July 25, 2013
Toronto Star – Carol Goar
New ‘Wagemark’ logo for fair-wage companies
Here’s an idea! How about if there were a logo a company could display when it held to an in-house rule that no executive could be compensated more than eight times the lowest paid employee? We already promote free trade coffee and save-the-trees paper usage. Why not confront income disparity as well? http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2013/07/24/new_wagemark_logo_for_fairwage_companies_goar.html
National Post – Andrew Coyne
Fewer people sit below the poverty line now than ever before. Why are we not talking about it?
The numbers are based on the LICO and are generated by Stats Canada. Using the LICO’s, Coyne is reporting that the cut-off point for poverty now shows only 8.8% below the cut-offs, a startling drop from even only a few years ago – in 1996 there were 15.2% below the cut-offs. http://fullcomment.nationalpost.com/2013/07/22/andrew-coyne-fewer-people-sit-below-the-poverty-line-now-than-ever-before-why-are-we-not-talking-about-it Stats Canada Report: Income of Canadians, 2011 http://www.statcan.gc.ca/daily-quotidien/130627/dq130627c-eng.htm
CTV News
Canada should follow U.K., block Internet porn by default: MP
MP Joy Smith, a Conservative from Manitoba, wants Canada to follow the lead of the British on internet porn sites. The idea is for internet providers to automatically block out porn sites unless and adult seeks to over-ride the default. http://canadaam.ctvnews.ca/canada-should-follow-u-k-block-internet-porn-by-default-mp-1.1380997#ixzz2ZyXwCSwJ
Globe and Mail – Emma Woolley
Time to make ‘revenge-porn’ sharing a criminal act in Canada
“Revenge porn’ consists of a former partner posting intimate pictures on line. According to Woolley, the practice is widespread and threats to do so can result in high percentage actually doing it. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/digital-culture/time-to-make-revenge-porn-sharing-a-criminal-act-in-canada/article13386714 Federal-provincial report: http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/rp-pr/other-autre/cndii-cdncii/index.html Related article: Brampton Guardian (ON) Cyberbullying report calls for Criminal Code changes http://www.bramptonguardian.com/news-story/3905482-cyberbullying-report-calls-for-criminal-code-changes
Penal Reform International
A year of action towards fair and effective criminal justice: Annual Report 2012
Smart Justice Network supporter David Daubney chairs this international group and in his introduction to the report offers a perspective on international agenda for penal reform. The 44 page report gives an over-view of the how’s and why’s of PRI’s engagements on the international scene. http://www.penalreform.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/PRI_Annual_report_2012.pdf Related article: PRI – Dirk van Zyl Smit Life imprisonment and the right to hope http://www.penalreform.org/blog/life-imprisonment-hope
Policy.mic – Ranissa Adityavarman
America’s 10 Deadliest Cities 2013
Here’s an interesting discussion about the levels of poverty and the educational levels of the population in the FBI’s ten most deadly cities. Neither Chicago and its seemingly never ending gang warfare nor New York made the list. Flint and Detroit are both over 40% poverty and over 75% without a high school diploma. http://www.policymic.com/articles/56327/top-dangerous-cities-in-america-have-interesting-similarities
Bloomburg (US) – Christopher Palmeri
Cruise Lines to Voluntarily Post Shipboard Crime Statistics
Cruise lines, already battered by mishaps at sea, have another problem to confront. Notoriously bad news shy, the lines are being forced into public disclosure, much like the universities, of the crime rate on board by proposed legislation from U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller, the West Virginia Democrat, who is chair of the Commerce Committee. The legislation wants to regulate cruise lines by making the Department of Transportation responsible for consumer affairs, including crime stats, around cruise ships. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-24/cruise-lines-to-voluntarily-post-more-shipboard-crime-statistics.html