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* Mi'kmaq children, suicide attempt
* Dr. Schneeberger pleads harsh treatment S. African boarding school
* Couple lost on Lake Manitoba
* Jack Ramsay, MP rapist
November 27, 1999 Children's suicide bid stuns Mi'kmaq reserve
Graeme Hamilton
National Post
MEMBERTOU, N.S. -
A police investigator confirmed yesterday that two 11-year-old boys on this Mi'kmaq
reserve were trying to hang themselves and more intended to follow when other children
and adults intervened Wednesday night. While neither of the boys suffered serious
injuries, one was hanging from a tree, barely conscious with a piece of clothesline
around his neck, when he was freed by other children, said Sergeant Jay Marshall of
the Unama'ki police, the tribal force. Earlier reports suggested as many as five
children had attempted to commit suicide. Sgt. Marshall said the children were not
just seeking thrills. "There were two that actually had to be stopped. Others hadn't
reached that point yet," he said.
Community leaders were struggling yesterday to explain what motivated the children,
who tests showed were not under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Several said they
had been deeply affected by the death of a friend's mother from cancer this week. "I
think it's just emotions that ran wild. The kids were confused, they didn't know how
to react," said Lawrence Wells, who has been counselling children and parents since
the suicide attempts. "I think the kids were feeling a little bit of abandonment. They
can relate to that little boy who lost his mother." Mr. Wells said it is the kind of
incident that can happen in any community, native or not. But he added that the
Mi'kmaq often feel hostility from non-natives. "We're easy targets," he said.
Membertou, which lies within the city limits of Sydney, N.S., is relatively prosperous
compared with many of the province's more rural reserves, and youth suicide has never
been a problem, band councillors say. Mr. Wells said he hopes the children's actions
will rouse the population of roughly 900 people. Joyce Paul, who has a daughter the
same age as the boys who attempted suicide, said there is not enough for the children
to do on the reserve. Ultimately, though, she said parents have to assume more
responsibility. "You have to listen to the kids. They could be crying out," she said.
A steady stream of children yesterday visited a 24-hour crisis centre established to
offer counselling to anyone upset after this week's events. For many, the seriousness
of the incident did not seem to have sunk in. "I was the one who found him hanging,"
one girl said excitedly before an adult told her to keep quiet. "I was the guy who
tried to hang himself. Not!" a boy joked.
Mr. Wells, who normally offers addiction counselling, said the community responded
quickly to the crisis, from the children who stepped in to stop the suicides and alert
adults, to the almost immediate counselling program established. "We responded to what
could have developed into a much worse situation and defused it quickly," he said. "We
have some very gifted children here."
Dan Christmas, a band councillor who has an 11-year-old daughter, said the reserve had
recently taken steps to combat a rash of youth violence and vandalism. The suicide
attempts came out of the blue. "It really starts a parent to think, what can I do
better? What can I do as a resident to help our community be a better community?"
DR. SCHNEEBERGER
November 27, 1999 Sex fiend doc sentenced
REGINA (CP) -- A rural doctor got six years in prison yesterday for sexually
assaulting two patients and trying to fool DNA experts by inserting a tube of another
man's blood into his arm. Dr. John Schneeberger, 38, of Kipling, Sask., was stoic as
the judge handed down her sentence. "You are a young man with exceptional training and
talent who, through his own actions, has inalterably changed the course of his own
life at the expense of two young women," Justice Ellen Gunn told the doctor. "It is,
in all respects, a tragedy." On Thursday, Gunn found Schneeberger guilty of two counts
of sexual assault, one charge of administering a stupefying drug to commit the first
assault and one count of obstructing justice for foiling three separate DNA tests.
Crown prosecutor Dean Sinclair argued yesterday that Schneeberger should get 10 years
for his crimes, including failure to care for a patient who went to the hospital
emotionally distraught and in need of care on Oct. 31, 1992. "Inst!
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ead,
he injected her with a potentially dangerous drug, raped her and left her alone in a
darkened room," Sinclair told Gunn at a sentencing hearing. "The accused was willing
to risk her safety to obtain sexual gratification." He described Schneeberger as an
intelligent, but manipulative man who could not control his sexual impulses.
