Anglais

With pot legalization will come pardons — but it’s not the same as amnesty, advocate says

Published

5 années ago

octobre 25, 2018

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CALGARY—When Keith Fagin was 16 years old, the cops caught him holding a pipe.

Inside was a bit of leftover resin from a few bowls he’d smoked earlier. Had police stopped Fagin any time on or after Oct. 17, 2018, he’d be in the clear. But this was the 1970s, in Calgary, and he was known to police as a cannabis advocate. After they shook him down, Fagin said he was given two choices: pay a $200 fine (nearly $900 in today’s dollars) or spend a month in lockup at Spy Hill Jail.

He couldn’t afford the fine.

“It was a nasty experience,” he said of his sentence. “I got clobbered by a massive muscle-building guy because of my cannabis consumption. He was not a happy guy about that. I was a drug fiend and I deserved to be beaten. It was just horrible.”

Still waiting for your weed? Meet the people who’ve gotten theirs

Applying for a pot pardon could get you flagged and barred at the U.S. border, legal experts warn

On legalization day, the federal government announced it would table legislation by year’s end to allow those with simple cannabis possession convictions under 30 grams to apply for a pardon. It won’t be entirely unprecedented. Earlier this year, Ottawa found itself mulling over the question of how to remove the weight of convictions from a different set of Canadians once considered to be engaging in criminal behaviour — the LGBTQ community.

Consensual homosexual activity was decriminalized in 1969. But for decades, Canadians continued to have criminal convictions for obsolete criminal offences such as buggery, gross indecency, or anal intercourse. In June, Bill C-66, the Expungement of Historically Unjust Convictions Act, received royal assent. It offers expungement — not a pardon — for Canadians convicted of several offences related to same-sex sexual activity.

There’s a key difference.

Annamaria Enenajor, a Toronto-based lawyer and director of the Campaign for Cannabis Amnesty, likened a pardon to taking someone’s criminal record and locking it in a drawer, and an expungement to shredding it. A pardon means a person’s record won’t show up in government searches, but it still exists and may still cause trouble at the U.S. border — and the federal government can, under certain circumstances, revoke it.

“If you make a policy about amnesty, the objective is to try and allow the most amount of people back in the simplest and cheapest way possible that you can think of,” she said in an interview shortly before legalization day.

The difficulty in both instances is figuring out the circumstances behind each person’s charges. While simple cannabis possession up to 30 grams is now legal thanks to the Cannabis Act, certain products — such as shatter — are still prohibited. And Canadians charged for engaging in same-sex activity are in a similar boat. Charges like buggery and gross indecency upon a male were sometimes used against someone engaging in consensual sex.

“You have difficulty figuring (it) out because the records won’t disclose that,” Enenajor said.

How criminal charges are recorded can vary from province to province, courthouse to courthouse — even police force by police force. The Parole Board of Canada will have its hands full trying to work through the particulars of Canadians with simple possession charges on their records, she said.

“That’s going to be difficult,” Enenajor said. “We’re not the best record-keepers in Canada when it comes to our criminal offences.”

Nonetheless, the possibility of a pardon is still welcomed by Canadians with cannabis convictions. The Campaign for Cannabis Amnesty said it “enthusiastically welcomes” the federal government’s announcement on pardons in a statement released Oct. 17. Even Fagin, despite the trouble his criminal record has caused him throughout his life, said he’s interested.

“I look forward to it, but expungement would be much better,” he said.

But the feeling of criminalization won’t end for some Canadians. Decades of research and court findings have shown that Black and Indigenous Canadians are far more likely to be charged for cannabis possession than white Canadians, even though they use at roughly the same rates.

“It’s incredibly unfair and burdensome and speaks to the operation of systemic racism in our society,” Enenajor said. “And that’s something I think Canada is struggling to deal with.”

Kani Malale, a film tech in Toronto, said he faced his first cannabis possession charge roughly 10 years ago. As he drove to a corner store to buy cigarettes for a friend, the police pulled him over and searched his car. They found nothing. He bought the cigarettes, brought them back to his friend, and then bought a gram of weed.

The same cops pulled him over once he left — and found it.

