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Thieves are watching: OPP warn

Great advice from the Ontario Provincial Police to consider when you put your garbage out on Monday.  (reminder that collection is Monday, December 30, regular collection returns on Wednesday, January 8, 2020)

Putting your gift packaging curbside for collection is a reliable way of letting thieves know what’s available in your house.

Ontario Provincial Police have issued a reminder to take care with Christmas packaging and dispose of it discreetly.

“Thieves can quickly ascertain what you received on your Christmas wish list by simply driving by and looking at the gift boxes put out to the curb for garbage pickup,” Const. Ed Sanchuk, spokesperson for the Norfolk OPP, said in a news release.

“Criminals can easily gauge which house would make a great target based on the advertisement left out for them each year.”

Police offer the following tips to keep the contents of your home private:

  • Drop off boxes for big-ticket items at a county waste-transfer station.
  • Shred receipts and other sensitive financial documents before putting them in the garbage.
  • Boxes put curbside for collection should be cut down to size. Ensure that product information is not visible to passers-by.
  • Police also advise homeowners planning a winter vacation to arrange to have their mail, flyers and newspapers collected while they are away. Mail piling up uncollected at the front door is a reliable indicator that a property is unattended.

As well, make your home look lived in while you are away. Put lights on timers and arrange for someone to plow or shovel your driveway.

“Thieves often look for the easiest target with the biggest, quickest return,” Sanchuk says. “By following these tips, you can help prevent becoming a victim of property crime this holiday season.”

 

reprinted from the Brantford Expositor, December 27, 2019

 

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International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women

Today is an important milestone – the day that everyone should take a moment to consider the lifelong impact of violence against women and the irrefutable evidence of how domestic violence negatively impacts children who witness the assaults and psychological attacks.  Human trafficking is real in rural Ontario and one of the most reprehensible forms of violence against women.  Please, take that moment.

The Honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Honourable Karina Gould, Minister of International Development, today issued the following statement:

“Around the world, in both peace and war, women, girls and vulnerable populations experience sexual assault and its lifelong adverse effects on health, including psychological, physical, sexual and reproductive health. Sexual assault, also used in too many instances as a weapon of war, is a violation of human rights and one of the main barriers to achieving gender equality. Too often, the victims are silenced while the perpetrators go unpunished.

Canada is a global leader in efforts to eliminate gender-based violence through diplomacy and advocacy. In developing countries, we support projects that address harmful norms that perpetuate sexual and gender-based violence. We also support survivors, so they can gain access to justice and the services they need to rebuild their lives, and work with partners to ensure that those responsible for gross human rights violations and abuses are brought to account.

Today and every day, we invite everyone to take a stand against sexual assault, and to join survivors and women’s rights activists at home and abroad who draw attention to the injustice of sexual assault and the social norms that condone it.

We also mark the beginning of 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence. This global campaign, which runs until International Human Rights Day on December 10, draws attention to all forms of sexual and gender-based violence. The aim of the Sustainable Development Goals—to leave no one behind—cannot be reached without first ending all forms of gender-based violence, including violence against women, girls and vulnerable minorities.”