Author: Stephen Taylor

Harper’s a gas

I have it on good authority that the Prime Minister will be appearing on the season finale of CTV’s Corner Gas. The episode will air on March 12th.

This should give the PM some good publicity as the show has been averaging about 1.6 million viewers per show.

I’ve never seen the show, but as a loyal viewer of CTV Newsnet, I can tell you that Season 3 is now available on DVD and can tell you the words of the first 10 seconds of that damn theme song (as I’ve heard it 1.6 million times). Oh, and wouldn’t it be nice to get a CHIP reverse mortgage?

You think there’s not a lot going on / But look closer, baby, you’re so wrong / And that’s why you can stay so long…

UPDATE: Here’s the CTV media release dated March 6th:

CTV Program Alert – March 6, 2007

Out of Gas: Brent Closes Shop and Lacey Moves Home as Corner Gas Wraps Up, March 12 on CTV

Prime Minister Stephen Harper; Canada AM’s Seamus O’Regan and Beverly Thomson guest star in the most unforgettable Corner Gas episode ever

Season high 1.81 million watch last night’s penultimate episode on CTV

**** WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD ****

Corner Gas goes out with a bang in the series’ most unexpected episode ever when what seems like a great idea to increase tourism in Dog River actually makes things worse beyond Hank’s wildest dreams. Guest starring Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Canada AM’s Seamus O’Regan and Beverly Thomson, Corner Gas wraps up Monday, March 12 at 8 p.m. ET on CTV with a shocking but ultimately fitting conclusion that will leave Corner Gas fans talking for years. The episode also airs Saturday, March 17 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The Comedy Network and on demand on The CTV Broadband Network at CTV.ca.

In Monday’s monumental episode, entitled “Gopher It,” Dog River is run rampant with prairie dogs – or gophers – among other alarming events. When Prime Minister Stephen Harper becomes the second PM since Diefenbaker to visit Dog River, he wades into a local controversy which he blames on the previous Liberal government. As the episode unfolds, Brent closes shop, Lacey moves home, and the fate of Hank, Oscar, Emma, Wanda, Karen and Davis are put into question – not to mention Corner Gas itself.

“This episode is for our loyal viewers who have supported the series for the past four seasons,” said Executive Producer, Virginia Thompson. “We hope they love it as much as we enjoyed making it.”

Last night’s Corner Gas episode was watched by a season high 1.81 million viewers. With an average audience of 1.7 million in 2007, Corner Gas will end the season as Canada’s No. 1 comedy series – Canadian or American – currently ranking #14 in the Top 20 chart of Canada’s most-watched programs. Since the television phenomenon launched in January 2004, no original episode in its entire four-season run has ever delivered an audience of less than one million viewers. With Monday’s finale, Corner Gas is poised to deliver its 69th consecutive million-plus episode, an unprecedented achievement in Canadian television history.

Visit the Corner Gas Web site at Cornergas.com.

Held without charge? Some context.

The House of Commons is set to vote today on the extension of two provisions of the Anti-Terrorism Act. The ATA was brought in under the Liberals after 9/11 and two specific provisions of the act are being challenged today in the House of Commons by that same party.

They are:

  • investigative hearings of material witnesses
  • the ability to hold terror suspects without charge for 72 hours

I wanted to know how other countries handle the second issue in particular so I did a bit of research. Here’s how other countries deal with the detention of terror suspects:

Europe
France can hold terror suspects for 72 hours without access to a lawyer. Terror suspects can be held for up to four years (!) before being tried by a court.

Germany can hold terror suspects for 48 hours without seeing a judge.

In Greece, terror suspects can be held without charge for up to 12-18 months.

Italy can legally hold suspects for 24 hours without access to a lawyer.

Norway can hold terror suspects for 48 hours.

Spain can hold a terror suspect and prevent access to a lawyer for 72 hours in standard cases and up to 13 days for non-standard ones.

In the UK, terror suspects can be held without charge for up to twenty eight days but judicial knowledge of detention must occur within 48 hours.

North America
In Canada, terror suspects can be held without charge for 72 hours. Judicial knowledge of detention must also occur within 72 hours.

In the US, terror suspects can be held without charge for 6 months.

Australia
In Australia, the secret service can detain terror suspects for one week without charge.

I called Amnesty International to get their take on the situation. They told me:

“It’s important to see this within the context of our own procedures. The measures aren’t needed. There must be a balance between security and human rights. Existing criminal code provisions are already in place, so the ATA provisions are unnecessary. The government hasn’t demonstrated a need for these provisions.” — John Tackaberry, Amnesty International

Despite this, Canada is, comparatively, on the softer end of the spectrum when it comes to the detention of terror suspects without charge. Suspects are held without charge in order to further investigations in progress; once a suspect is charged, investigators lose access to the suspect as a resource.