South Africa cracks down on homophobic hate crime
19-year-old Zoliswa Nkonyana, from South Africa was stabbed nine times and stoned to death in 2006 for living openly as a lesbian. The court in Khayelitsha, Cape Town, found four men guilty of murder and sentenced them to 18 years in jail. The sentence of the court is significant as it demonstrates the protection against homophobic acts. Activists have long demanded that the state to crack down harder on people who commit violent acts against members of the lesbian community. Wednesday’s sentence sends out a message that hate crimes against individuals as a result of their sexual orientation are not to be tolerated. (BBC News)
Change in political climate
When asked about revisiting the ban on death penalties in Canada, Conservative Senator Pierre-Hugues Boisvenu told reporters that the worst of criminals should “have the right to a rope in his cell and make a decision about his or her life.” To be clear Boisvenu emphasized that he did not favour the death penalty, but believes criminals should be allowed the option. Punishment by death, according to Boisvenu, should be a choice considered for criminals like serial killer, Clifford Olson. He made these comments on his way to a weekly meeting regarding the ban of the death penalty. (The Nation Post)
New bus routes effective Feb. 6
Guelph Transit will be adding an additional bus route to its route schedule in order to help alleviate the volume of passengers and missed transfers. The route, called Route 15, will service the Stone Road and College Avenue area. Students should be aware that there will also be changes to Route 2 A/B to provide better service to industrial areas in the North end. New maps and route schedules will be distributed throughout the week in order to educate commuters. However, these changes will be available on the Guelph transit website if students wish to familiarize themselves with the new schedule before they are instated on Feb. 6. (City of Guelph Media Release)
Compiled by Beth Purdon-McLellan and Abigel Lemak
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