‘I almost died in there’: Former inmates of London, Ont. detention centre speak out – CTV News [2023-09-13]

2023-10-272023-10-27 — Corrections — 1 min read

A court review of a $33 million class action settlement for former inmates of the Elgin-Middlesex Detention Centre (EMDC) and their families was held in London, Ont. on Wednesday.

During his address to the court, Michael Peerless described the EMDC as overcrowded, unsanitary, and fraught with violence. Outside the court, he described conditions as, “Not just unpleasant but negligent and breached the rights of people who are incarcerated there.”

Peerless is a class action lawyer with London firm McKenzie Lake.

The settlement, which has been 12 years in the making, is for two separate class action law suits covering a period from January 2010 to November 2021.

Read more here:

CTV News
September 13, 2023

Trudeau announces $74M to help London, Ont., build 2,000 new homes – CBC News [2023-09-13]

2023-10-272023-10-27 — Housing — 1 min read

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that London, Ont., is the first city in Canada to reach a deal with his government under the Housing Accelerator Fund.

He says the deal will create 2,000 new homes in the city over three years.

“This landmark agreement with London will be the first of many, and we look forward to working with all orders of government to help everyone find a place to call their own,” Trudeau said in a statement.

London Mayor Josh Morgan said he wants the city’s agreement to set an example for the rest of the country when it comes to building housing units.

“This is the most significant housing and housing-related infrastructure investment in London’s history,” said Morgan, thanking his staff and council for their work on the deal.

Morgan added that on top of the 2,000 homes the fund will help build over the coming three years, it will also help facilitate the construction of thousands of additional housing units “in the years to come.”

Read more here:

CBC News
September 13, 2023

Healthy lifestyle can help prevent depression – and new research may explain why – Science Daily [2023-09-11]

2023-10-27 — Mental Health — 1 min read

A healthy lifestyle that involves moderate alcohol consumption, a healthy diet, regular physical activity, healthy sleep and frequent social connection, while avoiding smoking and too much sedentary behaviour, reduces the risk of depression, new research has found.

In research published today in Nature Mental Health, an international team of researchers, including from the University of Cambridge and Fudan University, looked at a combination of factors including lifestyle factors, genetics, brain structure and our immune and metabolic systems to identify the underlying mechanisms that might explain this link.

According to the World Health Organization, around one in 20 adults experiences depression, and the condition poses a significant burden on public health worldwide. The factors that influence the onset of depression are complicated and include a mixture of biological and lifestyle factors.

Read more here:

Science Daily
September 13, 2023

Staggering mental health, addiction stats push northern First Nations to call for emergency declaration – CBC News [2023-09-13]

2023-10-272023-10-27 — Indigenous, Mental Health, Substance Use — 1 min read

Chiefs of First Nations in northern Ontario are calling for a public emergency and social crisis to be declared, emphasizing the disproportionate mental health and addictions issues facing their communities compared to the rest of the province.

The Sioux Lookout First Nations Health Authority’s (SLFNHA) held its two-day annual general meeting last week. It serves 33 First Nations — 28 of them are considered remote as they have no highway access.

Those who attended the meeting in Thunder Bay heard jarring preliminary figures from a report on mental health and substance use that’s underway in the communities. The figures show band members are hospitalized for mental health and addictions issues at six times the provincial rate.

From 2011 to 2021, emergency department visits for intentional self-injury nearly doubled and ambulatory visits in the communities tripled.

Read more here:

CBC News
September 13, 2023

An overdose prevention site for inmates is coming to this Ontario prison – CBC News [2023-09-12]

2023-10-272023-10-27 — Corrections, Substance Use — 1 min read

Work is underway to set up a site where inmates can use drugs under medical supervision at a prison in Kingston, Ont.

The overdose prevention service (OPS) at the Collins Bay Institution will be the third of its kind in Canada and the first in Ontario.

The goal is to save lives, limit needle-sharing and prevent the spread of infectious diseases, according to Correctional Service Canada (CSC).

Drugs consumed at the location will be self-supplied, meaning substances that are smuggled in.

It’s an approach that’s supported by harm reduction advocates and the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers (UCCO), but also presents prison staff with the question of whether they’re condoning illicit drug use behind bars.

“It’s almost a moral dilemma for us,” said Chris Bucholtz, UCCO’s Ontario regional president.

