compassion
Victoria decides to hear public before passing no-camping zone bylaw
The public will have a chance to wade into the debate before Victoria councillors make boulevards and medians no-camping zones.
With about a dozen poverty activists looking on, city councillors Thursday decided to support an amendment to the city's streets and traffic bylaw prohibiting camping in road allowances. But they delayed the final two readings of the bylaw until after a public hearing to be held Sept. 23.
Only Coun. Philippe Lucas was against the bylaw.
"I won't be supporting this motion because I honestly believe it will fail to address for the better the issues faced by residents, by businesses and by the individuals currently living on Pandora Green," Lucas said.
Jody Paterson: Stop pushing homeless from here to there
What's left to say on the subject of homelessness? We've studied the issue from every angle for almost 20 years now. We've lamented it, lived it and produced many, many reports on it, all urging immediate action.
And yet we're still standing here wringing our hands -- this time over conditions on the Pandora Avenue boulevard, but ultimately about a recurring problem we've pushed around the city for a long time now.
Once it was the neighbourhood around Holiday Court. Then Speed Street. Then Fernwood and Cormorant. Now it's Pandora. A couple years from now -- who knows? If we still haven't comprehended by then that the solution is to fix the problem and not just move it along, bet on a new hot spot somewhere in the city.
Not just junkies: the stigmatising of drug addicts
By. Diane Taylor, GuardianDrug addicts have a lot in common with other marginalised groups, such as sex workers, people with disabilities and asylum seekers in that many people have never met them and know very little about the realities of their lives. Where there is a void of factual information, stigma and prejudice often rush in to fill the space. This week's report from the UK drugs policy commission, Sinning and Sinned Against: the Stigmatisation of Problem Drug Users, confirms this. The report finds that many people don't like drug users and that this dislike hinders the prospects of social integration and future employment for this group.
Canada’s ‘more humane society’ saved economy: Krugman
By: Tracey Tyler, Toronto StarNIAGARA FALLS, ONT. — More stringent banking regulations and a “basically more humane society” have helped Canada weather the economic storm better than most countries but a complete recovery is “by no means a sure thing,” says Princeton University economist Paul Krugman.
Krugman, a 2008 Nobel laureate, told lawyers at the Canadian Bar Association’s annual meeting here Sunday that while it is “amazing” Canada was not sucked into the vortex of economic collapse like the United States and much of the European Union, certain aspects of its economy are, if not exactly scary, a “little disturbing.”
Marijuana distributor defends new service
By Danielle Bell, The Daily News Canada.comThe owner of a medical marijuana compassionate club launched in Oceanside this week claims he is providing a much-needed service to the community.
Bob Estes, a medical marijuana user, opened The Organic Matters Compassionate Access Centre in Errington on Tuesday.
The Fair Road store sells a variety of organic pot, at $7 per gram, to licensed medical marijuana users.
It also offers cannabis cookies, chocolate, tincture (a cannabis-infused alcoholic drink) and cannabis compresses. Cannabis creams and salves are on the way.
Growing medicine
By KARENA WALTER, St Catharine's StandardThe greenhouse is empty but still stifling hot as Delhi farmer Rick West walks through and explains the idea he's hatched for the barren space.
Situated on 15 acres in rural Wainfleet, the location will be his first franchise operation of sorts.
"I just don't have the time to live in a greenhouse like this," said West, 48, who says he's currently working on setting up 20 properties in Norfolk County alone. "This is my first turnkey operation."
The medicinal marijuana grower, who claims to be the largest "producer" in Canada, is pumped about his new venture in Niagara.
Legal marijuana grower stirs Port Hope's pot
By Karen Lloyd, Northumberland NewsPORT HOPE -- Safety seems to be the top concern of Port Hope residents who live near a proposed legal marijuana grow operation.
At a packed council meeting on Tuesday night, Neev Jacob Tapiero, who is currently licensed by Health Canada to grow up to 25 marijuana plants for medical purposes and is now in the process of being licensed for 25 more, did his best to ease worries related to safety and security, as well as property values and Port Hope's image as a place that grows marijuana. Some members of the public remain opposed to the operation.
"This operation is unwelcome," said Ward 2 resident Judy Thompson.
Medical marijuana supporters hope N.S. ruling sets precedent
HALIFAX — Advocates of medical marijuana are hailing a landmark Nova Scotia court ruling, hoping it leads the way to taxpayer-funded pot supplies for low-income patients across Canada.
Last week the Nova Scotia Supreme Court ordered the provincial government to pick up the tab for the medical marijuana smoked by Sally Campbell, a chronically ill woman on welfare.
Some provinces already pay for the marijuana prescribed to patients under workers' compensation claims. Since 2008, the federal government has also paid for the marijuana consumed by a handful of military veterans receiving disability benefits.
Helping the most vulnerable
By Janet Bagnall, The Montreal GazetteProgress sometimes comes in small steps: a company deciding to put vulnerable people first, profits second; or a court ruling that a government's first duty is to the care of citizens.
In recent days, two important decisions were made that could, with luck, bring relief to a great many people.
The first was taken by the British Columbia Court of Appeal. In a ruling that could have worldwide impact, the appeal court rejected the Harper government's bid to close Insite, a safe-injection site for drug addicts.
The court ruled that the centre is a health facility. This meant, the court said, that it falls under provincial jurisdiction and that its chief role is to provide health care.
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