Defence lawyer Aaron Fox asked the court to consider Schneeberger's harsh upbringing
in a South African boarding school and his contributions to the town of Kipling. He
held up more than six letters of support written by residents after Thursday's
conviction. They spoke of his compassion as a doctor, a parent and a community booster.
November 27, 1999 Couple lost on lake
By ROBERT WILLIAMS -- Staff Reporter
It's been a tough 24 hours for the people of Ashern. The disappearance of a local
couple in Lake Manitoba combined with the presumed death of a well-known pilot from
Fairford First Nation is a "double whammy" to the community, said the owner of Jean's
Restaurant. "It's just like a double slap because people know Milton Menzies too,"
said Diane Price, referring to the missing pilot of a plane that disappeared over Lake
Winnipeg on Thursday. Bernice and Archie Davidson of Ashern were last seen standing on
ice by the east shore of Lake Manitoba in the Rural Municipality of Siglunes at 10:30
a.m. on Thursday. Police, who were in the area on another call, were flagged down by a
person who had seen the commercial fishers earlier, then later noticed they had
disappeared. "I guess they had a net out there by shore, and when the wind changed
they got in trouble," said RCMP Cpl. Len Gaudet. RCMP boats used nets to drag the lake
yesterday, but failed to find the couple. An aerial search !
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by a
private pilot also failed to yield any results. An RCMP dive team spent all day in
the water yesterday, but hadn't found anything at press time. The couple is well known
in the Interlake community of 700, and everyone is distressed by the incident, Price
said. "The whole town is upset; they just can't believed it happened." Besides
fishing commercially, Bernice worked part time at Ashern Pharmacy and the CIBC. The
couple had lived in the area all their lives and also had a farm, said Lorne Park,
reeve of the RM of Siglunes. "They had a lot of friends and a lot of family," he
said. "They were a very nice couple."
JACK RAMSAY MP RCMP RAPIST
JACK RAMSAY MP
November 27, 1999 Ramsay to stay Convicted MP will keep seat
By PAUL COWAN AND ANNE DAWSON -- Calgary Sun
Convicted sex-offender Jack Ramsay says he intends to remain a Member of Parliament
until the next federal election. The Crowfoot MP was kicked out of the Reform caucus
in the House of Commons on Thursday after being convicted of attempting to rape a
14-year-old girl on a Saskatchewan reserve in 1969 while serving as an RCMP corporal.
A jury in Melfort, Sask., heard Ramsay admit in a taped interview with the RCMP that
he asked the girl for sex, but changed his mind at the last second. Reform Leader
Preston Manning said the suspension would last until any appeal against the conviction
was heard.
But Ramsay said he hasn't ruled out sitting as an independent MP until the next
general election -- to be held by 2002. "The people of Crowfoot elected me for a term
and I intend to represent them," he said. "But I don't see any purpose in going back
(to Ottawa) until this matter has been settled." Meanwhile, Ramsay retains his
$66,900 salary, 22,100 tax-free allowance and $12,000 expense allowance. Ramsay said
his phone has been ringing constantly with calls from well-wishers. Ken Perrault,
chairman of Reform's Crowfoot constituency association, said Ramsay has its full
support. Perrault said calls for Ramsay's resignation tended to come from Camrose, not
his power base in the rural areas.
Opponents in Parliament have roundly called for Ramsay's resignation and even some
friends and Reform colleagues are saying Ramsay should step down. "If this had
happened to me, I'm sure I wouldn't feel comfortable sitting (as an MP) until it's
resolved," said Myron Thompson, MP for Wild Rose, just outside Calgary. Tory MPs have
leapt on what they say is the hypocrisy of Re-form's treatment of Ramsay compared with
calls from several of its MPs for two Conservative senators, Michael Cogger convicted
of influence peddling, and Eric Berntson, convicted fraudster, to resign before their
appeals are heard. "One minute they're calling for people to be kicked out and next
they are soft pedalling -- it's typical of them," said Tory immigration critic David
Price. Meanwhile, Mounties expect Ramsay to go on trial early next year on a charge of
unlawful confinement of a 15-year-old girl in 1969 on the Pelican Narrows.
