That seems a bit oxymoronic. If it's genuinely witchcraft, surely it can't also have been fraud? And (the more likely scenario) vice versa.

It's not quite explicit about where he is being charged. Are there actually laws against witchcraft on the Canada statute book?

So he's been charged with witchcraft.. There are any number of people describing their services as 'an astrologer and psychic', shall we lock them all up? Perhaps they should be locked away, but not up. I suspect that he would not have been charged had he not asked for such a sum in return for his services. So I think it's the possible question of fraud that attracted attention.

A Websters definition states that fraud is an ' intentional perversion of truth in order to induce another to part with something of value or to surrender a legal right'.

The issue as I see it is one of proof. No doubt money changed hands voluntarily.. but is there any evidence of deception? Tricky where the evidence is by definition so intangible.

See:
Criminal Code

The premier of the Ontario province, a woman generally agreed to be well educated, confident, thoroughly in tune with the times, is virtually keelhauled in recent polling where she resides at an appalling 11 per cent. She is only slightly more popular than traffic tickets and overcooked broccoli (and even those are within the margin of error).

I am relieved the laws are against pretending witchcraft. I will be careful at Halloween though.

I think it's ok as long as you don't charge a fee.

Interesting. How does this square with various religions who extract contributions from their membership?

Religion? On a par with witchcraft to me.

So how am I going to recoup all the cash I waste on sweets for random costumed kids?

Isn't Wicca a religion?

Anyway it says pretend. Should be ok if you get it right.

But you eat all those sweets yourself.

Busted.

I got up to pee during the night and in the glow of the light from my bedroom I saw a little pile of fluff on the carpet in the middle of the landing.

I reached down to pick it up only to discover it wasn't fluff as my finger went into something wet and stodgy.

The cat had 'left something' in the night.

Fortunately it was from the front end.

Unless you got the cat yesterday, you should have known better. I step in the occasional hairball, (first thing in the morning even reach into the dining room first to turn on the light), but have never been inclined to probe them. I hope you didn't taste it to make sure.
Nancy Boy (my sister's cat) has long sheddy hair and gets a steady diet of Hairball Care IAMS to try to keep those down.
Thanks for sharing, being half German I can appreciate the misfortune of others.

I don't think you need a cat to find fluff. I could come across hairy fluffy bits before we had the cat.
There are three haired people in the house.
No, but I was curious to find out which end it came from; it had a cat food smell to it. (that was the polite, relatively tasteful way of putting it)