#9007 - Dec 1990

Digital Archiving Completed by the Ethnography Lab, A University of Toronto Anthropology Initiative
and Produced in Collaboration with David Perlman/Wholenote Media Inc between July-December 2015.
2
Arson Says Fire Marshal
from page 1
At approximately 5:30a.m.
on Wednesday Eric Layman,
a self-described night-owl,
heard the sound of breaking
glass, which was followed
seconds later by smoke rising
from the Le Uyen Restaurant
(56 Kensington Ave.)
located on the ground floor.
Eric immediately called the
fire department to report the
fire.
Evacuation
The residents of the apartment
block started knocking
on each other's doors and
within minutes the building
was almost completely evacuated.
With Number 8
Pumping Station only 2
blocks away on Bellevue
Ave. no more than five minutes
elapsed between the call
and the arrival of the fire
department. The fire was
rapidly brought-under control.
The blaze took place in the
entryway of the restaurant.
Damage was confined to the
glass door, the awning above
the entrance, plastic light fixtures
and scorching on the
walls and stairs leading down
to the restaurant.
It took Inspector R.L.
Schnurr, from the Office of
the Fire Marshal, only minutes
to determine that the
fire had been intentionally
set. His verdict: someone
had kicked in the glass door,
poured gasoline inside and
out and set it alight with an
open flame. This leads us
back to the qu~stion of who
would light such a potentially
murderous blaze.
Rumours abound. Perhaps
the best indication of the
nature of these rumours is
that the investigation will be
handled by 14 Division
Asian Crime Unit.
What Investigation?
Repeated phone-calls to
14 Division have yielded
only the information that it
is likely the Asian Unit will
deal with the crime. But no
one seems to know just who,
if anyone, is assigned to the
case. Officer Hua, where are
you? Even the suggestion by
the Drum that there are persons
in the Market with
information that the police
might find valuable has
elicited no response from 14
Division. Certainly, confirmation
by the police that an
investigation was proceeding
would assure nervous Market
residents that the inci-
NEWS
dent was not just being filed
as an Asian Crime and left to
the Asian community to sort
out. ·
And More Questions
Tho~gh most of the Drum
staff has never attended journalism
school (tht:: eat's out
of the bag) there is a ,general
awareness that a report
Doctor's. Hospital
Wo01en's Detox Riles So01e
Drum StaH
Is there a double standard
about the treatment of alcoholism?
In men it is seen as
something that society has a
responsiblity to treat and
mitigate. Amo·ng women it
seems it's something for
which family doctors,
churches and husbands are
expected to provide remedies.
Womens de-tox centres
arc scarce-of the 118
beds in the city, only 8 arc
for women- and underfunded.
Women's de-tox centres
run into community opposition
when they are proposed.
This appears to be what's
happening with Doctors
Hospital's proposed 17 bed
de-tox centre at 892 Dundas
St. W. The second of 2 public
meetings attracted 400
people, many opposed. And
Drum has seen multi-lingual
letters, also opposing the
project, distributed as far
afield as Harbord and Major
Streets.
Part of the problem that
projects like-this run into is a
perception that the place will
increase the number of
drunks and rubbies in the
area. In fact, most of the
people using this facility
would be there for 2 nights
with a maximum of 3.
The proposed place is a
shelter for people in distress
awaiting referral or other
support services. It's not a
place of incarceration. People
arrive voluntarily or
escorted by police. Nobody
c~n be forced to stay, so people
are not taken there
unless they want help.
Because de-tox centres are
seen as something. that is
usually placed in downscale
neighbourhoods, they in fact
have that effect on the neighbourhood.
When institutions
like Doctors Hospital go far
afield to locate a de-tox centre,
residents near by wonder
why it was not placed in the
hospital's backyard: Harbord
and Brunswick for instance.
Is the implication that there
is no alcoholism in the
Lower Annex? Or that
places of treatment should
be near the sources of temptation?
