The future of Vancouver’s supervised drug-injection site, Insite, will be decided in the Supreme Court of Canada.
The court said Thursday that it will decide whether the federal government has the authority to shut down the Downtown Eastside clinic – the first such clinic in North America to allow addicts to inject themselves with prohibited drugs under a nurse’s supervision.
The case has turned into an important jurisdictional struggle between the provincial and federal governments.
The $3-million Insite facility was opened in 2003 after it was specifically exempted from federal drug possession and trafficking laws.
In January, the B.C. Court of Appeal decided 2-1 that the province has jurisdiction over the facility since it provides addicts with health care, which is within provincial jurisdiction.
Its ruling upheld a 2008 trial decision by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Ian Pitfield, who found that the facility reduces the risk of death and disease for addicts. Judge Pitfield found that the application of the federal drug law would violate the addicts’ Charter rights to life, liberty and security of the person.
However, federal lawyers maintain that, while addicts need help, providing a safe injection site is the wrong way to go about it.
“Our national anti-drug strategy focuses on prevention and access to treatment for those with drug dependencies,” federal Justice Minister Rob Nicholson said after the B.C. Court of Appeal ruling.
B.C. Health Minister Kevin Falcon expressed disappointment with the federal government’s opposition to a program that has had solid support in the medical community and in medical journals.
Health Canada initially granted a three-year exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act to establish it as a scientific research project. The federal Conservative government objected to it in recent years, but the province continued allowing the facility to operate.
In 2008, the Portland Hotel Society and the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users launched a constitutional challenge of the federal government’s power to close the facility, arguing the site saves lives and money.
The appeal will be heard next fall at the earliest.
As the battle over Insite moves to the Supreme Court, a related skirmish is under way.
On Thursday, the British Columbia Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS filed a complaint with the Commission for Public Complaints Against the RCMP, alleging the force tried to discredit Insite by paying for studies that cast the facility in a negative light.
In a close to 200-page complaint, the centre states that it “believes that the RCMP paid to obtain documents that specifically supported the RCMP’s and federal Conservative government’s negative views on Insite, supervised injection sites and harm reduction.”
The complaint concerns two studies, released in 2007, that raised questions about whether Insite was successful in areas such as preventing overdose deaths and reducing transmission of disease.
The 2007 studies “contained no new data and were not published in conventional peer-reviewed scientific journals”, the complaint states. “Instead, they were essays posted on the website of a U.S. law enforcement lobby group known as the Drug Free America Foundation.”
The papers were cited by politicians who argued that Insite should be closed.
For the past 18 months, according to the complaint, the centre has been talking with senior RCMP officials about the papers and ensuing fallout – even working on a joint media release that, among other statements, acknowledged the 2007 reviews “did not meet conventional academic standards.”
But scheduled joint press conferences were twice cancelled, according to the complaint.
A spokeswoman for the complaints commission said on Thursday it was reviewing the complaint.
RCMP media representatives in Ottawa would not discuss specifics of the complaint, but said “the RCMP has on repeated occasions met with [Centre of Excellence director] Dr. Julio Montaner and continues to dialogue with Dr. Montaner on issues of common interest.”
Friday, June 25, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
G8 nations give themselves a passing grade
OTTAWA—The world’s biggest nations are giving themselves a pat on the back for making good on pledges to help their poorest neighbours, even as they admit they’ve come up $10 billion short in promised aid.
With G8 leaders preparing to meet in Huntsville this week, their nations released the “Muskoka Accountability Report” on Sunday assessing the progress so far on the big-ticket promises made at past summits.
But the report is about more than accountability — it’s also a defence of the G8 in the face of suggestions that the G20 could become the preeminent world forum, notably because it includes emerging powerhouses China and India.
“Overall there is a good story to tell. The G8 has acted as a force for positive change and its actions have made a difference in addressing global challenges,” the report says.
That was echoed almost word for word Sunday by Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon as he gave an unabashed endorsement of the G8 as a forum with a bright future.
“This accountability report does, I think, show clearly to the world what the G8 group has been doing,” Cannon said, calling the group “pertinent” and “useful.”
“It is in our view an important tool to be able to achieve . . . a number of goals,” he said. “This is an organization that is doing a stellar job and will maintain that role.”
The report, released in Ottawa, bills itself as a “candid assessment” of the G8’s progress on some key promises that have included everything from food security to education, environment to health and debt relief — 56 promises in all.
On balance, the report gives the group a passing grade, saying that “in some areas, the G8 can point to considerable success; in others, it has further to go to fully deliver on its promises.”
Notably, it says that the OECD and G8 nations are short about $10 billion in the five-year, $50-billion boost pledge for development aid made at the 2005 summit in Scotland.
Cannon says Canada deserves an “A” for living up to its pledges.
“Canada has a very good story to tell with respect to delivering on its G8 commitments. . . . Leadership requires demonstrating that you are following through on your promises,” Cannon told a news conference where he released the report.
He said that Canada has met its goals of doubling international assistance to $5 billion this year, doubling African aid to $2.16 billion last year from 2003-04, and forgiving almost $1 billion in loans owed by the poorest nations, most recently $24 million for the Republic of Congo.
