![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.reallifesuperheroes.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/11\/MSPDSC_0002_R-350x262.jpg\")
<\/a>NDP MP Olivia Chow told reporters Tuesday that the new citizen\u2019s arrest legislation is in line with what she had previously called for. (Matthew Little\/The Epoch Times)<\/p><\/div>
\nThe re-introduced legislation will expand and simplify citizen\u2019s arrest laws and widen the time period under which someone can make a citizen\u2019s arrest. Current legislation limits citizen\u2019s arrest to crimes in progress, which is why Chen faced charges.
\nBut would-be superheroes still need to act responsibly lest they end up as Phoenix Jones in Seattle, the superhero persona of Benjamin Fodor who was denigrated by police as a vigilante and charged when he tried to break up a fight.
\nCanadians seem content to leave crime fighting to the police. The most well-known Canadian real-life superhero is Vancouver\u2019s Thanatos, a 63-year-old former intelligence officer with the U.S. Army Special Forces.
\nReal Life Superhero<\/strong>
\nThanatos began his crime-fighting career four years ago with plans to stop criminals in their tracks. Wearing a skeletal cloth mask and clad in black, the unidentified man quickly changed course after taking to the streets and realizing any drug dealer he did stop would be quickly replaced by another.
\n\u201cYou learn going head to head with these people is just not going to do anything,\u201d he said in a Skype video chat, mask on.
\nNow he hands out blankets and food, and tries to comfort the afflicted. Over the years, he estimates he\u2019s added a day to the lives of at least 600 people.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
But 15 years ago in Toronto, he grabbed a machete from home and faced off with a group of kids, some armed with guns, who were terrorizing a shopkeeper. His efforts got him and the kids arrested, but it didn\u2019t dampen his hope to make a difference.
\n\u201cI have always believed in stepping in. \u2026 It was a little aggressive but I was afraid for my friends in the store.\u201d
\nLike others, Thanatos, (named for a Greek demon of death) said Canada\u2019s complicated citizen\u2019s arrests laws left him uncertain about taking certain actions when he eventually donned a costume and took to the desperate streets of Vancouver\u2019s Downtown Eastside.
\nBut he never considered being a vigilante, a position others interested in citizens\u2019 arrests echoed.
\n\u201cYou don\u2019t want vigilantes\u2014you don\u2019t want that. You have a justice system, maybe it is flawed and overcrowded, but it is working. People taking the law in their own hands doesn\u2019t work well.\u201d
\nHe points to the case of three Chilliwack, B.C., teenagers who became entangled in controversy last week for their efforts to lure sexual predators into the open and YouTube the encounters.
\nThe teens posed as underage girls online to lure predators, then filmed the face-to-face encounters while dressed as Batman and Flash.
\nThanatos said the teens took incredible risks unwisely. \u201cSexual predators are probably one of the more dangerous breeds of criminals,\u201d he said.
\nPredators can lose their jobs, families, and standing in the community if exposed. \u201cThat could be enough to drive someone to do something extremely violent.\u201d
\nCanada\u2019s other prominent real-life superhero (RLSH), Anonyman in Saskatchewan, also focuses on surveillance and public awareness.
\nAccording to Peter Tangen, a photographer who launched the Real Life Super Hero Project and helped arrange interviews with Thanatos and Anonyman, most RLSHs are best described as activists who use costumes as a way to brand good deeds and draw attention to their causes.
\nGuardian Angels<\/strong>
\nWhile Thanatos and Anonyman follow a non-confrontational path now, focusing on surveillance and aid to the needy, Canadian chapters of the Guardian Angels had hoped to start a more direct grassroots crime prevention movement. But there too, complicated citizen\u2019s arrest laws were not the deciding factor that has kept the angels from taking off.
\nGreg Silver heads up the Calgary chapter of the group. Although the angels remain more active in the United States and other countries, their red berets are rarely seen on Canadian streets.
\nThe group works on a variety of actions but is best known for its patrols and efforts to encourage citizens to confront crime where it happens, going so far as to stop criminal activity and make citizen\u2019s arrests.
\n\u201cEverybody likes the fact that we are out there, but nobody wants to put themselves in danger. Nobody wants to step in,\u201d said Silver, explaining the limited presence of angels in Canada.
\nCurrently, there are only a handful of active angels in Canada, he said. Calls to other Canadian chapters listed on GuardianAngels.org went unanswered, with some numbers now defunct.
\nGuardianAngelsCanada.org, the purported Canadian website for the group, is now a Japanese dating site, the domain name apparently having been repurchased.
\nSilver said the group has found it near impossible to recruit members willing to go on patrol.
\n\u201cYou kind of make a target out of yourselves,\u201d he offered as explanation.
\nDave Schroeder, the group\u2019s Canadian coordinator, said there are a core group of angels active in Canada but patrols have declined due to a lack of people.
\n\u201cWhile most people we encounter say \u2018what a great idea\u2019\u2026 it seems that very few people decide to really make that commitment and do what it takes to get out there.\u201d
\nBut citizens have a right to stop crime he said, welcoming improved citizen\u2019s arrest legislation.
\n\u201cBottom line is, if more people understood that Canadian citizens are born with the right to assist someone in trouble, and use reasonable force to do so, [they can] make a citizen\u2019s arrest.\u201d
\nSilver said the group was warned by a lawyer that they could be liable for actions taken on private property, even in the case of a rape, under current laws.
\nBut like Canada\u2019s masked crusaders, the angels also discourage vigilante activity, saying their efforts focus on legal actions and supporting the police.
\nVictor Kwong, a media relations officer with the Toronto Police Service, said the group was not welcome in Toronto, in part because they were crossing a vague boundary between citizens and a quasi-policing group.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Citizen\u2019s arrests are happening in Toronto regardless, he said, but mainly by security guards trained in relevant laws. Outside the high-profile case at the Lucky Moose, the average Joe rarely makes a citizen\u2019s arrest, he said.
\nWhile citizen\u2019s arrests are one way people can help police, it certainly isn\u2019t the only way he said.
\n\u201cYou can call police, be a good witness,\u201d he said.
\nThat means not sharing your observations until you talk to police he said, noting that people\u2019s memories get tainted when they discuss what they saw with others who add their own variations and embellishments.<\/p>\n
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Crime Mega-Bill Gets Hard Time from Critics<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Changes unlikely to spark vigilantism, says justice minister Originally posted: http:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/n2\/canada\/superheroes-and-angels-welcome-new-citizens-arrest-laws-147695.html By Matthew Little Epoch Times Staff \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 Created: November 23, 2011 Last Updated: November 23, 2011 PARLIAMENT HILL\u2014Caped crusaders can rest a little easier after Justice Minister Rob Nicholson tabled a bill to simplify and clarify citizen\u2019s arrest laws […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12316,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[165,429,500,1109,1919,2026,2173,2239,2637,2746,2795,3012],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16367"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16367"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16367\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12316"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16367"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16367"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rlsh.net\/archive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16367"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}