Beyond Grief…

May 13, 2016

Montreal Gazette / Ottawa Citizen – Christopher Curtis and Charlie Fidelman
Beyond grief: A history of violence

This article is Part two of a series that looks at events in two Indigenous communities near Sept Iles (QC) where five suicide were recorded last year.  The article examines the generational violence and the residential school experience that has accumulated and contributed to the current crisis. http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/22the+weight+past+unbearable+special+report+links/11804874/story.html

Victim Justice Network – Webinar
Supporting Victims and Survivors of Human Trafficking

Mon, May 30, 2016 at 2:00 E.S.T

Presenters: Rosalind Currie, Director of British Columbia’s Office to Combat Trafficking in Persons with the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General

Michèle Anderson, Covenant House, Toronto

Fiona MacCool, Your Legal Rights, Facilitator

Register at:   https://cc.readytalk.com/registration/#/?meeting=vz56edcqcrxp&campaign=sr3p47rtpm14

Senate of Canada
A different approach to justice

Seven senators went to Halifax because it is reputed to be a thriving centre for restorative justice and got treated to a series of encounters that portrayed the advantages of RJ in confronting not only crime and the impact on victims but also the issue of delay and blockage in the court system.  The visit is the first of such efforts to assess proposed changes for a better public safety and justice approach.  The Halifax visit included a visit with a mental health court.  Over the next year, the visits will take place in Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Saskatoon, Calgary and Vancouver.  The pre-occupation with court delays involves remand and bail issue as well as a shortage of judges but also a warning from the Chief Justice of Quebec that within a short time there will be no court time available in Quebec at all in 2017. https://sencaplus.ca/en/news/justice-delayed-unclogging-canadas-courts

National Parole Board
Survey Monkey on the administration of Records Suspensions

The survey will take about 15-20 minutes and explores the acceptability of variations on the current practices around the process, fees for summary offence cases or indictable offenses, time periods for processing and reacting to a denial.  The survey then asks a few demographic questions around the affiliations of the responder.  The link suggests that if you complete the survey you also consult an info page on current practices.  http://pbc-clcc.gc.ca/consultation/index-en.shtml

MOMS of Ottawa

The Mothers Offering Mutual Support (MOMS) have been invited to an interview on CBC Sunday Edition tomorrow Sunday at 10AM with Host Michael Enright.  The MOMS’  all have children incarcerated and Irene Matthias has been also invited to an Ontario provincial Review Committee around the Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre. You can follow the program at your regular CBC Radio spot on the dial or afterwards you can reach it at:  http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thesundayedition/legalize-all-drugs-hard-truths-about-climate-change-moms-with-sons-in-jail-john-banville-s-blue-guitar-1.3566782/their-moms-do-the-time-too-a-support-group-for-mothers-of-prisoners-1.3566787

Further news for MOMS

Ottawa Citizen – Andrew Seymour

The MOMS co-hosted with the Criminal Education and Punishment Project a forum with 300 attendees, including the Ontario Minister of Social and Correctional Services Yasir Naqvi on Friday, May 12 at Ottawa City Hall.  Speakers included Julie Bilotta who gave birth to a son in the Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre on the floor of a segregation cell.  Dr. Helen Ward, a visiting psychiatrist at the jail said that a promise of mental health services is now three years in abeyance and she described the jail as “probably the worst” and the “whole institutional attitude is very anti-mental health.”  Advocates, including a recent position paper by John Howard, want the health issues and decisions in the hands of health authorities, not guards.  One defense lawyer links the problems to the dysfunctional remand / bail system.   http://ottawacitizen.com/news/local-news/ottawa-jail-forum-hears-calls-for-sweeping-health-care-changes    Link to CBC Reporting of the Forum: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/cbc-news-ottawa-may-12-2016-1.3580158 (MOMS material spread throughout the one hour broadcast.)