Malale was charged with simple possession and trafficking (he said he didn’t tell police who he’d bought the weed from). He was given a court summons for Easter Monday. And while he would go on to face more cannabis-related possession charges, that first one stuck.

“From there it was just a snowball effect, right?” he said. “Every time they pull you over, they see that. You’ve had that interaction (with police) and they’ve considered it a criminal interaction.”

He believes part of the reason why police continue to stop and search his car is due to his criminal history, as well as the fact he doesn’t tend to drive cars registered in his name — they have usually been registered to his mom or his sister. But Malale, as well as those decades of research, thinks his continued encounters with cops go deeper than his criminal record.

“In my heart, as a Black person growing up in Canada and my interaction with police, I don’t believe that’s the only reason,” he said.

Discrimination against the LGBTQ community has continued for decades after same-sex activity was decriminalized by the Canadian government. It’s possible Canadians convicted of cannabis-related possession charges may continue to live with the stigma. But Enenajor doesn’t believe they’ll be burdened for quite as long.

“Overwhelmingly, I think you’ll find most Canadians feel this makes sense,” she said. “That there’s no real reason people should have records for this.”

Brennan Doherty is a work and wealth reporter with StarMetro Calgary. Follow him on Twitter: @bren_doherty

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Anglais

Nostalgia and much more with Starburst XXXtreme

Published

3 années ago

août 10, 2021

admin

Get a taste of adventure with Starburst XXXtreme based on the legendary NetEnt Game. The nostalgic themes are sure to capture fans of the classic version as they get treated to higher intensity, better visuals, and features. The most significant element of the game is its volatility. Patience will not be an essential virtue considering the insane gameplay, and there is a lot of win potential involved. It retains the original makeup of the previous game while adding a healthy dose of adrenaline.

Starburst Visuals and Symbols

The game is definitely more conspicuous than before. The setting happens over a 5-reel, 3-row game grid with nine fixed win lines, which function if a succession from the left to the right reel is present. Only those players that that attain the highest win per bet line are paid. From a visual standpoint, the Starburst XXXtreme slots illustrates lightning effects behind the reels, which is not surprising as it is inherited from the original version. Available themes include Classic, Jewels, and Space. The game is also available in both desktop and mobile versions, which is advantageous for players considering the global pandemic. According to Techguide, American gamers are increasingly having more engaging gaming experiences to socialize to fill the gap of in-person interaction. Starburst XXXtreme allows them to fill the social void at a time when there is so much time to be had indoors.

Starburst XXXTreme Features

Players get to alternate on three features which are Starburst Wilds, XXXtreme Spins, and Random Wilds. The first appears on reels 2,3, or 4. When these land, they expand to cover all positions while also calculating the wins. They are also locked for a respin. If a new one hits, it also becomes locked while awarding another respin. Starburst XXXtreme offers a choice between two scenarios for a higher stake. In one scenario with a ten times stake, the Starburst Wild is set on random on reels 2,3, or 4, and a multiplier starts the respin. The second scenario, which has a 95 times stake, starts with two guaranteed starburst wilds on reels 2,3, or 4. it also plays out using respin game sequence and features. The game also increases the potential with the Random Wilds feature to add Starburst Wilds to a vacant reel at the end of a spin. Every Starburst Wild gives a random multiplier with potential wins of x2, x3, x5, x10, x25, x50, x100, or even x150.

The new feature is sure to be a big hit with the gaming market as online gambling has shown significant growth during the lockdown. AdAge indicates the current casino customer base is an estimated one in five Americans, so Starburst XXXtreme’s additional features will achieve considerable popularity.

What We Think About The Game

The gambling market has continued to diversify post-pandemic, so it is one of the most opportune times to release an online casino-based game. Thankfully Starburst XXXtreme features eye-catching visuals, including the jewels and space themes. These attract audience participation and make the gameplay inviting. The game also has a nostalgic edge. The previous NetEnt iteration featured similar visuals and gameplay, so the audience has some familiarity with it. The producers have revamped this version by tweaking the features to improve the volatility and engagement.

That is characterized by the potential win cap of 200,000 times the bet. Starburst XXXtreme does not just give betting alternatives for players that want to go big. The increase of multipliers also provides a great experience. If the respins in the previous version were great, knowing that multipliers can go hundreds of times overtakes the game to a new level.

