Wednesday 17 July 2019

HALIFAX COURT RELEASES INFORMATION CONCERNING WRONGLY CONVICTED MAN

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GLEN ASSOUN CASE - JUDGE TO UNSEAL DOCUMENTS FRIDAY AM

TORONTO: A Nova Scotia Supreme Court judge is set to unseal documents Friday morning showing that evidence suppressed and destroyed by authorities could have freed wrongly convicted Glen Assoun. 
The documents will be opened to media and public scrutiny at 9:30 a.m at the N.S. Supreme Court courthouse in Halifax. 
Last week, Justice James Chipman ruled against an attempt by the province and police to keep the documents confidential.
Innocence Canada lawyers Phil Campbell and Sean MacDonald supported a media coalition at the hearing, arguing that the public interest necessitated the release of the material.
Mr. Assoun served 16 and a half years of a life sentence for the 1995 murder of a Halifax woman, Brenda Way. He was convicted in 1999.  In 2014, he was released on bail pending a review of his conviction by the federal Criminal Conviction Review Group (“CCRG”) and spent approximately five years on bail under extremely onerous release conditions.
In total, Glen Assoun was wrongly convicted for 21 years.Once shown the results of the internal review, Justice Minister David Lametti quickly referred the case back for a retrial. The province opted not to prosecute, exonerating Mr. Assoun.
Mr. Assoun insisted on his innocence at all times, from his first contact with police in 1995, through to his exoneration in March 2019.  The documents to be unsealed today are expected to show that, unbeknown to Mr. Assoun's legal team, the case against him was irreparably flawed.
Recent court submissions suggest that authorities colluded to suppress vital evidence. The documents may also point a finger at the real perpetrator - or perpetrators - of Ms. Way's murder.
There are a few individuals whose commitment to the pursuit of justice assisted Mr. Assoun and whose contributions should be acknowledged.  These include: the CCRG for their highly professional and comprehensive investigation, former Minister of Justice Peter MacKay who oversaw the investigation at its most critical point, current Minister of Justice David Lametti for immediately recognizing the injustice and taking swift and decisive action to remedy it and Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice James Chipman for judicially restoring the integrity of the process.
At the conclusion of Friday's court proceeding, Mr. MacDonald and Innocence Canada Co-President Ron Dalton will respond to media questions outside the courthouse.

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 For further information, please contact: 
Ron Dalton (rcdalton@hotmail.ca) or 
Sea MacDonald (seanm@passport.ca or 416-606-3017) 
or Phil Campbell (416-847-2560; Skype:phil.lcp; pcampbell@lcp-law.com).
Innocence Canada
111 Peter Street, Suite 408
Toronto, Ontario  
M5V 2H1
 
ISSUED BY 

STEPHEN WEIR
Stephen Weir & Associates | stephen@stephenweir.com 
109 Castlefield Avenue, Toronto, ON
CANADA. M4R 1G5
Tel: 416-489-5868 | cell: 416-801-3101 
www.stephenweir.com twitter: sweirsweir 

NEW NETWORK IS FREE UNTIL THE FALL - ONE CARIBBEAN TV


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ONE CARIBBEAN TELEVISION LAUNCHES TORONTO’S FIRST CARIBBEAN RESTAURANT WEEK IN JULY
TORONTO (July 8, 2019) - One Caribbean Television, a 24/7 television network about the Caribbean and its people, is pleased to announce the launch of Toronto’s first Caribbean Restaurant Week from July 17 to July 27, 2019.  The event will celebrate the rich tradition of Caribbean cuisine found in Toronto as well as provide interesting programming for the network which recently launched on Bell Fibe TV, Channel 2481.     
One Caribbean Television will be in free preview on Bell from July 1 through Labour Day.    
Throughout the campaign, One Caribbean Television will profile select restaurants in the Greater Toronto Area and offer their patrons a chance to win a trip for two to a carnival in the Caribbean in 2020. 
The network is excited to promote the stories of some of Toronto’s most popular Caribbean restaurants with our viewers in Canada, the United States and throughout the Caribbean.   
“One out of every six tourists to the Caribbean comes from Canada, so Caribbean Restaurant Week will be a welcome reminder to current visitors and a novel way to introduce the region to prospective travelers,” noted Nancy Drolet, Business Development representative for Canada at the Caribbean Tourism Organization.
To find out which Caribbean restaurants will be featured, log on to this special page on the One Caribbean Televisionwebsite:  www.onecaribbeantelevision.com/canada.     
During the first week in August, One Caribbean Television will broadcast Carnival Week,  a week of coverage of the Caribbean carnivals occurring in Antigua, Barbados, Toronto among other locations.   
For More Information
MARK WALTON
646.776.0914
mwalton@OneCaribbeanTelevision.com

Issued by: 

STEPHEN WEIR
Stephen Weir & Associates | stephen@stephenweir.com 
109 Castlefield Avenue, Toronto, ON
CANADA. M4R 1G5
Tel: 416-489-5868 | cell: 416-801-3101 
www.stephenweir.com twitter: sweirsweir