Tag: canada

BC decriminalizes hard drugs amid fentanyl crisis

On Tuesday, following the granting of a three-year exemption from Health Canada, British Columbia became the first province in Canada to decriminalize hard drugs, with the government arguing that “substance use is a public health matter, not a criminal justice issue.”

Many have argued that it will only result in more drugs on the street and, inevitably, more dead British Columbians, while some have praised the move as a step in the right direction.

Under the new laws, adults found possessing less than 2.5 grams of certain formerly-illicit drugs will not face criminal charges, nor will they have the substances seized by law enforcement.

Drugs that can now be possessed and used without punishment include opioids, such as heroin, morphine, fentanyl, crack and powder cocaine, meth, and MDMA. 

The BC government emphasized that “decriminalization is not legalization,” noting that, “under this exemption, illegal drugs (including those listed above) are not legalized and will not be sold in stores. Drug trafficking remains illegal, regardless of the amount of drug(s) in possession.” They added that all prior restrictions relating to drug use at schools, airports, and private establishments will remain in place.

While the aforementioned drugs may not be sold in stores, in Vancouver, opioids were recently made available for purchase via vending machines. The project was meant to give users access to safe medical-grade opioids instead of potentially contaminated street drugs, however, it has come under scrutiny as of late due to the potential of misuse.

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Outrageous but unsurprising: Canadian judge tosses case against guards who killed a woman for not wearing a mask

Toronto hospital security guards killed a woman in March of 2020. For not pulling up a mask while suffering from breathing difficulties.

They were originally charged with manslaughter and criminal negligence, but a judge has tossed the case because … reasons.

There isn’t much dispute about what happened, although one of the guards involved intentionally turned a security camera away from the scene of the crime as it was happening, and another lied to police about what happened. He later was forced to admit to deceiving investigators when he was shown security footage contradicting his statement.

That’s OK though. He apologized, saying “I would have never said the things I said in there if I knew there was a video.” All good, then. That’s some world-class remorse.

The case seems pretty cut and dried. Danielle Stephanie Warriner, who suffered from COPD came to the hospital due to, unsurprisingly, breathing problems. She was admitted to the hospital, and was sitting in a hallway wearing PPE. She had lowered her mask due to her breathing problems. Guards approached her to enforce a mask mandate. She didn’t comply, again presumably because she had trouble breathing.

The guards donned PPE, demanded she don the mask, and then threw her against the wall almost immediately. While claiming that she struck them first, the video shows that this wasn’t true.

Right after throwing her to a wall, a different guard redirects the camera away from the incident, hiding what was happening. He “panicked,” so turning the camera away clearly didn’t show any consciousness of guilt, right?

Witnesses report the guards threw her to the ground, held her there in exactly the same manner that George Floyd was restrained (knee to the back using body weight). Only she had taken no meth or fentanyl. She was a 125-pound woman with breathing difficulties, as she told them.

They handcuffed her while unconscious and kept her restrained using a knee to the back. She stopped breathing. The guards load her into a wheelchair and eventually notice this fact and call for doctors. She subsequently died from her injuries, having never returned to consciousness.

The guards killed her. A women in respiratory distress in a hospital hallway, there to be treated.

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Jordan Peterson ordered to enter ‘re-education’ program in Canada over his comments, speech that ‘may cause harm.’ He’s refusing to comply.

Jordan Peterson has been ordered by a Canadian psychology governing body to enter what Peterson called a “re-education” program reportedly over his past comments and speech that “may cause harm.”

Not surprisingly, Peterson said Wednesday he “formally indicated” his “refusal to comply” with the demands of the College of Psychologists of Ontario.

What are the details?

Peterson posted to Twitter parts of a document from the College of Psychologists of Ontario that outlined its concern over his “public statements made on social media and during a January 25, 2022, podcast appearance” that “may have lacked professionalism.”

The document indicates that Peterson is to work with another professional to “review, reflect on, and ameliorate [his] professionalism in public statements” and complete a “Coaching Program.”