Players should get excited about this offering. All of the features can be triggered within a single spin. Whether one plays the standard game or takes the XXXtreme spin route, it is possible to activate all of the features. Of course, the potential 200,000 times potential is a huge carrot. However, the bet size is probably going to be restricted and vary depending on the casino. It is also worth pointing out that a malfunction during the gameplay will void all of the payouts and progress. Overall, the game itself has been designed to provide a capped win of 200,000 times the original bet.

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Anglais

‘We’re back’: Montreal festival promoters happy to return but looking to next year

Published

3 années ago

juillet 23, 2021

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In downtown Montreal, it’s festival season.

In the city’s entertainment district, a musical act was conducting a sound check on stage Friday evening — the second day of the French-language version of the renowned Just For Laughs comedy festival. Tickets for many of the festival’s free outdoor shows — limited by COVID-19 regulations — were sold out.

Two blocks away, more than 100 people were watching an acoustic performance by the Isaac Neto Trio — part of the last weekend of the Festival International Nuits d’Afrique, a celebration of music from the African continent and the African diaspora.

With COVID-19 restrictions continuing to limit capacity, festival organizers say they’re glad to be back but looking forward to next year when they hope border restrictions and capacity limits won’t affect their plans.

Charles Décarie, Just For Laughs’ CEO and president, said this is a “transition year.”

“Even though we have major constraints from the public health group in Montreal, we’ve managed to design a festival that can navigate through those constraints,” Décarie said.

The French-language Juste pour rire festival began on July 15 and is followed by the English-language festival until July 31.

When planning began in February and March, Décarie said, organizers came up with a variety of scenarios for different crowd sizes, ranging from no spectators to 50 per cent of usual capacity.

“You’ve got to build scenarios,” he said. “You do have to plan a little bit more than usual because you have to have alternatives.”

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Anglais

MELS new major movie studio to be built in Montreal

Published

3 années ago

juillet 23, 2021

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MONTREAL — MELS Studios will build a new film studio in Montreal, filling some of the gap in supply to meet the demand of Hollywood productions.

MELS president Martin Carrier said on Friday that MELS 4 studio construction will begin « as soon as possible », either in the fall or winter of next year. The studio could host productions as early as spring 2023.

The total investment for the project is $76 million, with the Quebec government contributing a $25 million loan. The project will create 110 jobs, according to the company.

The TVA Group subsidiary’s project will enable it to stand out « even more » internationally, according to Quebecor president and CEO Pierre Karl Péladeau. In the past, MELS Studios has hosted several major productions, including chapters of the X-Men franchise. The next Transformers movie is shooting this summer in Montreal.

Péladeau insisted that local cultural productions would also benefit from the new facility, adding that the studio ensures foreign revenues and to showcase talent and maintain an industry of Quebec producers.

STUDIO SHORTAGE

The film industry is cramped in Montreal.

According to a report published last May by the Bureau du cinéma et de la télévision du Québec (BCTQ), there is a shortage of nearly 400,000 square feet of studio space.

With the addition of MELS 4, which will be 160,000 square feet, the company is filling part of the gap.

Carrier admitted that he has had to turn down contracts because of the lack of space, representing missed opportunities of « tens of millions of dollars, not only for MELS, but also for the Quebec economy. »

« Montreal’s expertise is in high demand, » said Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, who was present at the announcement.

She said she received great testimonials from « Netflix, Disney, HBO and company » during an economic mission to Los Angeles in 2019.

« What stands out is that they love Montreal because of its expertise, knowledge and beauty. We need more space, like MELS 4, » she said.

There is still not enough capacity in Quebec, acknowledged Minister of Finance, the Economy and Innovation Eric Girard.

« It is certain that the government is concerned about fairness and balance, so if other requests come in, we will study them with the same seriousness as we have studied this one, » he said.

Grandé Studios is the second-largest player in the industry. Last May, the company said it had expansion plans that should begin in 2022. Investissement Québec and Bell are minority shareholders in the company.

For its part, MELS will have 400,000 square feet of production space once MELS 4 is completed. The company employs 450 people in Quebec and offers a range of services including studio and equipment rentals, image and sound postproduction, visual effects and a virtual production platform.