“In March, 2005, Constable Michael Shaw was on patrol in the Bridle Path, an ultra-affluent Toronto neighbourhood he knew well. He was showing a female trainee the ropes. Down the street, he spotted an unfamiliar letter-carrier delivering the mail. He asked him for ID, ran his name through the computer, thanked him for his trouble and verified with a regular postie that the new guy was a fill-in. The letter-carrier was not insulted, detained or charged with any crime.

Innocuous? Not to Ronald Phipps, the fill-in letter-carrier. He is black. The cop is white. Mr. Phipps decided he’d been a victim of racial profiling, and took his case to the Human Rights Tribunal. In a ruling last month, the adjudicator agreed.

The decision makes for scary reading, because it says someone can be found guilty just for making someone else feel bad. “There is no need to establish an intention or motivation to discriminate,” it says. “[T]he focus of the enquiry is on the effect of the respondent’s action on the complainant.”

“According to the tribunal, “unconscious” discrimination is no different from “conscious” discrimination. And the onus is on the accused to prove he’s innocent. “Once a prima facie case of discrimination has been established, the burden shifts to the respondent to provide a rational explanation which is not discriminatory. … The respondent must offer an explanation which is credible on all the evidence.””

Ed Note: Mr. Phipps is suing the Police Chief and entire force for financial compensation.

…full story HERE.

Comedy lab aims to make Canadian films funnier

CBC News
A new comedy lab aims to ratchet up the laughs in Canadian filmmaking.

A partnership has been struck between comedy experts Just for Laughs and two Canadian film agencies, Telefilm Canada and the Canadian Film Centre, to create an advanced training program in comedy filmmaking.

The program was unveiled Thursday at a comedy conference at the Just for Laughs festival in Montreal.

The goal is to have at least five feature-length English-language comedies in production by 2011-12.

The idea of the training lab is to have comedy minds from Just for Laughs, which has created hit comedy festivals and TV for international audiences, work with Canadian feature film producers and writers.

Among the comedians who have signed on to work with film teams is Eugene Levy, the Canadian-born star of American Pie and A Mighty Wind.

Sheila de La Varende, director of business development for Telefilm, which is bankrolling the project, said there is a “gap” in Canada’s comedy-making skills.

“While Canada has made some great comedies, such as Strange Brew, Porky’s and Bon Cop, Bad Cop, for a country that is recognized globally for its sense of humour, we have not fully exploited our potential to make funny and commercially successful feature films,” she said in a statement Thursday.

The $1 million cost of the three-year program is to be financed through the Canada Feature Film Fund, a federal program.

Many of Hollywood’s best comedy minds — including Jim Carrey, Robin Williams, Mike Myers and Will Ferrell began their careers in standup comedy, which is Just for Laughs’s area of expertise.

The program is to begin this November and the CFC, which is to run it, has issued a call for submissions by filmmakers.

High society is really taking a beating in this economic crisis. The scores of trophy wives who have been left to fend for themselves by husbands caught in the unfortunate outing of greed and corruption on Wall Street are not taking their fall from status lying down—well, maybe they’ll take it lying down if the opportunity presents itself—anyway, there are many former well-to-do women out there who, because of the recent convictions of their high profile spouses, have begun to wonder, “will I ever shop at Gucci again?”

These kept women needn’t fear thanks to the efforts of a small group of their peers who, having had the sense to hide assets before their husbands were arrested, are going through their closets and picking out the stuff that is “so last year” and donating it to the poor darlings suffering from this disastrous year of corporate misunderstandings.

This outpouring of kind generosity from women largely given to self-indulgence can only be deemed a miracle by most.

Calling itself BABs–which doesn’t stand for anything, they just like the name—this small group of highly selfish turned less selfish women are a sliver of light in the fading dusk of the luxe world they come from.

Ruth Madoff, wife of Bernard Madoff, who made off with millions before Madoff was arrested, declared “I’d help, but I need every million I can get my hands on. Now be a darling, dear, and fetch me another cosmo, would you please?”

Originally begun as a joke, the wives of former executives charged with corporate fraud quickly realized that by forming a charity organization, it could give them the means to hide assets, as well as provide a nifty tax haven, and the idea of BABs took on a life of its own.

“One can only imagine the stress these poor unfortunate creatures are under by having to shop one block down from Rodeo Drive, or worse, having their hair and nails done in public,” said Lyns Palmer (not her real name), co-founder of BABs. “Their flawless complexions are taking a beating, and BABs has vowed to make available free botox injections to every one of these women who needs them” she added with feigned interest. Heartwarming, to say the least.