Category Archives: Carleton assignments

BC’s naloxone funding is a “good start” says Vancouver Police but the opioid crisis needs ongoing strategy.

Assignment 4, ATI_Assignment, ATI_Story, Masters2017_4
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Photo courtesy of College of Pharmacists of British Columbia

By Maureen McEwan

The topic: British Columbia continues to face an opioid crisis. The province declared a public health emergency last April in response to an increase in drug overdoses and deaths.

In September, Premier Christy Clark announced 10 million dollars to go towards combatting overdoses and drug-related deaths. The BC Ministry of Health is providing 1.1 million dollars to provincial police forces for response training and supplies to better prepare the forces. The department’s documented goal is to ‘improve immediate responses from police to an overdose’ by training municipal and RCMP forces in naloxone administration.

(Please click the link below to view the Ministry of Health’s document)

Joint Ministry of Health and Public Safety Strategies (p. 1)
View entire document on DocumentCloud

Naloxone is a medication which ‘reverses the effects of an overdose from opioids e.g. heroin, methadone, fentanyl, morphine.’ It has been used effectively by first responders – paramedics, firefighters, etc. – in emergency situations and has saved lives from fatal overdose.

What’s new: Until December, officers in BC could be investigated by the Independent Investigations Office (IIO) during ‘officer-related incidents of death or serious harm.’ The IIO’s mandate was widely considered as a barrier to officers responding in critical opioid incidents. But the watchdog announced it will no longer investigate when an officer uses Naloxone or CPR in order to save a life. This may allow officers to use their new naloxone training in a crisis more readily.

Why it’s important: The Ministry of Health reports there were over 900 drug overdose fatalities in BC last year- the highest number in decades and the highest in Canada.

Municipal and RCMP forces are gradually being trained Canada-wide but the provincial strategies vary. Several cities, such as Calgary and Toronto, have begun training their municipal forces in naloxone administration. The RCMP has trained many members in different regions. But there are large urban areas without any Naloxone officer training in place.

If the training of BC’s forces improves overdose responses, other provinces may follow. With faster response times, lives could be saved across the country.

How to Use Naloxone - BC Centre for Disease Control (p. 1)
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What the government says: Sarah Newton works for the B.C Ministry of Health’s Government Communication and Public Engagement Department. She provided a statement on behalf of the Ministry in response to interview requests.

“In B.C., we are doing everything we can to keep people safe, including expanding access to life-saving naloxone.”

The statement confirms that the province provided 1.1 million to fund intranasal naloxone costs and administration training for municipal police and RCMP. The verified funding amount currently stands at 700,000 dollars less than the initial 1.8 million proposed by the provincial government.

What others say: Jason Doucette is a Media Relations Officer at the Vancouver Police Department (VPD). In an email interview, he says the VPD was the first department in Canada to train sworn and civilian members to administer nasal naloxone. The issue and training began in September.

“The supply of naloxone we purchased is good for 18 months. The cost of replacement will be an on-going expense for the VPD every 18 -24 months. The 1.8 million dollars is a good start,” he says, referring to the Ministry’s initiatives.

(Please click below to view the Ministry’s open data file in full).

Doucette adds that the VPD has shared all of its Naloxone training materials with different police agencies across the country.

The RCMP and Toward the Heart did not respond to questions before the article was published. Vancouver Coastal Health – Insite declined to interview.

What’s next: The mayors of the largest cities and several federal cabinet ministers met on Feb. 24 to discuss escalating drug-usage and deaths. They are pledging to work together in response to the country’s overdose crises, with BC leading the task force.

The western province serves as the provincial model in opioid crisis-response. The widespread training of police and RCMP forces in naloxone administration may improve immediate responses in ‘high risk areas,’ as the VPD suggests. As a result, BC could see a decrease in overdose deaths in future.

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For instructor reference:

What is the information?
The information was a request released on January 27th, 2017 to a political party for a financial breakdown from the Ministry of Health. It requested a specific breakdown of the 10 million announced by the Premier to combat overdose deaths in September at the UBCM and the precise initiatives that the funding was allocated to in that proposal.

From which department did these pages come?
The BC Ministry of Health – Open Data Website retrieval.

Why was this information helpful?
The information was helpful because training for naloxone is seemingly sporadic nation-wide. BC has put forth funding and policy in order to facilitate mass training for its municipal and RCMP officers. As legislation around naloxone has loosened in the past year, more and more its use is being seen in major Canadian cities.
There was a discrepancy in the BC funding total which was significant but that could be attributed to a number of factors. It was confirmed through communication with the Ministry as 1.1 million.
The information was also very intriguing in relation to the IIO’s mandate and December announcement. Officers in BC may start to engage more as first responders in incidents of opioid overdose moving forward.

