Some Random Items

 

 

Canada's minister for women, gender equality and youth says policies in Saskatchewan and New Brunswick that require parental consent before students under 16 can have schools use their preferred pronouns and names puts transgender and nonbinary kids in a "life-or-death situation." And while Marci Ien declined to comment on whether Ottawa sees a role for itself in any potential court challenges, the cabinet minister said the Liberal government is keeping an eye on what unfolds. "What I can tell you is that we're watching closely as this develops," she told The Canadian Press in an interview Wednesday. "Obviously anything is possible, but I'm not going to comment on anything hypothetical at this time." Saskatchewan recently became the second jurisdiction to change its policy around pronoun use and name changes for students younger than 16, making it a rule that teachers must first seek permission from those students' parents. The provincial g

The recent shooting in Jacksonville has predictably renewed the public debate on violence and mental illness. The same sequence plays out after every horrible incident: First, there is the accusation, often from right-leaning lawmakers, that mental illness is what is driving our dizzying rate of mass shootings and that more needs to be done to protect the public from dangerous people. Soon following are emphatic statements from mental health advocacy groups that no real association between mental illness and violence exists and that those with mental health problems are far more likely to be victims of violent actions then perpetrators. These arguments vigorously bounce around for a while on the news cycle and in social media, thoroughly confusing any well-meaning individual who is honestly trying to understand the issue, until the debate just fizzles out (until the next shooting). Is there any way we can move this discussion forward to a place of real understanding? Actually there is,

The prime minister’s problem-plagued official residence could be replaced instead of restored, though the government says its plans are not complete. A spokesperson for Procurement Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said building a new residence is among the options being considered as the department comes up with a plan for the future of 24 Sussex, but any conversations about that are at very early stages. The minister’s office said it is working with the National Capital Commission to develop a plan that it aims to release soon. The historic house overlooking the Ottawa River is in dire need of repairs for everything from electrical work to windows, doors and the roof. A 2021 report estimated it would cost at least $36.6 million just to complete the deferred maintenance on the main residence, which was built in 1868. Bringing it up to code would likely cost millions more. Read more here: Global News August 29, 2023

Global Affairs Canada has updated its travel advisory for the United States by warning LGBTQ people that some state laws may affect them on their travels. "Some states have enacted laws and policies that may affect 2SLGBTQI+ persons. Check relevant state and local laws," said the new advisory, posted Tuesday morning. The advisory sends visitors to a government web page providing broad information on how members of the community could be targeted while travelling to foreign countries. That advice tells travellers to beware of laws that criminalize same-sex activities and relationships, or target people based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. That advice also warns travellers that laws to curb vagrancy and public nuisance incidents could also be used to target them in an effort "to criminalize 2SLGBTQI+ people." Read more here: CBC News August 29, 2023

The publisher of a First Nations newspaper based in Six Nations of the Grand River, Ont., says she's "extremely concerned" about the impact on Indigenous communities of Meta blocking news content in Canada. "In many cases, they're in very isolated areas and for Facebook to pull a stunt like this, it can cause so many problems for our people to get information to them," Lynda Powless, publisher of Turtle Island News, told CBC Hamilton. "First Nations are in precarious positions to begin with ... these are communities that just even have problems getting to the internet." Meta — which owns Facebook and Instagram — began ending the availability of news on those sites in Canada earlier this summer in response to the passage in June of Bill C-18, the Online News Act, which takes effect by the end of this year.  Now links and content shared by Canadian news outlets on Meta's sites can't be viewed by people in Canada. Users in Canada also can'

Unintentional and preventable injuries, poor mental health and violence against children and youth have been identified as some of the top threats to children in Canada, according to a new report from Children First Canada. Released by the national charitable organization Tuesday, the sixth annual Raising Canada report is based on research conducted by researchers at the University of Calgary, the University of Toronto and McGill University. Researchers compiled existing data and conducted interviews with youth, parents and subject matter experts to come up with the findings. “This last year kids have experienced unprecedented challenges due to the ‘tripledemic’ of RSV, Influenza and COVID-19, and they continue to bear the brunt of the pandemic with significant impacts to their mental and physical health,” Sara Austin, founder and CEO of Children First Canada, stated in a news release. “There is a persistent myth that Canada is one of the best places in the world to raise kids, but the

