Local
Mayor Jim Watson is being sued by three people because he blocked them on his Twitter account. They are using the freedom of speech section in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms as their argument for bringing their lawsuit. They claim that by blocking them Jim Watson prevents their ability to debate issues. Jim Watson claims it’s his personal Twitter account and he should not be subjected to their attacks and harassment on a regular basis. He plans on fighting this in court. This is a first for this kind of lawsuit in Canada but Trump was sued for blocking people on Twitter back in May and the court decided that he could not block people on Twitter. That decision is being appealed by the White House.
Canadian
Paul Bernardo’s parole hearing was held today at the Millhaven Institution in eastern Ontario and he was denied parole. He claimed that he was crying everyday and felt great remorse over what he had done but Poirier, a member of the board, said he hadn’t shown any remorse until very recently.
The families of both Mahaffy and French submitted victim impact statements and advised that this whole process was reopening old wounds and forcing them to relive the horrors of 25 years ago. One of his surviving victims also submitted a victim impact statement and she said that her rape has turned her into a shell of a person and created “emotional devastation from which she has never recovered”.
International
“Turkish crime scene investigators entered the residence of the Saudi consul general in Istanbul on Wednesday to search for evidence in the disappearance of Saudi writer Jamal Khashoggi.”
Jamal Khashoggi was allegedly murdered while picking up paperwork for his upcoming marriage at the Saudi consulate. Audio recordings have been released that supposedly incriminate the consulate and the consul general in his disappearance and murder.
The US, Trump and Pompeo, US Secretary of State, have now taken cautionary stances of waiting for the evidence to fully come out. Trump originally came out hard on the Saudis but has since taken a more neutral stance of also waiting for the evidence.
The whole scenario puts pressure on already fragile relations in the middle east.