The legacy of the 1967 Omnibus Bill and those still waiting for “an act of recognition.”

Assignment 2, Masters2017_2, Whatever-Happened-To? Assignment
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Pierre Elliott Trudeau speaking to the press after Bill C-195 is tabled. Photo courtesy of the CBC Archives.

Fifty years ago, it was a bold statement. Pierre Elliott Trudeau declared publicly that “there’s no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation.” As Minister of Justice, Trudeau introduced The Criminal Law Amendment Act or C-195 on December 21st, 1967. The omnibus bill proposed controversial reforms to the Criminal Code including the decriminalization of homosexuality and the legalization of abortion under certain conditions.

Days before Trudeau tabled the bill, Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson tendered his resignation and Cabinet Members questioned the bill’s language, suggesting it be pushed to later session. Trudeau urged them to proceed with the reforms, regardless of timing or politics: “If the government was prepared to deal with abortion, it might just as well deal with gross indecency as well.”

(Please click the link below to view some Cabinet Conclusions from December 19th, 1967.)

Cabinet Conclusions - December 19th, 1967 (p. 1)
The Minister of Justice Pierre Elliott Trudeau speaks to the proposed Criminal Code reforms and the inclusion of "gross indecency" with fellow Cabinet Members. Source: Library and Archives Canada
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The legislation was amended and passed as Bill C-150 when Trudeau was prime minister.

Rebecca Bromwich is a lawyer and a professor at Carleton University. Bromwich describes the legislation as a “watershed” event in Canadian criminal law which allowed for further legal reforms and for the development of a more accepting society.

“People have called it the “Bedroom Bill” because it moved criminal law out of a kind of moralizing of people’s sexuality into a very kind of different perspective on what types of conduct should be criminal,” Bromwich says. “And so it decriminalized homosexuality. And at the time, there were people in penitentiaries serving time for same-sex, sexual conduct.”

(Please click the link below to see the introduction of Bill C-195 to the House on December 21st, 1967.)

The Introduction of Bill C-195 in the House of Commons (p. 29)
As introduced by the Minister of Justice Pierre Elliott Trudeau on December 21st, 1967.
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Bromwich explains that the charge of “gross indecency” criminalized consensual sexual contact. At the time, she says there was no recognition of same-sex sexual contact and no distinction between assaultive and consensual sexual contact in this area of law.

“It was all an abomination. It was all criminal,” Bromwich says.

The last person to be criminally convicted for homosexual acts was Everett Klippert. Prior to the reforms, Klippert was incarcerated twice on dozens of charges of gross indecency in the 1960s. Following his last conviction, he filed an application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada on the charge of “dangerous sexual offender.”

After the application to appeal was granted, lawyer Brian Crane received a request to assist Klippert. Crane drafted a factum and appeared before the Supreme Court, arguing Klippert’s case briefly in the early stage of his appeal.

“It was a question of whether the law was appropriate. And that was the issue – a pretty simple issue,” Crane says.

In November 1967, Klippert lost the appeal at the Supreme Court in a 3-2 ruling. The dissenting justices wrote reasons “indicating the unsatisfactory state of the law,” Crane remembers. He also recalls the case being cited in the House by different parliamentarians. Crane describes Klippert’s case as having a “significant effect” on the Liberal omnibus bill.

“It became a matter of public attention and it certainly was one of the factors, if not the major factor, in having that legislation come forward.” Crane says.

Decades later, with a second Prime Minister Trudeau in office, the question of legal legacy arises. In November, the government announced the repeal Section 159 of the Criminal Code – a law widely-held as discriminatory to homosexual Canadians. This week, they announced further revisions with the removal of “zombie laws” on abortion and other areas.

But the legal history raises another concern for Klippert’s lawyer. Crane asks about a general pardon for those like Klippert, convicted of similar crimes.

“It’s righting a historical wrong,” Crane says. “And I think from the gay rights perspective it would be, would be certainly, important and useful and I imagine would get unanimous consent in the House.”

In 2016, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government announced its recommendation for Klippert’s posthumous pardon but it has yet to be granted.

“To have a pardon – it’s an important historical act, I would think. An act of recognition,” Crane says.

Brian Crane is a partner at the Gowling WLG law firm in Ottawa.