Beacusc the centre is to be
located so far from Doctors
Hospital there have been
suggestions that they are
avoiding putting a downscale
facility in an upscale neighbourhood.
A hospital
spokes-person denies this,
explaining that no suitable
site closer to the hospital
could be found. This is partly
because city by-laws prevent
crisis facilities being within
250 metres of each other.
As institutions decentralize
they put all kinds of services
out into the community.
Some of these services are
perceived as positive, some
as negative. Should the Hospital
take steps to contradict
the impression that upscale
neighbourhoods don't get
controversial facilities.
climate of suspicion and is a
perfect breeding ground for
rumour. Perhaps the worst
result of dark hints about
gangs and organized crime is
that people are afraid to
come forward with informa­
tion. Someone must surely
know more and care about a
crime that endangered so
should answer the questions
who, when, why and where.
It is therefore disconcerting
to have to write an article
where so many fundamental
questions remain unanswered.
Those that are
answered only lead to more
questions. This is not a good
state of affairs. It creates a
The Kensington Market Drum, December 1990
photo: SN Bianca
(!h rlf) many lives. ~
JlWJL City of Toronto
City property owners and occupants ....
Be Nice. Clear Your Ice.
Please 'remember that it's your responsibility to
remove snow or ice from public sidewalks in front of,
or beside your property, within 12 hours after any fall
of snow, freezing rain or hail, and to keep them clear.
If the snow or ice is not cleared from the entire
surface of sidewalks abutting your property, the City
will remove the snow or ice ancf charge the cost of
removal to the property owner's realty taxes.
If you are a senior citizen or have a physical disability,
you may be eligible for the City's free snow-clearing
service. For application information, please call the
Oepartment'of Public Works and the Environment at
392-7768.
TOO users please call 392-0678.
Nicholas Vardin. P. Eng.,
City Engineer and Commissioner,
Department of Public Works and the Environment
Legal Wrongs and Fringe Benefits
Local Record Company Aquitted
by Colin Puffer
. In the last Drum we
reported the impending trial
on November 5 in Ottawa of
Fringe Product Inc. and the
Record Peddler On
November 8 a 12 person jury
aquitted the two companies
on charges of distributing
and possession for the purpose
of distributing obscene
material. The material in
question was two albums,
"Here Today, Guano
Tomorrow" and "Feed Us A
Fetus America", by Victoria's
DayGlo Abortions. The
crown has 30 days in which
to appeal the decision but
Fringe owner Ben Hoffman
doesn't think this is likely.
Though the result was
praised by the Canadian
Civil Liberties Association
and the Canadian Recording
Industry Association, no one
is claiming final victory.
Most involved in the trial
believe that the nebulousness
of Canadian obscenity
laws make future prosecutions
likely.
Inverted Process
Hoffman himself expressed
relief that 2 years of
court app·earances were
finally over but had reservations
about the whole legal
process. He felt the trial did
nothing to clarify obscenity
laws. He went on to explain
that in most criminal cases
the crime is well defined and
it is the jury's duty to determine
whether or not the
defendant committed the
crime. In the Fringe obscenity
trial the process was
reversed. There was no
denying that Fringe had pas- ·
sessed the albums and it was
the jury's job to decide
whether or not that possession
was a crime. And
though Hoffman hopes that
the court descision will make
. police think twice about laying
charges, there is still
nothing to prevent the cop
on the beat from pressing
charges that may result in a
very expensive court case -­
for a "crime" that may not
be a crime.
The Cost
If Fringe had pleaded
guilty when initially charged
they most likely would have
escaped with a fine of $500-
1000. Because the company
decided to fight the prosecution
they have ended up with
court costs approaching
$100,000. Fringe received
virtually no support from
major record labels but
musicians in Vancouver and
Toronto banded together for
a series of fund-raisers that
will help defray legal costs.
(see Performance, page 15).
In the end Hoffman says
he's pleased with the results
and glad it's all over but with
the enormous financial drain
and time involved he doubts
he has the resources or energy
to do it again.