rained down without mercy; everything broken to pieces, the chest of drawers, the looking glass, all the chairs, the glass in the windows; and the landlord, and those that came at the noise, beaten nearly to death. The landlord screamed to split his throat, "Save me, boy, I am dead!"

The boy answered, "What! I will not deliver you, if you do not give me back my property -- the ass that lays gold and the tablecloth that prepares dinner." And if the landlord did not want to die of the blows, he had to consent to the boy's wishes.

When he had his things back, the boy went home to his mother and told her what had happened to him, and then said, "Now we do not need anything more. I have an ass that lays money, a tablecloth that prepares food at my will, and a stick to defend me from whoever annoys me."

So that woman and her son, who, from want had become rich enough to cause everyone envy, wished from pride to invite their relatives to a banquet, to make them acquainted with their wealth. On the appointed day the relatives came to the woman's new house. But noon strikes, and one o'clock strikes. It is almost two, and in the kitchen the fire is seen extinguished, and there were no provisions anywhere.

"Are they playing a joke on us?" said the relatives. "We shall have to depart with dry teeth."

At that moment, however, the clock struck two, and the lad, after spreading the cloth on the table, commanded, "Tablecloth, prepare a grand banquet." In short, those people had a fine dinner and many presents in money, and the boy and his mother remained in triumph and joy.

---

• Source: Thomas Frederick Crane, Italian Popular Tales (Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin, and Company, 1885), no. 32, pp. 123-127.

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Hockey coach denies sex allegations

A North Vancouver hockey coach is denying allegations that he repeatedly sexually assaulted a young player from one of his teams.

Dusan Benicky faces seven charges of sexual assault and sexual interference involving the player, who was 10 when the alleged offences began in 1991.

Police said the attacks continued until 1995, when the victim was 14.

Benicky, 56, told a Vancouver radio station late Wednesday the charges were fabricated, nonsense and untrue.

RCMP asked for any other alleged victims, or anyone with information on the case, to contact them.

Police were asked Wednesday why it took 18 years for the alleged offences to be reported.

"It just took that long for the victim to get the strength to come forward," said Cpl. Marlene Morton of North Vancouver RCMP. Morton said the individual contacted police last May and the allegations have been under investigation since then.

Canucks deny Benicky was employee

Benicky founded the Hockey Performance Centre in North Vancouver, which runs hockey camps.

His online resumé said he worked with the Vancouver Canucks as a conditioning trainer from 1985 to 1996.

The Canucks issued a statement earlier Wednesday saying the team had no record of Benicky as an employee.

The resumé also said Benicky worked with University of B.C. athletes from 1983 to 1996, along with Team Slovakia at the 1996 World Cup of Hockey and the Czech national team at the 1998 Nagano Olympics.

Canadian generals dismiss torture allegations

OTTAWA — Three generals testifying in parliament dismissed allegations that Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan tortured prisoners.They rejected accusations from Canadian diplomat Richard Colvin, who was formerly stationed in Afghanistan and told lawmakers last week that Canadian forces "detained, and handed over for severe torture, a lot of innocent people."

Retired general Rick Hillier, the former head of the Canadian military, dismissed the charges as "ludicrous," and said that Colvin's information was poorly sourced.

Generals Michel Gauthier and David Fraser, both of whom headed Canadian forces in Afghanistan, told members of parliament that they had not seen reports of prisoners being tortured.

The Conservative government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper has stood firm in the face of the withering attacks, rejecting a public inquiry into the charges.

Colvin worked for Canada's Foreign Affairs department in Kandahar in 2006 and was later promoted to second-in-command at the embassy in Kabul until late 2007.

In both jobs he visited detainees transferred by Canadian soldiers to Afghan prisons and reported his findings to Ottawa.

He claimed the warnings, first delivered in spring 2006, were ignored by senior military commanders and government officials, until prisoner mistreatment allegations were reported in the media a year later.