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Documentation Notes for the Instructors:

Document 1
What is the documentation?
The debates or Hansard from the House of Commons on December 21st, 1967.

How did you find/obtain it?
After looking through different government archives online, I reached out to a source at the Canadian Parliamentary Press Gallery. The source was able to locate the Hansard and send me a copy. We verified the copyright conclusions prior to posting online.

Why was the documentation helpful?
It was helpful though the tabling of C-195 was succinct. It was my assumption that lengthier debate ensued after the Minister of Justice Pierre Trudeau tabled the bill on the floor; however, it went to committee it seems. The bill was amended (to C-150) over several parliamentary sessions and years, therefore there was much documentation to sift through ultimately. This was a useful perspective for the initial C-195 tabling.

Document 2
What is the documentation?
A selection of Cabinet Conclusions from December 19th, 1967 which notes discussion on the Criminal Code reforms.

How did you find/obtain it?
I accessed it through different searches on the Library and Archives Canada website.

Why was the documentation helpful?
It was very helpful. There were numerous Cabinet Conclusions from the week before the bill was tabled that were incredibly interesting. The internal politics at the end of that particular session appeared tenuous – not to mention the wider societal political context. Specifically, the documentation helped me to better understand the discussion around the bill’s language and timing. It also re-inforced the idea that Minister of Justice Trudeau was adamant about the bill’s tabling at the end of 1967.

Additional Documents
I also included hyperlinks to the Klippert Supreme Court Case in 1967 and to Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s 1967 comments to the media for added reference.

Veterans interned: What Canada did to the Japanese-Canadian soldiers of the First World War

Assignment 2, Masters2017_2, , ,
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There are some moments in Canadian history that are unforgettable. And then there are others Canada seems eager to forget.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Vimy Ridge, a triumph for Canadian troops in the Second World War. One of these troops was Zennosuke Inouye, who fought in the Canadian Over-Seas Expeditionary Force for the escarpment in Vimy.

Inouye served in the Canadian military despite the racism Japanese Canadians were subjected to. Archives Canada: RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 4703 – 5.

Originally, Inouye was not allowed to serve in the war. Linda Kawamoto Reid, an archivist for the Nikkei Place, says this stemmed from a distrust of Japanese Canadians.

“There was this ‘how could you trust a Jap working beside you?’ mentality,” she says in a phone interview.

Despite the conscription laws of the time, Inouye was rejected by the Dominion military authorities in British Columbia because he was of Japanese descent, according to an article in The Canadian Historical Review. Determined to serve his country, he and 222 other Japanese Canadians enlisted in Alberta.

In April 1917, Inouye had just fended off trench fever and was previously wounded in the Battle of the Somme. At Vimy, his upper arm was torn apart by shrapnel, and he spent almost two months in the war hospital in Bristol. When he arrived back home in Canada, he purchased land near Surrey, B.C. to start a fruit farm for him and his family.

Inouye’s casualty form shows when he arrived in France to serve. Archives Canada: RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 4703 – 5.
Page 2 of Inouye’s casualty form. Form that he was wounded once, and that he sustained a gun shot wound (GSW). Archives Canada: RG 150, Accession 1992-93/166, Box 4703 – 5.

History professor Peter Neary of the University of Western Ontario writes, “He was loyal to his family and to his adopted country. In the case of the second loyalty, he now had a scar on his arm to prove it. This was a badge of honour that gave him a new identity as a Canadian.”

On the third anniversary of Vimy Ridge, Japanese-Canadian veterans were honoured with the erection of a memorial in Stanley Park, Vancouver. Atop the monument, an eternal flame was lit.

Inouye may have thought he’d never have to fight for land again. But 25 years later, he did.

This year also marks the 75th anniversary of the internment of Japanese Canadians. In 1942, the Privy Council relocated over 12,000 Japanese Canadians in B.C. to internment camps. Among the thousands were 58 Japanese-Canadian veterans of the First World War. Inouye was given a number, 03243, and separated from his sons.

Inouye’s farm land, which he had rented to a neighbour before he was abruptly relocated in an attempt to protect it, was claimed by the secretary of state and resold to the incoming veterans of the Second World War. The custodian of the secretary of state deemed this land “enemy property.”

In a letter of protest to Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, Inouye wrote, “Your petitioner believes that his loyalty to Canada has been well tested in the great war, and that it does not seem fair for the government to take away from one ex-service man a property so dear to him in order that it may be given to [a] soldier returning from the present war.”

