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Several men convicted of multiple murders are pressing claims for early chances at parole, after the Supreme Court ruled Canada’s life-without-parole law unconstitutional, retroactive to the legislation’s 2011 enactment.
Those challenges are possible even when an offender has exhausted the appeals process and their case was considered closed. Even convicted killers who accepted their sentences without fighting them – or who made plea bargains – are among those seeking shorter waits for parole hearings, reports The Globe’s Sean Fine.
John Paul Ostamas is involved in one such case. He was sentenced to life in prison with no parole eligibility for 75 years, after he beat and stomped to death three homeless men in Winnipeg at age 39. Another such case is Travis Baumgartner’s. At age 21, he shot dead, from close range, three fellow armoured car drivers in Edmonton, and received 40 years parole ineligibility in a plea bargain.
In all, 23 people who committed multiple murders are eligible for potential reductions in their waiting periods for parole hearings.
Twenty-three people who committed multiple murders are eligible for potential reductions in their waiting periods for parole hearings after the Supreme Court ruled Canada's life-without-parole law unconstitutional.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
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As Russians advance in eastern Ukraine, city of Slovyansk fears the horrors of 2014 will return
Driving around his native Donbas region, collecting the bodies of dead civilians and soldiers – and with the Russian army closing on his hometown of Slovyansk – Oleksiy Yukov can’t believe the horrors he narrowly escaped are happening again.
Eight years ago, Yukov was almost a very early casualty of the smaller-scale conflict that preceded Russia’s full-blown invasion of Ukraine this year.
When Slovyansk was captured in April, 2014, by a pro-Moscow militia, Yukov was imprisoned in a basement beneath the local security services building. An order for his execution was signed. His life was spared by the last-minute intervention of a senior pro-Russian official, who appreciated the work Yukov and his Black Tulips organization did and do – collecting the dead on both sides of the conflict, writes The Globe’s Mark MacKinnon.
Now that awful history is repeating itself. The early weeks of the war were marked by rapid Russian advances toward the capital of Kyiv, then a retreat that let the world see the atrocities committed in the places that fell under Russian occupation.
More coverage:
- Russia slides toward default as payment deadline expires
- Russia steps up missile strikes on Ukraine as G7 leaders gather in Europe
For abortion rights advocates in Ohio, fury over end of Roe v. Wade collides with political realities
The handwritten message held aloft at the Ohio Statehouse, like those wielded by crowds that gathered across the U.S. to protest the country’s Supreme Court decision on abortion, were laced with fury.
“They are coming after your rights next,” warned one. “Keep your rosaries off my ovaries,” implored another. “Stand up fight back,” said another.
But in Ohio, like many of the states that moved quickly against abortion following the overturn of Roe v. Wade, anger over abortion has only served to underscore a Republican command of political power that will not be easily challenged, writes The Globe’s Nathan VanderKlippe.
Ohio was once America’s political bellwether, the state whose shifting political preferences tracked and foretold the rise and fall of the left and the right. No longer. Ohio twice voted in large numbers for Donald Trump, and has become a bastion of conservatism.
Read more:
- Canadians protest Roe v. Wade reversal, fear LGBTQ rights could be under threat
- Roe v. Wade’s fall sets a ‘frightening precedent,’ retired Canadian Supreme Court justice says
- Canadian insurance firms in U.S. move to extend health benefits after Roe v. Wade overturned
- Analysis: The end of Roe v. Wade is the searing legacy of Trump’s presidency
- Opinion: The Supreme Court’s disdainful abortion ruling sets Americans out on a humiliating hunt for health care
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Also on our radar
Globalive appeals to Ottawa to block Freedom Mobile sale to Quebecor: Globalive Capital’s chairman Anthony Lacavera is urging the federal government to block Quebecor from buying Freedom Mobile, arguing that his company would be a stronger competitor and is the only bidder willing to also pick up 450,000 Freedom customers in Western Canada who receive discounted wireless services.
BIS warns economies are approaching ‘tipping point’ on inflation: Many countries around the world are approaching tipping point where high inflation becomes normal while economic growth slows sharply, the Bank for International Settlements, which acts as a bank for the world’s central banks, warned in its annual report.