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CBC News
September 12, 2023

Disability and the prison system – Briarpatch [2023-09-07]

2023-10-272023-10-27 — Corrections — 2 min read

There’s a saying among prisoners: if you don’t have a disability going into prison, you’re probably leaving with one.

Disability justice and prisoner justice advocates often call prisons the new asylums. Canada has long history of institutionalizing disabled people in asylums, institutions for the deaf or blind, and psychiatric facilities. In these institutions, people were subjected to severe abuse and neglect. While asylums no longer exist in the form they once did, Canada continues to warehouse disabled people today in long-term care homes, group homes, psychiatric facilities, and prisons – which further disable people.

Prisons often remove prisoners’ assistive devices and medications – or use them as a reason to put an individual in solitary confinement. Kitten Keyes, an Indigenous and disabled prisoner, was made to sleep on the floor of her cell because it wasn’t wheelchair accessible, and she could not transfer herself to the bunk. She was unable to manoeuvre to the toilet without grab bars and was forced to defecate onherself when no one would help her. Gregory Allen was allowed his wheelchair, but at the expense of being placed in solitary confinement for 412 days, well beyond the 15-consecutive-day limit the United Nations uses to distinguish segregation from torture.

The fear of being put into extended segregation keeps prisoners from disclosing mental health issues; I myself didn’t disclose any of my psychiatric history, having heard stories of how people with mental illness were treated in prison both on the range and in solitary. Another common way prisons disable people is by withholding people’s medications or assistive devices like knee braces or eyeglasses – even when they came in with them. This is something I saw first-hand while inside.

For the past year, I’ve been working with the Disability Justice Network of Ontario on their Prison Project to support racialized, disabled prisoners in Ontario. We run support lines for prisoners to help them connect to people outside, work to amplify their experiences, and help support them in organizing collective demands for things like access to medical care.

Read more here:

Briarpatch
September 7, 2023

How Prescription Heroin Is Saving Lives – The Tyee [2023-09-12]

2023-10-27 — Substance Use — 2 min read

Crosstown Clinic patient Michel has used opiates for 30 years. His addiction to heroin, he says, drove him to use “alternative methods to get money, like criminal activity.”

Six years ago, exhausted by the lifestyle he was leading, Michel joined Crosstown as a patient and began accessing prescription injectable heroin.

“It worked from day one,” he says. “There was immediate relief from the daily grind all addicts go through — it felt like freedom.”

Providence Health Authority’s Crosstown Clinic in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside offers a range of treatments for opioid use disorder, including opioid agonist therapy, medical care and wraparound services with social workers and counsellors.

British Columbia first declared a public health emergency due to toxic drugs in 2016. Since then, the drug supply has only increased in potency and unpredictability, with fentanyl, carfentil and benzodiazepines — which can increase the risk of overdose and complicate the reversal of overdoses — showing up more and more frequently. Toxic drugs have killed over 12,700 British Columbians since 2016, making unregulated drug toxicity the leading cause of death in the province for people aged 10 to 59.

While the province has been ramping up harm reduction initiatives, such as distributing naloxone kits and permitting safer supply, it has not been able to keep up with the toxicity of drugs bought on the illicit market, leading to a rise in toxic drug deaths year after year.

Read more here:

The Tyee
September 12, 2023

As Yellowknife reopens, work is being done to bring back the city’s homeless population – CBC News [2023-09-11]

2023-10-272023-10-27 — Housing, Poverty, Society — 1 min read

As the re-entry to Yellowknife continues, work has been underway to track down and arrange for the return of the city’s homeless population.

The last homelessness count in the city found there were approximately 300 people who identified as homeless, of which roughly 100 stay in shelters every night, according to Tony Brushett, the executive director of the Yellowknife Salvation Army.

When the evacuation order came down mid-August for everyone to leave the city, some clients left with family or friends while others were flown to various cities, such as Calgary, Brushett said.

Now that the city has reopened, the agency said there have been challenges in tracking people down at hotels or shelters to organize a way home.

Read more here:

CBC News
September 11, 2023

Canada ranks as second-best country in the world in 2023: U.S. News – CTV News [2023-09-08]

2023-10-272023-10-27 — Society — 1 min read

Canada has been ranked as the second-best country in the world in 2023, according to a new ranking conducted by U.S. News., communications company WPP and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

In its “2023 Best Countries rankings”, U.S. News analyzed various factors, ranging from a country’s military and economic prowess to the quality of life experienced by its residents. This evaluation involves 87 countries and was based on responses gathered from more than 17,000 global citizens.

