April 17, 2015
iPolitics – Michael Spratt
‘Judicial activism’ isn’t killing Harper’s crime agenda — Harper is
Ottawa lawyer Spratt walks us through the five steps process from conservative platform through bill proposal through talking points (in spite of opposing opinions within and outside the justice department) through to SCC rejection of the legislation through to yelling about judicial interference and back to step one. Anthony Doob of the University of Toronto provides additional commentary on the process and consequences. Says Spratt: “The court also hammered home a point that seems to have escaped a great many politicians: No one in Canada stands above the Constitution. Not even the prime minister.” http://www.ipolitics.ca/2015/04/15/judicial-activism-isnt-killing-harpers-crime-agenda-harper-is/
Toronto Star – Carolyn Shimmin
We need to talk about poverty and health
Shimmin is a Knowledge Translation Coordinator with the EvidenceNetwork.ca and the George and Fay Yee Centre for Healthcare Innovation in Winnipeg. She has five key points about the relationship between poverty and health: First, in Canada, there is no official measure of poverty; second, there is a direct link between socioeconomic status and health status; third, poverty in childhood is associated with a number of health conditions in adulthood; fourth, people living in poverty face more barriers to access and care; fifth, there is a profound two-way relationship between poverty and health. http://www.thestar.com/opinion/commentary/2015/04/15/we-need-to-talk-about-poverty-and-health.html
Canada.com / Ottawa Citizen – Andrew Seymour
Judges’ ‘insurrection’ against victim surcharge may be ‘ending with a whimper’
The decision by an Ottawa judge that struck down the mandatory victim surcharge as cruel and unusual punishment discriminating against the poor has been over-ruled by the Ontario Superior Court, leaving no choice says Ontario Court Justice David Paciocco but to impose it. The mandatory surcharge is 30% of the fine imposed or $100 for a summary conviction, $200 if indictable. Superior Court Justice Bruce Glass ruled that the surcharge was neither a punishment nor grossly disproportionate since the judge can allow a period of time in which to pay the fine. Critics, at the time, also argued that the fine unpaid was coming back to haunt poor people years later creating other barriers. http://www.canada.com/News/canada/Judges+insurrection+against+victim+surcharge+ending+with+whimper/10978344/story.html
Globe and Mail – Jeffrey Simpson
Federal budget a triumph of tax madness
Simpson reminds us that a decade ago when the Conservatives first formed a minority government they were aided by a surplus that disappeared quickly giving way to spending well above the inflation rate and tax cuts of billions from the revenue. Simpson uses the universal child tax benefit to make the point and thinks that, in response to the mantra of balanced budget law, “the main reason for balancing the federal budget is because defence is being slashed by $4.5-billion over two years. The result, says the PBO, is a defence budget that is “unsustainable at current force levels.” http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-debate/federal-budget-a-triumph-of-tax-madness/article23983339/
CTV News -Peter Leonard and Efrem Lukatsky
Ukraine’s disabled children condemned to life in institutions: group
Here’s an article that makes one wonder if there aren’t a few better uses for Canadian foreign aid to the Ukraine than sending the military and arms. Disability Rights International says that “growing numbers of disabled children in Ukraine are being condemned to life in orphanages and institutions blighted by neglect and abuse.” http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/ukraine-s-disabled-children-condemned-to-life-in-institutions-group-1.2329727
Montreal Gazette – Jesse Feith
When someone is in the throes of a mental health crisis, friends and family often struggle to convince them to accept help
Feith suggests that those who reach out to help the mentally ill in crisis put themselves at the thin edge of a judgment call that often brings tragedy in spite of best intentions and good will on the part of family and friends. There are no sure fired test to determine if a person needs to be detained on grounds of a mental health crisis and the law is written in such a way that the person has to be a clear threat to himself or someone else before police can intervene. Says Camillo Zacchia, a psychologist and former chairman of the clinical ethics committee at Montreal’s Douglas Institute, “Any issues with the system are all related to the fact that in many cases, a person’s mental state can change from day to day.” http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/mental-health-system-relies-on-judgment-calls-experts-say
Ottawa Citizen / Canada.com – Mark Kennedy
Canadians need ‘conversation’ about Indian residential schools: Murray Sinclair
Sinclair is the chair of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. As a result of his experience as chair Sinclair “wants to kick-start a national debate about how to reconcile inequities that still remain between aboriginal and non-aboriginal Canadians.” Created in 2009, the commission will release its report in June, 2015, a few months short of the next federal election. “For the longest time, aboriginal people have been mistreated by this country… In terms of their rights, but also in terms of their ability to function as human beings,” he said. “Not just because of a lack of resources, but also a social experience which has taught them that they are incapable of managing their own affairs or taking care of themselves.” At the same, said Sinclair, non-aboriginal Canadians have grown up to believe “they come from a superior stock, a superior civilization. http://www.canada.com/life/Canadians+need+conversation+about+Indian+residential+schools/10974756/story.html
ThinkProgress (US) – Esther Yu-Hsi Lee
Millions Spent Lobbying By Private Prison Corporations to Keep a Quota of Arrested Immigrants, Report Says
Two private prison companies spent $11 million over the last six years to lobby the US Congress for guaranteed business in the form of a contractual arrangement to maintain 33,400 places in immigration detention places. 9 of the 10 largest immigration detention centres are run by these private prison companies, Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) and Geo Group. “Last year CCA made $195,022,000, while GEO made $143,840,000 in profits.” http://thinkprogress.org/immigration/2015/04/16/3647407/immigrant-detention-private-prison-11-million-lobbying/ Full Report: Grassroots Leadership – Bethany Carson and Eleana Diaz Payoff: How Congress Ensures Private Prison Profit with an Immigrant Detention Quota http://grassrootsleadership.org/reports/payoff-how-congress-ensures-private-prison-profit-immigrant-detention-quota#1
The Intelligencer (Belleville, ON) – Jerome Lessard
Text with 911 now available in OPP-serviced areas
Supposing you are deaf, hard of hearing, or a speech impediment, and have an emergency? Not a problem anymore in areas of Ontario serviced by the Ontario Provincial Police because of what is called T-9-1-1. You can now text a 911 call. Members of this specific community (DHHSI) must register with their cellphone providers first and then dial 911 for service. The call will signal the OPP that it originates with a member of the DHHSI and take and respond with text messages. The process is explained on the OPP web site (www.opp.ca ) http://www.intelligencer.ca/2015/04/15/text-with-911-now-available-in-opp-serviced-areas