Judge to give Decision on Freedom for 2 Indigenous Sisters in Prison for more than 30 Years

Bail Decision to be made at 9:00 a.m., Monday, March 27 in Yorkton, Sask

Justice Layh of the Court of King's Bench in Yorkton, Saskatchewan will deliver his decision whether Odelia and Nerissa Quewezance, two Indigenous sisters who have been in prison for more than 30 years since Feb 25, 1993, should be released on bail while they wait for Minister Lametti’s decision in their case. 

 

In December, 2021, the sisters asked the Minister to review their convictions for 2^nd degree murder as miscarriages of justice. They are supported by Innocence Canada and many Indigenous activists’ groups and supporters across Canada. 

 

In June, 2022, the Minister advised that he believed there may have been a miscarriage of justice in their case. 

 

In the summer of 2022, Odelia and Nerissa filed an application in the King’s Bench Court for their release on bail pending the Minister’s decision. The application was heard by Justice Layh in November 2022, and again in January, 2023. 

 

On Monday, Justice Layh will deliver his decision in open court in Yorkton. Odelia and Nerissa will both be there, along with their families and supporters. 

 

Media can attend the court in person to hear Justice Layh’s decision.

 

 

 Face of the Festival (and a body too!) wanted for 2023

 

Just as this week’s Caribbean Camera was going to press, the Toronto Caribbean Carnival sent out a call for this year’s Face of the Festival.  The carnival is looking for a Brand Ambassador to represent the Toronto Caribbean Carnival this summer.

 

“Are you the next Face of the Festival?” asked festival organizers in the first issue of their new Carnival Insider newsletter. “If you think you have the passion, energy, and rhythm to represent what the Toronto Caribbean Carnival is all about, we need you! Register for a chance to become the 2023 Face of the Festival.”

  

“If you believe carnival is LIFE and believe there is no greater joy than jamming down de road with your section, then we are looking for you. Your duties will include event appearances, event hosting, appearing in social media content, and promoting Toronto Carnival to the world!” reads the newsletter article.

 

In advertising for the next Face of the Festival the TCC is using a picture of a beautiful female in Mas costume (pictured left in Caribbean Camera clipping of this article). It implies that only women should apply. Last year the carnival had both a male and a female model in the role.

 

 I used an the Dali-E AI programme to create the copyright free drawing of a reveller at the top of this page. Article by Stephen Weir

INNOCENCE CANADA PRESS RELEASE‎ - February 16, 2023 - David and Joyce Milgaard’s Law

 

David and Joyce Milgaard’s Law

Minister of Justice Introduces Legislation to Establish an Independent Canadian Criminal Case Review Commission

 

David Milgaard

Innocence Canada is pleased with Justice Minister David Lametti’s announcement today of a new bill to establish an Independent Commission to review claims of innocence which has been named after Joyce and David Milgaard. 

 

We honour the memory of David and Joyce Milgaard (right) and all wrongly convicted individuals and their families.

We would like to also acknowledge the countless people starting with the Donald Marshall Jr. Commission of Inquiry, who have for over thirty years been advocating for an independent case review commission.  We are grateful to Justice Minister David Lametti for his dedication and commitment to making this important and vital new commission a reality.

 

We hope that the new proposed Criminal Code amendments will rectify the failures of the past and provide the wrongly convicted with the means to prove their innocence as expediently as possible.

 

Ron Dalton, Exoneree stated:

 

“This legislation would have been beneficial in the past, but we hope more importantly going forward, it will benefit those coming after us.”

For further information please contact James Lockyer, lawyer and Innocence Canada Director at 416-613-0416 or jlockyer@lzzdefence.ca

or

Ron Dalton, Exoneree and Co-President, Innocence Canada at 709-327-6864 or rcdalton@hotmail.ca  

issued by Stephen Weir

 

 

FRONT PAGE ALVIN AILEY NEWS

 

Toronto dancer about to take to the big stage with Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre

Not only is it the first weekend for Black History Month in Toronto, it will also be two days of first for dance fans.  On February 3rd and 4th “America ‘s Cultural Ambassador to the World” the Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre will kick off its 2023 North American tour with a trio of performances at the downtown Meridian Hall (formerly the Sony Centre).

