My 1st post was blocked.. I've researched some more and I've read the Mexican government press releases. Guess what, they're based on facts and protocol - while the outcries for Martin, so far in my opinion have not been backed up by any facts. Anyone want me to translate the documents, just ask. I'm a 100%, straight as an arrow CDN that has worked overseas for many years and I'm fedup with CDN con-artists and CDN public opinion defending these types of people (not that Martin is or isn't) but there's certainly NO EVIDENCE presented stating that she isn't.
jasonalexander, 2008-04-23 12:50:22

I read that a Conservative MP is going to Mexico to facilitate her repatriation to a Canadian prison, with the added comment that once she gets here, she will likely be eligible for parole, since she has already spent 2 years in jail in Mexico.

Makes a complete mockery of the judicial system. She was judged to have committed a crime in a foreign country, where she was living by personal choice. As such, she should spend the requisite time in a jail in that country.

Now she'll be brought home, at taxpayer's expense, and then likely released. We are setting a dangerous precedent.

Wonder if she'll be compensated, like Arar, for 'pain and suffering?
ilokid, 2008-04-23 12:26:11

I've worked overseas - I've seen people associated with Ponzi schemes such as this before. I've met the "cooks" that get paid $6,000.00 to cook a thanksgiving dinner for scumbags CDN "executives". If they claim they don't know what's "really" going on, they are one of two things: 1) completly retarded; 2) turning a blind eye with a "don't ask questions you don't want answers to" attitude. Well guess what? #1 will get you put away and #2 will too. She should have dug deeper - any ethical person would. If you were offered ridiculous money to do simple things - you wouldn't ask yourself "where's this coming from?" getting caught up in the "grand life" is no excuse - and is hardly believable.

Now, about Mexico being corrupt. Yes, in many Latin American countries you can bribe your way out of things - but here's the deal.. you can do it with low-level people, because the risk they run in accepting money outweighs the repercussions. A detective might offer to move them out of country for 125K, because that may represent about 5 times his annual salary. But once you get "inside" the legal system and there's press involved - you've given up that window of opportunity. Canada, by the way (and I am CDN bred and born) is not poster child for a corrupt-free country. And Ms. Martin, who dealt with and lived with criminals "whether she was only 50% cognizant" of it or not - should have known that she blew her chance.

Keep your eyes open for IFFL and Merendon - that's the next great Canadian scam to go down (or up) in flames and continue to tarnish our "once" good name.
jasonalexander, 2008-04-23 11:46:11

This is a sad situation. Hopefully, Brenda Martin can be returned quickly on compassionate grounds. However, I do have questions about her claimed innocence. Brenda worked and lived in Mexico for 10 years without benefit of a Work Visa or without paying taxes to either Mexico or Canada. Mr Waage paid Brenda a salary. Brenda chose not to pay tax on that salary. It therefore stands to reason that Mr Waage and Brenda would have agreed to an arrangement to pay Brenda under the table. Would this arrangement to pay Brenda under the table, be considered collusion and hence the conspiracy theory? As for the $26,000.00 severance pay; I read $10,000.00 invested with Waage, and an unknown amount to set up an unregistered catering business. Both the untaxed salary and the unregistered catering business would fall in the money laundering category. As other posters have stated, we do not have all the facts. I do hope the Mexican Gov't will release the reasons for their decision. Just one person's observations.
Kathy, 2008-04-23 11:20:21

As a Canadian citizen living and working (legally!!) in Mexico for the past 10 years I am shocked by the ignorance of my fellow Canadians at home. The Brenda Martin case is one small case that has gotten a lot of press (only in recent weeks and NOT when it all began two years ago) due to her screaming out loud to the Canadian government and press.

The stories that I am reading online on a daily basis (crimes, injustices etc.) from Canadian newspapers are shocking!! The press, who most intelligent people would realize give a distorted one-sided view to their readers, have reported this story from the side of Brenda Martin only.

I am not familiar with the details of her case, other than what has been reported in the press, ie: living & working illegally for years (she must have had something to hide) and the fact that there were more than 21,000 pages of documents for the judge to review leads me to believe there is much more to the story than her perceived notion of being treated unfairly.

Since I have educated myself and learned the language, and have some understanding of the customs and laws of this country I can understand why it has taken the time that it has to review her case. While I do not always agree with the system here in Mexico, at least I have respect for it. The same respect that I would expect immigrants to Canada to have for our laws, customs and our people while in Canada. Obviously, this is not the case with Ms. Martin.

