Unworkable law…

July 17, 2016

Canada.com – John Ivison
First Nations hear hard truth that UN indigenous rights declaration is ‘unworkable’ as law

Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould dropped a bombshell at the recent national meeting of the Assembly of First Nations: the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People (UNDRIP) is not workable under Canadian law and that the intent of this document to be established under Canadian law will require bits and pieces of both law and policies.  “Wilson-Raybould’s statement that UNDRIP will be implemented over time through a mixture of legislation, policy and action initiated by indigenous nations is simply an acknowledgment of realpolitik.”   The UNDRIP resolution will be subject to future legislation and judicial interpretation says retired SCC Frank Iacobucci.    http://www.canada.com/news/national/john+ivison+first+nations+hear+hard+truth+that+indigenous+rights/12058937/story.html

Winnipeg Free Press – Kristy Kirkup, Canadian Press
First Nations call on feds, Ontario to hash out deal as police strike looms

A police force that services 35 First Nations communities in Northern Ontario is days away from a strike by police.  The Nishnawbe-Aski Police Service has been complaining of “deplorable work conditions” for some time and say that the conditions are a threat to both the communities themselves and the individual police officers.  The problems, say the First Nations, is the policing agreement itself between the force and the federal government and the funding formula.  http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/canada/first-nations-leaders-call-on-feds-ontario-to-hash-out-new-policing-agreement-387016121.html

Human Rights Watch (US) – Amy Braunschweiger  
Kickbacks and Killings: A Brazilian Cop Tells His Story

As Rio Olympics near, this article is a timely reminder of the futility of violence, especially sponsored violence.   In the context of providing security for the games, the military in Rio typically use torture and killings with impunity.  Human Rights Watch is estimating the death toll at 8,000.  Even officers who object in conscience to what is happening acknowledge living in fear for their lives and the lives of family.   https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/07/14/kickbacks-and-killings-brazilian-cop-tells-his-story  Related article:  Human Rights Watch Youtube video:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI9AiscRDvU&feature=youtu.be

Toronto Star – Editorial (July 14, 2016)
Let Ontario Human Rights Commission take part in profiling case

The Neptune Four were four Black youths en route to a mentoring meeting sponsored by Pathways to Education.  Video shows them accosted by two Toronto police constables, who point their guns at the youth and one of the constables hits one of the youth.  Now before a police disciplinary tribunal, the Human Rights Commission wanted to appear in the tribunal to pursue the discrimination and human rights violation, especially given the same youths – none with criminal records – had been stopped approximately fifty times before.  https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2016/07/14/let-ontario-human-rights-commission-take-part-in-profiling-case-editorial.html

Globe and Mail – Allison Lawlor
Nursing pioneer Sister Simone Roach created theory of caring

We do not often find obituaries in these pages but Sister Simone Roach of the Sisters of St. Martha of Antigonish is a very worthy exception.  Roach died at age 93 this week and many in the nursing profession are attributing enormous influence and direction to her succinct 6 C’s, still used in nurses’ training across the country: compassion, competence, conscience, confidence, commitment and comportment; Roach herself later added a seventh – creativity.  At a 2011 commencement for nurses, Roach offered a lesson for the times on what we all owe each other:  “We care, not because we are nurses or radiation technologists, but because we are human beings.”   http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/nursing-pioneer-sister-simone-roach-created-theory-of-caring/article30930516/

Democracy at Work: (US) – Richard Wolff
Global Capitalism Monthly Economic Update: July 2016

This first link is for a Youtube (1 ½ hours total) by economist Richard Wolff and is an unusual piece in that it is both populist and wide-ranging.  Said by some to be a Marxian economist, Wolff is much immersed in the US political scene, offering some insights into the Sanders campaign 5 min mark) , gun violence in the US (starting at 20 min mark), income inequality, co-operatives, and investment practices.  Wolff offers a monthly update of economic affairs in a newsletter, this one for July, which seeks to contextualize the economic malaise playing out in the US election – a pox on both their houses!  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoUoZZEh8Bk  Related article:  Pittsburgh City Paper – Marty Levine    The Pittsburgh Chamber of Cooperatives is raising awareness about the benefits of co-ops   http://www.pghcitypaper.com/pittsburgh/the-pittsburgh-chamber-of-cooperatives-is-raising-awareness-about-the-benefits-of-coops/Content?oid=1935974   Web site for Democracy at Work:  http://www.democracyatwork.info/

Toronto Star – Allan Woods
Provinces vary on ensuring access to assisted dying – Canadians don’t all have access to a centralized service to find doctors willing to help

The provinces vary, it seems, in allowing access to the assisted dying services and in the availability of doctors willing to assist in the dying process.  One month after the law passed, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, New Brunswick and the Northwest Territories have a central service in place to assist in these two obstacles but the rest are hit-and-miss.  Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island are drawing up lists of doctors willing to assist and in Quebec, a doctor who refuses must find another to provide the service.  Sixty-one per cent of doctors in one survey identified as conscientious objectors to assisted death.   https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/07/17/provinces-vary-on-ensuring-access-to-assisted-dying.html