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British Columbia will become the first province in Canada to decriminalize possession of small amounts of hard drugs such as illicit fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine after receiving an exemption from Ottawa to federal drug laws.
Effective Jan. 31, 2023, British Columbians 18 and older will be able to carry up to a cumulative total of 2.5 grams of these illicit substances without the risk of arrest or criminal charges. Under rules established by Ottawa and the province, police will not confiscate the drugs, and people found to be in possession will not be required to seek treatment. The production, trafficking and exportation of these drugs will remain illegal.
The province has ramped up its response in recent years to a drug crisis that has killed thousands of people, expanding harm-reduction measures and opening the door to a safer drug supply.
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Auditor-General says corrections authorities not preventing systemic racism in federal prisons
Federal correctional authorities “haven’t taken action” to address systemic barriers faced by Indigenous and Black prisoners, who have been consistently disadvantaged in the prison system, the Auditor-General says.
Her report on the issue, released yesterday, found that those prisoners are more frequently placed in higher security institutions at admission compared with their white peers, and that they aren’t paroled as often as others when they first become eligible.
The Auditor-General’s findings follow a Globe and Mail investigation from 2020 that showed Correctional Service Canada’s risk-assessment tools were systemically biased against Black and Indigenous men and Indigenous women.
- Canadian veterans waiting too long for disability benefits, Auditor-General finds
- Ottawa not doing enough to make sure gender-based analysis in place, A-G says
Bay St. in Toronto’s Financial District, July 15, 2020.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
Canada’s Big Five banks move away from mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy
Nine months after imposing them, all of Canada’s Big Five banks have suspended or removed mandatory vaccine requirements for staff, amid the broader lifting of COVID-19 restrictions across the country.
Royal Bank of Canada, Bank of Nova Scotia, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Bank of Montreal and Toronto-Dominion Bank all lifted their compulsory vaccine policies for employees over the past six weeks, allowing unvaccinated people to work in offices and branches without being subject to additional safety measures such as rapid testing.
All of the five largest banks took a firm stand on vaccines last August, requiring staff to attest that they were fully vaccinated by a certain date in order to enter any bank premises. Some, such as CIBC and BMO, made it compulsory for all employees, even those who worked from home, to be vaccinated.
But public-health restrictions, such as gathering limits, masking and vaccine mandates across provinces, have since eased, and banks appear to be changing their policies accordingly.
- COVID-19 restrictions to remain in place at border for at least another month, health agency says
- Opinion: Monkeypox should serve as a global health wake-up call about when we act and why
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ALSO ON OUR RADAR
Ottawa warned to resist half-measures in military reform: The federal government should resist half-measures and act immediately to implement the latest set of advice to ensure the safety of women in the Canadian Armed Forces, former Supreme Court justice Louise Arbour says.
- Arbour report recommends rethinking of military colleges, emphasizing socialization
- Opinion: Why are Canadian police chiefs refusing to accept military sexual-assault cases?
Ukrainian man leads evacuation of thousands: Hundreds of thousands now live in territory seized by Russia since its invasion more than three months ago and many want out. With little more than unflinching nerves and a willingness to help, Oleksandr Chausov has gone on to make nearly 100 crossings of the shell-pocked front lines in order to evacuate thousands.
Hot temperatures and big storms to sweep much of Canada this summer: Seasonal or higher-than-normal temperatures across much of the country will offer Canadians a chance to enjoy the summer, but predictions from Chris Scott, chief meteorologist at The Weather Network, warn the humidity could welcome a rather stormy few months.
Surgery wait-lists at children’s hospitals continue to grow: At Toronto’s SickKids Hospital, the scheduled surgery wait-list for children has grown to 5,600 patients since 2020. Despite the fact that children’s hospitals are beginning to move back to full operation, as pandemic restrictions are lifted, these wait-lists continue to grow. Wait-lists and backlogs have always been an issue in Canada, though they have been magnified by the pandemic.
Ottawa not ruling out handgun bans to deal with gun crime: Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino is not ruling out the use of handgun bans to deal with firearms violence, a tool endorsed by several big-city mayors in Canada. Firearms legislation tabled on Monday would freeze the import, sale and transfer of handguns, but would not go as far as banning them outright or facilitating bans by other parties such as provinces or municipalities.
MORNING MARKETS
Markets wary of inflation: European stocks mostly managed slim gains on Wednesday, with the U.S. dollar strengthening as investors fretted over soaring inflation and the hit on global growth from looming interest rate rises. Just after 5:30 a.m. ET, Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 0.07 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.32 per cent and 0.26 per cent, respectively. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei added 0.65 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.56 per cent. New York futures were modestly positive. The Canadian dollar was trading at 79.10 U.S. cents ahead of the Bank of Canada’s next interest rate decision, due later in the morning.
TODAY’S EDITORIAL CARTOON
Brian GableBrian Gable/The Globe and Mail
LIVING BETTER
What to know about hot-weather workouts
For the next few months, the big challenge during outdoor exercise will be staying cool. Hot-weather workouts can be challenging, but they also have some surprising advantages. Here are five things to know about the science of summer exercise.
MOMENT IN TIME: JUNE 1, 1947
The Doomsday Clock reads 100 seconds to midnight, a decision made by The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, during an announcement at the National Press Club in Washington, on January 23, 2020.EVA HAMBACH/AFP/Getty Images
Introduction of the Doomsday clock
Seventy-five years ago, the Doomsday Clock made its debut in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. In a postwar era, scientists were voicing their concerns about the social implications of the atomic bomb and their misgivings were published in the bulletin’s first edition as a magazine. The clock, created by Martyl Langsdorf, was its cover image, with midnight representing doomsday and the hands sitting at seven minutes to the end of the world. In 1949, the scientists at the Bulletin moved the minute hand up to three minutes to midnight when the Soviet Union tested a nuclear weapon during the Cold War. Members of the Science and Security Board, who comment on how close the world is to an apocalyptic “midnight,” regularly evaluate humankind’s geopolitical affairs, and reset the clock accordingly. For decades, it has ticked between 100 seconds and 17 minutes until midnight. In 2020 and 2021, new global threats (such as climate change, misinformation campaigns, biological weapons, the collapse of the Nuclear Forces Treaty and COVID-19) and the “inaction” or “counterproductive actions” of world leaders to face up to them, brought the hands the closest they’ve been to the harrowing hour. Mahdis Habibinia
Incorrect information appeared in the May 31 Morning Update Moment in Time. The Maxim and other machine guns, rather than the Gatling gun, were in use during the Boer War.
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