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Morning Brew: Darcy Allan Sheppard Memorial Ride, Michael Bryant and Self-Defence, TTC Bus Arson, Fall Election Looming, Confusing Cell Phone Terms of Service
Photo: "Good morning" by AshtonPal, member of the blogTO Flickr pool.
Insanity... and what's happening in the GTA (and sometimes beyond):
A memorial ride for Darcy Allan Sheppard, the cyclist killed on Monday night, is planned for tonight, as more details about the man and his troubles begin to surface. The debate rages on as to whether or not former attorney general Michael Bryant, who faces criminal charges, has a strong self-defence case.
A suspect is on the loose after a dispute between two people on a TTC bus escalated. The man and woman were arguing, and despite passengers' attempts to stop the man, he allegedly punched the woman, and then doused the seats with a flammable liquid and set the bus ablaze, destroying it and forcing passengers to flee in shock.
It appears that we're heading for a fall national election, if recent announcements by the Liberal party actually pan out this time. Ignatieff says they're no longer able to support the Harper's Conservatives. Until the NDP and the Bloc Quebecois get on board, it's simply more hot air. According to the Conservatives, it would be irresponsible to call a fall election when the economy is showing signs of recovery. But it's not irresponsible to prorogue parliament when the economy is nose-diving?
Is the Globe and Mail Ontario page broken, or do they actually want random reader commentary to appear up front in greater frequency than feature stories by staff?
Canadian cell phone service providers are vowing to make things easier for customers to understand. Apparently we're not able to fully comprehend the terms of our services, and they want to change that. Really? I was under the impression that the more confusing and hidden-fee-ridden our bills are, the more money can be made by the providers. I'm looking forward to seeing just how simplified my Rogers bill, upgrade options, and phone calls to customer service become under this new code of conduct.
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Ha ha... nailed it.
With Rogers and Bell already in lockstep with their corporate counterparts in the US when it comes to plan structuring and billing, this announcement comes off as a nervous move on CWTA's part. Attempting some DIY industry reform before a meaningful governmental body steps in sounds good on paper... and telling us meager consumers we'll be spoken to in a way we'll understand sure is a wonderfully condescending start.
== It's irresponsible to call an election because "we kinda don't want you to"
This way they get to point out that 'hey, we're not that new of a party, you can trust us' without the hassle of actually having to change their name.
I think this will be extremely hard to prove in court - I don't think Bryant really has to claim self-defence. If he does, that means he intentionally caused harm to Sheppard... All he has to do is demonstrate that Sheppard was the one who forced the car to strike those objects, or impeded his ability to operate the car and avoid the collisions.
Don't complain about it when you were too lazy or too blindsided by the shiny product, that you didn't ask more questions about what you were getting into.
I will agree that Canadian telecom companies have us by the balls, but if you know what you're doing (like me), then you can have them by the balls.
But I agree there's a huge possibility Sheppard was a major contributing factor in his own demise. But Bryant still gassed it, thats not a small detail.
I think the Globe Ontario page is broken because the design is so bad I have a hard time believing someone designed it that way and I have told them so.
It doesn't matter how thuggish Sheppard was, but his level of intoxication and his emotionality from earlier in the evening does. In any case though his death is as tragic as any.
Compared to other comments here calling the driver a "menace" and the cyclist "thuggish", my comment was hardly passing judgment on anyone.
Also, your bias came out in our opening statement when you said: "Who says that Bryant hit the cyclist? Sheppard appears to be the one who may have been intoxicated and possibly riding a little wobbly"
But as many have stated it's ALL speculation at this point.
Essentially, he brought a bazooka to a knife fight. Scumbag murderer.
To those criticizing Bryant, what would you have done to defend yourself and your wife?
In any case, I am willing to bet Bryant will walk or receive a lesser charge. Definitely no jail time.
You see driver/cyclist altercations all the time, but never has one gone into Terminator/T1000 battle mode.
I'd hate to see how deadly Bryant is with a metropass.
Wow way to exaggerate the situation...
You asked what I would do, well I know what what I wouldn't. I wouldn't go onto the opposite lane and on the curve to try to get rid of a pedestrian hanging on my car. What did he think, he is in an action film or something? It's beyond me how anyone can say the driver did the rational thing.
blind justice?
What a despicable way to treat a human being. What a horrible way to die.
The worst are those assuming intent, that Bryant was out for Blood or to impress or that the cyclist was a thug drunk out of his mind.
You don't even see you're making the same argumentative mistakes as each other.
I agree the opposite lane thing is a bit much, but I was simply referring to his first reaction - hitting the gas. I have no doubt in my mind that 9/10 people would do that.
Hitting on the gas is one thing, but driving onto the opposite lane and the curve is another. It was the latter that killed the victim and not hitting on the gas.
Unless anyone commenting here was actually a sober and lucid EYEWITNESS to the entire Bryant/Sheppard tragedy, why don't you stop with your comments ripping either party until we learn exactly what happened... Defaming one or the other without any first-hand knowledge of the indecent is ignorant and you know it.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/a-cyclist-dead-a-political-star-tarnished/article1271489/
Neighbour Annette Wabie said Mr. Sheppard was “drunk as a clunk,” though a police source said he’d only had a few drinks.
“He started biking two, three feet and he falls off his bike because he’s so drunk,” she said.
Personally - as a pedestrian who has nearly been hit by cyclists too stupid to stop on a red three times in the past two weeks - I'm not assuming the guy in the car is automatically at fault.
That said, this whole thing is a tragedy all around. Three people had their lives changed because of what should have been a minor accident.
the guy probably grabbed a hold of the steering wheel and forced the driver to do what he did. he tried to jump into a moving car, is that the actions of a sane man.
my sympathies to michael bryant and his family. he shouldn't have resigned from his job.
Just a total shame.
who else but a lawyer could defend a lawyer, accused of dangerous driving causing death?
If he was accelerating it was probably the initial reaction from the cyclist chasing after him as he tried to drive away. The -smart- thing to do would be to gradually slow down. Slamming on the brakes would have been just as bad for the cyclist. Concentrating on gradually slowing down would understandably be tough to do considering the situation.
If he made the wrong choice it likely isn't because he's a bad person.
As for him intentionally trying to knock the cyclist off on the mailboxes and trees, I would be hesitant in being so sure. He could have just as easily lost control or was in control but distracted and hadn't realized he was veering off the road.
@Loic: I think the actual Michael Bryant has bigger things to worry about than blog readers. Sounds more like someone disgruntled with Toronto cyclists, of which there are unfortunately many.
sounds like a clear case of "road rage" on sheppards part and Bryant protecting himself and his wife. bryant tried to get away, the biker chased him.
Michael Bryant is an innocent man.
It was a province warrant for Alberta not Canada wide. So although police did talk to him earlier that night that couldnt hold him, or prevent him from later going on to get himself killed. Instead he was living in ontario to avoid his warrants and causing more shit. He shouldve been in jail and not on the run.
the police should have done their jobs and jailed him until he sobered up. they let a known criminal walk away and now this is what happens.
unfortunately they couldn't ship his useless ass back to alberta.
its getting more and more sickening how bryant ended up in this situation with that thug. i feel for him and his family.
As for Sheppard, what the hell does it matter what his prior history was? It has nothing to do with the case; you can't kill people because they are addicted to alcohol or have been charged with possession of stolen goods. If he acted aggressively in this particular instance, that's another matter, but you can't just assume that because he had trouble with the law in the past.