The report did flag several areas where overall progress has been slow, including several that have a direct impact on human health and mortality.
In health, the report sounds a caution saying that in some areas, “G8 commitments have not produced the results hoped for.” It notes that polio has not yet been eradicated and that maternal deaths remain as high as 536,000 a year.
“Universal access targets with respect to HIV/AIDS will not be met by 2010, and many developing countries, in particular those in Africa, remain off track to achieve the health-related (goals). The (goals) on child mortality and maternal health are proving the toughest area,” the report says.
On water, the report warns that of falling “dangerously behind” on the provision of sanitation.
“Support for sanitation and water is not reaching the most affected countries with only 42 per cent of development aid commitments in sanitation and water over the past 3 years reaching the least developed or low income countries,” the report notes.
With G8 leaders preparing to meet in Huntsville this week, their nations released the “Muskoka Accountability Report” on Sunday assessing the progress so far on the big-ticket promises made at past summits.
But the report is about more than accountability — it’s also a defence of the G8 in the face of suggestions that the G20 could become the preeminent world forum, notably because it includes emerging powerhouses China and India.
“Overall there is a good story to tell. The G8 has acted as a force for positive change and its actions have made a difference in addressing global challenges,” the report says.
That was echoed almost word for word Sunday by Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon as he gave an unabashed endorsement of the G8 as a forum with a bright future.
“This accountability report does, I think, show clearly to the world what the G8 group has been doing,” Cannon said, calling the group “pertinent” and “useful.”
“It is in our view an important tool to be able to achieve . . . a number of goals,” he said. “This is an organization that is doing a stellar job and will maintain that role.”
The report, released in Ottawa, bills itself as a “candid assessment” of the G8’s progress on some key promises that have included everything from food security to education, environment to health and debt relief — 56 promises in all.
On balance, the report gives the group a passing grade, saying that “in some areas, the G8 can point to considerable success; in others, it has further to go to fully deliver on its promises.”
Notably, it says that the OECD and G8 nations are short about $10 billion in the five-year, $50-billion boost pledge for development aid made at the 2005 summit in Scotland.
Cannon says Canada deserves an “A” for living up to its pledges.
“Canada has a very good story to tell with respect to delivering on its G8 commitments. . . . Leadership requires demonstrating that you are following through on your promises,” Cannon told a news conference where he released the report.
He said that Canada has met its goals of doubling international assistance to $5 billion this year, doubling African aid to $2.16 billion last year from 2003-04, and forgiving almost $1 billion in loans owed by the poorest nations, most recently $24 million for the Republic of Congo.
The report did flag several areas where overall progress has been slow, including several that have a direct impact on human health and mortality.
In health, the report sounds a caution saying that in some areas, “G8 commitments have not produced the results hoped for.” It notes that polio has not yet been eradicated and that maternal deaths remain as high as 536,000 a year.
“Universal access targets with respect to HIV/AIDS will not be met by 2010, and many developing countries, in particular those in Africa, remain off track to achieve the health-related (goals). The (goals) on child mortality and maternal health are proving the toughest area,” the report says.
On water, the report warns that of falling “dangerously behind” on the provision of sanitation.
“Support for sanitation and water is not reaching the most affected countries with only 42 per cent of development aid commitments in sanitation and water over the past 3 years reaching the least developed or low income countries,” the report notes.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
По выходу первых же серий мультфильмов, Чебурашка стал очень популярен в СССР. С тех пор Чебурашка — герой многих российских анекдотов
По выходу первых же серий мультфильмов, Чебурашка стал очень популярен в СССР. С тех пор Чебурашка — герой многих российских анекдотов. В 2001 Чебурашка приобрёл большую популярность в Японии.
http://my-articles.ueuo.com/?paged=13
http://my-articles.ueuo.com/?p=50
По выходу первых же серий мультфильмов, Чебурашка стал очень популярен в СССР. С тех пор Чебурашка — герой многих российских анекдотов. В 2001 Чебурашка приобрёл большую популярность в Японии.
http://my-articles.ueuo.com/?paged=14
http://my-articles.ueuo.com/?p=49
http://my-articles.ueuo.com/?p=48
По выходу первых же серий мультфильмов, Чебурашка стал очень популярен в СССР. С тех пор Чебурашка — герой многих российских анекдотов. В 2001 Чебурашка приобрёл большую популярность в Японии.
http://my-articles.ueuo.com/?paged=13
http://my-articles.ueuo.com/?p=50
По выходу первых же серий мультфильмов, Чебурашка стал очень популярен в СССР. С тех пор Чебурашка — герой многих российских анекдотов. В 2001 Чебурашка приобрёл большую популярность в Японии.
http://my-articles.ueuo.com/?paged=14
http://my-articles.ueuo.com/?p=49
http://my-articles.ueuo.com/?p=48
По выходу первых же серий мультфильмов, Чебурашка стал очень популярен в СССР. С тех пор Чебурашка — герой многих российских анекдотов. В 2001 Чебурашка приобрёл большую популярность в Японии.
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