English speaking (and bilingual) members of a Facebook group fighting for the rights of people to use the English language in the Canadian province of Quebec are upset by the arrest of a man who is being accused of uttering threats against the Quebec government.
The Montreal Gazette (see below) quotes Dan Seniw as saying, "Well, I see an AK-47 walking into the National Assembly again and this issue will become passé."
I do not know Mr. Seniw although I am associated with this group. If he said that, should it be taken as a serious threat?
We often say things out of frustration when we see our rights being crushed. We might blurt out something stupid in a heated moment. How often does someone say, "I'll kill you!" when, truth be known, that would never happen.
On the other hand, in the 1980's, when my husband, Cliff Carter - Mr. Nostalgia" - was employed as singer/pianist at Le Touche Bar and Lounge of the Sonesta Hotel at Sherbrooke and Peel in Montreal, an agent for the Musicians' Union would come around on pay day to collect his cut.
Since the agent had nothing to do with Cliff getting the gig, I was upset that Cliff had to keep paying him for doing absolutely nothing.
The agent would come and sit at a table with Cliff (and me, that night), and reach under the table for his money !
Cliff was always the consummate gentleman and would never make a fuss. He just paid. But I, always a scrapper, ventured, that evening, to ask the agent, "What would happen if Cliff didn't pay you?"
The answer was, "Well, I'm not the kind of guy that breaks fingers - but...".
So, folks, what is a threat and what is not a threat?
Phyllis Carter
Mr. Nostalgia, Cliff Carter - http://cliffcartermrnostalgia.blogspot.com
The Gazette Report
A Montreal man arrested on Wednesday after allegedly posting a threatening comment in reference to hearings at the National Assembly on the proposed Charter of Quebec Values will see his case heard in Quebec City.
Daniel Seniw, 58, made a brief appearance at the Montreal courthouse on Thursday, before Quebec Court Judge Manon Ouimet, where he learned the Crown does not object to his release and that he will be charged in Quebec City, the court jurisdiction where the threat was directed.
His wife, Janet Seniw, was present for the hearing.
"Dan is a very charitable and giving guy. He volunteers in hospitals. He was just making a statement on the Internet," she later told reporters. She described her husband as a retired Bell Canada employee who used to coach youth football.
"I'm very surprised. He's a church-goer, he volunteers at palliative care at St.. Mary's Hospital. He volunteers at the mental health ward and this was just one little glitch that he did."
"He is not violent at all, at all. It was an error. Just be careful, people, of what you write on the Internet. You could end up in the same position."
Daniel Seniw, a Cote des Neiges resident, appeared calm as his lawyer, Louis Philippe Roy, explained what he would have to agree to in order to be released. It included the unusual condition that Seniw supply the court with proof that he will cancel any contract he has with an Internet provider.
Seniw, who does not have a criminal record, is also required to make a $2,000 deposit, call the police two times per month, and is not allowed to possess any weapons. Seniw told the court that he does not possess any.
He is also not allowed to be at Internet cafes, use a computer to connect with the Internet or use an electronic device for the same purpose. He also is not allowed near the National Assembly and he agreed to be present for his first court date in his case, at the courthouse in Quebec City, on Feb. 18.
Seniw faces one charge of uttering threats toward "personnel at that National Assembly."
Reportedly, Sinew posted a comment on Facebook attached to a Huffington Post article that suggested the Quebec government is poised to turn the heated charter debate into an election issue.
Daniel Seniw, 58, made a brief appearance at the Montreal courthouse on Thursday, before Quebec Court Judge Manon Ouimet, where he learned the Crown does not object to his release and that he will be charged in Quebec City, the court jurisdiction where the threat was directed.
His wife, Janet Seniw, was present for the hearing.
"Dan is a very charitable and giving guy. He volunteers in hospitals. He was just making a statement on the Internet," she later told reporters. She described her husband as a retired Bell Canada employee who used to coach youth football.
"I'm very surprised. He's a church-goer, he volunteers at palliative care at St.. Mary's Hospital. He volunteers at the mental health ward and this was just one little glitch that he did."
"He is not violent at all, at all. It was an error. Just be careful, people, of what you write on the Internet. You could end up in the same position."
Daniel Seniw, a Cote des Neiges resident, appeared calm as his lawyer, Louis Philippe Roy, explained what he would have to agree to in order to be released. It included the unusual condition that Seniw supply the court with proof that he will cancel any contract he has with an Internet provider.
Seniw, who does not have a criminal record, is also required to make a $2,000 deposit, call the police two times per month, and is not allowed to possess any weapons. Seniw told the court that he does not possess any.
He is also not allowed to be at Internet cafes, use a computer to connect with the Internet or use an electronic device for the same purpose. He also is not allowed near the National Assembly and he agreed to be present for his first court date in his case, at the courthouse in Quebec City, on Feb. 18.
Seniw faces one charge of uttering threats toward "personnel at that National Assembly."
Reportedly, Sinew posted a comment on Facebook attached to a Huffington Post article that suggested the Quebec government is poised to turn the heated charter debate into an election issue.
The article was posted on a Facebook page belonging to a group called Anglophone Community-Communaute Anglophone du Quebec, which lists more than 870 members. The comment reportedly read: "Well, I see an AK-47 walking into the National Assembly again and this issue will become passé." It was an apparent reference to how, in 1984, a man named Denis Lortie walked into the National Assembly and opened fire with an AK-47. Lortie killed three people and injured 13 others.
The Facebook group has a set rules of conduct it won't tolerate posted on its page, including a note stating: "Allusions to violence of any kind — verbal physical, metaphoric. We're all about peaceful coexistence, let's keep the rhetoric toned down."
By PAUL CHERRY, The Gazette
© Copyright (c) The Montreal Gazette
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2 comments:
I could be wrong but the way I see it unless he said "I see (myself) taking...." it is not a threat. I don't see any allusion of violence from him personally. I thought that is what is takes to threaten anything or anyone. Like the example above "Well, I'm (subject) not the kind of guy that breaks fingers - but..." vs "I can see fingers getting broken and this situation will be passé"
We have laws, but we do not have common sense in our injustice system. Nor is there much good will. The politicians are working for their own goals - separation. The police are puppets who follow orders - or, sometimes, do as they please. The reader will find reports on this blog and at http://dawnmcsweeney.blogspot.com which provide details about how I was picked up by the Montreal Police from my home and taken to the Jewish General Hospital under the accusation that I was insane and dangerous. This accusation was made by a stranger named Kenneth Gregroire Prud'homme, a man I never met or spoke to, who made himself the liquidator of my father's estate - a man who never met my father. A Quebec Court judge in Montreal issued the court order against me in four minutes without ever seeing me or speaking to me, without any medical report to support the accusations, without any evidence or witnesses except the thieves I have been exposing. The Suburban newspaper in Montreal published two articles about this in September, 2007. THE PHYLLIS CARTER DETENTION and CONDEMNED IN ABSENTIA IN FOUR MINUTES.
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