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Quebec Approves Magic Mushrooms Under Public Health Coverage

Quebec, Canada last week approved the used of psilocybin – the primary psychoactive in “magic mushrooms,” as a valid therapy under the state’s medical system.

Advocates hope the move will set a precedent for other Canadian provinces to take similar action, Forbes reports.

“This decision is a huge step forward for the use of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy as a legitimate medical treatment,” wrote TheraPsil, a nonprofit group that advocates for the advancement of psilocybin therapies, in a Dec. 15 statement. “It not only provides greater access to this potentially life-changing treatment for patients in Quebec, but it also sets a precedent for other provinces to follow suit.”

Clinical research and other studies into psychedelics such as psilocybin have shown that the drugs have potential therapeutic benefits, particularly for serious mental health conditions such as depression, addiction and anxiety. Research published in the peer-reviewed journal JAMA Psychiatry in 2020 found that psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy was an effective and quick-acting treatment for a group of 24 participants with major depressive disorder. A separate study published in 2016 determined that psilocybin treatment produced substantial and sustained decreases in depression and anxiety in patients with life-threatening cancer. -Forbes

As we noted in April, psychedelic mushrooms are becoming increasingly popular in the US as a possible treatment for psychiatric disorders, with their main active ingredient, psilocybin, moving from the fringes of medicine, to become increasingly mainstream. It appears that Canada, however, is actually making moves to bring the benefits to actual patients.

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Canadian school threatens students with ‘suspension’ if they photograph trans teacher, parents say

A Canadian school has allegedly threatened its students with the possibility of suspension if they are caught taking pictures of a now-infamous transgender teacher who wears giant prosthetic breasts in class.

The transgender teacher, now known as Kayla Lemieux, at Oakville Trafalgar High School in Oakville, Ontario made headlines back in September when photos and videos of her first started going viral.

The local school board defended her at the time. Halton District School Board Chair Margo Shuttleworth told the Toronto Sun in September that protecting their employees’ “gender rights” is “the stance the school board is taking and they are standing behind the teacher.”

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Reward for Tips on Unsolved Murders of Billionaire Toronto Couple Upped to $35M

Five years after the mysterious, unsolved double homicide of billionaire Toronto couple Barry and Honey Sherman, their son has added $25 million to the original $10 million offered for information leading to his parents’ killer.

“Closure will not be possible until those responsible for this evil act are brought to justice,” said Jonathon Sherman in a Dec. 12 statement to CBC News.

On Dec. 15, 2017, the bodies of Barry Sherman, 75, and his wife Honey, 70, who were among Canada’s wealthiest couples, were found by a realtor touring their mansion that was listed for sale at the time. They were found strangled and strangely posed in their mansion at 50 Colony Road. Active in the Toronto Jewish community, they were well-known philanthropists who gave millions of dollars to hospitals, universities, and Jewish organizations.

The Shermans were last seen alive on the evening of Dec. 13, 2017. The murders were believed to have taken place shortly after. Police said that there was no sign of forced entry and little DNA evidence, and that both died of “ligature neck compression.”

To date, police have not arrested any suspects. One year ago, Toronto Police released a short, 22-second video clip of a suspect who was captured on video walking on the sidewalk near the Shermans’ mansion on Dec. 13, 2017.

Police have reportedly conducted at least 250 witness interviews, received 1,255 tips from the public, and obtained 41 warrants since the start of the investigation.

Barry Sherman, with a net worth estimated at between $5 billion and $10 billion, was the founder of pharmaceutical giant Apotex, the largest manufacturer of generic drugs in Canada, and the only company that produces hydroxychloroquine, the controversial drug some medical experts used to treat COVID-19. During the pandemic, some countries added the product to their treatment protocols, according to a statement made by Apotex on March 20, 2020.

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Trudeau says he feels “serene and confident” over decision to freeze protesters’ bank accounts

In his testimony before the Public Order Emergency Commission (POEC), Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tried to justify his use of the Emergencies Act to stop the Freedom Convoy protest by blacklisting and freezing the bank accounts of protesters supporting civil liberties.

Trudeau admitted that the protests were not violent but still insisted that he is “confident” with his decision to use a law that has never been used before to stop the protests.

