As the one-year anniversary of Londoner Patricia Pacheco-Hernandez's death approaches, her sister in Colombia says the Canadian government won't allow her to visit her sister's grave and children here.

Visa woes frustrate slain woman’s kin
By DALE CARRUTHERS, The London Free Press

Last Updated: May 10, 2012 6:46pm

Patricia Pacheco-Hernandez

As the one-year anniversary of Londoner Patricia Pacheco-Hernandez’s death approaches, her sister in Colombia says the Canadian government won’t allow her to visit her sister’s grave and children here.

Piedad Pacheco-Hernandez says won’t have closure until she visits her sister’s grave in London, but she can’t get the travel documents needed to come to Canada.

Patricia Pacheco-Hernandez, 41, was found dead in the basement of her south London home May 18, 2011.

Her husband, Daniel Jimenez-Acosta, 44, is charged with second-degree murder. He appeared in court this week for a preliminary hearing.

Deported to Mexico in September 2011, Paola Ortiz is back to Canada as permanent resident

Woman deported to Mexico reunites with kids on return to Montreal
By René Bruemmer, The Gazette April 13, 2012

Paola Ortiz, who fled to Canada six years ago to escape an abusive husband who is a federal police officer in Mexico, returned to Montreal on Friday morning, April 13, 2012, after having been deported to her native Mexico last September. Shown is her emotional reunion at Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport with her two young children born in Canada, daughter Dennyse and son Kinich.
Photograph by: Peter McCabe , The Gazette

MONTREAL – Paola Ortiz, a refugee claimant who was deported last September despite the fact she testified she was at risk of being abused by her police officer husband in Mexico, returned to Montreal Friday for an emotional reunion with her two children, both Canadian-born.

Ortiz was able to fly back from Mexico after she had been granted permanent resident status.

The scene Friday morning at Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport was an emotional one.

Friends, family and members of the immigration activist group Solidarity Without Borders were there to greet her.

Christine Tasin mentions the risk of health problems from halal meat. The Brigitte Bardot Foundation, in June 2011, posted an article warning of the danger of E.coli bacteria found in ground meat: (…) This infection of meat is the result of a general increase in ritual slaughter of animals, because the material impossibility of stitching the esophagus of the animals brings about a "rush of stercoral matter from the stomach that flows through the open section of the esophagus."

Muslims decry PQ criticisms of halal meat
Halal slaughterhouse owner Edouardo Estrella (left) and Imam Khalil Tabatabai affirmed that Muslim meat is safe and humane.
Updated: Sat Mar. 17 2012 6:47:35 PM
ctvmontreal.ca

MONTREAL — Muslims are fending off attacks fired their way by a nationalist politician, who argues that halal slaughtering techniques constitute a threat to Quebec culture.

A Parti Quebecois argued this week that there are health risks associated with halal meat, and he fears it could end up on the plates of non-Muslim Quebecers.
“I think it’s important that people are properly informed about what they’re buying so they can make a proper choice,” said MNA Andre Simard, who is was also a butcher.

But the owner of one halal slaughterhouse said he did not grasp the objections. The meat is subject to a Muslim blessing but that’s the only difference.

Weekly round-up of West Island and area crime reports

Station 1 (Baie D’Urfé, Beaconsfield, Kirkland, Ste. Anne de Bellevue and Senneville)

Const. Roberto Del Papa reports two men approached a Senneville home on Chemin Senneville near midnight Feb. 20 and began ringing the doorbell and banging on the door. The homeowner did not answer but observed the two suspects go through his backyard and hide in the hedges bordering a neighbouring property. The pair fled in the direction of Pacific Avenue. The first suspect is described as a black male, approximately 25-years-old, carrying a large backpack. The second suspect is a white male, approximately 25-years-old, with short brown hair.

Succumbing to the tried-and-true map scam, another victim was robbed of cash, credit cards, and debit cards after being approached in a parking lot by someone claiming to be lost and asking for directions. Const. Del Papa said three people in a car stopped a woman in the Loblaw’s parking lot at 16900 TransCanada. Calling her over to the vehicle, they said they were looking for St. Luc Hospital and holding a road map, asked for help in locating it. While helping the driver, one of the occupants opened the woman’s car and stole cash and credit cards from her purse. Wearing a white jacket, the French-speaking driver is described as a 25-30-year-old male of Arabic origin having short dark hair, standing approximately 5-feet, 10-inches, and weighing about 145lbs. The English-speaking woman was also of Arabic origin with black hair, standing about 5-feet, 4-inches, weighing about 110 pounds. No description is available for the vehicle’s other male occupant. Const. Del Papa is reminding people to be especially vigilant of anyone employing this tactic. Purses and wallets should be kept closed and on the person rather than left in a shopping cart or open vehicle.

Safe haven denied for Mexican refugee

JESSICA SMITH, METRO OTTAWA

A local refugee who worries his family will be killed when they are deported to Mexico this month wants the federal government to know his home country isn’t “safe.”

“I got shot on my face,” said Uziel Cuautle, who has a scar on his left cheek. It happened during a carjacking in Mexico City in 2007. The same bullet killed his girlfriend.

Cuautle said he disagrees with the Protecting Canada’s Immigration System Act.

The new bill would allow the government to designate “safe” countries, and refugees from those places would face shorter asylum-application times and be barred from appealing Immigration and Refugee Board decisions.

“They need to do a better job with families like us,” Cuautle said. “We’re working, we do good things in this country.”

Each refugee claim should be assessed individually, he said, adding that if the bill passes, Mexico shouldn’t get a “safe” label.

“He’s like a big elephant,” Gonzales said at the time. “He walks around, trots around, doesn’t know too much. He can’t get no better, and he smells like s—, man.”

Stevenson, Gonzales to fight with fists … and lawyers?
By Herb Zurkowsky, Postmedia News February 17, 2012

Adonis Stevenson (L) and Jesus Gonzales exchange words during the photo-op after the weigh-in at the Bell Centre in Montreal on Friday, February 17, 2012 for the main event of boxing card this Saturday night at the Bell Centre between Stevenson and Gonzales for the International Boxing Federation Intercontinental title.
Photograph by: Dave Sidaway , The Gazette

MONTREAL — Professional boxers are notoriously lousy actors.

They invariably yuk it up for the cameras and pretend to hate their opponents. And then, when the bout ends, they hug each other. It’s one of the best-known dichotomies of the sweet science.

Except this time.