Respondents were also asked to associate countries with various qualities across ten subrankings, including power, cultural influence, heritage, and social impact. The scores from these associations were used to create a list of the world’s top countries, along with nearly 100 other distinct rankings.

In this year’s rankings, Canada has taken the second spot, surpassing Germany, thanks to its outstanding performance in agility, according to the report. However, it still trails behind Switzerland as the best country in the world in 2023.

Read more here:

CTV News
September 8, 2023

Naloxone kits should be available in nasal spray, injectable version across Canada: panel – Global News [2023-09-08]

2023-10-272023-10-27 — Substance Use — 1 min read

People administering an overdose-reversing medication should have a choice of both versions of take-home naloxone kits across Canada — a nasal spray and an injectable that goes into a muscle — says a panel of experts that includes people who use drugs.

The new guidance applies to take-home naloxone kits that are distributed at various sites, including pharmacies, community groups and emergency departments, to anyone who could respond to an overdose.

Those who have used naloxone to save lives say having the nasal spray at hand could ensure a faster response because some people may be uncomfortable with needles. But that formulations is many times more expensive than the intramuscular version.

Authors of the guidance, published recently in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, strongly recommend federal, provincial and territorial programs be adapted so people have a choice of methods when a fast response is needed after someone has overdosed on an illicit substance.

Read more here:

Global News
September 8, 2023

Instead of waiting months, this Nova Scotian saw psychiatrist in days under new program – CBC News [2023-09-08]

2023-10-272023-10-27 — Mental Health — 1 min read

Some Nova Scotians who need help managing mental health issues are being assessed by psychiatrists within days under a new program introduced by the province’s health authority.

The service, launched in April in Nova Scotia Health’s central zone, is focused on early intervention treatment for a range of mental health disorders.

The goal of the rapid access and stabilization program, which has seen more than 250 people so far, is to speed up access to specialist mental health care, in light of delays some patients have faced when seeking appointments.

“I really needed to speak with someone,” said 30-year-old Taylor Brown, who was referred to the program through a walk-in clinic and was able to see a psychiatrist within three days.

Brown, who is from Halifax, had previously been referred to a specialist for persistent feelings of anxiety and fear, but said she had been waiting for more than two years for an appointment. During that time, she said, “my condition worsened.”

Read more here:

CBC News
September 8, 2023

Loneliness is harmful to your health, but solitude is beneficial, expert says – CTV News [2023-09-08]

2023-10-27 — Mental Health, Society — 1 min read

In a virtually constantly connected world, the notion of solitude seems elusive, even daunting, and being alone is often thought of in a negative context.

But solitude is not the same as loneliness, and when people choose to spend time by themselves, it can actually be beneficial, according to Robert Coplan, a professor of psychology at Carleton University in Ottawa.

The key is to understand the difference between the two, Coplan told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview.

Solitude, he emphasizes, is the deliberate choice to spend time alone, a concept often misunderstood and conflated with loneliness.

“It is possible to feel lonely when you are not alone,” he said. “Adolescents will tell us they feel lonely sitting at the dinner table with their family.

“And, of course, it’s also possible to be by yourself and not feel lonely.”

Loneliness, on the contrary, is the discrepancy between how much time someone wants to be with others versus the time they actually spend alone. This manifests as a negative feeling which can be harmful to people’s health, he said.

Read more here:

CTV News
September 8, 2023

‘Hate’ campaign seemingly targets youngest and most impressionable in our community – CTV News [2023-09-07]

2023-10-272023-10-27 — 2SLGBTQ+, Youth — 1 min read

Ian MacLean says his wife was taking a pleasant morning walk with their dog, Charley, when she was confronted with troubling messages in front of Trafalgar Public School on Wednesday morning; the first day of school.

“She came across some trans hate messages both scrawled on the sidewalk and stickers that had been pre-made and placed around the school property,” said MacLean. She removed some of the stickers and the pair took steps to notify the school.

Reports indicated a number of schools were targeted with similar messages, including Lester B. Pearson School for the Arts, Wortley Road Public School, and Byron Northview Public School.

“We’re really disappointed with some of the messaging that we’ve seen at the schools,” said Purveen Skinner. Skinner is Superintendent of Equity for the Thames Valley District School Board (TVDSB). Board officials say, to the best of their knowledge, all of the hateful messages were removed before students arrived for school.

