Stephen Weir articles, editorials and popular social media weir postings

  INNOCENCE CANADA & INTERNATIONAL WRONGFUL CONVICTION DAY COMMITTEE  (IWCDC) PRESS RELEASE  Innocence Canada & IWCD Committee Are Hosting a Gala Event to acknowledge the 10 th  Anniversary of IWCD.    October 2, 2024 , Innocence Canada and other innocence, and social justice groups worldwide will join together in our shared goal of spreading awareness about wrongful convictions. International Wrongful Conviction Day (IWCD) was launched by Innocence Canada on October 2, 2014. The 10th Anniversary IWCD Gala Event is drawing pan-Canadian interest, with exonerated individuals from all regions of the country confirmed to attend.   Organizers are anticipating a full house, reflecting widespread support and engagement in the cause of wrongful conviction awareness.    In recognition of this special milestone year, Innocence Canada, and the International Wrongful Conviction Day Committee (IWCDC) are hosting a IWCD 10 th  Anniversary Gala...

Shared with Public HE IS FINALLY FREE. Clarence Woodhouse, a 21 year old Indigenous male and member of the Pinaymootang FirstNation, had in 1973 recently moved to Winnipeg from the Fairford Indian Reserve, 240 kilometres north-west of Winnipeg. He had no criminal record and was gainfully employed. On July 22, 1973, he was charged with the brutal murder of a man called Ting Fong Chan, killed by unknown assailants five days earlier on the streets of Winnipeg as he walked home from work. Mr. Woodhouse was not there when Mr. Chan was killed and had no involvement in the homicide. Nevertheless, he was arrested and assaulted and forced to sign a false confession that he had murdered Mr. Chan. Clarence Woodhouse’s co-accused, his brother Russell Woodhouse, Brian Anderson and Allan Woodhouse were also assaulted by members of the Winnipeg Police Service and forced to sign their own confessions to murdering Mr. Chan. All four men proclaimed their innocence, but no one believed them. The nightm...

  Indigenous Man Returns to the Court in Winnipeg where He was Convicted 50 Years Ago ­­­­­__________________________________________   More than 49 years ago on March 5, 1974,  Clarence Woodhouse , a young Indigenous man, and a member of the Pinaymootang First Nation on the Fairford Indian Reserve in Manitoba, was convicted of the murder of Mr. Ting Fong Chan in Winnipeg, a crime he did not commit.   On July 18 of this year, two of Mr. Woodhouse’s former co-accused were vindicated in the King’s Bench Court by Chief Justice Joyal in Winnipeg. A fourth accused, Clarence’s brother Russell Woodhouse, sadly died in 2011 before he could be vindicated.   On September 13, 2023,  Innocence Canada  filed an application with Federal Justice Minister Arif Virani for a ministerial review of Clarence Woodhouse’s conviction pursuant to the provisions of the  Criminal Code.   We also filed a posthumous application on Russell Woodhouse’s behalf with the...

Innocence Canada Welcomes Federal Promise of Independent Commission From:  Innocence Canada (issued by Stephen Weir on behalf of Innocence Canada)   News release  December 13, 2019 TORONTO: A federal plan to create an independent body to seek out and correct possible wrongful convictions represents the realization of a 25 year-dream for the innocence movement.  Innocence Canada - the country's leading organization advocating for the wrongly convicted - pledged to give Justice Minister David Lametti its full support and assistance as the government establishes the independent commission. Innocence Canada, formerly the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted, has been advocating for the creation of an independent commission since the organization’s inception in 1993.  Over its 25-year history, Innocence Canada has participated in the exoneration of 23 wrongly convicted people in Canada in addition to contributing to a number of publ...