June 12, 2023 – Toxic…
Toronto Star – Bruce Arthur
The attack by Pierre Poilievre and others on safe supply will cost us lives
The author Arthur, supported by UBC Law Professor Ben Perrin, are both insisting that the cause of the opium deaths in Canada is the use of drugs outside the safe or safer supply channels while Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre is insisting that the solution to the opiate deaths is to ban safe drugs and injection sites which Poilievre thinks are the cause of increases in overdoses and crime. “What concerns me most in the context of the unregulated drug crisis is that Poilievre’s policies will contribute to people dying,” says Perrin. https://www.thestar.com/amp/opinion/2023/06/07/the-attack-by-pierre-poilievre-and-others-on-safe-supply-will-cost-us-lives.html Related article: The Richmond News (BC) – Maria Ratanen Opinion: It feels like my son was murdered – The toxic drug crisis has claimed thousands of lives in B.C. including the son of Richmond News’ assistant editor Maria Rantanen. https://www.richmond-news.com/local-opioid-crisis-news/opinion-it-feels-like-my-son-was-murdered-7073217?fbclid=IwAR0YsKCN2KoL6wzzLoZ_ATMbrl8V27GJXQCPgwo2A11tg0i2If8BPKiIVIY_aem_th_AZQiymeNLWq1Xxc9Z-pqbmApwvFJ6BNeiSIiVpSep64qmCnVmZJqX5RT796WS9BKFr8&mibextid=Zxz2cZ
Tweet from Ben Perrin on Albertan Opiate Deaths: “The plot thickens… Alberta Health Services says it does not have records on the number of drug poisoning death in the province Passes the ball to Alberta Mental Health and Addiction.” https://twitter.com/profbenperrin/status/1667287240870092800?s=20 (The Alberta government no longer discloses opiate overdose deaths.)
The Guardian (Manchester, UK) – Hettie O’Brien
The planet’s economist: has Kate Raworth found a model for sustainable living? Her hit book Doughnut Economics laid out a path to a greener, more equal society. But can she turn her ideas into meaningful change?
The Guardian’s long read for this weekend offers a re-assessment of Raworth’s book Doughnut Economics that was first published in 2017 and has since been standing the theoretical viable test. Given all the technological changes, Raworth is suggesting that a new sort of economics is needed: “It is possible, she argues, to design an economy that allows humans and the environment to thrive. Doing so will mean rejecting much of what defined 20th-century economics. This is the essential premise of her only book, Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st Century Economist, which became a surprise hit when it was published in 2017… To Raworth, the ideal economy of the future can be captured in a single image: a ring doughnut. Its outer crust represents an ecological limit, while its inner ring represents a social foundation. To step beyond the ecological limit will damage the environment beyond repair. To fall below the social foundation will mean some people go without the things they need to live well, such as food, housing or income.” https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/08/the-planets-economist-has-kate-raworth-found-a-model-for-sustainable-living?utm_term=64843b93f48b591dcc4187ed2a219c47&utm_campaign=TheLongRead&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=longread_email
CNN (US) – Take a look inside a homeless shelter built with ‘trauma informed’ design – Oregon has the country’s highest percentage of unsheltered homeless families with children. CNN Hero Brandi Tuck runs an innovative new shelter in Portland. She gave CNN a tour. https://www.cnn.com/videos/tv/2023/06/09/portland-oregon-homeless-shelter-housing-cnnheroes.cnn Related article: Toronto Star – Victoria Gibson Housing, eventually: Why Toronto’s rapid homebuilding program has yet to build a single home – Housing Now was supposed to deliver thousands of units quickly, but four years later it has stalled on a shaky economy, infrastructure issues and bureaucracy. “So, what happened? How did a program backed with more than a billion dollars’ worth of land and resources falter?” https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2023/06/05/housing-eventually-why-torontos-rapid-homebuilding-program-has-yet-to-build-a-single-home.html?source=newsletter&utm_content=a13&utm_source=ts_nl&utm_medium=email&utm_email=404CAADEF7EB839FC77B1B04F0C251E1&utm_campaign=lng_186076 Related article: The Canadian Press – Housing by Indigenous, for Indigenous turns page on colonial approach (msn.com)
Canadian Lawyer – Michael Spratt
Barring police uniforms in schools is a valid response to the concerns of marginalized students – Police forces need to acknowledge the boundaries of their authority, not whine about their feelings
Ottawa criminal defence lawyer Spratt is reflecting on a wide-spread media exposure for a dispute between the Ottawa-Carleton school board and the police who told the police officer parent of a first grader by board policy not to wear uniforms or show up in marked police cars for a day celebrating parent occupations. The rationale for the resistance was the notion that many students had well documented negative reactions to encounters with police. The rationale was further justified when an officer pulled over a school bus and berated a student in front of everyone on the bus for displaying the middle finger to the passing police car. https://www.canadianlawyermag.com/news/opinion/barring-police-uniforms-in-schools-is-a-valid-response-to-the-concerns-of-marginalized-students/376636
Toronto Star – Nicholas Keung
‘I respect myself too much to stay in Canada’: Why so many new immigrants are leaving – If newcomers can’t find the right jobs, lack “Canadian experience” and are struggling with the high cost of living, what’s to keep them from giving up?
The article invites sober thought about what happens when highly qualified immigrants (there is a special stream for them) attempt to pursue their established vocation and training. When Sanjay Gupta Sagar, a public health specialist from Napal, finished a post-graduate contract at Carleton University in Ottawa, he made more than 50 applications and got only two interviews, neither bringing employment. Keung calls it ‘deskilling’ and it appears responsible for a staggering number of departures from Canada by highly educated immigrants. https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2023/06/11/i-respect-myself-too-much-to-stay-in-canada-why-so-many-new-immigrants-are-leaving.html
Blogger Russell Webster (UK)
Employers’ guide to recruiting and supporting people with convictions
The advice is coming from Second Chance, a UK charity offering women enhanced opportunity for employment after incarceration. The document reviews the numbers and offers commentary to potential employers on the business case, the social value case and the ethical case for hiring people formerly incarcerated. https://www.russellwebster.com/employers-guide-to-recruiting-and-supporting-people-with-convictions/ Full document: Hiring with Conviction: An employers’ Guide to Recruiting and Supporting People with Convictions. (A 60 page downloadable PDF) https://workingchance.ams3.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/media/documents/Hiring_With_Conviction.pdf