SALOME a New, Old Solution?
Photo Credit: lovetoknow

The dispensing of heroin by SALOME in Vancouver, although controversial by North American standards, is currently in use in the Netherlands, Switzerland and Australia and has been well demonstrated as successful in a 1995 Liverpool test story. The dispensation of heroin and cocaine in Liverpool was a benchmark case study with startling results in aggravated crime reduction, reduction in property crime, reductions in high use neighbourhood violence, and addict deaths. Not only did the study see reductions in the negative results of addiction, the program also saw increased addict treatment, increased social integration of addicted persons and increased recovery rates. The Chapel Street Program, an anathema to the U.S. war on drugs and the newly chosen path of our current Prime Minister despite attitudes of Canadians in recent polls, shines a clear and brilliant light on a problem that drug criminalization has failed to resolve or abate.

The Chapel Street Clinic in Widnes (a suburb of Liverpool) run by Dr. John Marks until 1995 was the most famous holdout for the old British system of “free drug maintenance,” ended through legislation in 1968. The incredible success of this small Liverpool clinic had been a stark contrast to the documented failure of the other internal and external alternatives. The U.S. government had of course maintained constant pressure on the British government to shut down this glaring example of an approach that flew in the face of American drug war orthodoxy.
(more…)

Photo Credit: Aftermath News

The City of Vancouver, The Vancouver Police Department (VPD) and the provincial government have chosen to begin installing video surveillance cameras in preparation for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic games, with no guarantees that they will be dismantled or removed after the games’ completion. The VPD and pro-surveillance advocates use a continual comparative to London and the city’s use of closed-circuit television (CCTV) to prevent crime, and the success the program has delivered. The BC Civil Liberties Association has a contrary viewpoint, concerned about the intrusion on privacy the program facilitates in comparison with the real benefits in solving and addressing crime. I think it is time to take a moment to look at some “British facts” regarding CCTV cameras.

London’s 2008 metropolitan police internal report obtained through a Freedom of Information request by the Liberal-Democrats notes that Great Britain has over 4 million CCTV cameras country-wide, both publicly and privately operated. There are over 1 million such cameras in London alone, 10,524 of which are funded by taxpayers, making London the most “watched” city in the world. Yet their crime solution rate is currently no better than Vancouver’s. The average person in London can expect to be observed on CCTV camera over 300 times in an average day. With only 1% of the worlds population, Great Britain has 20% of the worlds CCTV cameras in operation and the 2008 report from the metropolitan police admits that only one crime per year is solved for every 1,000 CCTV cameras installed in the UK.
(more…)

An "Olympic" Misconception

I would like to take a few minutes to clear up an “Olympic” misconception. As a resident of British Columbia I have heard repeatedly during discussions in the media of the fact that a “vote” was held by the provincial government to give the people of the province a voice in choosing to host the 2010 games. This mantra is most loudly trumpeted by the provincial Liberals, The Vancouver Olympic Committee or zealot Olympic supporters when faced with protest or pointed questions over ballooning costs. I decided to review the facts. I present my findings here for your assessment. I think the results offer a startling view of the actual legitimacy of the games and the inclusion (or lack thereof) within the democratic process afforded to the people of British Columbia that is becoming all too familiar in politics today.
(more…)

"Lest We Forget"

To my family and my forefathers whom sacrificed themselves and their futures for all that I have enjoyed in my life, I hope you hear this as my words; defending your gifts:

Remembering our dead and actually learning form their suffering and sacrifice are not the same things. Remembering Canada’s fallen, although sentimental and poignant, is one thing; I have lost family in all the great wars of Canada’s history since 1831 defending our world from those whom would impose their beliefs at the point of a gun or tank turret, a principle for which my grandfather fought and spent four years as a German POW in Bavaria, leaving his infant sons and wife to cold fortune and hope. Remembering these men’s sacrifice, however, (there were no women in combat roles at this time) without “learning” from their sacrifice makes their deaths, their solitude, their pain and the emotional agony they endured pointless.
(more…)

"R.C.M.P. Stare Down Protest"

Senior R.C.M.P. Officials can deny harassing Vancouver Olympic protesters all they want and Pat McDonnel can sit and feint innocence as long as he can legally cover it up or maintain deniability, but lets look at the truth – the R.C.M.P.’s actions, not statements, and I.S.U. security behaviours for the 2010 Olympics.

Danika Surm, friend of open anti-Olympic protester Chris Shaw, claims she was approached by two plainclothed Olympic security officers and questioned about her friendship with an anti-Olympic protester. Surm said “she was on her way to class at a south Vancouver campus when she was approached by two plainclothed police officers with the Integrated Security Unit, the force in charge of Olympic security. The two officers questioned her about her friendship with Chris, who teaches neuroscience at the University of British Columbia, and what she knew about his plans to protest against the Olympics in February. The R.C.M.P. then did the same thing to Chris Shaw’s ex-wife, even though the two haven’t been married for 15 years.
(more…)

Olympic View of Vancouver City Hall

The arrival of the Olympic torch today at Victoria International and its touchdown mark the beginning of the most exclusive and non-public games ever held in Canada, with the largest security force ever assembled and the greatest trampling of human rights and the laws of this country ever executed in this free and just society.

16,000 security personnel have been amassed in legion with orders and directives kept hidden from the people of this “JUST SOCIETY”. CSIS, our own CIA is intercepting emails and cell phone chatter for “hot word” conversations. Known protesters have been intimidated and touched by I.S.U. to ensure they know they are being watched. Municipal By laws have been amended to afford police draconian abilities to squash protest, without having the right to first be tested by the Supreme Court to ensure they pass constitutional muster and will not even be heard until after these games are completed. Six Billion dollars of taxpayer money has been spent to date renovating primping and preening the provincial image, to sell a province already groaning under the current rate of growth. The poor are now able to be “legally” swept from the public view of the world to non-existent shelters for their protection. The lies have been told… most of which promised not to do all of the things I have listed previously in this article, now on with the professional sports games. (These are now paid athelets; amateur requirements were long ago stripped from the games)
(more…)

"A closer view"

The true test of freedom of expression is not found in the voicing of the concurring viewpoint, it is however clearly and expressly found or displayed in the protection of the dissenting one. Freedom of Expression, (there is no freedom of speech per se in the Charter) subsection two of the Fundamental Freedoms of the Charter of Rights along with Freedom of Assembly and Association cannot withstand an “A la carte” mentality, not for “THE PEOPLE”. Governments however love it, as it eats away at the very fabric of the statements, neuters the strength of peoples resolve, divides and renders mute the very voice of freedom and its meaning. One cannot as a society say “these topics” may be discussed yet “those topics” may not and still cling to any notion of the principles enshrined in these charter freedoms without the acceptance of censorship, hypocrisy and the eventual death of the very freedoms themselves.

Critical thinking and self filtering are skills greatly needed in today’s society. They are critical skills and must be ever more a part of the educational lexicon if the very foundation of freedom that we embrace as Canadians is to continue. “Hate” as defined by the Supreme Court, as the “lone caveat” to freedom of expression becomes a dangerous quagmire when it drives dissenting view underground to hidden rooms without the clarity of discussion or alternatives. Throwing that Caveat ruling around like stones, to edit expression, should be a principal of great concern.
(more…)