June 25, 2021
Toronto Star – Francine Kopun
Mayors of Ontario’s largest cities ask the federal and provincial governments to decriminalize controlled substances
Faced with the largest number of overdose drug deaths to date, the mayors of Ontario’s large cities want the illicit drug scene decriminalized. Barrie mayor Jeff Lehman says: “…the decision to call for decriminalization was made after months of study by a working group within the mayors’ group, which looked at mental health and addiction, and consulted with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health; the Canadian Mental Health Association and the Association of Municipalities of Ontario to develop a position paper.” There is also a bill sponsored by Senators Kim Pate and Gwen Boniface (Bill S-229) before the Senate to likewise decriminalize. https://www.thestar.com/news/city_hall/2021/06/21/mayors-of-ontarios-largest-cities-ask-the-federal-and-provincial-governments-to-decriminalize-controlled-substances.html?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=SocialMedia&utm_campaign=TorontoCityHall&utm_content=decriminalizedrugsontario Text of Bill S-229: https://www.parl.ca/LegisInfo/BillDetails.aspx?Language=E&billId=11179944
Toronto Star – Wendy Gillis
‘An important beginning’: Toronto police to divert some 911 mental health calls to civilian crisis centre
“In an ongoing effort to remove officers from mental health calls, Toronto police is set to launch a pilot project to divert some 911 calls to the Gerstein Crisis Centre, a long-established emergency mental health service.” The pilot project starts next month when a social worker from the crisis center will be embedded to monitor 911 calls to determine which call for a social worker rather than an armed police officer. An estimated $522,000 cost for the new pilot service will be absorbed by the police operating budget. https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2021/06/24/an-important-beginning-toronto-police-to-divert-some-911-mental-health-calls-to-civilian-crisis-centre.html
Toronto Star – David Olive
The success of CERB is proof a universal basic income is doable and beneficial
One of the positives from the Covid-19 scourge is the growth in ready acceptance of the notion of a universal basic income (UBI). The similarities between the government CERB payments and the UBI have helped clarify that the principles and the practices of supplementing income allows a genuine chance to get out of what binds people in poverty and sub-standard living. “A UBI, by contrast, would be more carefully designed, and with input from the public, so that its effectiveness would be even greater than the proven success of the CERB… The economic distress of the pandemic has fallen most heavily on women, youth, Indigenous Canadians, and workers in the new underclass of “gig” economy workers. The latter work in permanent part-time low-pay jobs with no job security or benefits.” https://www.thestar.com/business/opinion/2021/06/24/the-success-of-cerb-is-proof-a-universal-basic-income-is-doable-and-beneficial.html?utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=SocialMedia&utm_campaign=OpinionStaff&utm_content=cerbsuccess&utm_source=twitter&source=torontostar&utm_medium=SocialMedia&utm_campaign=&utm_campaign_id=&utm_content=
CBC News – Alexander Quon
What the TRC report tells us about the Marieval Indian Residential School
Marieval (SK) is the location where at least 751more unmarked graves have been discovered. Part of the lesson here is that the Truth and Reconciliation Commission had forewarned Canada that there were in fact a number of areas where the children who attended residential schools were buried. “The TRC determined that 566 children died while at residential schools in Saskatchewan. It also made clear that those confirmed cases form only a “partial record.” The actual death count is likely far higher.” https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/history-of-marieval-indian-residential-school-1.6078473
Toronto Star – Alex Boutilier
Canada lists more neo-Nazis, Daesh affiliate as terrorists
Canada has expanded its list of group considered affiliated with or actual terrorist groups, adding to those already identified. Support for these groups is now criminal in itself. Top of the list is the Three Percenters, a para military group, The Aryan Strikeforce, a UK group with Canadian chapters, James Mason, a US neo-Nazi sometimes associated with the Atomwaffen group in the US, and A Daesh affiliate from the Democratic Republic of Congo. “White supremacist groups and neo-Nazis are not a new threat in Canada. The movements gained momentum in the early 1990s and again in the early 2000s. Canada has seen a resurgence of these groups in recent years, national security researchers suggest, as well a steadily rising rate of hate crimes against religious and ethnic minorities.” https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2021/06/25/canada-lists-more-neo-nazis-daesh-affiliate-as-terrorists.html Related article: CBC News – Catherine Tunney Three Percenters, neo-Nazi group added to Canada’s terrorist list – Banks can now freeze assets and police can charge anyone who financially supports them https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/terrorist-list-three-percenters-1.6079984
The Counter (US) – Madison McVan
Like many meatpacking companies, JBS hires incarcerated people to work the dangerous job of cutting and packing meat. Some of these workers found themselves at the intersection of two of the riskiest settings: correctional facilities and meatpacking plants.
The US is currently looking to the prison reform movement to help address the inequities when incarcerated persons are forced to work for little or so salary or when the state swallows a significant portion under the exception to the 13th Amendment that forbids slavery except for criminals. “JBS, (A meat packing company in Greeley, Colorado) like many meatpacking companies, hires incarcerated people to work the dangerous job of cutting and packing meat for Americans’ dinners. As the pandemic roared on, some of these workers found themselves at the intersection of two of the riskiest settings in the country where people were packed in tight: correctional facilities and meatpacking plants.” https://thecounter.org/incarcerated-meatpacking-jbs-workers-high-risk-settings-pandemic/
Vice.com (US) – Emma Ockerman
She Tried to Steal $15 Pants as a Teen. The Fines Devastated Her Family. The U.S. is finally reconsidering whether the massive fines and fees often levied against children and their families are fair.
The criminal legal system in the US has come to the realization that fines and fees associated with courts, prisons, and parole can often be a serious contributor to the poverty of an entire family and an equally serious deterrent to getting out of the criminal system for good. (Punishment without Crime by Alexandra Natapoff, Basic Books, NY, 2018 is an excellent and detailed exposition.) “15 years old, Siobhan Cancel tried to steal a pair of cheap pants from a store in Eugene, Oregon. She thought they’d make a good Father’s Day gift.” Read on… https://www.vice.com/en/article/93yqq5/abolishing-juvenile-justice-fines-and-fees Related article: ABC News (Phoenix, AZ) – Melissa Blasius Phoenix hotel turned homeless shelter is seeing success https://www.abc15.com/news/uplifting-arizona/phoenix-hotel-turned-homeless-shelter-is-seeing-success