Feb 28, 2023 – Milgaard’s Law…
National Newswatch – The Canadian Press
Liberals introduce ‘Milgaard’s Law’ to create review process for wrongful convictions
The struggle to overturn wrongful convictions in Canada has been slow in evolving, a private not public enterprise, and continuously delayed in the courts. “We need a system that moves more quickly, both for people applying as well as for victims and the process needs to be independent,” said Lametti… The bill would establish an independent commission to review, investigate and decide which criminal cases should be sent back to the justice system.” Lametti says that the Bill, named for David and Joyce Milgaard, is aimed also at making review easier for women, Indigenous People and racialized Canadians. https://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2023/02/16/liberals-introduce-milgaards-law-to-create-review-process-for-wrongful-convictions/#.Y–NFK3MI2z Related article: National Post – Anja Karadeglija Liberals introduce new bill to speed up wrongful conviction reviews – Some of these files go back decades. We need a system that moves more quickly, both for people applying as well as for victims’ https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/bill-faster-wrongful-conviction-reviews Tweet from David Lametti on the Milgaard Law: “For 23 years, David Milgaard was imprisoned for a crime he did not commit, because of a wrongful conviction. Alongside his sister Susan & James Lockyer, we tabled David & Joyce Milgaard’s Law, establishing an Independent Miscarriage of Justice Review Commission.” https://t.co/L2ndoJ7TcL
(https://twitter.com/DavidLametti/status/1627408641660801024?t=ZRPqmDhbGnrkXBBciz5LBw&s=03)
Policy Options (Canada) – May Chiu, Toula Drimond, Ehab Lotayef
Amira Elghawaby is victim of a double standard – Amira Elghawaby has apologized. Quebec and its leaders should give her and her office a chance to do their important work.
Bill 21 in Quebec has made people across the rest of the country feel that the bill is aimed directly and discriminately at the immigrant non-Christian population of Quebec. “Islamophobia may not be the sole driver of support for Bill 21, but poll after poll has shown at least a correlation between the two. A 2021 poll by Ekos showed that the rate of negative opinion toward Muslims is higher in Quebec (29 per cent) than elsewhere in the country (13 to 19 per cent).” The need for a person of integrity to monitor the failures in human rights incidents and suggest remedy is lost in the entanglements with other issues as well. https://policyoptions.irpp.org/magazines/february-2023/elghawaby-quebec-double-standard/ Tweet from Amira Elghawaby – On new job: “What an honour it is to officially begin my role as Canada’s Special Representative on Combatting Islamophobia here in the nation’s capital, a short car ride from where I grew up in Ottawa’s East end.” Cf string https://t.co/y9EL40kPC9
(https://twitter.com/AmiraElghawaby/status/1627732963059200002?t=kZaL56BrSbwkU1PlUOgfQg&s=03)
National Newswatch (Canada) –
Campaign 2000 and Canadian Center for Policy Alternatives – Leila Sarangi and Randy Robinson
The pandemic showed us how to end child poverty
Two long time agencies fighting widespread and growing poverty in Canada are asking what Canadians learned from the Covid epidemic. Based on food bank usage, poverty is still growing in spite of the direct grants from government during the epidemic, in spite of the growing employment rates in recovery (usually an indication of a gain in prosperity and well-being. The stats are scary: “That was 13.5 per cent of all children, which is a lot, but for some types of households the poverty rate was even worse. For racialized children, it was 15.1 per cent. For children in lone-parent families led by women, it was 29.7 per cent. For First Nations children living on reserve, it was 37.4 per cent.” In response, the child poverty rate dropped in 2020. “Many things work, like boosting minimum wages or creating affordable child care. But what works fastest, as the pandemic showed, is cash transfers… In 2020, cash transfers included existing programs like the Canada Child Benefit and new pandemic benefits like the Canada Emergency Recovery Benefit. Those transfers worked: without them, the national child poverty rate would have been a whopping 35.3 per cent.” https://www.nationalnewswatch.com/2023/02/20/the-pandemic-showed-us-how-to-end-child-poverty/#.Y_TuIR_MI2w
Tweet from 𝚂𝚎á𝚗 𝙾’𝚂𝚑𝚎𝚊, Global News – On police cars for hard times: “NEW Ontario Provincial Police Corvette.” #CIAS https://t.co/wi2SbbKcZP
(https://twitter.com/ConsumerSOS/status/1626301793389973505?t=Tz0zr6QpeSGDt4VZ0P_lOw&s=03)
Tweet from Doctors for Defunding Police – On money spent: “How much of police time is spent on non-violent addiction, mental health or homelessness issues? Why can’t we spend that money elsewhere?” https://t.co/SeDo9dm7S1
(https://twitter.com/DrsDefundPolice/status/1627724605107339298?t=rJSc7NjH-H3U6wQWrYQ6xQ&s=03)
Tweet from Doctors for Defunding the Police – On Indigenous women in prison: “DISTURBING FACT: Indigenous women now make up 50% of the women in Canadian federal prison.”
(https://twitter.com/DrsDefundPolice/status/1627463682295824387?t=hkThmxcC5O4DYRiM1YfW6w&s=03)
Tweet from Alec Karakatsanis – On Copaganda Public Relations (US): When pundits are given large media platforms to spread half-baked opinions about the need to increase police budgets, one of the many things they don’t tell you is how much money the bloated police bureaucracy spends on PR.”
