DRAKES NIGHT

I just care so much about this city, says

the Raptors global ambassador at second $21
annual event featuring and honouring
the hometown hip-hop star, S1 million

WEATHER HIGH 1 C | MOSTLY CLOUDY | MAP S8 THURSDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2014

U.S.-Cuba deal made in Canada

Secret talks held here proved indispensable
for forging accord to end 50-year embargo
MITCH POTTER
WASHINGTON BUREAU
WASHINGTONCanada provided both the
setting and the secrecy, wielding a cone of
silence through at least seven meetings in
Toronto and Ottawa. Pope Francis pro-
vided the critical spiritual nudge.
But it was President Barack Obama ulti-
mately who hit the momentous Go button,
announcing a blockbuster flurry of actions
Wednesday aimed at ending Americas
controversial 50-year embargo of Cuba.
Obama and his Cuban counterpart,
Raul Castro, declared the historic turning
point at noon in simultaneous live
speeches to their respective nations, each
thanking Canada and the Vatican for
their top-secret roles as facilitators.
Today, America chose to cut loose the
shackles of the past, so as to reach for a
better future, Obama said, outlining pris-
oner swaps and other diplomatic mea-
sures intended to eventually erase the last
glaring vestige of the Cold War era.
Senior White House officials spoke of
Canadas indispensable role in hosting
at least seven clandestine meetings in
Toronto and Ottawa. The timeline sug-
Today, America chose to cut loose
gested a sustained feat of discretion, with the shackles of the past, so as
the U.S., Cuba, Canada and the Vatican to reach for a better future.
maintaining a veil over dialogue that be-
BARACK OBAMA
gan in June, 2013 no small achievement
U.S. PRESIDENT
in the age of WikiLeaks.
CUBA continued on A25
We have profound differences
>MORE COVERAGE INSIDE on sovereignty, nationhood and
Economic impact of move likened in
scale to the fall of the Berlin Wall, B1 democracy. But we reaffirm our will
Still no U.S. travel to Cuba for now, B2 to dialogue about these matters.
What will deal mean for baseball? S2 RAUL CASTRO
The Stars view: Accord is good news CUBAN PRESIDENT
for an entire hemisphere, A26

Born with a defect that required two liver transplants, Kaleigh, 9,

has spent much of her life at Sick Kids Hospital. Finally, shes Jury nds
Eaton Centre
GOING HOME shooter guilty
FOR CHRISTMAS
MANISHA KRISHNAN
Christopher Husbands convicted on two counts of
second-degree murder for 2012 food court killings
ALYSHAH HASHAM
STAFF REPORTER COURTS REPORTER

Asked what aspect of Christmas shes When Christopher Husbands opened

most excited about, Kaleigh Wright-
Barton doesnt hesitate.
Family, she told the Star from a play-
room at the Hospital for Sick Children on
Tuesday, her blue eyes sparkling behind
hot pink glasses. Lobster was a close
second.
The 9-year-old will have plenty of both
as she makes her way home to Wey-
mouth, N.S., for the holidays the first
time in years that shes been well enough
to do so.
Kaleigh has spent much of her life, in-
cluding her first two Christmases, in hos-
pital, because of complications from a
birth defect that required two liver trans-
plants. To give their daughter access to
the pediatric care she needs, her parents,
Echo Wright, 27, and Jewell Barton, 30,
relocated to Toronto soon after Kaleigh
was born, a decision they said was both
easy and isolating.
Minutes old, she went right into sur-
gery, said Echo, a petite blond woman
with a gentle demeanour.
Kaleigh has gastroschisis, a condition
that caused her abdominal walls to form
incorrectly in the womb. At birth, her
intestines were partially protruding out
of a hole next to her belly button.
KALEIGH continued on A23
fire in the crowded Eaton Centre food
court on a Saturday evening more than
two years ago, the act of reckless violence
shook the city.
Ahmed Hassan, 24, died instantly on the
floor of the mall. Nixon Nirmalendran,
22, died nine days later in the hospital
after being shot eight times. Five by-
standers were wounded in the hail of
bullets, including a 13-year-old boy shot in
the head who needed multiple brain sur- Christopher
geries and the removal of a part of his
skull to survive. A pregnant woman was Husbands, 25,
trampled in the ensuing panic. killed two men
On Wednesday evening in a downtown
courthouse a short walk from the Eaton and injured five
Centre, a jury found Husbands, 25, guilty bystanders when
of two counts of second-degree murder,
rejecting the defence argument that he he opened fire in
was in a trauma-induced robotic state and the Eaton Centre.
not criminally responsible for his actions.
After 13 hours of deliberating, the jury The jury rejected
also rejected the Crowns argument that the argument
these were planned and deliberate mur-
ders. It was a question the jury seemed to that he was in a
be wrestling with Wednesday afternoon, trauma-induced
when they asked the judge to explain the
law concerning first-degree murder, spe- robotic state.
cifically how long it could take to form a
CARLOS OSORIO/TORONTO STAR plan and deliberate the pros and cons.
For the first time in years, Kaleigh Wright-Barton is well enough to leave her
Toronto family at Sick Kids to spend the holidays at home in Weymouth, N.S. GUILTY continued on A2

Judge waged $200K tax war over clothes
Newest Supreme Court member
sought to write off a reasonable
$50,000 a year for work attire
ALLAN WOODS
QUEBEC BUREAU
MONTREALThe newest member of the
Supreme Court of Canada is a corporate
law expert, but a lengthy fight to be able to
deduct more than $200,000 in clothing
and personal care expenses from her
annual earnings has given her a unique
window into the tax system.
Justice Suzanne Ct fought for five
years with Revenu Qubec, the provincial
tax agency, after she claimed annual ex-
penses of $50,000 to buy work clothes for
each of three years from 2004 to 2006.
During that same period, the top-flight
Montreal lawyer claimed more than
$25,000 in expenses related to personal
care, as well as other miscellaneous items.
Court documents show that Ct made
claims for tax deductions totalling
$204,685 over those three years and that
those claims were rejected by the Quebec
tax agency. The documents were obtained
by the Journal de Montral, which first
reported their existence Wednesday and
provided those documents to the Star. Justice Suzanne
The lawyer with 34 years experience took Ct, a
Revenu Qubec to court in 2009 to have its corporate law
ruling overturned. In a May 2009 filing, she expert, battled
argued her job required her to incur vari- Quebecs tax
ous expenses for the purchase of clothing agency for
and uniforms to be used at the office, in five years.
court and during professional activities.
CT continued on A8
> STAR INVESTIGATION
Ill inmates at new superjail
forced to recover in solitary
State-of-the art health facilities
promised nearly a year ago
yet to open at Toronto prison
AMY DEMPSEY
STAFF REPORTER
cells alongside prisoners segregated for
For nearly a year, Ontarios new superjail
has been operating without an infirmary
or a promised 26-bed unit for inmates
with mental illness.
The health facilities at the state-of-the-
art Toronto South Detention Centre were
shown off in a media tour months before
the jail began accepting inmates in Janu-
ary, but those units have never opened.
The Star has learned that sick inmates
including those with physical injuries, in-
fectious diseases and mental illnesses
are instead being housed in solitary con-
finement, held for up to 24 hours a day in
violent behaviour.
A year and it has sat empty. It makes no
sense to us, said Dave Graves, a Toronto
South correctional officer and represen-
tative for Local 5112 of the Ontario Public
Service Employees Union.
SOLITARY continued on A22

Hack attack N. Korean cyberwarfare drives studio to pull Seth Rogen comedy, A3 Colbert signs off Satirical show ends nine-year run, E1
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