Inouye wasn’t the only veteran who felt forgotten. “One veteran caught up in the government sweep threw his medals into the Skeena River in disgust,” writes Neary.

While the government sent these veterans to detention camps, the flame on the Japanese Canadian War Memorial was extinguished.

Eighty letters between Inouye and various recipients have been found and archived by the Nikkei Place as he fought to get his farm land back. Five years after the war, Inouye was the only Japanese-Canadian veteran to have his land returned to him. His home had burned down the year before he returned, and was only ensured for $300 by the custodian of the secretary of state. At age 64, Inouye had to rebuild.

Despite the racism that Inouye and bother Japanese Canadians faced, they continued to serve in Canada’s army. Mixed race Japanese Canadians, and those married to caucasians, were excluded from internment, and about 160 enlisted to serve in the Second World War as interpreters. Japanese Canadians deported to Japan after the war were later recruited to serve with the Canadian troops in the Korean War.

Reid says she recently interviewed a Japanese Canadian veteran of the Korean War and asked him why he agreed to serve a country where his people had faced so much discrimination. The man told her he feels Canadian and loves this country.

“I think they felt they could make a difference,” she says. “It was a statement.”

So why don’t most Canadians know about this?

“I don’t think it’s well-documented, talked about or illuminated,” Reid says. “I would encourage Canadians not to buy into that.”

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Notes about documentation for my professor:

There were other documents that I wanted to use from the Nikkei Place. On their website, it said “copyright: open access” so I assumed I could use that. When I did my interview with the archivist, she informed me that I could not use them without submitting a form, so I submitted one. I have not heard back yet (I’ve followed up, but haven’t gotten a response) , so I went in a different direction. Instead, I hyperlinked the Nikkei Place collection so readers could view it if they were so inclined.

1) Attestation Paper: the very first document a soldier signs in order to enlist in the expeditionary forces. I liked this because it clearly showed his name and the force he served on. This would have been a great personal victory for Inouye, who travelled all the way into Alberta in order to enlist. I found it on Archives Canada.

2) Casualty form: a form that records the relocations, injuries, and deaths of any individual soldier. Though this one is harder to read, you can see clearly on the first page when he was sent to France, and on the second page when he was wounded. I found it on Archives Canada, where I also found information on how to read it. 

Heritage Regulations Restrict Evolution of Habitat 67

Assignment 2
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In 1966 Moshe Safdie explained his vision for Habitat 67, his housing complex to be built for Expo 67 in Montreal. His original vision had not only apartments, but also other elements such as schools, shopping, and cultural spaces, but the Canadian Corporation for the 1967 World Exhibition, the organization in charge of Expo, reduced his original vision to include only residential units. He hoped the other phases would be added after Expo, and that the building would accelerate the development of the other riverfront areas. He also hoped that Habitat would mix urban and suburban lifestyles.

Fifty years later his original vision, hopes and dreams for Habitat 67 have never materialized. The building still stands as it was built as a pavilion for Expo; none of the other elements of Safdie’s original vision have been added to the building, or on Cité du Havre, the neighbourhood where Habitat 67 is located. As such, over time the area has become quite isolated from the rest of the city, and little has been done to develop Habitat 67 or Cite du Havre in line with Moshe Safdie’s original plan for a mixed-use living environment.

Francois Goneau, Media Relations Officer with the City of Montreal points out that the City of Montreal considers Habitat 67 as a “building of modern heritage” and is situated in a sector of “notable heritage value”, namely Cité du Havre.

Importance of Cite du Havre and Habitat 67 (p. 75)
Cite du Havre served as the gateway to Expo 67, and Habitat 67, built on this site, has become an icon of modern heritage.
View entire document on DocumentCloud
Source: Évaluation du patrimoine urbain, Arrondissement de Ville-Marie, Ville de Montréal, 2005.

This evaluation of urban heritage for the Borough of Ville-Marie published in 2005, obtained from the City of Montreal, is helpful because it explains the significance of Cité du Havre and Habitat 67 as heritage sites.

On a more formal level, Habitat 67 obtained heritage classification by the City of Montreal in 2007 and the Province of Quebec in 2009, a few years after the above evaluation was published. But these heritage evaluations and designations were just the beginning. The city moved forward to place more restrictions on how Cite du Havre could be developed, and Habitat 67 be protected as its main focal point.

A document outlining urban planning regulations for the Borough of Ville-Marie also received from the City of Montreal, current as of December 1st 2016 is important to note because it outlines specific restrictions for Cité du Havre.