The mayor of South Bruce Peninsula has resigned after he was caught on tape making racist comments about a nearby First Nation community, the Ontario town announced in a statement Tuesday. Garry Michi was recorded in an audio clip posted Friday by an anonymous individual questioning the federal government's decision to fund a water treatment plant on the Chippewas of the Nawash Unceded First Nation, also known as Cape Croker.  The comments drew immediate fire from Indigenous groups that called for Michi's resignation, which came following an in-camera meeting Tuesday at the township office. "We would again like to offer our sincere apologies to the people of the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation and to all First Nations communities," read a statement issued by the Town of South Bruce Peninsula. "The people from local First Nations communities are our neighbours and they are our friends. The town wants to reiterate that it does not support or agree with any

St. Thomas, Ont. is quickly making a name for itself when it comes to provincial leaders. “That really showed this year at the AMO (Association of Municipalities of Ontario) conference,” said Joe Preston, St. Thomas’ mayor. “Almost every minister we asked for a deputation with said ‘Yes’. Last time we got three out of eight or something. This time it was seven,” he said. Premier Doug Ford even gave a shout out to Preston during his opening speech at AMO. Ford referred to Preston as ‘Mayor Let’s Get it Done’. Preston and other city representatives were thrilled to meet with Steve Clark, minister of Municipal Affairs and Housing, who actually was aware of what was happening in his city. He credits local MPP Rob Flack with promoting his riding. They spoke about new housing development ‘The Station’ and the need for funds to complete ‘Project Tiny Hope’ (PTH). “[Clark] was well informed on [PTH], and knew where we were with The Station opening,” said Preston. Read more here: CTV News Augus

“I can understand to be poor, but you can be poor and clean,” is what South Bruce Peninsula Mayor Garry Michi was recorded as saying in an audio clip released to the public via SoundCloud last week. In the audio recording, uploaded to SoundCloud by user SaubleSam, Michi is questioning the fiscal sense to build a water treatment plant for the Chippewas of Nawash Unceded First Nation along the Bruce Peninsula, who have been under a boil water advisory since January 2019. “What I’m saying is where’s all this going to end. 20 or 25 years ago, they put a water treatment plant up at Cape Croker. It got ruined because they didn’t maintain it, now we’ve spent $65 million up there to put hydrants and a new water treatment plant, and 75 per cent of the those houses, I mean, they should be torn down,” Michi said in the recording. As a result of the recording, which has been authenticated by the Town of South Bruce Peninsula as being from Mayor Garry Michi, the Chippewas of Nawash leadership are c

Racism and the lack of primary care providers mean off-reserve First Nations, Metis and Inuit women and girls have poorer health overall compared to their non-Indigenous counterparts, says a study by the Public Health Agency of Canada. Compared with non-Indigenous females, those in the three distinct groups reported a higher prevalence of diagnosed chronic diseases and worse mental health, including mood or anxiety disorders, says the study, which noted Canada’s colonial history of residential schools, forced or coerced sterilization and destruction of traditional lands. Researchers used data for all females aged 15 to 55 from the annual Canadian Community Health Survey between 2015 and 2020. That amounted to 6,000 people from the three distinct groups and 74,760 non-Indigenous females, all in their reproductive years. “Indigenous females waited longer for primary care, more used hospital services for non-urgent care and fewer had consultations with dental professionals,” says the stud

Yale University and a student group announced Friday that they've reached a settlement in a federal lawsuit that accused the Ivy League school of discriminating against students with mental health disabilities, including pressuring them to withdraw. Under the agreement, Yale will modify its policies regarding medical leaves of absence, including streamlining the reinstatement process for students who return to campus. The student group, which also represents alumni, had argued the process was onerous, discouraging students for decades from taking medical leave when they needed it most. The settlement is a "watershed moment" for the university and mental health patients, said 2019 graduate Rishi Mirchandani, a co-founder of Elis for Rachael, the group that sued. It was formed to help students with mental health issues in honor of a Yale student who took her own life. Read more here: CTV News August 26, 2023

Crystal Plume sits in the shade of a tree near a busy intersection in downtown Sudbury and carefully injects fentanyl into a vein on the back of her hand before licking the speck of blood left behind. The 36-year-old who regularly panhandles in the northern Ontario city says her substance use disorder has worsened in recent years and she’s lost many friends to opioid overdoses. “Before there used to be the drunks, the winos, but you don’t see those anymore,” says Plume. “Everyone is using drugs now. It’s the fastest and easiest way to numb your pain. I was only smoking at first, now I smash it.” Plume says she turns to opioids as a way to deal with past domestic abuse and other personal trauma. She lives with a friend who also uses opioids and says they’ve both come close to fatal overdoses. Read more here: Global News August 25, 2023

