Oct 27, 2023 – The roots of violence…
Toronto Star – Emily Fagan
‘Genuinely unsafe.’ 2SLGBTQ+ students speak out on how rising backlash is playing out in schools
The story may have left the headlines and angry public confrontations between the supporters and the opposition of the 2SLGBTQ scene (Two spirited, lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, trans-sexual, and queer) but the reality still surfaces daily in schools as this article says – the platform is fear. “Several 2SLGBTQ+ students in Toronto spoke with the Star about what they’ve experienced at school this year amid the rising backlash around their rights to privacy. The Star agreed not to publish full names of the students interviewed to protect their privacy and due to safety concerns. Some of these students have not disclosed their sexuality or gender identity to their parents.” https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/genuinely-unsafe-2slgbtq-students-speak-out-on-how-rising-backlash-is-playing-out-in-schools/article_192599cb-f445-5b53-a69e-29b9293530e4.html
Scranton Times-Tribune (US)
US prisons ban ‘staggering’ number of books: campaigners
“A study by PEN America, a literacy and free expression advocacy group, found widely differing and often inconsistently enforced policies resulted in a “staggering” number of books never making it past a prison mailroom.” Only about half the fifty states have a banned book list for prisons – many leave the decisions to mail room clerks – but lists from one are often also adopted by others. Florida has over 23,000 books banned but sometimes the books with TV origins are banned in print but available on TV. The most common reasons for book banning in prison are security or sexual content. https://www.thetimes-tribune.com/news/nation-world/us-prisons-ban-staggering-number-of-books-campaigners/article_34286952-0919-521e-b22d-8a6597a672b5.amp.html
Canadian Press – Sarah Smellie
Inside Newfoundland and Labrador’s private, for-profit homeless shelter system – Inside N.L.’s private, for-profit shelter system
At first glance, a for-profit housing scheme for the homeless may seem a far reach but the contracts with private housing are meant to cover the overflow from the non-profit sector and may be more a commentary on the size the homeless problem rather than sensible solutions. Still, as one homeless person consigned to this housing said: “It’s dirty, there’s like three buckets of needles under the bathroom sink,” she told reporters outside the house just beyond the downtown core of St. John’s, N.L. “There’s holes in the heaters and there’s holes in the walls, and you knows there’s rats around.” https://www.thecanadianpressnews.ca/atlantic/inside-newfoundland-and-labradors-private-for-profit-homeless-shelter-system/article_83268d3f-fca3-505f-9e9d-93c196fa2470.html?utm_source=thecanadianpressnews.ca&utm_campaign=%2Fnewsletter%2Foptimize%2Fdaily-newsletter%2F%3F-dc%3D1698330635&utm_medium=email&utm_content=headline
Food Banks Canada Report
Food bank use is at crisis levels. There are gaps in our social safety nets and we need to take action now. A three minute video report from three weeks ago drawing attention to the fact that the food banks are serving over 2,000,000 per year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wJdU-vw_UbE Related article: CBC News Morning Brief – As cost of living soars, millions of Canadians are turning to food banks “The annual HungerCount report is based on surveys sent to food security organizations, tracking their usage in the month of March. This year’s report found that nearly two million people — including more employed people than ever — used food banks March 2023 alone. That’s a 32 per cent increase from the same month last year and more than 78 per cent higher than in March 2019.” https://subscriptions.cbc.ca/newsletter_static/messages/morningbrief/2023-10-25/ Related article: Food Banks Canada – The Poverty Report Card 2023 (A new reported calculated to bring together the efforts to reduce poverty and provide food security at once) A 56 page downloadable pdf) https://fbcblobstorage.blob.core.windows.net/wordpress/2023/09/PRC-Report-Final-19.09.23.pdf?utm_campaign=13251_FBC_Poverty-Report-Card&utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&pck=googlesearch&gad=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI7oqTlrOUggMV9Qx9Ch1SpAzFEAAYASAAEgI9JPD_BwE
Toronto Star – Victoria Gibson
When the walls fall down – 600,000 kids in Canada are living in broken, crowded or unaffordable homes. Meet Amina. She lost her community when her building was condemned.
Homelessness deserves its focus in response to poverty but this article raises another area of concern that should be front and center regarding the impact of trauma and sub-standard housing. “Tens of thousands of kids in the Toronto area are growing up in houses that are falling apart. The issues they come home to include defective plumbing, faulty electrical wiring and structural defects. Roughly one in seven children — just shy of 15 per cent — live in homes that are significantly broken, overcrowded or unaffordable, the last census shows. Across the country, more than 600,000 kids are growing up in these precarious set-ups… When families are forced to move, the search for an alternative, affordable home can be nearly impossible.” https://www.thestar.com/interactives/the-ceiling-collapsed-and-her-world-fell-apart-what-its-like-to-be-a-kid/article_344bf3ce-685b-11ee-9209-8fdc03b80f8d.html
Abacus Data – Eddie Sheppard
Housing Affordability Hits Home: A closer look at Canadian families’ financial stress
This report from Abacus who normally offers numbers is worth a read for its focus on the current family stress due to housing factors. “An overwhelming 82% of Canadian households with children under the age of 19 express a strong belief that the government should give top priority to making housing more affordable. Additionally, a substantial 72% advocate for governmental measures to reduce the amount of personal debt carried by Canadians, with this sentiment being notably higher among families with children than those without. These statistics underscore the acute financial pressures experienced by families in their daily lives, amplified by the current cost of living and the housing crisis. It’s evident that Canadian families, especially those with young children, are seeking substantial relief and support from the government to alleviate their financial hardships.” https://abacusdata.ca/housing-affordability-hits-home/
The Conversation (Queen’s) – Gemma Ware
Domicide: a view from Homs in Syria on what the deliberate destruction of homes does to those displaced by conflict – podcast
The podcast (with text) introduces a new term which we have often witnessed in the international media coverage of the various conflicts: the practice of punishing the people by the deliberate destruction of their homes and the consequent greater difficulty dealing with both homelessness and refugee status, to say nothing of the feelings engendered by the wanton destruction. Ammar Azzouz, architect researcher and British Academy Fellow, is interview on how the destruction of homes impacts the people of the city of Homs in Syria. https://theconversation.com/domicide-a-view-from-homs-in-syria-on-what-the-deliberate-destruction-of-homes-does-to-those-displaced-by-conflict-podcast-216374?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20October%2027%202023&utm_content=Latest%20from%20The%20Conversation%20for%20October%2027%202023+CID_3d869d74e10f44ad1f03adfc0204d28d&utm_source=campaign_monitor_ca&utm_term=Domicide%20a%20view%20from%20Homs%20in%20Syria%20on%20what%20the%20deliberate%20destruction%20of%20homes%20does%20to%20those%20displaced%20by%20conflict%20%20podcast