Building restrictions for Cite du Havre, anchored around Habitat (p. 62)
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Source: Codification administrative du règlement d’urbanism de l’arrondissement de Ville-Marie, Ville de Montréal, 2016.

Notably, that Habitat 67 must be the main focus and serve as architectural inspiration for the new structures. Also, the art objects as well as the street furniture installed on Cite du Havre, for Expo, must be preserved.

While Goneau states that heritage regulations don’t aim to prevent development, but aim to “preserve and enhance” Habitat 67 and its environment, another perspective may consider how with such limitations on construction, Habitat 67 has over time become very isolated from the rest of Montreal.

Raphaël Fischler, Associate Professor in the School of Urban Planning at McGill University notes this sense of isolation, and suggests that better integration with the city is “possible in the long term”, but would require a major overhaul to the area around Habitat 67, including ceasing port activities and relocating major highways.

This said, Fischler outlines a certain appeal in this sense of isolation

“For now, residents of Habitat 67 can enjoy their great views and the prestige of their building, and can take a short drive to all activities and facilities in downtown Montreal.”

Heritage preservation by the City of Montreal is commendable. But in this case, it would seem that the very acts of aiming to enhance Habitat 67 and Cité du Havre have in turn moved them even further away from potentially fulfilling Moshe Safdie’s original vision of mixed-use complex with more than just luxury condos, 50 years later.

Bytown: Ottawa’s capital of parking tickets

Assignment 2, DataJournalism2_2016
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Over the past five years, more than 200,000 parking tickets with fines totalling $7.3 million have been handed out along the streets of Ottawa’s Byward Market, according to documents obtained through an access to information request.

In fact, drivers parked alongside York and George streets alone, the city’s two most ticketed streets, and a popular parking destination for many bar and restaurant goers, shoppers and tourists alike, received more than 100,000 tickets during this period.

“There are quite a few people who complain about parking tickets,” said David Phillips, an Ottawa area farmer and the operator of a family owned fruit stand at the Byward outdoor market. “They’re here for just a minute, and, surprise, they got a ticket.”

The type of violations handed out along these two streets, which run side-by-side for four blocks between Sussex Drive and King Edward Avenue, range from the benign, 57,000 tickets were issued for parking in a “paid parking zone,” presumably without paying, to the unusual, 60 drivers were ticketed for parking with their vehicles facing in the wrong direction.

Another 105 drivers received tickets for parking on the sidewalk, while 10 drivers were ticketed for stopping on the “roadway side” of a parked vehicle, meaning they were double parked.

Then there were the fines unique to Ottawa, or to a nation’s capital at least.

For example, 177 drivers were ticketed for parking on City of Ottawa property, while four drivers received $50 fines for parking in a diplomatic zone, no doubt parked out front of the American embassy on Sussex Drive.

But Ottawa city councillor for Rideau-Vanier, Mathieu Fleury, says the market’s parking woes are not as simple as a lack of capacity or the strict enforcement of regulations.

“We recognized that parking was an issue, particularly with so many 15-minute or 1-hour parking zones,” said Fleury. “So we took action and extended these times by creating more two-hour parking zones.”


Source: City of Ottawa parking data.

Fleury says these changes permit lunch-time visitors and tourists to enjoy the market, while still allowing for the high turnover in parking availability the market needs.

“What we wanted to avoid was making all day parking on the street favourable for government workers, the Chateau Laurier or people working on the Hill,” said Fleury. “And I think a lot of businesses support us in this.”

Big ticket fines

There are also the big ticket items, the violations with fines that go well beyond the $30 to $40 average.

For instance, unauthorized parking in a space reserved for persons with physical disabilities carries a fine of up to $350, though five of six violations of this type along York and George streets in the past five years resulted in fines of $175 or less.

Meanwhile, being caught parked in a designated fire route cost 23 drivers $100 each over the past five years, while stopping in a bus zone or interfering with highway sweeping – an offence that occurred twice at the same address on York Street since 2011, a location with no highway in sight – cost ticketed drivers $85 a piece.

List of parking violations and fines (p. 1)
A full list of all City of Ottawa parking violations and the associated fines.
View entire document on DocumentCloud

In total, Ottawa parking attendants handed out more than $92 million in fines over the past five years. The year with the highest amount in total violations, 2015, saw roughly $20.5 million in fines distributed among more than 390,000 tickets – an average of about $52 a ticket.

The overall increase in total fines between 2014 and 2015 was a little less than $3 million – a jump of roughly 16.2 per cent in a single year.