Case of man who defrauded Canada Post still a mystery

For the second week in a row the case of a man who defrauded Canada Post of more than $234,000 has been put over to another date as the court tries to determine whether Allan Fischer, 59, has passed away.
In the summer, Fischer was found guilty of fraud after setting up 48 fake business accounts with Canada Post.
Over a three year period he defrauded the Crown Corporation of stamps and other products.
Last week he was supposed to appear for his sentencing, but never showed up once word got out that he may gone through a medically assisted death.
Fischer, who was self represented, argued he shouldn’t do any jail time because of medical issues, which included crohn’s disease.
Crown Attorney Adam Campbell told the court that the RCMP continue to look into whether he has died or not.
“Police believe based on all the interviews they have...that he has departed,” said Campbell. “There is an urn with grey matter in it.”
Campbell had requested that Fischer serve a sentence of four to six years in prison.
Justice Spencer Nicholson told the court, “The Crown has taken steps to confirm whether Mr. Fischer is deceased but the information is not conclusive.”
Therefore he adjourned the matter until Dec. 13 pending further investigation.
Options before the court include dismissing the case or sentencing Fischer in absentia.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Why wasn't the suspected Chinese spy balloon shot down over Canada?
Critics say the U.S. and Canada had ample time to shoot down a suspected Chinese spy balloon as it drifted across North America. The alleged surveillance device initially approached North America near Alaska's Aleutian Islands on Jan 28. According to officials, it crossed into Canadian airspace on Jan. 30, travelling above the Northwest Territories, Alberta and Saskatchewan before re-entering the U.S. on Jan 31.

Thieves cut huge hole in Ottawa restaurant wall to get at jewelry store next door
An Ottawa restaurateur says he was shocked to find his restaurant broken into and even more surprised to discover a giant hole in the wall that led to the neighbouring jewelry store.
Rescuers scramble in Turkiye, Syria after quake kills 4,000
Rescue workers and civilians passed chunks of concrete and household goods across mountains of rubble Monday, moving tons of wreckage by hand in a desperate search for survivors trapped by a devastating earthquake.
New details emerge ahead of Trudeau-premiers' health-care meeting
As preparations are underway for the anticipated health-care 'working meeting' between Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Canada's premiers on Tuesday, new details are emerging about how the much-anticipated federal-provincial gathering will unfold.
Quebec minister 'surprised' asylum seekers given free bus tickets from New York City
Quebec's immigration minister says she was 'surprised' to learn the City of New York is helping to provide free bus tickets to migrants heading north to claim asylum in Canada.
The world's deadliest earthquakes since 2000
A magnitude 7.8 earthquake shook Turkiye and Syria on Monday, killing thousands of people. Here is a list of some of the world's deadliest earthquakes since 2000.
Mendicino: foreign-agent registry would need equity lens, could be part of 'tool box'
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino says a registry to track foreign agents operating in Canada can only be implemented in lockstep with diverse communities.
Vaccine intake higher among people who knew someone who died of COVID-19: U.S. survey
A U.S. survey found that people who had a personal connection to someone who became ill or died of COVID-19 were more likely to have received at least one shot of the vaccine compared to those who didn’t have any loved ones who had been impacted by the disease.
opinion | Don Martin: Alarms going off over health-care privatization? Such an out-of-touch waste of hot political air
The chances Trudeau's health-care summit with the premiers will end with the blueprint to realistic long-term improvements are only marginally better than believing China’s balloon was simply collecting atmospheric temperatures, Don Martin writes in an exclusive column for CTVNews.ca, 'But it’s clearly time the 50-year-old dream of medicare as a Canadian birthright stopped being such a nightmare for so many patients.'