Aug. 9, 2021
Prisoner Justice Day.Ca – Aug 10, Prisoner Justice Day
Here’s a complete history of the event and its historic roots – commemorating the death of Eddie Nalon. “On August 10th 1974, prisoner Eddie Nalon bled to death in the segregation unit of Millhaven Maximum Security Prison located in Bath, Ontario.” The 47th anniversary of Nalon’s death still leaves an immense amount of prisoner rights to achieve. Advocates across the country will remember both the history and the intervening cries for further prison reform. http://www.vcn.bc.ca/august10/politics/1014_history.html#eddie
Related event: Pasan (www.pasan.org ) THE IMPACTS OF INCARCERATION OF OUR CHILDREN/ADULT CHILDREN – THEN AND NOW
WEDNESDAY AUGUST 11: Impacts of Incarceration of Our Children/Adult Children Time: Aug 11, 2021 02:00 PM America/Toronto Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88347807820?pwd=Tm5Jd1U4Y29jYSs3WmFuUlpkNm5yZz09
Meeting ID: 883 4780 7820 Passcode: 521015
Business Insider – Zahra Tayeb
After this CEO raised his company’s minimum wage to $70,000, he said the number of babies born to staff each year grew 10-fold and revenue soared
You are CEO of a credit card service company in Seattle called Gravity Payments. First, you double the lowest salary from $35,000 / year to $70,000 for your 120 employees. Then you give back enough from your $1 m executive salary to pay for the increases. Then you sit back among sceptics of all sorts forecasting how the move will impact the future of the company. This scenario is a powerful antidote for the cynicism and an equally powerful affirmation of fairness in the workplace promoting a quality of life. This CEO Says Raising Min Wage to $70K Led to Baby Boom, Revenue Rise (businessinsider.com) Related article: Toronto Star – Jim Stanford – Restaurants and stores say government aid is to blame for a labour shortage — but the hard data tells a different story https://www.thestar.com/business/opinion/2021/08/07/complaints-of-labour-shortage-disguise-predictable-employer-wish-list.html?li_source=LI&li_medium=thestar_recommended_for_you Related article: Toronto Star Jacob Lorinc – ‘I had enough’: Restaurants changed during the pandemic. But wages haven’t, data shows https://www.thestar.com/business/2021/08/06/i-had-enough-thousands-of-restaurant-workers-are-leaving-the-industry-saying-they-are-underpaid-and-overworked.html
Toronto Star – Amy Dempsey
My friend on death row: How a Toronto mom befriended a death-row inmate
This is one of those stories that leads to the pointlessness of state executions by highlighting other values achieved besides revenge. The Toronto mom (of two boys) is Bri-anne Swan, a 33 year old Toronto singer-songwriter. She plans to fly to the Texas execution of Ramiro Gonzales, a 33 year old who has spent his entire adult life in prison and is scheduled for execution in November 2021. https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/09/03/toronto-mom-death-row-inmate-share-powerful-bond.html
CBC News – Raffy Boudjikanian
Thousands more officers needed to fill employment equity gaps, RCMP says – Mounties falling behind on hiring women, visible minorities
Toxic behavior. Allegations and charges of sexual harassment. Repeated efforts to recruit women and minorities. Calls for disbanding the RCMP as impossible tom reform. Where does Canada’s federal police force stand with reform? The answer, according to this report, is dismally behind in its own goals of recruiting. “The police service says it needs to hire more than 5,100 women to the regular ranks to make up for a 27 per cent shortfall… When it comes to hiring visible minorities, the Mounties are reporting a shortfall of around 1,140 regular members, or 6 per cent of the total. But while previously published data show that Indigenous officers are leaving the RCMP, the national police force does not have a target for hiring more of them.” https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/rcmp-employment-equity-racism-sexism-1.6133101
Professor Theo Gavrielides – RJ4All International Institute; IARS International Institute
Here’s a refresher for many who know Gavrielides from his Canadian visits and speaking tours. The list of publications may be particularly helpful since he advocates for RJ in use for all relationships and for settling all disputes and tensions. https://scholar.google.co.uk/citations?user=nlJLApAAAAAJ&hl=en (CF also Homepage https://www.theogavrielides.com/ )
Washington Post – Travis Loller, Associated Press
Community ‘violence interrupters’ work to stem rising crime
‘Violence interrupters’ are civic groups seeking to stop urban violence before it begins. They are usually people who have long suffered violence, killings and shootings in their own neighbourhoods without prospects for relief from the usual sources. This story comes from Nashville (Tennessee) and is about Gideon’s Army but there are other such groups across the US. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/community-violence-interrupters-work-to-stem-rising-crime/2021/08/07/c5297286-f779-11eb-a636-18cac59a98dc_story.html Related article: (Bowling Green, MI) Travis Lolle, Associated Press Community ‘violence interrupters’ work to stem rising crime – There’s growing interest in grassroots programs aimed at reducing community violence at a time when violent crime around the country is on the rise https://www.bgdailynews.com/news/national/community-violence-interrupters-work-to-stem-rising-crime/article_d1910790-6ef0-5c05-b023-3e85777dd762.html
PBS Newshour (US) – Judy Woodruff
This advocate says justice system is our failure to imagine anything besides punishment
Here’s how PBS interviewer Woodruff describes her guest for Aug. 4, 2021: “Jorge Antonio Renaud spent 27 year behind bars, where he discovered the power of poetry. He is now national criminal justice director at Latino Justice, where he advocates for reform in Texas and beyond.” Here’s Renaud’s assessment of what a prison is: “I have often said that we are where we are in our criminal justice system because we have failed to imagine anything other than what has been presented to us throughout our history, right? And that has been punishment.” The Alberta Prison Justice Society asks an essential question: “…what would happen if the programs that you think are so necessary for someone to come out of prison rehabilitated were offered to that person before that person went to prison?” https://artscanvas.org/arts-culture/this-advocate-says-justice-system-is-our-failure-to-imagine-anything-besides-punishment?fbclid=IwAR3c8KO8GA9c49arfJFFpmuvOhPzqXPAUG27rzs0ebhuVj_eW8isuyxdO8M Alberta Criminal Justice Society (ACJS): https://www.acja.ca/ cf also https://twitter.com/PrisonApjs?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor Related twitter from: Javeed Sukhera MD PhD, : “ At its best, activism is a form of healing. Activism is not just about what we do; it is also about who we are and how we show up in the world. It is about learning and expressing regard, compassion, and love—for ourselves and for our fellow human beings.” Javeed Sukhera MD PhD (Chief of Psychiatry Institute of Living (Hartford, Connecticut)) Related article: Law360.com (US) – Sarah Martinson Data Collection Is Crucial For Equity In Diversion Programs https://www.law360.com/access-to-justice/articles/1409059/data-collection-is-crucial-for-equity-in-diversion-programs-?carousel=1
National Post (Canada) – Jim Bronskill, Canadian Press
Measure intended to ensure Canadian gun buyers have a licence is deeply flawed, group argues – There’s no obligation on the part of a seller to check with the federal firearms registrar to see if a prospective gun buyer actually has a valid licence
Witnesses and victims from Ecole Polytechnique where a gunman killed 14 women in 1989 are back in the news protesting the government failure to require gun sellers to verify if gun buyers are licenced. “When Bill C-71 received royal assent in 2019, the government said it would require sellers to verify the validity of a firearms licence before selling a non-restricted firearm, such as a rifle or shotgun.” https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/measure-intended-to-ensure-gun-buyers-have-licence-is-seriously-flawed-group-argues