April 10, 2015
APTN News – Jorge Barrera
RCMP to release ‘update’ report on murdered, missing Indigenous women file in May
The RCMP plan to update their last report on the murdered and missing women. They say that 46% of the victims fall within the jurisdiction of other police agencies. The report will consider the next steps in the investigation of the cold cases, prevention measures and how to improve public awareness. http://aptn.ca/news/2015/04/01/rcmp-release-update-report-murdered-missing-indigenous-women-file-may/ Related article: Globe and Mail – Gloria Calloway 70 per cent of murdered aboriginal women killed by indigenous men: RCMP http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/70-per-cent-of-murdered-aboriginal-women-killed-by-indigenous-men-rcmp-confirms/article23868927/
Nunatsiaq on line – Thomas Rohmer
Nunavut teen not criminally responsible for woman’s death: defence
An unnamed youth (16 at the time of his crime) has admitted to stabbing a year old mother Tracy Uttak 27 times. The trail has heard considerable evidence on “the untreated mental illness — schizophrenia — at the time: he followed the commands of hallucinated voices and was incapable of knowing either the legal or moral consequences of his actions at the exact moment he stabbed Uttak,” defence lawyer Shayne Kert said. If he is found guilty the crown intends to request an adult sentence. http://www.nunatsiaqonline.ca/stories/article/65674defence_lawyer_argues_nunavut_teen_not_criminally_responsible/
Orangeville (ON) Citizen
Town police, CMHA to work together on meeting local mental health needs
The municipal police and the Canadian Mental Health Association have signed a memorandum of agreement to work together by sharing information when responding to incidents involving the mentally ill. The Chief of Police and the town mayor are both of the opinion that the MOU represents a significant change in commitment to community policing. http://citizen.on.ca/?p=3442
Toronto Star – Alex Boutilier
RCMP forced to shuffle cash, staff to meet terrorism duties, documents show
The Integrated National Security Enforcement Teams (INSETs) is the unit within the RCMP which handles matters of national security. In 2014 while getting $10 million in funding, the Mounties have spent over $23 million, drawing the extra from other programs. The federal contribution has been frozen at $10 million for the last three years while the costs have grown to over $20 million per year. http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/04/08/rcmp-forced-to-shuffle-cash-staff-to-meet-terrorism-duties-documents-show.html
Toronto Star – Sara Mojtehedzadeh
Toronto couples with kids must make $18.52 per hour each to get by, report finds
How about reversing the usual analysis? How much would it take for a married couple and two kids to survive in metro Toronto? The answer it seems, according to a new report, is $18.52 an hour with both parents working. The report, from the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, updates a 2008 study that put the number at $16.60. http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/04/10/toronto-couples-with-kids-must-make-1852hr-each-to-get-by-report-finds.html Full report from CCPA: Kaylie Tiessen – Making Ends Meet: Toronto’s 2015 Living Wage https://www.policyalternatives.ca/publications/reports/making-ends-meet (A 38 page downloadable pdf)
East Bay Express (California) – David Downs
Treatment Not Jail Slashes Recidivism by 58 Percent
University of Washington researchers in the Seattle area have concluded that attention to housing, healthcare, job training, addiction treatment, and mental health can slash recidivism by as much as 58% compared to sending someone to prison. King County Executive Dow Constantine is suggesting that the Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program “has shown us a way to move past the failed War on Drugs and change the racial disproportionality in drug enforcement, without ignoring the harm to health and safety caused by untreated mental illness and addiction…Now the rest of the nation is looking to King County and Seattle as a model for breaking the cycle.” http://www.eastbayexpress.com/LegalizationNation/archives/2015/04/09/treatment-not-jail-slashes-recidivism-by-58-percent
Huffington Post (US) – Maxwell Tani
Democrats and Republicans in Congress Actually Found Something To Agree On
The experience of mass incarceration seems to create allies all over. The article is the first of series in an agreement between Huffington Post and a Twitter group called @cut_50 (https://twitter.com/cut_50 ) who want to pursue things that are working, rather than not working in the US justice system. The big news for the moment is Democrats and Republicans who agree the system needs reform. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/03/30/bipartisan-summit-criminal-justice_n_6971242.html