For Canadians to believe that Mexico and all Mexicans are corrupt is biased, unfair and outrageous. For Canadians to demand a boycott by the government and say that they will never step foot on Mexican soil for a vacation or otherwise (based on this case) is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard.

DJS, 2008-04-23 11:04:01

Last check had 51% for those that felt she was guilty....Remind me again why we are dragging her butt back to Canada to serve out her time? I think she should be left in Mexico since she loved it for 9 years already: What's another 3 years for someone who loves it there so much.

And I agree with the many here. This woman has lied her way through all of this and I too have a hard time believing that she knew nothing about the scam. Every employer I've worked for I knew damn well what was goin gon in behind the scenes. How could anyone be so stupid as to think a judge would buy that story. Leave her to do her time in Mexico.
Frank, 2008-04-23 10:49:57

I have little faith in our own justice system, let alone another country's. If she was indeed guilty, I think the fact the crime is not serious and that she has already been imprisoned for 2 years should count for something. I say bring her back here and serve out whatever time that would be. I would think her life would be in danger the longer she stays in Mexico. Anyone remember Bruce Curtis?
gerry, 2008-04-23 10:38:42

Wow. The apathy and condemnations posted here just warms my heart! For those of you who are so quick to decree that she’s getting what she deserves, consider how you would feel if it was YOU or a loved one of yours that was in this situation. You can say all you want that you would never find yourself in such a situation, but you don’t know that for sure, do you? All it takes is being in the wrong place at the wrong time to end up like her. Consider the Canadian woman, Deborah Kerr, in Pakistan right now who was arrested because someone placed a suitcase containing heroin right next to her own, and she was imprisoned because the authorities thought it was hers! Innocent people are arrested for crimes they didn’t commit all the time, whether at home or abroad. But I think the real injustice is the people that just can’t be bothered to care anymore about the welfare of another human being. These people that apparently do no wrong in their own lives, and are so morally superior to everyone else that they can pass judgements on people without knowing all the facts themselves is sad indeed. This goes not only for the people who are judging Mexico as a whole, but those who are also condemning Brenda to hell. Fact is, you can’t honestly tell me that any of you in a similar situation wouldn’t be trying to use every avenue available to you to get yourself free like Brenda did. Don’t tell me that you would just shut up and accept whatever judgement or treatment that came down on you, whether right or wrong, and not fight back. I’m not saying that Brenda Martin is innocent, because not every judge in Mexico is corrupt or on the take. But there is less accountability for those in power in a place like Mexico, and the abuse of that power is not unheard of, as is corruption and injustice. Canada’s justice system can be a real joke too sometimes. So yes, you take your chances when you travel anywhere. I’m just asking that those who are so quick to leave Brenda high and dry to take a moment and put yourself in her shoes, and really think about how you would feel if your friends and family and countrymen abandoned you just like that. And if you can’t be bothered to do even that, then don’t waste your time reading (or writing) anything further about it. And don’t waste your time calling on your fellow Canadians to bail you out of hot water should you ever find yourself in a situation like hers, because you’ve already shown us what we should all do when that time comes!
D., 2008-04-23 10:35:47

A tan, earrings, makeup, well-dressed, beauty pageant, smiling for the camera...in prison......not sure if that is devastating. That said, she has paid for whatever her crime may have been. Was that crime the crime she was convicted of or her stupidity for remaining in a country illegally without a visa or the Mexican judicial system...or a combination of all of the above? Not sure. She was offered a bribe but couldn't come up with $125,000 so she had no choice in the matter. Obviously something is amiss in the Mexican legal system given that even the enforcers are criminals. In any case, let the woman come home and get on with it. Whether or not she committed the crime I hardly think she was making millions and should have to suffer for more than 2 years in a Mexican jail.
AJ, 2008-04-23 10:10:46

This whole episode has been a tradegy from the beginning. To think of all the things that have happened to Canadians that visit the country of Mexico and end up with their lives devestated is bad enough, but to think that Prime Minister Stephen Harper is speaking with the President of Mexico just hours prior to this and he did not put in a good word for his fellow Canadians that he is to be representing. I have lost much respect in our Government.
Linda Cranston, 2008-04-23 09:53:39