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Tuesday 18 March 2014
A world wo of newsR right P FO U at home… N G
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MEDICAL POT USERS ORDERED TO STOP GROWING
LAWSUIT SETTLED OVER PICKTON MURDERS
JEFF NAGEL (Black Press)
VANCOUVER (Canadian Press)
The botched investigation into serial killer Robert Pickton’s crimes has resulted in a settlement of $50,000 for each of his victims’ children. Lawyer Jason Gratl said Monday that the deal involves 13 plaintiffs who filed civil lawsuits against the provincial and federal governments, the City of Vancouver and several Mounties. Gratl, who represented the families, said the children of the murdered women took legal action reluctantly, but felt they had no choice when the governments didn’t act on a recommendation from a public inquiry to compensate them. His clients are generally pleased with the settlement, Gratl said. “It’s giving the children of missing women a leg up to try, in some small measure, to give them a chance to improve their lives, improve their prospects in the future. It was something worth doing.” Eleven family members have accepted the proposal, one person is expected to respond shortly and B.C.’s public guardian must approve a settlement accepted
FILE
Robert Pickton listens to the first day of his trial for the murder of six women in BC Supreme Court in New Westminster in this file image. by a boy who has not yet turned 18, Gratl said. A lawyer for the B.C. government told a judge in January that there could be more than 90 children who would qualify for compensation. It’s unclear if other family members will also be compensated. The B.C. government announced Monday afternoon that it would be holding a joint news conference today along with federal and City of Vancouver representatives. The government statement said it would outline a shared, significant response to a key recommendation of the
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Missing Women Commission of Inquiry. The agreement includes paying for children’s legal fees, but doesn’t come with an admission of liability, Gratl said. The DNA or remains of 33 women were found on Pickton’s farm in Port Coquitlam after he was arrested in 2002. He was convicted of second-degree murder for killing six women and sentenced to life in prison without chance of parole for 25 years. The B.C. Crown prosecutor’s office then announced that 20 other charges of firstdegree murder would be stayed because Pickton already faced the stiffest sentence available under Canadian law.
Medical marijuana home growers have been ordered by Ottawa to provide written notification by April 30 that they’ve halted production and destroyed any leftover pot. Authorized personal grow-ops for approved medical marijuana users become illegal April 1 as their licences expire and the country switches instead to a system of regulated commercial production. Health Canada said in a statement March 14 it will notify law enforcement of any users who fail to comply with the notification requirement, an apparent shift from past refusals to disclose locations to local authorities on privacy grounds. The new Marihuana for Medical Purposes Regulation allows licensed medical marijuana users – more than 16,000 of them are in B.C. – to buy dried pot only from approved commercial producers via mail order. Many B.C. municipalities are keen to stamp out medical marijuana home grows, which they say often pose an electrical fire risk to neighbours and may leave mould and other safety hazards behind for future residents. But most also don’t want to take on the burden of fixing what they see as a problem created by the federal government. Mission Mayor Ted Adlem doesn’t support sending police in to enforce compliance with the new medical pot law, even in cases where Ottawa discloses users who have failed to send their notification. “I’m not interested in throwing people in jail for growing marijuana,” Adlem said. “Who’s going to foot the bill to close these people down who have not notified and ceased to operate? I’m far more in favour of being able to have my fire inspector check the place out for electrical safety.”
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