Is it me, or are we seeing martial law starting to taking shape in Canada? Two of the most irksome activities I see on the rise are:

(a) the selective disrespect and disregard of the laws of the land by those whom we trust to enforce the laws (ie the cops)

(b) the ill treatment of journalists in the field, especially photojournalists – the people who help tell us the story and keep our country free

Well, here we go again.. the folks at VPD (Vancouver Police Department) have done a good job in letting the public down by seizing a journalist’s camera at the scene of a police incident. This is after a previous incident in March where the Police are alleged to have seized a person’s camera and erased video – pertinent evidence relating to the incident that was recorded.

For those unclear on the concept, here’s the scoop: any citizen may photograph in a public place – Our Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarnatees this.

Fuddle duddle to anyone who thinks otherwise.

Here’s a recent release from the Canadian Association of Journalists:

For Immediate Release

CAJ condemns police seizure of Vancouver photographer’s camera

(OTTAWA)  April 8, 2009–Police had no right to seize a Vancouver Province photojournalist’s camera on the weekend, says the Canadian Association of Journalists.

Jason Payne had his camera confiscated April 5, after he photographed a Vancouver Police officer who had shot a suspect. Payne was threatened with arrest if he didn’t relinquish his equipment. Payne said he told police he worked for The Province but they persisted in threatening to arrest him. According to Wayne Moriarty, editor-in-chief of The Province, police officers ordered Payne to stop shooting and claimed his actions were “obstructing justice.”

“When police interfere with a journalist’s ability to do their job, it prevents them from informing the public, violating a fundamental right enshrined in the Canadian constitution,” said Mary Agnes Welch, president of the Canadian Association of Journalists. “Vancouver Police evidently need a refresher course in this important legal document.”

“The police’s later excuse, that they were unaware Jason was a member of the media, is as pathetic as it is misleading,” added Welch. “Any citizen may photograph in a public place.”

The CAJ, Canada’s largest professional organization for journalists from all media, and many of its 1,300 members from across Canada, will attend its National Conference in Vancouver, May 22-24. The CAJ’s primary roles are to provide high-quality professional development for its members and public-interest advocacy.

For Information:

Mary Agnes Welch, CAJ president (204) 697-7590, (204) 470-8862
John Dickins, CAJ executive director (613) 526-8061
En francais: Robert Frank, directeur, ACJ, (514) 248-1928

After hours cell (613) 868-5442

Thankfully for alot of people out there, there’s a new service available called Qik.com which lets you stream to the internet live from your cellphone. Check out some of the videos I’ve already taken, HERE.

When I say that Lumiere provides exceptional value for the dollar, I’m not exaggerating.

On Friday, March 27th, the preeminent restaurant on Vancouver’s Broadway Corridor launched their $55 Taste of BC three-course menu featuring local seasonal ingredients artfully prepared by Chef David McKay.

On March 31st, I was finally able to clear my schedule and check out what the fuss was about, and I’m glad I did. (More about that and exclusive photos, after the jump)
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This could be an April Fools joke.. but on the other hand, it could be a successful campaign. I’ve been on Twitter for some time and have seen the emergence of hashtags (or inserting the hash (#) in front of a subject keyword) as a powerful way to find stuff on a specific topic.

Now, K’NAAN has taken the idea of the hashtag to a whole new level with the idea of his new song (as publicised by the lovely Emmylou Benson at Universal Music):

K’NAAN TO RELEASE ‘TWITTER SINGLE’

ASSEMBLED FROM FANS’ TWEETS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

(TORONTO, April 1, 2009) – Somali-Canadian musical trailblazer K’NAAN is about to collaborate with his fans in an unprecedented way –assembling a new version of his song “People Like Me” from their tweets on Twitter. On April 1, K’NAAN will invite his Twitter followers to download the special instrumental version of the song, created specially for this promotion, and submit their own lyrics for the story via his Twitter.  All fan tweets tagged with #knaansong will be considered for inclusion in the final song. Deadline for submissions is May 1. Following that, K’NAAN will assemble the best tweets and record the results. The final track will be made available to fans via free download on K’NAAN’s Twitter page at http://twitter.com/thedustyfoot and his official site at http://knaanmusic.com.  This will mark the first time Twitter will be officially used for the creation of a song.

K’NAAN’s latest album, Troubadour, was released on Feb 24 and debuted at #1 and #3 on the digital album charts in Canada and the United States, respectively: sure evidence of the electronically-oriented nature of many of his fans. This Twitter song collaboration is a logical extension of the new relationships being forged by artists and their audiences in an increasingly interconnected world.

More information can be found at http://www.amoctone.com/knaan/plmtweet/

knaanmusic.com
myspace.com/knaanmusic
getmusic.ca

For those not familiar with hashtags, Sudha Krishna recently pushed out some details via Twitter, HERE. You can read the Ultimate Guide to Twitter Hashtags, HERE.