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The social costs of policing Victoria’s poor

March 8th, 2012 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on The social costs of policing Victoria’s poor)

A peer research project confirms that police have become the de facto first responders for drug and mental health issues

Cuts to health services and income supports for people living in poverty, including those with disabilities involving mental health and illicit drug use, have contributed to a situation where police now act as de facto “first responders” to health-related issues on city streets. The costs of policing poverty are high, and are not limited to the financial costs of spending more on approaches that do not work. (more…)

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Bearing witness to the evil of Auschwitz

February 24th, 2012 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Bearing witness to the evil of Auschwitz)

Sei-in Remy Jordan experienced an interfaith retreat ‘bearing witness’ to the horrors of Auschwitz and Birkenau

More than six million Jewish people were killed in the atrocities of the Holocaust. Others were also targeted, including Gypsies and homosexuals. Each year, on January 27, a day of international remembrance marks the liberation of the largest Nazi death camp, Auschwitz-Birkenau, by Soviet troops in 1945.

Over the years, many people have visited Auschwitz-Birkenau, and other Nazi death camps, to educate themselves about what happened and to help prevent such atrocities from ever happening again. A group called the Zen Peacemakers held a “bearing witness” retreat at Auschwitz in the spring of 2010. Zen practitioner Sei-in Remy Jordan from Victoria, B.C. was there. (more…)

Justice system struggles with FASD

January 26th, 2012 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Justice system struggles with FASD)

Estimates of people with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder in the adult prison population are as high as 50 to 80 per cent

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is an umbrella term used to describe the range of disabilities that result from prenatal alcohol exposure. It is the leading known cause of developmental disability in Canada.

The serious health, social and economic impacts of FASD are now being recognized. In the province of Alberta, for example, it’s estimated that half of all children in care have FASD; one study has estimated that half of all young offenders have the disability as well. FASD is also widespread among inmates in Canadian prisons. Although research suggests that up to half of the prison population has FASD, little has been done within corrections to address this problem. (more…)

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Who benefits from prostitution laws?

January 19th, 2012 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (0 Comments)

John Lowman challenges government to cut hypocrisy and determine what prostitution law and policy should accomplish

Prostitution is legal in Canada, while soliciting is not, exemplifying the hypocrisy present in our society’s responses to it, according to John Lowman, a professor at Simon Fraser University and prostitution policy expert. Prof. Lowman was an expert witness at the Pickton inquiry, which is examining the disappearance of women from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Dr. Lowman has proposed four goals in a decriminalization process. (more…)

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Bible school child abuse alleged

November 24th, 2011 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on Bible school child abuse alleged)

Linda Fossen says that she, and over eighty other children, suffered extreme abuse at Canada’s oldest Bible school

Linda Fossen, a former student at the Prairie Bible Institute near Three Hills, Alberta, has alleged that she and dozens of other children were abused by PBI staff from the 1950s to as recently as five years ago. The explosive claim made headlines in Canada and abroad.

Linda first wrote about her experiences of abuse and recovery in a book called “Out of the Miry Clay” in 2008 and she shares her past and present experiences online. She reports that the victims of the abuses are too terrified to speak out about them. Linda also writes that some of the people who support the Bible college have lashed out against her, praying against her as a so-called “enemy of God”. Linda has established an on-line petition related to the allegations. (more…)

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After the ruling, what’s next?

October 6th, 2011 | Posted by pfmarchive in uncategorized - (Comments Off on After the ruling, what’s next?)

The Insite decision could signal a fundamental change in the way Canadian society approaches and deals with addiction

The Supreme Court of Canada’s decision of September 30, 2011 regarding the continuation of the Insite supervised injection site has been seen as a victory for harm reduction policies and provincial and individual rights. It has also been portrayed as a repudiation of the Harper government’s focus on incarceration and punishment as an approach for dealing with drug-related social and health problems…a triumph of reason over ideology.

Now a larger question looms. What impacts might this decision have beyond the Vancouver supervised injection program—which is the only program of its kind in North America? It seems certain that ongoing ideological battles over harm reduction haven’t ended. But is it possible that the court’s decision reflects a fundamental change in the way Canadian society approaches and deals with addiction and its associated harms?

We look at the supervised injection program—and the court decision—with three guests. (more…)

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