- Chrystia Freeland says Canada has a path to ‘soft landing’ to avoid recession
Prince Charles followed rules on Qatar donations, office says: Charity donations accepted by Prince Charles were “passed immediately to one of the prince’s charities,” his office said after a British newspaper reported he received €3-million in cash from a from a former Qatari prime minister, some of it in shopping bags.
Across the Horn of Africa, a devastating drought threatens starvation and famine for millions: From northern Kenya to eastern Ethiopia and most of Somalia, a devastating drought – caused by civil war, military invasion, climate change and the pandemic – has gripped the region and triggered a spike in malnutrition and the looming threat of famine for 18.4 million people.
Monkeypox not a global emergency ‘at this stage,’ WHO panel says: The World Health Organization has decided not to declare the escalating monkeypox outbreak a global health emergency, but said its spread to more than 50 countries should be closely monitored.
Morning markets
Bear market bounce: As the global stock market sees some gains, investors wonder how long the bear market is here to stay. Around 5:40 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.76 percent. France’s CAC 40 gained 0.26 per cent, and Germany’s DAX advanced 1.19 per cent. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng grew 1.43 per cent and 2.35 per cent, respectively. U.S. futures were moderately higher. The Canadian dollar was trading at 77.59 U.S. cents.
What everyone’s talking about
Canada still needs a functioning WTO
“The supply mess exposed by the pandemic has absolutely made a convincing case for re-drawing the global supply-chain map – it’s clear now that we have put too many of our eggs too few baskets that, when push came to shove, proved self-serving and unreliable. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and the profound effects on resource supplies that have resulted, have deepened the resolve of trading nations to secure more trustworthy sources that respect borders, sovereignty, and a rules-based economic and geopolitical order. It seems unlikely that we can go back; the world that we trust, and can rely upon, has become smaller.” - David Parkinson
The West’s own myopia led us to this energy crisis
“The Arab oil embargo against countries that supported Israel during the 1973 Yom Kippur War caught the world flat-footed. Unfortunately, the painful lessons of that era had been forgotten or dismissed in favour of the West’s “clean-energy” orthodoxy by the time Russia invaded Ukraine in February.” - Konrad Yakabuski
When environmental protesters hurt their own cause
“Protests to stop old growth logging in the province have grabbed the public’s attention, but for all the wrong reasons. These activists have decided that the best way to win over converts is by blocking highways and bridges – something they’ve vowed to do all summer. So far, it’s been a colossal bust.” - Gary Mason
Today’s editorial cartoon
David Parkins/The Globe and Mail
Living better
Nine crisp wines to match with what’s on the grill
These are the days of quick grilling and simply prepared dishes that don’t demand a lot of your time or keep you housebound. That change of pace in the kitchen, writes Christopher Waters, should be mirrored in the wine you’re drinking. While crisp and delicious whites and rosés are popular fare during these fleeting weeks of summer, Waters says he’s come to enjoy a glass of slightly chilled red as well.
Moment in time: Joseph Patayash, 1959
Anglican Church elder Joseph Patayash, shown smoking a cigarette in October, 1959.Erik Christensen/The Globe and Mail
For more than 100 years, photographers and photo editors working for The Globe and Mail have preserved an extraordinary collection of news photography. Every Monday, The Globe features one of these images. This month, we’re honouring Indigenous history.
Christianity in Ontario’s Far North remains prevalent in remote First Nations such as North Caribou Lake, also called Round Lake or Weagamow Lake, where traditional drums were once buried and replaced with evangelical and Anglican sermons. Years ago, spiritual leaders and elders such as Joseph Patayash conducted services in the community with traditional items like a feather, pipe and drum, and the Bible. Today, there are three active churches in a First Nation of close to 900 Oji-Cree. A flag of the Star of David, given to the North Caribou Lake leadership by a community member who travelled to Jerusalem, hangs in the band office. Gifts are never refused as part of the Anishinaabe custom and an example of the blending of formal religions and traditional ways that continues. Willow Fiddler.
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