(https://twitter.com/equalityAlec/status/1627345943145201665?t=QDf-iMiSwVx1aSGkj_A0dw&s=03)
Cf also: Public Relations Spending by Police – Part 1: Scratching the surface on one of the great scandals of our time https://equalityalec.substack.com/p/public-relations-spending-by-police
Tweet from Alec Karakatsanis – On San Francisco police PR (US): If one photo could sum up the $100,000,000s spent by cops every year influencing the media, it’s this one from internal San Francisco Police documents. Look at those smiles, then read about how bad it is.” https://t.co/fqPfkrMb6u
(https://twitter.com/equalityAlec/status/1627660414082498561?t=u6wS-ApQJ0Xs1euz-fozpg&s=03)
Tweet from John Howard Society – On death in custody: “Prisoner advocate calls for supports after two more people die while on remand: Comprehensive review of pretrial detention and release is required – another reverse onus won’t address the systemic problems.”
https://t.co/hKq1iMnewy
(https://twitter.com/JohnHoward_Can/status/1627313403520856066?t=LTGGBPyf0qyE0sY6q_0Xag&s=03)
Tweet from Aaron Littman (US) Carceral Mortality Database: “As reported on the front page of today’s @nytimes, @uclaprisondata has just launched our carceral mortality database, containing the first comprehensive accounting of deaths in prison in 2020, during the first year of the pandemic. https://t.co/p5cJJI16FK
(https://twitter.com/aaronlittman/status/1627374060173938689?t=jvA96UvGbY8qhhEV_LWUVA&s=03)
Blogger Russell Webster (UK)
Improving investigations into deaths in prison – Prisons and Probation Ombudsman should improve transparency in death investigations to improve prison safety
In a twelve month period ending September 2022 there were 307 deaths in prison custody. In a new report, written by Dr Sharon Shalev, draws on research led by Dr Philippa Tomczak which offers recommendations to the PPO and policymakers for improving prisoner death investigations and promoting change. The report calls for three main changes in the death investigation: to name the systemic contributors to the death, to more accurately reflect the compliance of prison staff with required protocols, to reflect the methodology used in the investigation and the evidence base for the conclusions and recommendations. https://www.russellwebster.com/improving-investigations-into-deaths-in-prison/ Full report: University of Nottingham (UK) – Dr Sharon Shalev and Dr Philippa Tomczak Improving prisoner death investigations and promoting change in prisons: A findings and recommendations report https://www.safesoc.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/2023-improving-prisoner-death-investigations-and-promoting-change-in-prisons_a-findings-and-recommendations-report.pdf
The Conversation – Queen’s – Eli Sopow, University Canada West
Brenda Lucki’s retirement will not fix the RCMP’s structural problems
The RCMP have had a rocky past in Nova Scotia, in the Ottawa Convoy business and related border incidents, in the land disputes in BC. The resignation / retirement announcement of the present Commissioner may surface a hope for structural change. But says Sopow: “We shouldn’t have hopes for an RCMP renaissance with Lucki’s retirement. The problems with RCMP leadership are not about the gender or identity of the person in charge… the problem is not its spread and focus so much as its organization. The RCMP is a police service run according to the administrative rules and culture of a federal government bureaucracy. It is essentially a ministry of the federal government.” https://theconversation.com/brenda-luckis-retirement-will-not-fix-the-rcmps-structural-problems-200055?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20February%2018-19%202023&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20February%2018-19%202023+CID_187a8e3d9759f9904f92d691183634a7&utm_source=campaign_monitor_ca&utm_term=Brenda%20Luckis%20retirement%20will%20not%20fix%20the%20RCMPs%20structural%20problems
(Here is an astounding piece of failure by major media to report fully on those responsible for an egregious violation of children.)
Tweet from Fifty Shades of Whey: On dangerous child labour: “All these news outlets are covering this story about child labor, but not a single one has mentioned the fact that Blackstone literally owns Packers Sanitation Services.” (cf string)https://twitter.com/davenewworld_2/status/1626673052846022659 Related: Tweet from 50 Shades of Whey: On dangerous child labour: “A sanitation company paid over $1.5M in penalties for having 102 children from the ages of 13 to 17 work overnight shifts at 13 hazardous slaughterhouses across America. Packers Sanitation Services is owned by the private equity firm Blackstone. Nobody will go to jail for this.” https://twitter.com/davenewworld_2/status/1626629914840399879 Related: US Department of Labour: More than 100 children illegally employed in hazardous jobs, federal investigation finds; food sanitation contractor pays $1.5M in penalties – Packers Sanitation Services Inc. employed minors to use caustic chemicals to clean razor-sharp saws, other high-risk equipment at 13 meat processing facilities in 8 states https://www.dol.gov/newsroom/releases/whd/whd20230217-1
Global News – Kathy Michaels
B.C. school district to launch Safe Places program
The Kamloops RCMP have launched a Safe Place program in response to the various people who see themselves threatened over gender based bullying, hatred and violence, specifically the 2SLGBTQPIA+ community. The RCMP ask places to display a rainbow decal to declare their premises are a safe place to wait for police. Corporal Dana Napier: “We wanted to do something that captured the meaning of Pink Shirt Day – kindness, empathy, understanding – and link it to the symbolism of the Safe Places Rainbow Shield.” https://globalnews.ca/news/9499283/bc-safe-places-program-schools/
Tweet from Gib van Ert – On extra-territorial application of the Canadian charter: “ On Friday, the Supreme Court of Canada released its much-anticipated decision in R v McGregor. The majority affirmed that R v Hape remains the “governing authority on the territorial reach and limits of the Charter”—but went ahead and conducted a full s. 8 analysis.” Cf string
(https://twitter.com/gibvanert/status/1627709751864745986?t=P2pl6Nhp2LOCR1k0XEaeFg&s=03)