 

 

 

Have an issue? Grab a tissue — before they’re pulled off of shelves in Canada. Kimberly-Clark is discontinuing its consumer facial tissue business in Canada, citing “unique complexities.” In a written statement issued Thursday, the company confirmed to CTVNews.ca that Kleenex consumer facial tissues would no longer be sold in Canada as of August 2023. Other products, however, such as Kleenex professional facial products, which are specifically targeted for the business market, Kleenex consumer hand towel products, along with other Kimberly-Clark brands including Cottonelle, Viva, U by Kotex, Poise, Depend , Huggies, Pull-Ups and Goodnites will remain in the Canadian market. Read more here: CTV News August 24, 2023

Municipal leaders dedicated the final day of the Association of Ontario Municipalities (AMO) conference to discuss collaborative solutions to homelessness as a housing crisis continues across the province.  AMO looked to its host London, along with Kingston — two cities that are taking the lead in tackling the situation, while also providing support to the most vulnerable. London's soon to be implemented whole of community system response has piqued the interest of other politicians who asked questions about how to enact a similar system in their jurisdictions, according to Mayor Josh Morgan who detailed the plan to delegates on Wednesday. "I see municipalities united on this issue," Morgan told reporters. "All through this conference, people are looking at things that London is doing and saying 'How do we bring those best practices here'? There's a commitment to supply services to communities where they're at." Read more here: CBC News August 23

Some frank talk by London Mayor Josh Morgan may be aimed at managing community expectations for London’s upcoming Whole of Community Response to Homelessness ahead of a series of public meetings. On Wednesday, Morgan co-hosted a session in front of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) conference, along with Kingston Mayor Bryan Paterson, about their communities’ similar homeless strategies that combine low-barrier service hubs and supportive housing units. Morgan acknowledged the political courage of city council to back a strategy that is still evolving. “We have to accept that we are playing a game that’s never been played before,” admitted Morgan in a matter-of-fact tone. “That means we are going to make a mistake. And we are going to get criticized, fairly heavily at times, for that mistake.” Read more here: CTV News August 23, 2023

In May this year, Nathan Gray noticed his phone buzzing. His cousin was trying to reach him. When he picked up the FaceTime call, he saw the serious look on his cousin's face and knew something was wrong. "I just had this feeling," he said. Gray's cousin told him that his older brother, Ashton Gray, 34, had died by suicide while awaiting trial in Toronto South Detention Centre, a provincial jail in Etobicoke.  "I dropped the phone and started crying," he said. "I was shocked, like, why the hell my brother?"  Gray's suicide in custody sent shockwaves through his family and those who provided him with support for mental health and addictions issues they say had plagued him throughout his adult life and were sparked by a traumatic childhood characterized by abuse in group homes. His death is part of a disturbing trend in the province, where deaths in custody have increased over the last decade, according to data published by the province and advoc

London may be known for green trees and, lately, seemingly endless road construction, but now it has another claim to fame. A new nationwide survey has found Londoners are among the most polite in the nation, with the Forest City just squeaking into the top 10 of the 44 communities surveyed. But is the finding accurate? CTV News London opted to survey those who move about regularly. The first stop was taxicab driver Youssef El-Shourafa. In his 20 years of driving in London, he found the city turns a bit rude at night. But that changes when the sun comes up. “You see many nice people, especially in the daytime. 99 per cent of the people are very good,” he said. Read more here: CTV News August 21, 2023

There is no denying the importance of sleep. Everyone feels better after a good night of sleep, and lack of sleep can have profoundly negative effects on both the body and the brain. So what can be done to substitute for a lack of sleep? Put another way, how can you get less sleep and still perform at your peak? As a psychologist who studies the ways in which sleep benefits memory, I’m also interested in how sleep deprivation harms memory and cognition. After some initial research on sleep deprivation and false confessions, my students at Michigan State University’s Sleep and Learning Lab and I wanted to see what interventions could reverse the negative effects of sleep deprivation. We found a simple answer: There is no substitute for sleep. Read more here: PsyPost August 21, 2023

