Blogger pleads not guilty to disturbance charge

Fredericton blogger Charles LeBlanc pleaded not guilty Friday to a charge of causing a disturbance and will stand trial in provincial court on Oct. 28.

LeBlanc was arrested for causing a disturbance outside of the city’s police headquarters on Wednesday and had been in provincial jail in Saint John since that time.

LeBlanc was released from custody Friday after agreeing to a condition that he not use a bullhorn or "voice-amplification device" in the downtown area of the city.

LeBlanc, who writes a blog on politics and social justice issues, had received warnings from the police that people were complaining about his use of a bullhorn outside the police headquarters.

The blogger has been protesting a ticket he received for riding his bike on the sidewalk in Fredericton.

Fredericton Police Const. Rick Mooney confirmed the blogger was arrested because of the complaints from people in a nearby office building.

"We had a number of complaints in relation to this in the area here, so we conducted an investigation and acted on that information,” Mooney said.

LeBlanc, however, is convinced that ticket was related to his long-running feud with officials at the New Brunswick legislature and the city police.

One municipal councillor is questioning the arrest of the well-known blogger.

Tim Scammell, a village councillor in New Maryland and friend of LeBlanc’s, said he's wondering why the blogger was arrested for loudly complaining about the Fredericton police force.

"I think he should be allowed to say what he wants to say, wherever he is,” Scammell said.

“As much as we may or may not agree with it, or find the method annoying, that's his rights."

LeBlanc has had a controversial past. He was banned from the legislature in 2006.

And LeBlanc made international headlines in November 2006 when he was acquitted on an obstruction charge.

He had been arrested when he was blogging coverage of a demonstration at the Atlantica business conference in Saint John in June 2006.

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Duck-abusing American hunter pleads guilty

U.S. hunter Jeff Foiles has posted on YouTube a number of videos on Fallin' Skies showing him and others shooting birds. YouTube

An American hunter who abused wounded birds in Western Canada and videotaped his antics is facing a $15,000 fine and a three-year hunting ban in Canada.

Jeffery Burdett Foiles, 54, of Pleasant Hill, Illinois, pleaded guilty in an Edmonton court Wednesday to causing unnecessary pain and suffering to a duck, contrary to the Criminal Code.

He also pleaded guilty to multiple violations of the Migratory Birds Convention Act, including killing more than his daily limit, hunting birds from a powerboat and failing to immediately kill a wounded duck he had retrieved.

The incidents happened near several communities around Alberta between 2004 and 2007.

Michelle Ferguson, the federal Crown prosecutor in the case, described some of the incidents recorded on Foiles's videos — later discovered by U.S. authorities — that resulted in the charges.

'Making the duck face the camera. Whacking the duck on the head. Placing an empty bullet box on the duck's head. Whacking that on his head. Plugging the nostrils of the duck and holding its beak shut.'—Crown prosecutor describes what she saw in the videos

"Making the duck face the camera. Whacking the duck on the head. Placing an empty bullet box on the duck's head. Whacking that on his head. Plugging the nostrils of the duck and holding its beak shut," she said.

According to an agreed statement of facts between Crown and defence, most of the incidents that led to the changes happened in the Bentley area.

In one video recorded Oct. 17, 2007 near Westerose, Foiles held a wounded mallard up to the camera, then moved the head around so it was facing him, the statement said.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you," Foiles said. He wagged the duck's head back and forth, then opened and closed the bird's mouth with his fingers while making quacking sounds, the statement said. He then walked off camera and killed the duck.

Some of the incidents that led to the charges happened near Bentley and Pigeon Lake, Alta.

Foiles is a guide who runs a hunting club in Illinois and posts edited versions of his videos on YouTube in a series called "Fallin' Skies". The videos are shot in Alberta and Saskatchewan.

In Canada, under a joint submission from the Crown and defence, he'll likely receive a $15,000 fine and a three-year hunting ban, but a judge will have the final decision. He'll find out about the sentence next week.

Meanwhile, Foiles is also facing punishment in Illinois for violating hunting laws there.

Earlier this year, he pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful sale of wildlife and one count of unlawfully taking migratory game birds.

Under a deal between the defence and prosecution, Foiles has agreed to serve 13 months in prison and pay a $100,000 fine, with sentencing set for Sept. 21.

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