November 27, 1999 2nd trial for MP likely in January
Ramsay blasts critics
By ANNE DAWSON -- Ottawa Sun
OTTAWA -- While convicted sex offender Jack Ramsay awaits sentencing, the Mounties say
the Reform MP's next trial will likely be early in the new year. Ramsay, who was found
guilty this week of an attempted rape that occurred in 1969 while he was a 32-year-old
RCMP corporal in a remote Saskatchewan aboriginal community, faces a second charge of
unlawful confinement. "We're anticipating (the second trial) will be held sometime in
the new year," said Sgt. Bob Laidlaw, who conducted both investigations. Both
allegations were made by women in their early 40s, but who were teens at the time the
alleged offences took place. Saskatchewan Crown prosecutor Robin Ritter said he
expects the second trial to get under way before spring. Ramsay is scheduled to be
sentenced for his first conviction Dec. 20 and has said he will appeal. The disgraced
Reformer lashed out at his political opponents yesterday for calling on him to resign
as an MP, accusing them of having double standards. Ramsay!
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was
booted out of Reform caucus by Leader Preston Manning Thursday but still retains his
job and his $66,900 salary, his $22,100 tax-free allowance, and his $12,000 expense
allowance. Both Tory MP Peter MacKay and NDP MP Lorne Nystrom said Ramsay should
voluntarily resign. Ramsay pointed out that Nystrom was charged and acquitted of a $7
shoplifting charge in 1990.
November 27, 1999 Ramsay appeal could cost Manning: pundit
By PAUL COWAN, EDMONTON SUN
A leading Alberta political pundit says Reform Leader Preston Manning could be faced
with a serious dilemma if Crowfoot MP Jack Ramsay wins his planned appeal against an
attempted rape conviction. University of Lethbridge political science professor Peter
McCormick said it was likely Manning would want to dump Ramsay following his
conviction this week in Saskatchewan for attempting to rape a 14-year-old girl while
working as a Mountie on a reserve in 1969. "I'm not sure Manning would be willing to
let him run again (on a Reform ticket) because he has to be seen to be in charge of
the caucus and not to look soft," McCormick said yesterday. But McCormick said if
Manning dumps Ramsay the Crowfoot MP could retain the seat at the next election as an
independent candidate. "Ramsay was a leading light in the Reform party and now he is
an embarrassing passenger, even if he wins his appeal.
"If he loses he is very badly damaged goods and almost certainly has no political
future. But assuming that the appeal process is sympathetic he could well be elected
as an independent." McCormick said Ramsay standing as an independent could cost Reform
one of its safest seats. At the moment Ramsay is suspended from the Reform caucus
pending the resolution of any appeal. McCormick said the fact that Ramsay appeared to
accept the suspension suggested he might be prepared to stand down if the party asked
him. "It sounds as though he is someone who might bite the bullet for the sake of the
party," said McCormick.
The Globe and Mail, Saturday, November 27, 1999
Honour and the MP
Jack Ramsay has been found guilty of the attempted rape of a 14-year-old girl more
than 30 years ago. He continues to claim that, while he did something "inappropriate,"
it shouldn't be characterized as a crime. As a citizen of Canada, Mr. Ramsay's rights
are clear. He has the right to take advantage of all the appeal processes found in the
law. Only when those are exhausted would he be required to pay whatever penalty is
imposed upon him. Less self-evident is what Jack Ramsay, Reform Member of Parliament
for the Alberta riding of Crowfoot, should do. If his sentence is a prison term of
more than two years, he will be required by the rules of Parliament to give up his
office. But what happens if, as is likely, Mr. Ramsay finds himself in a limbo state
where Parliamentary rules are not applicable?
Off the top, it is hard to imagine that a man who has held himself up as such a strong
advocate of law and order, as a paragon of individuals taking responsibility for their
own lives, would not find his present situation shameful. It is easy to imagine him
deciding, both in the interest of his party and his riding, that he should remove
himself from politics and let the twists and turns of the judicial process affect only
a private man. That would be most honourable. However, Mr. Ramsay also has the right
to decide that honour lies in remaining in office while fighting his judicial battles.
He can argue that the crime's mitigating circumstances -- the long passage of time,
his subsequent life history, two people with a much conflicted memory of now dim
events, a sea change in how men's desires are treated by the women they visit them on
-- softens the effect of his crime. But the key component in any such decision should
be how his constituents feel about his situation. His e!
