Aug.10, 2023 – Another way…
YES 23 (Australia)
It’s time to recognise Indigenous people in our constitution
The item is a petition distributed in Australia urging people to make provision for the inclusion of the Indigenous People in Australia’s constitution. https://www.yes23.com.au/
Related article: Australian Indigenous Times Aboriginal, community and justice groups urge NT (Northern Territory) government to go further on youth justice reform https://nit.com.au/02-08-2023/7042/aboriginal-community-and-justice-groups-urge-nt-government-to-go-further-on-youth-justice-reform
The Globe and Mail – Dean Bennett
Alberta government checking medical clinic offering faster doctor access for a fee
What’s the latest pricing for access to medical services in Alberta? $2200 per person or $4400 per family will buy you membership in a private clinic that assures you of speedy access and medical services. No one, including the clinic website, appears to be willing to talk to media about the development which appears to skirt the provisions of the Canada Health Act. Opposition NDP health critic Luanne Metz says that transfers from the Canada Health program are at risk. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/article-alberta-government-checking-medical-clinic-offering-faster-doctor/ Related article: CBC News – Anam Latif Ontario’s use of private clinics to ease surgical backlogs a ‘lethal blow’ to hospitals, say advocates – Waterloo region is 1 of 3 locations that will see a private clinic used to address surgical backlogs https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/ontario-s-use-of-private-clinics-to-ease-surgical-backlogs-a-lethal-blow-to-hospitals-say-advocates-1.6814105 Related article: CBC News Joel Dryden Calgary clinic asks for nearly $5K a year for a 2-parent membership — and it’s not the only one – Such clinics have existed in Canada for years, but expert says they’re growing at faster rate https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/calgary-medicial-clinic-memberships-alberta-canada-healthcare-1.6915978 Related article: CBC News (July 26) – Joel Dryden NDP calls for probe into how many medical clinics are charging ‘member’ fees in Alberta Governing UCP has ordered probe into plans at Calgary clinic, but Opposition says broad investigation needed https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/alberta-canada-health-medical-clinic-david-shepherd-1.6918507 Related article: The Law Times – Aidan Macnab Ontario’s new health law raises issues for physician recourse, says health lawyer Brooke Shekter https://www.lawtimesnews.com/news/general/ontarios-new-health-law-raises-issues-for-physician-recourse-says-health-lawyer-brooke-shekter/378520?utm_source=GA&e=bWptbWFuc2ZpZWxkQGJlbGwubmV0&utm_medium=20230808&utm_campaign=LTW-Newsletter-20230808&utm_content=&tu=
The Canadian Press – Jacob Serebrin
Quebec court authorizes class action against new isolation system in federal prisons – Quebec solitary confinement class action approved
Quebec Superior Court judge Justice Christian Immer has authorized a class action lawsuit on behalf of Daniel Fournier, the representative plaintiff who was kept in isolation for 45 days, contrary to the UN insistence on torture when isolated for more than 15 days. Justice department lawyers said: “Court documents indicate they said inmates held in the new facilities, called Structured Intervention Units, are able to spend four hours a day outside their cell, including two hours during which they have opportunities to interact with other people. This means, they argued, that the new system doesn’t involve solitary confinement — defined by the United Nations as being alone in a cell for at least 22 hours a day — and that even extended periods in an SIU are constitutional.” Contrary to the government claim that the isolation did not exceed the limit the court received contradictory evidence: “Included in the evidence introduced by Fournier’s lawyers were several reports that found the new standards aren’t being met. Almost 80 per cent of inmates in SIU facilities, according to one of the reports, were regularly unable to have four hours outside their cell every day and nearly 40 per cent were never given four hours outside their cell at all.” https://www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/national/quebec-court-authorizes-class-action-against-new-isolation-system-in-federal-prisons/article_5b4cf0f7-d81c-536f-8b35-d0c05396826e.html?utm_source=thecanadianpressnews.ca&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletter%2Foptimize%2Fdaily-newsletter%2F%3F-dc%3D1691505003&utm_medium=email&utm_content=read%20more
Blogger Russell Webster – (UK) Rating the prisons
Prison Performance Continues On Downward Trend
Here’s novel idea but one already found in a number of reports from government itself on the ‘quality’ of the UK’s prisons as borne out by its own reports. Government has just published a dozen such reports. The tool used: “the Prison Performance Tool Dashboard (PPTD) uses 17 outcome-focussed measures to formally assess prisons. HMPPS manage the performance framework, which is structured against four main priority areas. These are: Security and stability; Training, skills and work; Drug and alcohol addiction; Family, accommodation and readjustment to society.” There does not seem to appear any reference to medical services in the prisons. Webster includes the areas of ‘good’ and ‘poor’ performance across the system. https://www.russellwebster.com/prison-performance-continues-on-downward-trend/
The Conversation (Queen’s) – Vrinda Narain
The Taliban’s war on women in Afghanistan must be formally recognized as gender apartheid
This article appears to introduce a new term in the language of human rights: gender apartheid, a reference to the Afghanistan persecution to women who publicly assert their human rights. “Of the approximately 80 edicts issued by the Taliban, 54 specifically target women, severely restricting their rights and violating Afghanistan’s international obligations and its previous constitutional and domestic laws… Gender-based violence has increased exponentially with corresponding impunity for the perpetrators and lack of support for the victims, while ethnic, religious and sexual minorities are suffering intense persecution.” https://theconversation.com/the-talibans-war-on-women-in-afghanistan-must-be-formally-recognized-as-gender-apartheid-210688?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20August%209%202023&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20August%209%202023+CID_f093ac3b364d01080de2e1f63528e658&utm_source=campaign_monitor_ca&utm_term=The%20Talibans%20war%20on%20women%20in%20Afghanistan%20must%20be%20formally%20recognized%20as%20gender%20apartheid
Equal Justice Initiative (US) – The Visiting Room
A video on people sentenced to Life without Parole (LWOP)
“Visiting Room Project has interviewed over 100 people who have been sentenced to die in prison with the hope of giving broad audiences a view into the lives of people serving lengthy sentences, as well as their transformations.” This is a story of murderers serving life providing hospice care for one another. https://eji.org/news/the-visiting-room-documents-the-stories-of-people-sentenced-to-life-in-prison-without-parole/