Read more here:

CTV News
September 7, 2023

Greenpeace opposes nuclear energy. Young climate activists say that’s ‘old-fashioned’ – CBC News [2023-09-07]

2023-10-272023-10-27 — Society, Technology — 1 min read

Young climate activists in Europe are calling on Greenpeace to drop its “old-fashioned” stance against nuclear energy.

Activists from five EU countries have launched the Dear Greenpeace campaign, asking the well-established environmental organization to get on board with what they see as a necessary tool in the fight against climate change.

“It’s a message of desperation from my generation to theirs,” Ia Aanstoot, an 18-year-old Swedish climate activist, told As It Happens host Nil Köksal.

“We are really, really desperate to have them in the struggle against fossil fuels. And it feels like a betrayal for them to be going up against nuclear power.”

Greenpeace and other critics of nuclear power, meanwhile, say it continues to be too dangerous, polluting, and cost-prohibitive to be a viable solution to the climate crisis.

Read more here:

CBC News
September 7, 2023

Just four organizations bid to operate London’s first homeless hubs – CTV News [2023-09-06]

2023-10-272023-10-27 — Poverty — 1 min read

Council’s options may be limited when they choose locations and lead agencies to operate the first low-barrier service hubs for Londoners experiencing homelessness.

According to a publicly available list posted on city hall’s Bids and Tenders website, nine organizations participated in a Request for Proposals (RFP) process— but only four submitted a bid.

Agencies that are bidders:

London Health Sciences Centre
CMHA Thames Valley- Addiction and Mental Health Services
Atlohsa Family Healing Services
Youth Opportunities Unlimited

The RFP closed at 2 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept, 5.

After initially participating in the RFP process, Ark Aid Street Mission decided not to submit a bid.

Read more here:

CTV News
September 6, 2023

Dictionary.com embraces ‘they,’ adds hundreds of new words – Mashable [2023-09-06]

2023-10-272023-10-27 — Society — 1 min read

The lexicographers and editors at Dictionary.com know a long-lasting trend when they see one.

For its latest update, the digital dictionary will now use the gender-neutral “they” or “their” instead of “he or she” or “his or her” in entries where there’s no reason to be specific about gender, or where the language can be streamlined. In some cases, pronouns will be omitted altogether if they’re unnecessary.

The dictionary-wide change affects hundreds of entries.

For example, the definition of folk singer appeared with binary-gendered pronouns: “a singer who specializes folk songs, usually providing his or her own accompaniment on a guitar.” The new version replaces the pronouns with “their.”

Read more here:

Mashable
September 6, 2023

Elon Musk ‘likes’ trending #BanTheADL posts as white supremacist ad runs on platform – Mashable [2023-09-01]

2023-10-27 — Society, Technology — 2 min read

Over the past 24 hours, the hashtag #BanTheADL has been trending on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. The trending hashtag refers to the Anti-Defamation League, the Jewish anti-extremism civil rights organization.

Even more concerning is that X owner Elon Musk has signaled support for the attacks against the ADL on the platform.

Within the same time frame, numerous X users have also reported being served an X-approved advertisement on the platform that promotes white supremacy.

It all started on Thursday when ADL Director Jonathan Greenblatt published a post on X which shared that he had a “productive conversation” with the company’s CEO Linda Yaccarino about hate speech on the platform.

“I had a very frank + productive conversation with @LindayaX yesterday about @X, what works and what doesn’t, and where it needs to go to address hate effectively on the platform,” Greenblatt posted in a since-deleted post. “I appreciated her reaching out and I’m hopeful the service will improve. @ADL will be vigilant and give her and @ElonMusk credit if the service gets better… and reserve the right to call them out until it does.”

Read more here:

Mashable
September 1, 2023

‘Life or death’: LGBTQ2 people warn on dangers of school pronoun policy changes – Global News [2023-09-01]

2023-10-272023-10-27 — 2SLGBTQ+, Youth — 1 min read

As debate continues over policies requiring parental consent for youth under 16 to change their name or preferred pronouns in some schools, members of Canada’s LGBTQ2 community say such legislation could put some at risk of abuse, harassment or even homelessness.

The concerns come as Saskatchewan and New Brunswick recently put in place such laws.

When asked earlier this week about whether Ontario will implement similar policies, the province’s education minister said parents should be “fully involved” in “life-changing” decisions involving their children.

But some LGBTQ2 youth say it’s not always an easy conversation to have.

