Feb 19, 2022
BC Tyee – Andrew Nikiforuk
We Didn’t Grieve the Pandemic. Now We’re Stuck Fighting – I wanted to see the angry truckers more clearly. So I called a therapist.
The link is to an attempt to establish some sort of rational understanding about why such severe polarity develops between the vaccinated and the non-vaccinated, especially why the emotional volatility is ever ready to explode. In the social context of other stimuli and the need for control, all restraints either disappear or are overwhelmed and then some explode, some withdraw. The presenting issue may be the immediate cause but there is a whole personal history happening to enable the anger and rage. “Seen through this lens, the flurry of mask and vaccine mandates implemented with the best of intentions for the greater good created the unintentional effect of triggering basic emotional responses that put about 20 per cent of the population in active fight mode.” Read on… https://thetyee.ca/Analysis/2022/02/09/Did-Not-Grieve-Pandemic-Now-Fighting/ Related article: Toronto Star Editorial Board (Feb. 14, 2022) Invoking the Emergencies Act is a shocking admission of failure – ‘Protests and blockades could and should already have been resolved by good intelligence, smart planning, and effective coordination among police forces.’ https://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/2022/02/14/invoking-the-emergencies-act-is-a-shocking-admission-of-failure.html?source=newsletter&utm_content=a04&utm_source=ts_nl&utm_medium=email&utm_email=404CAADEF7EB839FC77B1B04F0C251E1&utm_campaign=top_106353
CBC News – Nick Boisvert
MPs brace for fierce debate as Liberals table Emergencies Act declaration in Commons – Measures in the act can be altered only after it is tabled in Parliament
Under the Emergency Measures Act (never previously invoked), the government has seven days to table in the Parliament its rationale and plan, and only after debate in the house can amendments be made, effectively giving government seven days to resolve the problems prompting the declaration. “The debate, now likely to begin Thursday, is going to be a tense one. Both the Conservatives and Bloc Québécois have voiced strong opposition to the use of the Emergencies Act.” The NDP have announced provisional support for the declaration. Once introduced in the house the debate must continue uninterrupted the issue until resolved by the house. https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/emergencies-act-procedure-1.6354382?utm_source=Morning+Brief&utm_campaign=1adf078773-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2016_12_02_COPY_1282&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_a43c5d924a-1adf078773-206962393 Related article: The Conversation (Queen’s) – Christine Mitchell How white Christian nationalism is part of the ‘freedom convoy’ protests https://theconversation.com/how-white-christian-nationalism-is-part-of-the-freedom-convoy-protests-177113?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20February%2017%202022&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20February%2017%202022+CID_5309bcb516c4111c1fa19d6453cd9938&utm_source=campaign_monitor_ca&utm_term=uses%20a%20bible%20verse%20displayed%20on%20the%20back%20of%20a%20truck%20cab%20from%202%20Chronicles Related article: The Conversation (Queen’s) – Fiona MacDonald The ‘freedom convoy’ protesters are a textbook case of ‘aggrieved entitlement’ https://theconversation.com/the-freedom-convoy-protesters-are-a-textbook-case-of-aggrieved-entitlement-176791?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20February%2017%202022&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20February%2017%202022+CID_5309bcb516c4111c1fa19d6453cd9938&utm_source=campaign_monitor_ca&utm_term=This%20perception%20can%20lead%20to%20feelings%20of%20humiliation%20and%20in%20turn%20violence Related article: Toronto Star – Althea Raj What if Justin Trudeau’s Emergencies Act gambit doesn’t change a thing? What led Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to invoke the Emergencies Act is the catastrophic failure of local and provincial policing, and the abdication of the Ontario government to do its job, Althia Raj writes. https://www.thestar.com/politics/political-opinion/2022/02/15/what-if-justin-trudeaus-emergencies-act-gambit-doesnt-change-a-thing.html?source=newsletter&utm_content=a09&utm_source=ts_nl&utm_medium=email&utm_email=404CAADEF7EB839FC77B1B04F0C251E1&utm_campaign=top_106812
Public Safety Canada
Structured Intervention Units and the Implementation Advisory Panel – Structured intervention units (SIUs) are used when an inmate cannot be safely managed within a mainstream inmate population.