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ffec
tiveness as an MP has already been sorely compromised by his party's removal of him
from its caucus.
The people of rural Alberta now have a responsibility to make clear where their
notions of honour and integrity and the conviction of Jack Ramsay for the attempted
rape of a 14-year-old girl lie. [note is this subliminal placement of the word "lie"?]
If Albertans feel he can no longer effectively represent them, if they feel he has
shamed his office, they should tell him so. Mr. Ramsay should listen to the people at
whose sufferance he serves. Any personal interest he sees in remaining in office must
be deeply affected by the will of the people.
DOUBLE STANDARD EDITORIAL Brantford Expositor 11/27/99
Reformers are easy on their own. When you make the claim that you live by a higher set
of moral standards, you had better be prepared to back up your claim with action.
Sadly, the leaders of the Reform Party don't seem able to do that. The party of law
and order and high virtue is being surprisingly tolerant of a convicted criminal in
its midst and doesn't seem to see the need to match its stated principles with
definitive action. Reform MP Jack Ramsay, the party's justice critic, has been found
guilty of attempting to rape a 14-year-old girl 30 decades ago when Ramsay was an RCMP
officer.
The jury reached its verdict quickly, which was surprising given that the evidence was
mostly of the ``he said, she said'' variety. But even Ramsay's own testimony painted a
seamy picture of an authority figure, a police officer, using his power over a young
girl while entertaining fantasies that it was she who wanted sex with him.
Ramsay maintained his innocence up to, during and after the trial and has, of course,
planned an appeal.But he has not done the honorable thing and resigned his seat in the
House of Commons. Nor, more significantly, have his Reform party colleagues demanded
that he resign, which is an interesting turn of events given their past attempts to
force the resignation of other Parliamentarians convicted of what might be called
``white collar crimes.''
When Conservative Senator Michel Cogger was found guilty of influence peddling, and
Tory Senator Eric Berntson was convicted of fraud, Reform MPs were at the head of the
parade, saying how wrong it was for convicted felons to remain in such positions of
importance. Reformer Rob Anders urged their expulsion, adding that the Senate, by
allowing the men to remain in their midst, was ``bringing disrepute on the
institution.'' There was nothing from Anders about giving the two Tories the benefit
of the doubt and awaiting the outcome of any appeal.
The Reform Party was right to call for the resignations of the two felons, which makes
it all the more curious why it does not hold the members of its own party to the same
standard.
Reform leader Preston Manning did expel Ramsay from the party caucus, but has not yet
called for Ramsay to resign from the House. In fact, Manning suggests waiting for the
``conclusion of legal proceedings.'' The party whip, MP Chuck Strahl, says the party
has done enough and won't pressure Ramsay to resign. If they base their inaction on
the fact that Ramsay has not yet exhausted every appeal available to him, then they
have a perverse notion of how the justice system operates. This is not a matter of
``innocent until proven guilty.'' Ramsay has been proven guilty; he will be punished;
he might well be sentenced to jail, where he can file his appeal papers. If they are
being tolerant of their old colleague out of a sense of loyalty and a disbelief that
the man they know could have committed such a crime, then they should give their heads
a good shake and acknowledge the reality of the jury's verdict. Their dithering does
no good for their party or the institution of Parliame!
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nt.
Ultimately, of course, the decision to resign rests with Ramsay. But that does not
absolve the Reform Party from doing the right thing and urging Ramsay to do precisely
that. If the Reform leaders remain silent, they will leave themselves open to being
criticized for holding a double standard, of tolerating a criminal, even of tolerating
his crime. And every criticism would be right on the target.
"Let Us Consider The Human Brain As
A Very Complex Photographic Plate"
1957 G.H. Estabrooks
www.angelfire.com/mn/mcap/bc.html
FOR K A R E N #01182
who died fighting 4/23/99
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.aches-mc.org
807-622-5407
For people like me, violence is the minotaur; we spend our lives
wandering its maze, looking for the exit. (Richard Rhodes)
Never befriend the oppressed
unless you are prepared to
take on the oppressor.
(Author unknown)
