Archive for the ‘Child & Family Debates’ Category
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Mentally ill offenders swamping prisons
Wednesday, November 17th, 2010
Nov. 17, 2010
The glut of psychiatric offenders was underlined recently by a string of recent orders from Toronto judges for hospital officials to stop shunting unfit offenders to provincial jails. With hospital and jail officials locked in battle over who will house them, police have been forced to warehouse them in holding cells… Almost 30 per cent of the jail population is comprised of the developmentally handicapped, inmates with psychiatric disorders or serious drug and alcohol problems… In some sense, the criminal law system is the social net of last resort.
Tags: corrections, crime prevention, disabilities, mental Health
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Family courts filled with litigants and no one to guide them
Wednesday, November 10th, 2010
Nov 10 2010
Four years ago, Ontario became the first province in Canada to regulate paralegals. Then-attorney general Michael Bryant promised that the newly proclaimed Access to Justice Act would raise the status of paralegals, protect the public and provide more choice for consumers. Things didn’t quite work out that way. Almost two-thirds of Ontarians who appear in family court are now unrepresented. They can’t afford a lawyer and — thanks to the new law — they can longer use a paralegal for uncontested divorces, child custody arrangements or financial support orders.
Tags: poverty, rights, standard of living
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Ontario parents who fail to pay support can lose car
Tuesday, November 9th, 2010
Nov. 8, 2010
Starting December 1, people caught driving [with a suspended licence for failing to pay family support] will have their vehicles suspended for seven days… Such a remedy is a punitive measure that goes beyond the transportation ministry’s jurisdiction and does not take into account legimate reasons for missed support payments, says Lloyd Gorling, founder of Ex-fathers, an advocacy group for divorced dads… “How are you going to make support payments if you can’t get to work?”…
Tags: rights, women, youth
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Bill C-53: Justice needs to be swifter
Monday, November 8th, 2010
Nov 08 2010
“The short, simple and efficient criminal trial of the 1970s has been replaced by the long, complex and often inefficient criminal trial of the 21st century,” stated former Superior Court chief justice Patrick LeSage and Justice Michael Code in their 2008 report. Added to the new legal complexities are the multiple accused, dozens of lawyers and hundreds of witnesses involved in trials involving gangs, white-collar crime or terrorism-related charges. It is little wonder, then, that the wheels of justice grind so slowly that “mega-trials” can take years to complete and cost millions of dollars.
Tags: crime prevention, rights, standard of living
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Alcohol the most lethal drug: study
Monday, November 1st, 2010
Nov. 01, 2010
Experts said the study should prompt countries to reconsider how they classify drugs… “What governments decide is illegal is not always based on science,” said Mr. van den Brink. He said considerations about revenue and taxation, like those garnered from the alcohol and tobacco industries, may influence decisions about which substances to regulate or outlaw. “Drugs that are legal cause at least as much damage, if not more, than drugs that are illicit,” he said.
Tags: Health, mental Health, youth
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Canadian seniors living longer, better, report says
Sunday, October 31st, 2010
October 30, 2010
Canada’s seniors are living longer and are vastly less likely to struggle with poverty than they were three decades ago, but there’s work to be done in areas such as diagnosing and treating mental illness, reducing social isolation and combating the “mythology” of aging, Canada’s chief public health officer said… Life expectancy continues to rise, sitting at 78 years for men and 83 years on average for women, and along with enjoying longer lives, there’s evidence of rising quality of life… Still, aboriginal seniors in Canada fare more poorly both in terms of life expectancy and poverty.
Tags: Health, standard of living
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Middle-class Canadians are still waiting for a federal champion
Tuesday, October 26th, 2010
October 26, 2010
Polls have shown little change in voter preference over the last few years. To date, no federal party has managed to capture our hearts and minds. Canadians are still waiting for a political party to show them how it will make Canada a better place for our children and grandchildren. When that happens the numbers will change. Until then Canadians watch, wait and evaluate.
Tags: budget, economy, ideology
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How poverty can harm a child’s mind and body
Monday, October 18th, 2010
October 17, 2010
At first glance, the effects of poverty on children are obvious. Secondhand clothes. No cool toys. An extra reliance on school lunches… Look below the surface and the loss of potential wreaked by poverty becomes evident… Experts say poverty can lead to serious, long-lasting health problems that can follow a child into adulthood, even when socio-economic conditions change later in life, and cost the government millions in health costs.
Tags: Health, participation, poverty, standard of living, youth
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We don’t need Grandpa Prisons, we need a dementia strategy
Friday, October 15th, 2010
Oct. 13, 2010
Joe McLeod, Alzheimer’s patient, suddenly became Joe McLeod, wife beater. And this is where the story truly turns Kafkaesque. Joe McLeod didn’t get help. He spent more than a month in jail (the medical unit of the Winnipeg Remand Centre, to be more precise). He suffered a lot, scared and confused. That’s because his wife, the person who cared for him around the clock, was forbidden from seeing him because she was considered a victim of domestic violence.
Tags: crime prevention, disabilities, mental Health
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Ignatieff offers overstretched families a break
Wednesday, October 13th, 2010
Oct 13 2010
Four principal objections have been raised… It’s unaffordable… It’s untimely… It’s unnecessary… It doesn’t solve the fundamental problem… [But] The Liberal plan would not break the bank or jeopardize economic growth. It would give Canadians a choice: A government that spends their money on military hardware and prisons or one that uses their tax dollars to alleviate the strains of an aging society.
Tags: disabilities, Health, standard of living
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