Lamar Skeete is accused of killing Kenneth Mark in 2010. (Supplied photo)

Brother of slain Mark testifies about security precautions
By Sam Pazzano ,Toronto Sun 
First posted: Friday, February 03, 2012 06:30 PM EST

TORONTO – Kenneth Mark vowed to protect himself from retaliation from his would-be assassins after the prosecution case collapsed in December 2009, his grief-stricken brother testified Friday.

Ian Mark was testifying at the first-degree murder trial of Lamar “Ammo” Skeete, who is accused of slaying the 30-year-old Kenneth Mark on Dec. 29, 2009.

Skeete, now 21, has pleaded not guilty.

Prof. Imam Syed Soharwardy talks to media Saturday in Mississauga about the fatwa his organization of clerics issued against honour killings, domestic violence and misogyny following the Shafia trial in Kingston. TARA WALTON/TORONTO STAR

Shafia murders: Fatwa issued against honour killings, domestic violence, hatred of women.
Published 1 hour 15 minutes ago
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Francine Kopun
Business Reporter

Muslim clerics in Canada issued a fatwa on Saturday against honour killings, domestic violence and hatred of women.

“These crimes are major sins in Islam, punishable by the court of law and almighty Allah,” said Prof. Imam Syed Soharwardy, representing 34 clerics affiliated with the Islamic Supreme Council of Canada.

(…)

The fatwa — a morally binding religious edict — was issued by the ISCC in the wake of a triple murder trial involving a polygamous Muslim-Canadian family living in Montreal.

Struggle to adapt
Ottawa Citizen February 4, 2012

Re: ‘A good day for Canadian justice,’ Jan. 30.

The Shafia case is about more than violence and family violence.

It is about more than religion or culture. It is also about immigration and adaptation.

I am an immigrant. I came to Canada with my parents. I saw the struggle to adapt. The cocooning that can take place. The attempt to hold on to old ways.

I saw the fear in my parents. The fear of this foreign land and the near suffocating method they raised us with. I saw the struggle of the 12-hour work day and the frustration that would be vented later on.

New mosque coming for area’s Muslims
By Sandra McCulloch, Times Colonist February 4, 2012

The Muslim community of Victoria will have a new place to worship by the end of the year.

The groundbreaking for a new mosque, Masjid AlIman, took place on the front lawn of 2218 Quadra St. Friday. The mosque has been designed by Herbert Kwan Architects of Victoria.

“This is very exciting,” said Salah Awadalla, president of the Victoria branch of the B.C. Muslim Association, at the ceremony.

“We have put a lot of time, effort and money toward it.”

Shafia Convicted, It’s Now Time To Put Immigration Lobby On Trial

Immigration Watch Canada

Shafia Convicted, It’s Now Time To Put The Immigration Lobby On Trial

So Mohammed Shafia has been tried and convicted for the murder of his first wife and his three daughters by both Canada’s judicial system and the court of Canadian public opinion . Now, however, it is time to put Ottawa’s investor immigrant program on trial. According to reports on the Shafia trial, that program allowed Shafia into Canada in the first place.

It is also time to hold to account those Canadians who, while unanimous in their disgust for the Shafias, have supported this program and Canada’s high immigration policy.

Let’s put the investor immigrant program on the witness stand first. In 2007, when Shafia was allowed into Canada, the investor immigrant program required that he and all other investor immigrants, on approval of their applications, pay $400,000 to the federal government. According to the rules, Ottawa then put that money into a special fund which the provinces could use interest-free. In return, on landing in Canada, Shafia— the investor immigrant—- and all his eight (later nine) family members, received Permanent Resident status. In addition, all investor immigrants, Shafia and his family included, could eventually receive Canadian Citizenship.

This year, five years since Shafia put his $400,000 down, the provinces are required to give the $400,000 back to Shafia. At a preferred customer interest rate of 3%, the provinces would normally have been required to pay a conventional lender about $12,000 per year over the five year term of the loan. That would mean in the five year term, the provinces would have had to pay a conventional lender $60,000 in interest. Since Shafia and all Investor Immigrants defer this in return for citizenship, that means that if all the Shafia family were alive this year when the $400,000 is returned to Shafia, the cost to each of the ten for their Canadian Citizenship would have amounted to $6000.