Friday, March 2. 2012

Please be aware that the BCTF has given notice that there will be a strike next week from Monday, March 5th through Wednesday March 8th. As such there will be no classes for students at G.P. Vanier. In order to keep up to date and not lose more class time for the year, I will post tomorrow the work that we would normally be doing next week on this blog. I'd highly recommend that you take what you need home with you today (textbooks and binders) or e-mail assignments to yourself that you are currently working on. By doing this we can minimize the disruptions that we will face due to the job action next week. Thank you for considering this course of action.

Today's schedule is D-AG-C-B-A

C Block Geography 12 - Today we're back in the library to continue our research on the Orting high school case study. Should the town of Orting, Washington, build a new high school to attract people to their community or not? What will the impact of increased population be on the tiny town that sits in the shadows of Mt. Rainier? The assignment is in your week 5 package and was posted on this blogsite so check out yesterday's entry. Remember my note of caution...

What is the greatest danger to Orting? Of all that could potentially happen at Mount Rainier what poses the greatest threat? Now ask yourself what triggers that threat? What causes it to happen? Last think about the statistical likelyhood of that event happening. How likely is the event to occur in the next 5, 10, 100, or 1000 years? Check out the risk analysis section of the COTF website for help here.

This assignment is due next Friday (March 9th, 2012).

B Block Law 12 - OK so yesterday we got caught up in a long discussion about Mens Rea which is good, but we didn't get through the work we needed to accomplish. Let's try again today... Actus Reus and Mens Rea come from Actus non facit reum nisi mens sit rea which is Latin for “the act will not make a person guilty unless the mind is also guilty.” To help us understand these concepts we'll look at the R. v. Parks (1992) case as well as the R. v. Williams (2003) case.

For the Parks case there is a great read on TruTV (used to be called Court TV) about the case. It is interesting to note that the same defense was attempted in Arizona in 1999....it failed. You can read about the case involving Scott Falater who stabbed his wife 44 times and claimed he was sleepwalking here. In terms of the Williams case, another example of an HIV related aggravated sexual assault case involved former CFL athlete Trevis Smith. A review of the decision (sentenced to five and a half years in 2007 and was paroled in 2010) can be found here at CBC News. In terms of Wilful Blindness, because of the Sansregret case, the Supreme Court of Canada held that the concepts of recklessness and wilful blindness are not the same and that it is wise to keep the two concepts separate. The court then defined each concept as follows (Stuart: 211):

• Recklessness involves knowledge of a danger or risk and persistence in a course of conduct which creates a risk that the prohibited result will occur,




• Wilful blindness arises where a person who has become aware of the need for some inquiry declines to make the inquiry because he does not wish to know the truth.

You'll need to work on the Review Your Understanding questions 1-5 on page 130 in the law textbook.



A Block Social Studies 11 - Today with Ms. Krahn...Today we’ll be wrapping up our look at events on the Home front during the war. We’ll be switching gears a bit throughout the lesson to cover three topics: Women’s roles in the war, Profiteering and the Halifax Disaster.

Yesterday we discussed how the Wartime Elections Act enabled (certain) women to vote. Today we’ll take a look at the roles women stepped into during wartime, and their struggle for enfranchisement in Canada.

We’ll watch a short clip about the influential Nellie McLung and a longer clip about the suffrage, and the work of the Women’s Christian Temperance Movement.

I’ll ask you to take note of which groups of women were granted or denied the vote, and then answer the following question:

Why did PM Borden not extend the vote to all women in 1917?

Links to extra info:

A great documentary from the NFB called And We Knew How To Dance, which features interviews with 12 Canadian women about their lives during wartime

Women’s roles, suffrage and pacifist movement

Here is a link to women’s involvement in the military by country

After this, we’ll discuss the Canadian economy during wartime, and we’ll take a look at a political cartoon from a previous provincial exam about Canada’s dedication to the war effort.

We’ll also discuss the issue of profiteering (a person or business who profits from warfare by selling goods to parties at war), and watch a clip from Canada A People’s History called ‘Spoils of War.’

What was the cartoonist’s message?

A. Canada was a major contributor to the war effort.
B. Canada was lacking resources to make war supplies.
C. Canada was the most dominant fighting force in the war.
D. Canada’s reputation as an effective fighting force was largely symbolic.

Extra info:

Profiteering

War Museum Profiteering

After this, we’ll briefly discuss the Halifax disaster, and how it affected Canadians.

Historical Minute
Halifax Explosion

Finally, we’ll go through the work that I’d like you to cover over the strike period. I’ll have a handout, and all the information will also be posted on the blog. You are welcome to email me with any questions you might have.