Talking about your depression is extremely difficult. Sometimes, even when you’ve finally built up the courage to talk about it, nothing changes. It’s easy to assume that people don’t care about you or they don’t believe you when opening up to them doesn’t change anything, but it’s likely more complicated than that. I’ll explain some of the reasons the people you care about don’t take your depression as seriously as you want them to. One of the reasons your friends and family members aren’t treating your depression with the respect it deserves is that…they forget. I know your depression is obvious to you and impacts how you live most of your life, but for the people around you, it’s an invisible piece of information. In their eyes, you’re doing the things you’ve normally done and talking the way you’ve always talked, so it’s very easy to forget that internally you feel like you’re drowning. Read more here: Psychology Today August 21, 2023

Mental illness may sometimes be difficult to discuss, in part because friends and family may summon the worst images from the TV and movies. But those depictions often aren't accurate or even likely. So this post might be useful if you're hearing (or sensing) any of these common, but wrong, ideas. And if you're assuming the worst about a loved one, the good news is that you may be wrong. 1. Myth: Mental illness is rare. Reality: About one in five experience some form of mental illness in any year. About one in 20 have a serious condition, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or major depression. Read more here: Psychology Today August 21, 2023

A Thamesville, Ont., organization says it’s being forced to shut down its virtual recovery program because its been unable to secure sustainable funding. Westover Treatment Centre, running in Chatham-Kent since 1986, stopped the program this month, and has had to lay off highly-skilled addictions counsellors, said Laird Brush, the organization’s executive director. “We’ve had to turn clients away that that won’t have access to addiction treatment because it’s not available to them,” he said. “As a result, people are going to stay sick and some of them are going to die.” The virtual addiction treatment day program launched in October 2021 during the pandemic with funding from the Ministry of Health. Funding ended in March of this year, and while they’ve tried to run the program since, it’s no longer financially feasible, he said. Read more here: CBC News August 20, 2023

Researchers are calling for improved diagnosis, prevention and treatment of psychiatric illness among autistic people after finding they are at a higher risk of self-harm and suicide than non-autistic people. “We think psychiatric diagnosis plays a very important role in explaining these increased risks,” said lead author Dr. Meng-Chuan Lai, a staff psychiatrist and senior scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). The new study, conducted by CAMH and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), found that autistic females had an 83 per cent increased risk of self-harm than non-autistic females. Autistic males had a 47 per cent higher risk of self-harm than non-autistic males. The researchers also found that deaths by suicide were “rare,” but autistic people were still at higher risk and that psychiatric disorders were a factor. Read more here: Global News August 10, 2023

Luke Gordon Field is trying to figure out how he can explain the concept of deadpan satire to an algorithm. He says he never thought in a million years that the need to explain a joke would transcend humans. But it’s a situation he believes he has found himself in as editor-in-chief of the Beaverton, a Canadian comedy website. Meta is in the process of removing all news from its Facebook and Instagram platforms in Canada in response to a new law that would force the company to compensate media outlets for content that is shared or otherwise repurposed on their platforms. But satirical sites are getting caught up in the tech giant’s quest, too — even though their human audiences know they aren’t news. It’s an error that some publications say could threaten their survival. “I don’t want to be too dramatic, but in a world where Facebook completely cuts us off, I mean, there’s a very real chance we do not survive that,” Field told the Canadian Press. Read more here: CBC News August 10, 202

A graduate student from the University of Saskatchewan (USask) is looking into what she describes as the transformative power of animal therapy programs at Canadian correctional facilities. Five years ago, Grace Rath, along with her black Labrador companion, Jager, volunteered in a therapy dog program. Intrigued by what she calls the profound impact of the relationships between participants and the dogs, Rath embarked on an in-depth investigation to understand whether these furry friends could help incarcerated individuals break free from internalized stigma, restore their self-confidence and improve the institution’s overall environment. The findings shed light on the unique and powerful connections formed between inmates and therapy dogs, offering a more positive environment and effective rehabilitation strategies, said Rath. “The main thing that I found was the dogs were able to be physically and emotionally present with the participants in ways that human interventions hadn’t been

