In Montreal, harm reduction groups push for decriminalization
Madison McLauchlan
A pride flag flaps defiantly in the wind above a welcoming front porch. A basket of free naloxone kits hangs on the front door. On the wall upstairs, a poster reads “Activities to avoid dying sad/to make you happy” and lists acupuncture, bowling, and picnics. This is the home of Dopamine Montréal. Just like its […] More »
On the floor at the world's largest mining conference, activists asked the tough questions
Caitrin Pilkington
When people talk about fantasy worlds, they often mean worlds populated with dwarves, elves, and magic. But in a way, stepping onto the convention floor of the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) conference did feel like a fantasy. As the biggest mining conference on Earth, it’s frequented by some of the wealthiest in […] More »
The chief commissioner on the fight to end solitary confinement in provincial jails
Carine Abouseif
In the fall of 2016, an inmate spoke to Renu Mandhane through a small hole in the glass at a provincial jail in Thunder Bay, Ont. He told her he had been in segregation, or solitary confinement, awaiting trial for more than four years. The Ontario Human Rights Commission and Mandhane, the chief commissioner, brought […] More »
The United Nations has declared this month Human Rights Month, with December 10 marking Human Rights Day. Consider it perfect timing: JayU’s fifth-annual human rights film festival kicks off tonight in Toronto, celebrating and visualizing human rights through 12 thought-provoking documentaries. JayU founder and executive director Gilad Cohen says the program this year is especially holistic and […] More »
In this issue’s cover story, Doug Horner examines the defiant success of community radio, arguing that it provides a resilient blueprint for successful, worth-tuning-in-to media in the Digital Age. Could community radio be the surprising winner when it comes to the future of news? Read Doug’s piece to let us know what you think! Also […] More »
Children who live on First Nations reserves receive drastically less health care, disabilities, and social services funding—a cruel gap that’s led to both death and broken families. Inside the fight for equal care
WHEN MAURINA BEADLE WAS CARRYING HER SECOND CHILD 20 years ago, the doctors told her she should terminate her pregnancy. The fetus was showing signs of hydrocephalus, also known as “water on the brain.” As excess fluid builds up in the brain, it places abnormal amounts of pressure and stress on important regions, and can […] More »
And last in our Tories in Review series, Nathaniel Basen examines immigration policies, the closing of Canada's borders and the removal of basic rights
Nathaniel Basen
IT’S FROM BEHIND THE PLEXIGLAS BARRIER of the visitor’s cubicle that I wait for Glory Anawa. I’m at the Immigration Holding Centre in Toronto—or, as Anawa and her two-year-old son Alpha have called it since February 2013, home. In front of me, etched in the glass separating visitor and prisoner, is that same word, HOME, […] More »
Ninth in our Tories in Review series, we look at Stephen Harper's track record on Aboriginal rights
This Magazine Staff
IN 2007, after just over one year in power, Stephen Harper’s federal Conservatives dealt a major blow to Canada’s aboriginals—the first of many. That year, the United Nations adopted the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, a non-binding international agreement designed to define worldwide human rights standards for Indigenous peoples. Canada, along with the […] More »
Today in our Tories in Review series, Larkin Schmiedl looks at nine years of attacks on LGBTQ rights in Canada
Larkin Schmiedl
OVER THE PAST SIX YEARS, Stephen Harper’s Conservative government has—surprisingly—become an outspoken champion of gay rights worldwide. In 2009, Harper arranged a private meeting with Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni to urge him to drop a controversial law that would imprison homosexuals for life. In 2011, Immigration Minister John Baird not only launched a pilot program […] More »
We examine Stephen Harper and friends' track record on disability rights. Hint: It's not great
This Magazine Staff
IN 2007, the federal government signed the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Ratified in the House of Commons several years later in 2010, the convention recognizes the rights, dignity, and worth of those with disabilities, while providing a framework for a high-quality, equitable life. This is all great stuff—and yet, the […] More »
Strait jackets. Lobotomies. Scary nurses reminiscent of Nurse Ratched. Audiences are both freaked out and captivated by psychiatric hospitals. That’s probably why it’s one of the most popular settings for a horror movie—even when not set in one, raging axe-toting chainsaw-waving murderers often seem to be escapees from them. From the fictional Smith’s Grove Sanitarium, […] More »