The 32-member dance troop will be performing for the first time in Canada a new dance — Are You in Your Feelings  — that acclaimed  choreographer Kyle Abraham describes as a “celebration of Black culture, Black music, and the youthful spirit that perseveres in us all.”

Finally and probably most importantly dance lovers in the city are finally going to see Hannah Alissa Richardson perform live on stage with this famed Dance Theatre. This is the Toronto native’s inaugural season with the Company and the first time for her dancing here since before the Pandemic shut down.

This is a sweet homecoming,” Hannah Alissa Richardson told the Caribbean Camera today, “My first time watching Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater was back in 2012, right here in the then “Sony Centre,” now “Meridian Hall". I feel honoured and blessed to make my touring debut with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater here in front of my family and friends. And what a privilege it is to kick off Black History Month in Toronto! “

“Apart from zoom performances throughout the pandemic, the last time I danced in Toronto was for several dance videos including one

Alvin Aileys Revelations

for Def Jam recording artist Teyana Taylor and another for Toronto based videographer Lee Zavitz,” the 20 something continued.  “Before moving to the US and graduating with honors from The Ailey School, I danced with a competitive dance company, Maple Academy of Dance. I was also part of the cast of Disney Channel’s “Backstage” and Family Channel’s “The Next Step,” both filmed in Toronto.”

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater was founded by the late Alvin Ailey in New York city back in 1958. Since then they have performed for over 25 million people in 48 states, as well as 71 countries on six continents. Always a stop on their North American tours, if the three performances on Friday and Saturday in Toronto (matinee and evening shows) follow tradition and are sold out, over 9,000 will see Richardson.

You won’t have trouble figuring out who she is, just listen for the wave of applause when she steps on stage for the first time.  Richardson has deep ties in the city. “I attended Holy Trinity School in Richmond Hill before moving to New York for my post-secondary education at The Ailey School,” she explained “I come from a

Hannah Alissa Richardson

Trinidadian and Filipino background. My father was born in Port of Spain and my mother was born in Manilla. I am proud of my culture. It gives me the basis to appreciate a variety of dance styles and forms.”

Both the Friday and Saturday night evening performances begin at 8 pm. The curtain raises at 4pm for the Saturday matinee performance. At every performance, the inspiring finale will be Alvin Ailey’s American masterpiece Revelations acclaimed around the world for sending hearts soaring and lifting audiences to their feet. Since its debut in 1960, Revelations has been seen by more people around the world than any other modern dance work.

INNOCENCE CANADA MEDIA ALERT - RE QUEWEZANCE CASE

 MEDIA ALERT:  

 

ODELIA AND NERISSA QUEWEZANCE AFTER 30 YEARS OF INCARCERATION HAVE A BAIL HEARING SCHEDULED FOR JANUARY 17 – 18, 2023 AT THE YORKTON COURT OF KING’S BENCH in YORKTON, SASKATCHEWAN.

 

Innocence Canada supports the Quewezance sisters’ application for bail before the Yorkton Court of King’s Bench, in Yorkton Saskatchewan.

 

Odelia and Nerissa Quewezance were 21 and 19 years old at the time of the offence. In 1994 they were convicted of second-degree murder in the 1993 death of 70-year-old Anthony Dolff and sentenced to life imprisonment. Their 14-year-old cousin and co-accused accepted responsibility for the killing of Mr. Dolff. 

 

Innocence Canada is currently waiting for a decision on the ministerial review application (s.696.1 application) submitted on behalf of the Quewezance sisters to the Minister of Justice on December 21, 2021. As detailed in the application, Innocence Canada believes that the Quewezance sisters are the victims of a miscarriage of justice.

 

Innocence Canada co-founder, board member and lawyer James Lockyer is representing Odelia and Nerissa along with local Saskatchewan counsel and Jerome Kennedy of Innocence Canada.

The sisters also have the support of high-profile advocates who include the late David Milgaard, Senator Kim Pate, retired Justices Harry LaForme and Juanita Westmoreland-Traoré and Kim Beaudin from the Congress of Aboriginal Peoples.

 

SECOND TIME THAT THE SCARBOROUGH FESTIVAL HAS BEEN CANCELLED. BACK IN 2023

This weekend's free Scarborough's Multicultural Festival cancelled

It has been a tough summer for the Scarborough Community Multicultural Festival. The free 3-day summer festival was planning to come back big after the Covid shutdown by bringing the annual festival to the Scarborough Town Centre in mid-August.