She’s only been on the job for two years, but London registered nurse Lannie Seddon has already been punched in the head by a patient. She’s one of many hospital workers who face violence and aggression at work on a regular basis — something London’s hospitals are trying to prevent and mitigate, but a reality nonetheless. Data obtained by CBC News shows 165 Code White calls at Victoria and University hospitals in the last two years — sometimes as many as 14 times a month. A Code White is activated when someone is behaving in a ptentially dangerous manner toward themselves or others and could escalate. “I’ve seen people being bitten, hit, swatted, punched. Lots of people getting physically hurt,” said Seddon, who works in a London hospital. CBC News has agreed not to identify her exact workplace. Read more here: CBC News August 8, 2023

As rising temperatures continue to break records this summer, it is important to remember that extreme heat affects not just our physical health but also our mental health. Elevated cortisol levels, induced by rising temperatures, can trigger stress responses, making individuals feel moody and agitated. The parasympathetic nervous system, responsible for promoting calmness and relaxation, becomes less active at higher temperatures, leaving us vulnerable to stress. Read more here: Psychology Today August 4, 2023

Suicide is the most common cause of death in patients who have schizophrenia spectrum disorders, a study in Schizophrenia Bulletin has found. Marie Stefanie Kejser Starzer, M.D., of Copenhagen University Hospital and colleagues analyzed data from the OPUS I study, a randomized controlled trial of 578 patients experiencing their first episode of psychosis. Patients enrolled in the study between January 1, 1998, and December 31, 2000. When the patients enrolled, they were between 18 and 45 years old; had received first-time treatment for a diagnosis of schizophrenia, schizotypal disorder, delusional disorder, acute or transient psychosis, schizoaffective disorder, or nonspecific nonorganic psychosis; and had not received antipsychotic medication for more than 12 weeks. They were randomized to receive treatment as usual or a specialized early intervention that consisted of two years of assertive community treatment (including family involvement, social skills training, and psychoeducation

One First Nation community in Ontario has officially declared a state of emergency due to an opioid crisis. “In the last five years we’ve had over 45 deaths, drug-related to the opioid crisis,” Chief Veronica Smith, of the Chippewas of Nawash First Nation in Ontario, told CTV National News. “If we don’t start dealing with the problem, then it will only get worse.” On June 26, during Chippewas of Nawash council meeting, the community declared a state of emergency as a result of the crisis’ overwhelming need for services and support, Smith explained. Smith, who lost her son to a fentanyl overdose, knows first hand the toll this crisis is taking on families. “His addiction just didn’t start over night. He had a long standing addiction that, over the years, was getting worse. And the drugs were getting worse. And the drugs are getting more addictive,” she explained. “I don’t even think he realized how addictive fentanyl was.” Read more here: CTV News August 4, 2023

For nearly two decades, a drug treatment court in Winnipeg has offered a way out of the cycle of drug abuse. Now. in a bid to support the court and its programs, the province and Justice Canada have signed a joint-five-year funding agreement. This would enable millions of dollars to be used to accommodate an increase of participants over the years — about 20 to 30 more annually, while opening the doors to enhanced drug screening, counselling, treatment services, and case management. The court, according to the Manitoba government, offers an alternative sentencing model when dealing with criminal offences related to substance abuse. Treatment and intervention are offered to offenders, along with a 12-to-18-month program for recovery. In a press release on Aug. 3, the province noted that the court adopts a collaborative approach with its treatment program, with justice, treatment agencies and community partners working together to create an environment conducive to recovery and rehabilit

The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) has released a new report, which lays out the key areas that governments need to focus on in order to improve struggling health-care systems. The report is the result of an agreement between the federal, provincial and territorial governments to investigate where they can improve health care can be improved in Canada. Governments, with the exception of Quebec, agreed to work with CIHI to collect and share their health-care data. CIHI plans to share the results publicly every year, making this report the first of an annual series. This first report, which focuses on giving a snapshot of the current landscape of Canadian health care, found that surgeries dropped by 13 per cent during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic levels and that Canada is underutilizing the potential of electronic tools, with fewer than 40 per cent of Canadians reporting that they’ve accessed their health information online before. Read more here: CTV News Augu

A global study co-led by researchers from The University of Queensland and Harvard Medical School has found one in two people will develop a mental health disorder in their lifetime. Professor John McGrath from UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute, Professor Ronald Kessler from Harvard Medical School, and their colleagues from 27 other countries, analysed data from more than 150,000 adults across 29 countries between 2001 and 2022, taken from the largest ever coordinated series of face-to-face interviews — the World Health Organisation’s World Mental Health Survey initiative. Lead author Professor McGrath said the results demonstrate the high prevalence of mental health disorders, with 50 per cent of the population developing at least one disorder by the age of 75. “The most common were mood disorders such as major depression or anxiety,” Professor McGrath said. “We also found the risk of certain mental disorders differed by sex.” Read more here: Science Daily July 31, 2023

