Roundup: More misleading over opioids

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The weekend discourse appears to have been much of what last week’s was, which was the Conservatives lying about the state of the opioid crisis in BC, lying about Justin Trudeau’s culpability, and lying about…well, pretty much everything. I feel like I need to keep saying this, but the decriminalisation project in BC is not what caused people to start using drugs openly in public places. That is happening everywhere. It is happening right now on the streets in Ottawa, where there is no decriminalisation, because there is currently a prevailing ethos that if you use in public places and overdose, you have a better chance that someone will come across you and get a Naloxone kit to save your life. It’s not about decriminalisation. That also didn’t cause users to leave needles in parks—that’s been happening for decades in some urban centres. We’re now fully into moral panic territory.

Meanwhile, Toronto Public Health’s hopes for a similar decriminalisation programme don’t seem to be going anywhere, and Justin Trudeau stated last week, in QP that they only work with provinces and not individual cities on these kinds of projects, which is why they didn’t accept Vancouver’s proposal earlier, and why they’re not contemplating Toronto or Montreal now. And frankly, that shouldn’t be unexpected because public health is a provincial responsibility, so it would make more sense for the federal government to work with a province rather than an individual municipality that may be at odds with the province in question. Federalism matters, guys.

Ukraine Dispatch:

Ukrainian forces shot down 23 of 24 drones overnight on Sunday, with more airstrikes on Kharkiv during the day on Sunday. There was also a drone attack on power supply in the Sumy region early Monday morning. Drone footage shows how the village of Ocheretyne is being pummelled by Russians, as residents are scrambling to flee the area, as Russia claims they have captured it. Problem gambling has become an issue for a lot of Ukrainian soldiers dealing with the stress of combat.

Good reads:

  • At a Sikh Foundation of Canada gala on Saturday, Justin Trudeau acknowledged the charges laid for the assassination of Hardeep Singh Nijjar.
  • The government has appointed a new Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise, but critics point to the fact the office lacks needed powers.
  • Here is a look at that new Canadian Army logo, and why it set off a social media firestorm for something that’s not meant for everyday use.
  • The Canadian Press points to how the Conservatives have taken Tiff Macklem’s responses to their questions out of context in order to make Twitter content.
  • Here is a look at the national emissions inventory, and the fact that it increased largely because we are more properly counting methane than we did previously.
  • European intelligence agencies are warning their governments about Russia’s acts of sabotage around the continent as part of a shift to a state of permanent conflict.
  • A Quebec Court is set to rule on whether the province’s new language law is constitutional in how it would delay English court judgments for need of translation.
  • The Parliamentary committee on the Emergencies Act has been delayed for 18 months because of translation issues.
  • Conservatives won’t say how they will vote on the capital gains changes.
  • Kevin Carmichael is bemused by the number of people trying to read into Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem’s latest statements.
  • Jason Markusoff marvels at how “libertarian” Danielle Smith has been doing more to expand the size and scope of provincial government than any of her predecessors.
  • The Star has an excerpt from Paul Wells’ new book on Trudeau.
  • My weekend column spells out the attempts to undermine Speaker Fergus, and the reasons why the Conservatives are so hell-bent on doing so.

Odds and ends:

For National Magazine, I looked at the implication of Friday’s Supreme Court of Canada decision on language rights in trials, especially for access to justice.

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