Searlait Finley, a 19-year-old who recently graduated high school in Saskatoon, says while she had a positive experience when she came out to her own parents, not everyone gets that reception.

Read more here:

Global News
September 1, 2023

Dierks Bentley – Somewhere On A Beach

2023-10-272023-10-27 — Music — 1 min read

Dierks Bentley – Somewhere On A Beach

YouTube Music Video

The Kinks – Lola (Official Video)

2023-10-27 — Music — 1 min read

The Kinks – Lola (Official Video)

YouTube Music Video

Saskatchewan, New Brunswick naming changes means ‘life or death’ for trans kids: Ien – CTV News [2023-08-31]

2023-10-27 — 2SLGBTQ+, Society, Youth — 1 min read

Canada’s minister for women, gender equality and youth says policies in Saskatchewan and New Brunswick that require parental consent before students under 16 can have schools use their preferred pronouns and names puts transgender and nonbinary kids in a “life-or-death situation.”

And while Marci Ien declined to comment on whether Ottawa sees a role for itself in any potential court challenges, the cabinet minister said the Liberal government is keeping an eye on what unfolds.

“What I can tell you is that we’re watching closely as this develops,” she told The Canadian Press in an interview Wednesday.

“Obviously anything is possible, but I’m not going to comment on anything hypothetical at this time.”

Saskatchewan recently became the second jurisdiction to change its policy around pronoun use and name changes for students younger than 16, making it a rule that teachers must first seek permission from those students’ parents. The provincial government says the change originated out of concerns from parents and a desire to apply one uniform policy across all school divisions.

Read more here:

CTV News
August 31, 2023

The Mental Illness-Violence Link: What the research shows about a complicated and uncomfortable connection – Psychology Today [2023-08-30]

2023-10-272023-10-27 — Mental Health — 1 min read

The recent shooting in Jacksonville has predictably renewed the public debate on violence and mental illness. The same sequence plays out after every horrible incident: First, there is the accusation, often from right-leaning lawmakers, that mental illness is what is driving our dizzying rate of mass shootings and that more needs to be done to protect the public from dangerous people. Soon following are emphatic statements from mental health advocacy groups that no real association between mental illness and violence exists and that those with mental health problems are far more likely to be victims of violent actions then perpetrators.

These arguments vigorously bounce around for a while on the news cycle and in social media, thoroughly confusing any well-meaning individual who is honestly trying to understand the issue, until the debate just fizzles out (until the next shooting).

Is there any way we can move this discussion forward to a place of real understanding? Actually there is, but it requires a little more time than a soundbite, and a shift from more dogmatic political positions to one that requires a bit of nuance and acceptance of complexity.

Read more here:

Psychology Today
August 30, 2023

24 Sussex may be replaced with new residence for PMs, feds say – Global News [2023-08-29]

2023-10-272023-10-27 — Miscellaneous — 1 min read

The prime minister’s problem-plagued official residence could be replaced instead of restored, though the government says its plans are not complete.

A spokesperson for Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said building a new residence is among the options being considered as the department comes up with a plan for the future of 24 Sussex, but any conversations about that are at very early stages.

The minister’s office said it is working with the National Capital Commission to develop a plan that it aims to release soon.

The historic house overlooking the Ottawa River is in dire need of repairs for everything from electrical work to windows, doors and the roof.

A 2021 report estimated it would cost at least $36.6 million just to complete the deferred maintenance on the main residence, which was built in 1868. Bringing it up to code would likely cost millions more.

Read more here:

Global News
August 29, 2023

Ottawa warns LGBTQ travellers they could be hit by U.S. state laws – CBC News [2023-08-29]

2023-10-272023-10-27 — 2SLGBTQ+ — 1 min read

Global Affairs Canada has updated its travel advisory for the United States by warning LGBTQ people that some state laws may affect them on their travels.

“Some states have enacted laws and policies that may affect 2SLGBTQI+ persons. Check relevant state and local laws,” said the new advisory, posted Tuesday morning.

The advisory sends visitors to a government web page providing broad information on how members of the community could be targeted while travelling to foreign countries.

That advice tells travellers to beware of laws that criminalize same-sex activities and relationships, or target people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

That advice also warns travellers that laws to curb vagrancy and public nuisance incidents could also be used to target them in an effort “to criminalize 2SLGBTQI+ people.”

Read more here:

CBC News
August 29, 2023