Colvin said he was eventually told to stop putting his reports into writing.

The Canadian government, which has some 2,800 troops in southeastern Afghanistan, has denied there is any firm evidence that detainees transferred by its officials were tortured.

Resort island reels after deadly attack by gunman

SAIPAN, Northern Mariana Islands — After going on a shooting rampage that left a trail of victims on the Pacific resort island of Saipan, the gunman drove to a scenic, rocky cliff where untold numbers of Japanese men, women and children plunged to their deaths to avoid capture during World War II, according to police and witness accounts.

He parked his van and walked to edge of Banzai Cliff. But instead of jumping, the gunman shot himself — ending his life and the carnage. In total, five people were dead, including the gunman and two small children, and six were wounded in Saipan's most violent attack in recent memory, leaving this usually tranquil island reeling and shaken.

"The commonwealth has never experienced a tragic situation like this, and we are saddened by the appalling action of a single individual that has caused so much harm to our peaceful island community," Gov. Benigno R. Fitial said.

Fitial stressed the tourist haven was still a safe place and said precautions would be taken to prevent similar attacks.

Besides the gunman, the violence claimed the lives of two men, a 4-year-old boy and a 2-year-old girl, all residents of the U.S. commonwealth, Public Safety spokesman Jason Tarkong said. Six people were injured: a 4-year-old local girl and five South Korean tourists, including a boy and a girl.

Police said the attack began Friday at a shooting range in the community of Kannat Tabla, where two men in their early 20s and the two children were fatally shot. The 4-year-old girl was critically injured with a gunshot wound to the chest.

Shortly after the first attack, the suspect drove several miles and began firing a rifle from a white van at a group of South Koreans visiting a World War II attraction in nearby Marpi, wounding five. Police do not believe the shooter was targeting tourists in what Tarkong termed the random drive-by shooting.

Roxanne Diaz told the Pacific Daily News about 60 people were in the area taking photos, "just like a regular tourist day."

"And next thing you know, they hear something that sounded like fireworks," followed by the bloody chaos, Diaz said.

Authorities said the suspected shooter was a contract worker in his 30s or 40s from China. His name was withheld pending notification of family, which was expected sometime Saturday. Several residents said the man was known as "Mr. Lee."

The Pacific News Center identified him as Lee Zhong Ren, an employee at the shooting range. The news station also reported that Lee left behind a suicide note that spoke of a business deal gone bad.

The telephone at the shooting range has been disconnected.

Saipan is the main island of the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, which has about 60,000 residents and is about 3,800 miles southwest of Hawaii. Saipan is a popular tourist destination among South Koreans, with more than 111,000 South Koreans visiting the island in 2008, according to the Marianas Visitors Authority.

Saipan officials feared the violence would lead to a drop in tourism, which has already suffered because of the sagging global economy.

The suspect was last spotted driving toward Banzai Cliff, the site where numerous Japanese jumped to their deaths to avoid capture by American troops in 1944 after the Battle of Saipan.

When officers arrived in the area, witnesses reported a man was shooting a rifle. Police discovered the van and found three rifles inside.

Officials said the gunman's body was found along the edge off the cliff with a .22-caliber rifle strapped around his shoulder.

The South Korean tourists were sightseeing in an area known as the Last Command Post, a World War II spot featuring remnants of American tanks. A memorial in the area is dedicated to Koreans who fought in the war.

Among those injured, a 39-year-old man was critically hurt with a wound to his back. A 5-year-old girl and an 8-year-old boy were treated and released from the Commonwealth Health Center.

Lt. Gov. Eloy Inos called it a sad day for the commonwealth.

"This is an unfortunate but isolated incident," he said. "It happened for reasons unbeknownst to us, but we can handle this type of situation."

Associated Press writers Greg Small and Jaymes Song in Honolulu, and Kwang-tae Kim in Seoul, South Korea, contributed to this story.

The Virginian: a horseman of the plains By Owen Wister