Mar 18, 2018
CTV News – Don Martin
Gun bill could become ammunition for the opposition
Martin is anticipating a new piece of legislation next week on guns following the recent summit on guns and gangs. The new legislation will out the purchase of guns out of the reach of the mentally ill and those with violent histories. But it is likely to provoke the Conservatives into comparisons with the old long gun registry. The legislation will leave to RCMP to determine which type of long gun is a prohibited type. https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/don-martin-blog/don-martin-gun-bill-could-become-ammunition-for-the-opposition-1.3844915 Related article: CBC News New federal gun control bill expected this week – Changes could include expanded background checks, ongoing screening, proof of gun licence http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/gun-control-bill-march-2018-1.4581821 Related article: CBC News – John Paul Tasker Liberals propose tightening Canada’s firearms law with new record-keeping practices – Goodale tabled Bill C-71 on Tuesday, which includes new provisions for background checks http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/liberals-firearms-bill-c71-1.4584074 Related article: CB News – John Pal Tasker Idea of getting firearms vendors to track sales revives old gun control debate – Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale has suggested tracking system will be vendor-based, free of RCMP control http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/firearms-sales-recording-gun-control-debate-1.4580371
National Newswatch – Canadian Press
Rejection rates for Canada Summer Jobs funding up 12-fold from last year
As charities prepare for summer work with student labour, the news from Ottawa is that there has been a considerable number of the charities who have been rejected for government funding: 1500 to date. The government usually funds about 70,000 summer jobs but the requirement for the charity to endorse support for women’s reproductive rights is now fueling a 12 times rejection rate. The charities in the rejection category are mostly faith based groups. https://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2018/03/19/rejection-rates-for-canada-summer-jobs-funding-up-12-fold-from-last-year/#.WrFPqZcpA2x
Globe and Mail
Trump promises death penalty for drug dealers
The link is for a 1 minute video in which Trump is advocating for the death penalty for drug dealers. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/world/us-politics/video-trump-promises-death-penalty-for-drug-dealers/ Related article: In Justice Today (Harvard University Law School) Trump administration goes one way on the opioid epidemic, cities like Philadelphia go the other https://mailchi.mp/fairpunishment/in-justice-today-newsletter-344787?e=5540d3cc3d Related article: NBC News (US) – Danny Cevallos Trump wants the death penalty for drug traffickers. He’s got it. https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-wants-death-penalty-drug-traffickers-he-s-got-it-n858201 Related article: Washington Post – Paige Winfield Cunningham The Health 202: Trump talked tough on drugs – But applying the death penalty to traffickers is even tougher https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/powerpost/paloma/the-health-202/2018/03/20/the-health-202-trump-talked-tough-on-drugs-but-applying-the-death-penalty-to-traffickers-is-even-tougher/5aaff86030fb047655a06d9e/?utm_term=.ab697c43fa3e
Quartz Media (US) – Eshe Nelson and David Kopf
Race Matters: A huge new Stanford and Harvard study proves that US inequality isn’t just about class
The multiple and frequently changing distractions in the US political life have all but eliminated the issue of income inequality. The new study not only re-visits the issue but delves into the racial underpinnings of the income issue by its inter-generational perspective. “The study focuses on children born in the US between 1978 and 1983, or authorized immigrants who came to the US in childhood, covering virtually all Americans now in their late 30s… One of the report’s key takeaways is this: When we compare the outcomes of black and white men who grow up in two-parent families with similar levels of income, wealth, and education, we continue to find that the black men still have substantially lower incomes in adulthood.” https://qz.com/1233187/equality-of-opportunity-project-a-new-study-proves-that-race-matters-more-than-class-to-us-economic-inequality/
Fast Company – Eillie Anzilotti
What Happens When You Ask Kids In Prison How To Fix The Justice System?
WNYC has put together a series on responses from kids who have been thru the justice system about what they would alternately suggest. Entitled Caught, the 9 program series broadcasts during the month of March (Starting March 12 and then every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.) https://www.fastcompany.com/40545797/what-happens-when-you-ask-kids-in-prison-how-we-should-fix-justice-system Podcast address: https://www.wnyc.org/press/caught/30518/
Bloomberg Press – Shiho Fukada
Japan’s Prisons Are a Haven for Elderly Women
One of the explanations offered for large families in undeveloped countries used to be that large families are a safety net for elderly parents. This article offers an entirely new perspective: Japanese prisons offer elderly women the same safety net and more besides. Single 65+ women have increased by a factor of six. “Elderly women are also often economically vulnerable—nearly half of those 65 or older who live alone also live in poverty relative to the broader population, for example, compared with 29 percent of men.” So elderly women will often shoplift to earn a place in jail. E.Fry thinks this is an abominable way to treat the elderly. It’s hard to disagree. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-03-16/japan-s-prisons-are-a-haven-for-elderly-women