Harewood students take computer animation, job skills training in week-long camps
From computer animation skills development for ages 11-15 to week-long job certification training for high school students, Harewood youth have been attending summer camps designed to open doors to skilled jobs—and taking steps to address high rates of poverty in the community. The camps are presented by Nanaimo District Secondary School community school programs. (more…)
International declaration calls on governments to base policing of illicit drugs on facts
The Vienna Declaration [opens to PDF] is the official declaration of the 18th International AIDS Conference taking place in Vienna, Austria from July 18 to 23. The Declaration describes the known harms—and failures—of the conventional “war on drugs” approaches and their overwhelmingly negative health and social consequences. The Declaration calls on governments and international organizations to make a number of changes, including the implementation and evaluation of a science-based public health approach to address harms stemming from illicit drug use. (more…)
Amnesty International report states Canada has not adequately protected Aboriginal rights
Amnesty International’s recent report on The State of the World’s Human Rights mentions, among several issues, the prevalence of violence against aboriginal women in Canada and the lack of a plan to address it, and says the government is making “baseless claims” that the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples does not apply to Canada [source: CBC].
Growing support for the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is mentioned as a positive international development, but the Canadian government has not yet endorsed the declaration. (more…)
Anti-psychiatry activists respond to media reports that use of ECT is increasing
The Canadian Psychiatric Association recently issued its first position paper on electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) since 1992, saying that ECT “should remain readily available as a treatment option.” The position paper was followed by a major article carried by Canwest newspapers across Canada, suggesting that electroshock therapy is experiencing a comeback. Activists and groups, such as Mind Freedom International, are alarmed by the position paper. Canadian anti-psychiatry activist Bonnie Burstow says that, at a minimum, ECT should be phased out [source: The Ottawa Citizen] due to its documented harms. (more…)
Robert Whitaker updates Mad in America, the revealing history of psychiatric treatment
In Robert Whitaker’s Mad In America: Bad Science, Bad Medicine and the Enduring Mistreatment of the Mentally Ill, “one lone author bears moral witness to the suffering of hundreds of thousands of people abused, tortured and damaged by the psychiatric establishment.” The book is a history of the treatment of the severely mentally ill in the United States from colonial times until today, and it may surprise many readers who assume that the modern psychopharmacology era has “revolutionized” the care of the severely mentally ill. The second edition of Mad in America has just recently been published. (more…)
Simon Walls’ continues his cross-Canada pilgrimage of self-discovery and sharing
Singer-songwriter Simon Walls’ travels began shortly after the loss of a friend to suicide. He spent seven months in the Katimavik program and then walked across Spain, accompanied by the book “The Pilgrimage”, by Paulo Coelho.
In April 2010 he left Victoria on what will be a cross-Canada walk—to share his music and experiences. (more…)