The membership of the panel to advise on the implementation of the use of the new Structure Intervention Units – replacing previous solitary confinement practices – has been announced. Mr. Howard Sapers, the former Correctional Investigator will chair the panel and will be assisted by Dr Tony Doob, Professor Emeritus and U of T criminologist; Ed Buller, a member of the Mistawasis First Nation in Saskatchewan and the Executive Director of the National Association of Friendship Centres and the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto as well as President of Pedahbun Lodge, an Aboriginal substance abuse centre in Toronto; Ed McIsaac, a longtime advocate for human rights and Executive Director at the Office of the Correctional Investigator; Farhat Rehman, cofounder of the Mothers Offering Mutual Support of Ottawa (MOMS) whose son suffers mental health issues while incarcerated; and Joanne Vallée, who is from Laval, Quebec and has a long history of both public service and advocacy in the criminal justice system. The five are expected to be joined by four others no yet named. https://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/cnt/cntrng-crm/crrctns/siuiap-ccuis-en.aspx
Blogger Russell Webster (UK)
Navigating the Criminal Justice System: A guide for the Voluntary Sector working in Criminal Justice in England and Wales
The link and description may be helpful in understanding the structure of the UK justice system in this organization flow chart, showing the various agencies – some quite poorly known, others better known, and how they relate to other agencies and to the higher authority. https://www.russellwebster.com/navigating-the-criminal-justice-system/
European Union Crime Prevention Conference – 2022 – 28 Apr 2022 to 29 Apr Brussels (Belgium)
“The main topic of 2022 is partnership approaches in crime prevention:
Co-production of security, partnership approaches, multi-agency crime prevention,… The ideal of working together to make society a safer place is shared by many. But collaborations also present challenges. How to identify the right partners? Who takes the lead? Which information is shared with whom? And how do we make it all work in view of every partner’s mandate and competences?” While attendance may not be very realistic for most even the proposed agenda for sessions may prove helpful and prompt further contact with the EUCPN. No apparent info on electronic connections to the conference but there is possibility of getting their newsletter – towards the end of the registration link. https://eucpn.org/event/ecpc2022
Washington Post (US) – Kim Bellware
Sandy Hook families announce $73 million settlement with Remington Arms in landmark agreement
US law has an extraordinary precedent with the settlement between the manufacturers of the Bushmaster rifle – Remington – and the families of the 20 elementary school children and 8 teachers killed in Sandy Hook. Gun makers have been thought immune to product liability and protected by US gun lobby law. The lawsuit dragged on for 8 years and saw the bankruptcy of Remington. “Koskoff (lawyer for the families) said the settlement sends a signal to gunmakers that they cannot act with impunity and clearly “have skin in the game.” What is equally helpful to the anti-gun lobbists is that the documents presented in the court hearing about how how the company advertised the weapon and to whom are to be published shortly. https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2022/02/15/remington-sandy-hook-settlement/?utm_campaign=wp_post_most&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_most&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F360d5b2%2F620bdf8d9d2fda34e792a37e%2F597720279bbc0f6826c0ca16%2F11%2F74%2F620bdf8d9d2fda34e792a37e
Ottawa Citizen – Kevin Shaw
Ottawa doesn’t have a protest problem; we have a police problem – Given what we have experienced during almost three weeks of the trucker occupation of our downtown, the question is no longer whether or not we should defund the police, but why we are funding them at all.
“It’s time to … reallocate tax dollars toward municipal public servants who are willing to do their jobs — from building affordable housing to fighting the mental health and opioid crisis.” Shaw voices discontent with the policing shown thus far in the deteriorating Ottawa scene and he questions the funding of police as a point of departure. His view may be helpful to those seeking reform of police services and the mandate under which the police function. https://ottawacitizen.com/opinion/shaw-ottawa-doesnt-have-a-protest-problem-we-have-a-police-problem
The Lawyer’s Daily –
Crown’s ‘one-sided, misguided’ factum provokes tongue-lashing from ‘shocked’ Supreme Court bench
An intervenor for the Ontario Attorney General got a tongue lashing from Justice Russell Brown of the Supreme Court of Canada while the other eight justices remained silent. The appeal at hand was a request for changes to the five year old ruling known as Jordan’s Law involving the right to a speedy trail. Intervenor Michael Fawcett wrote a factum for the appeal in which he suggested that the practice of dismissal when delay was unreasonable constituted “an abdication of justice:” Said Justice Brown: “You actually call the Jordan framework in this factum ‘an abdication of justice…I’m frankly shocked.” https://www.thelawyersdaily.ca/criminal/articles/33693/crown-s-one-sided-misguided-factum-provokes-tongue-lashing-from-shocked-supreme-court-bench?nl_pk=40ed8ea4-637a-4d76-870f-04f0eeae7de8&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=criminal