Hamilton lawyers say they’re struggling to get timely access to clients who are imprisoned in the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre. “It’s definitely not in the best interest of the inmates and the lawyers,” Asgar Manek, a local lawyer, told CBC Hamilton. “I have to stand up for what is right.” Manek and other lawyers say before the pandemic, lawyers could walk into the facility and meet with their client on the same day. Since the pandemic, the lawyers say there have been fewer rooms available for consultation with clients and lawyers have to set up an appointment before meeting their client. Manek said he once walked in to try and speak with a client in jail and left after being stuck waiting for 40 minutes. “It’s an impediment … definitely prohibitive,” Lauren Wilhelm, a local criminal defence lawyer, said. Read more here: CBC News August 1, 2023

Sarnia police have removed a Twitter post about a woman who was arrested for allegedly shoplifting food and cleaning supplies, acknowledging that it was “not in keeping” with their “internal and community expectations.” The tweet, which included a photo of the groceries in question, was posted on Friday afternoon and was titled: “Strike 3…. YOU ARE GOING FOR BAIL.” It read: “A female was arrested today, after she was caught for the third time this month stealing from the same retail store. She was held for bail to prevent her from continuing to reoffend.” and included the hashtag #fivefingerdiscount. Read more here: CTV News July 30, 2023

Evidence shows putting children behind bars leads to overall worse general adult health, higher recidivism rates and lower life expectancies. Despite this, Canada continues to jail youth by the tens of thousands each year. But a new report from the Sentencing Project presents six effective alternatives to child incarceration. While their findings reflect American statistics, it offers a blueprint for Canada to adopt some alternatives of its own. Last year, Statistics Canada reported a dramatic and unprecedented decline in the number of incarcerated youth in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. With a decrease of 27 per cent, Canada has already demonstrated there are safe alternatives to incarcerating young people in the name of health, safety and human rights. Those numbers marked the largest drop in youth incarceration since the Youth Criminal Justice Act came into effect, reaching its lowest point in February 2021 with 449 youth incarcerated. Additionally, the average daily count

London should be the first city in Ontario to get any newly-built publicly-funded addiction rehab facilities, Mayor Josh Morgan says. “Treatment is health care, and so it’s not something the city can do. This is a fully provincial responsibility and only the province can help us and our citizens and residents,” Morgan told CBC News. Morgan, Deputy Mayor Shawn Lewis and Coun. Susan Stevenson are asking for other councillors’ support to advocate for a provincial addiction rehabilitation centre in London. “It would mean a great deal for those in our community who need affordable addiction treatment. We know across the province there is a lack of affordable options. There are many options available for those who have the wealth to be able to move into that space but for those who need more support, it’s just not there,” Morgan said. Ontario Premier Doug Ford made the pledge to move “full steam ahead” to build new publicly funded addiction rehab centres during a radio interview on July 14.

 

Sinéad O’Connor, the Irish singer who rose to fame in the 1990s with a hit recording of Prince’s Nothing Compares 2 U and became known for her outspoken political activism and mental health struggles, has died at 56. “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved Sinéad. Her family and friends are devastated and have requested privacy at this very difficult time,” the singer’s family said in a statement reported Wednesday by the BBC and RTE. Ireland’s prime minister Leo Varadkar paid tribute to the singer on social media, calling her talent “unmatched.” “Condolences to her family, her friends and all who loved her music,” he wrote. Read more here: CBC News July 26, 2023

A diagnosis of depression in adulthood could more than double your risk of developing dementia in older age, according to a new study. The study, published Monday in the journal JAMA Neurology, used data from more than 1.4 million Danish citizens who were followed from 1977 to 2018, said lead study author Dr. Holly Elser, epidemiologist and resident physician in neurology at the University of Pennsylvania. People were identified as having a depression diagnosis or not and followed throughout the years to see who developed dementia later in life, the study said. Researchers adjusted for factors like education, income, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, substance use disorder and bipolar disorder. The large dataset and numerous analyses researchers used made their findings strong and reliable, but the study is limited by the unavailability of information like genetic data, said Dr. Natalie Marchant, associate professor in the division of psychiatry at University College London. Marchant w

