Woodstock Police throw support behind gun registry

WOODSTOCK – The Woodstock Police Service has come out solidly in favour of retaining the country's long gun registry.

Police service boards across Canada are marking Wednesday as the National Day in Support of the Long Gun Registry

"Our Board has the responsibility for the safety of both our officers and the

community. Anything that can increase that safety is worthy of supporting," said Woodstock Mayor Michael Harding, chair of the Woodstock police services board.

In a pair of press releases Tuesday evening, chief Rod Freeman said he, his senior officers and members of the police services board are united in their support for the registry.

The registry has been criticized for costing more than $1 billion to establish. Freeman said the system now costs $4.1 million

A vote on a conservative private member's bill to scrap the registry is expected later this month in the House of Commons.

"I genuinely believe the Long Gun Registry provides a police officer with critically important information when responding to emergency situations where a serious threat to community safety exists," Freeman said in a release.

"Front-line officers need to have the opportunity to gather all relevant information available that may potentially impact on officer and community safety

Cigarette butt litterers could see heftier fines (Hooray!!!)

On Derik Lopes’ first day on the job as a maintenance worker, he swept up enough cigarette butts to fill five large dustpans — in just two hours.

“Look,” Lopes said Thursday, gesturing at the tiny white flecks crowding the crevices in the ground. “My boss said, ‘Look at all the cigarettes. You have to clean.’ ”

Alongside coffee cups and pigeons, cigarette butts have become one of those ubiquitous details that litter our urban landscape. According to one science journal, some 4.5-trillion cigarettes are tossed on the ground every year worldwide, leaching toxic chemicals into waterways and creating hazards for wildlife.

 Link http://tiny.cc/27u19

A Moving Tribute to a Quebec Politician

QUEBEC—Claude Bechard, a youthful Quebec cabinet minister who soldiered on in his post despite suffering from terminal cancer, died on Tuesday. He was 41.

His life was marked by a passion for politics and Bechard seemed to find solace in the affairs of state even as he confronted a slew of personal tragedies.

In his final months, ailing, thin and visibly weakened by his pancreatic cancer, he continued working and made a dramatic return to the legislature following one lengthy absence.

“You have to live,” a frail Bechard told reporters minutes before stepping into the legislature on his first day back in June. “You have to live. We’re not here to sit around and wait for things to go wrong. We’re here to live. You have to live life to the fullest.”

Link http://tiny.cc/l9u4c