“There was no loss of life. There was no serious violence. There hasn’t been a recurrence of these kinds of illegal occupations since then. I am absolutely serene and confident that I made the right choice in agreeing with the invocation,” Trudeau told the commission that is investigating whether the government’s decision to use the Emergencies Act was justifiable.

Trudeau said that the “responsibility of a prime minister is to make the tough calls and keep people safe.”

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Canada’s finance minister created a blacklist of trucking companies that participated in the protest for civil liberties

Canada’s Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland’s office distributed a blacklist of 201 trucking companies that participated in the Freedom Convoy Protest in February.

“Please find attached an excel sheet detailing which companies whose trucks are participating in Ottawa convoy demonstrations,” an unidentified employee at Freeland’s office wrote in an email, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.

“A total of 45 companies whose trucks are in Ottawa have accessed the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy out of a total of 201 companies whose trucks are publicly known as being in Ottawa. Three of the companies with trucks in Ottawa are US-based companies.”

The blacklist was sent the same day that the government invoked the Emergencies Act, February 14. The Emergencies Act allowed the government to order financial institutions to freeze the accounts of businesses and individuals involved in the protest without a court order.

“In doing so, [the financial institutions] will be protected against civil liability for actions taken in good faith,” Freeland said at a press conference on February 14. She added that the government would freeze the accounts of trucking companies if their trucks are found to be taking part in the protest.

Blacklock’s Reporter also obtained internal documents showing that Freeland proposed that people who had their accounts frozen should first report to the police before their accounts are unfrozen.

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Canadian Doctor Says College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario Suggests Unvaccinated Patients are Mentally Ill and Should be Put on Psychiatric Medication 

Doctors in Ontario are reportedly being advised to consider using psychiatric medicines on patients who refuse the vaccine.

During an interview at ‘Let Freedom Reign Tour,’ Physician and Cancer Researcher Dr. William Makis claimed that the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario sent out a note to doctors implying that their unvaccinated patients may be suffering from a mental illness and should be prescribed psychiatric medicine.

“So this has come out recently out of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. The college sent out a letter or a memo to all the doctors in Ontario suggesting to them now, so far, they’re not mandating it, they’re just suggesting it, that any of their unvaccinated patients, that they should consider that they have a mental problem and that they should be put on psychiatric medication. So far, it’s just a suggestion,” Dr. Makis told Lynn Tyler Thompson.

“But the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario should not be making these kinds of suggestions. This is extremely unethical and this is a very, very slippery slope. If they’re suggesting that people who wish to have bodily autonomy and don’t want an experimental vaccine, that there may be something mentally wrong with them, that is a very, very dangerous, slippery slope that we’re on,” he continued.

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Ontario man says hospital pressuring him into assisted suicide

A man in Ontario claims that he is being pushed by hospital staff to end his life rather than continue receiving treatment.

Roger Foley suffers from cerebellar ataxia, a disease that attacks the brain and muscles, and has been bedridden for six years. The 47-year-old requires continual help in order to eat, wash and sit up.

“They asked if I want an assisted death. I don’t. I was told that I would be charged $1,800 per day [for hospital care]. I have $2 million worth of bills.” he told the New York Post. “Nurses here told me that I should end my life. That shocked me.”

Foley has filed a lawsuit against the Victoria Hospital London Health Sciences Centre, the health care network in London, Ontario responsible for his wellbeing. 

He claims in the lawsuit that not only has there been verbal pressuring to end his life, but that hospital staff have been neglectful and manipulative in a way that is trying to push him into assisted suicide.

“Mr. Foley was told by hospital staff that he had stayed at the hospital for too long and if he did not receive self-directed funding, he should apply for assisted death as an option,” the lawsuit claims.

Foley claims that, for a period of time, the hospital did not provide a Hoyer Lift or personnel to operate it. This machine is absolutely necessary to hoist him into a seated position so that he can eat, drink, and take medicine. For days at a time, he asserts that he was unable to eat and drink for days at a time, and almost died as a result.

Assisted suicide became legal in Canada in 2016, and now lead the world in medically-assisted deaths.

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