According to Kinron, the company that produces the annual carnival arts festival (calypso singers, mas costume routines and pan performances), they ran into permit issues with both  the city and the mall and had to not only postpone the show but change the location as well.

Shortly after announcing the changes, the festival’s website was hijacked by spammers and the festival had to come up with a new persona on social media.

The new date was to be this weekend and the location was to be Confederation Park in Scarborough.

According to Kinron’s Steven McKinnon the September 23^rd has had to be cancelled once again because their “permit wasn’t issued in time.  We are postponing it to 2023 'cause the weather is gonna be questionable going forward.”

Blink Equity regroups Intuit’s TurboTax event featuring Toronto Raptors Fred VanVleet and Derek Foil.

How Top Tech Employers are Partnering with Entrepreneurs to Create a More Diverse Talent Pipeline

More employers than ever before are partnering with entrepreneurs to drive growth for the tech talent pipeline.

From the basketball court to the boardroom, an All-Star Toronto Raptors player is helping the community by bringing people together for a shared mission.

Blink Equity regroups Intuit’s TurboTax event featuring Toronto Raptors Fred VanVleet and Derek Foil.

Toronto, ON, September 20 - Toronto has 52% diverse representation and is one of the most multicultural cities in the world. Yet, if you go into many of the tech companies that are putting Toronto on the map today, multiculturalism is not always represented.

More and more, companies like Intuit Canada are leveraging brands such as Turbo Tax and Quickbooks to partner with like-minded corporations, community organizations and startups to address underrepresentation of BIPOC Talent within tech, fintech, and the financial services industries. The twist? They want to do it by increasing their support of BIPOC entrepreneurship through partnerships and collaborative industry-wide initiatives.

On September 21, 2022 Intuit Canada will be hosting an event in support of growing the Talent Pipeline in Tech through entrepreneurship. The event will be headlined by Toronto Raptors’ Fred VanVleet (pictured above) and his partner Derek Folk. The two influential entrepreneurs will gear up to announce season 2 of their “Bet on Yourself” podcast.

To make this event happen and jumpstart the initiative, the firm reached out to a former employee, Pako Tshiamala, Founder and CEO of Blink Equity who understood the challenge and exactly how to hit the ground running. Tshiamala, recently left a corporate job to solve a problem he deeply cared about; the lack of representation of BIPOC talent in the tech and related industries, and even more specifically, with senior leadership roles.

Paso Tshiamala (left)

“It was very important for us to program the event along a much larger initiative so the interaction with the BIPOC community is NOT episodic. Which is a pitfall of many well intended corporate initiatives start and drop. 

A number of community partnerships will be announced to solve the talent pipeline problem”, said Pako Tshiamala, Founder of Blink Equity.

The event will be taking over Toronto’s Rendez Views restaurant on September 21st and will transform the space into different experiences for the participants. There will be pop-up shops where team members of employers and the general public can purchase items such as jewelry, handmade soaps, and apparel from local BIPOC owned vendors from 11AM-8PM. Two open court basketball courts will be accessible for a little fun and play and will feature performances by BIPOC artists on the main stage. 

The event will also host a courtside chat on the subject of advancing the talent pipeline from an organizational perspective, as well as with the help of entrepreneurs in the community. That is, before VanVleet and Derek Folk take over the stage to drive the point home- Always bet on yourself!

About Blink Equity

Blink Equity is a one-stop shop for business equity solutions. Through their flagship programs, and initiatives Blink Equity transforms workplaces and produces equitable, success-focused opportunities for diverse candidates.
By embedding themselves in an organization, they develop customizable, comprehensive approaches to create scalable, sustainable, and replicable equity solutions

To learn more about Blink Equity: www.blinkequity.ca

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For further information / media inquiries:
Pako Tshiamala
Founder / CEO
Email: pako@blinkequity.ca
Tel: 647-802-8117

Sent by:

Craigg Slowly

Director of Communications and Strategic Partnerships

Matrix Mortgage Global

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Direct: 647.572.2314  |  Fax: 1.888.833.4804

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STEPHEN WEIR