The City of London has moved a step closer to approving a multi-million dollar plan to open a series of neighbourhood service hubs intended to provide life-saving supports and pathways to housing for those suffering through an increasingly deadly homelessness crisis. The plan was approved by a 11-4 vote in council sitting as the Strategic Priorities and Police Committee after almost six hours of discussion held solely to debate the hub plan. Months in the making, the plan will allow the city to enter a procurement process to set up three to five hubs before the end of the year, with the possibility of expanding to up to 15 hubs in the future. The hubs will be places where those who sleep outside — they number about 2,000 — can get access to basic services such as food, water, a temporary bed, bathroom and shower facilities but also begin the process of accessing supportive housing. The hubs are intended to stabilize the most acute cases so they can be safe while they’re assessed and co

Toronto resident Rhonda Miller knows how difficult it can be to afford the basic necessities. The 52-year-old lives in an apartment with her daughter and two granddaughters, who are nine and six. Rising rent and food prices mean Miller has to sometimes choose between paying her bills or buying groceries. “I leave the bills until I can afford it, because I have to get the food,” she told CBC News. The Millers rely on social assistance and income from some part-time work, but they say it’s not enough to keep pace with the rising cost of living. “It’s really difficult because sometimes the food, what I want [my grandchildren] to eat, I can’t afford it, because the budget,” said Miller, noting she worries about the impact on their health. Read more here: CBC News July 24, 2023

Volunteering in late life is associated with better cognitive function — specifically, better executive function and episodic memory. Those are the findings of a new study from UC Davis Health presented today (July 20) at the Alzheimer’s Association International Conference 2023 in Amsterdam. “We hope these new data encourage individuals of all ages and backgrounds to engage in local volunteering — not only to benefit their communities, but potentially their own cognitive and brain health,” said Donna McCullough, Alzheimer’s Association chief mission and field operations officer. Volunteer activities — such as supporting educational, religious, health-related or other charitable organizations — allow older adults to be more physically active, increase social interaction and provide cognitive stimulation that may protect the brain. However, there has been a lack of information on the relationship between volunteering and cognitive function, especially in large, diverse populations. Read

An American father-son duo drove for two days in an old army Jeep just to buy ketchup chips in Canada last week. “We only crossed the border to buy the chips,” Rich Lieberman told CTV News Toronto on Saturday after buying 40 burgundy bags of Lay’s potato chips only available in Canada. Lieberman and his 15-year-old son, Jacob, boarded their old army Jeep, which only travels approximately 70 kilometres per hour, in Virginia and set their sights on Niagara Falls, Ont. “We joked it was a grocery run,” he said. “We had some time to kill before school starts.” Read more here: CTV News July 22, 2023

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says he has apologized to a woman in Niagara Falls, Ont. for calling her home a “tiny little shack” in an attempt to illustrate high housing costs in the area. “Housing costs under (Prime Minister Justin) Trudeau have doubled, and it is not a global phenomenon, it is unique to Canada,” Poilievre said at a press conference Wednesday. “I’ll give you just one example. It costs $550,000 for a tiny little shack,” he also said, before listing a specific address. “You can go check it out yourself.” The home — a three-bedroom, two-bathroom, 1.5-story home on a half-acre lot — is on the market for $539,900. “He called it a shack. A shack,” the house’s tenant, Asha Letourneau, told CHCH. “That was a little embarrassing, also because it’s not.” According to CHCH, Letourneau works as a waitress and saw Poilievre’s comments online after working a night shift. “It’s not the greatest house on the street, but it’s definitely not a shack,” she told CHCH. Read more h

As he swims across Lake Ontario, swinging one arm over the other for 51 kilometres straight, Jason Kloss may seem alone — but he won’t be. His grandfather, Dick Kloss, and friend, Mike Kuipers, both of whom died during the pandemic, will be in the Paris, Ont., man’s mind, pushing him to finish what he started. “That hit me really hard,” Jason, 35, told CBC Hamilton in a phone interview, a few weeks ahead of his long-distance swim. His goal is to not only cross the lake but also raise $50,000 toward the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, also known as CAMH, in Toronto. Jason said he’s been preparing by swimming every morning for up to three hours but he’s no stranger to lake swims. Read more here: CBC News July 20, 2023

City councillors will debate the much-talked-about hub implementation plan to address London’s growing homelessness crisis in a special committee meeting next week. A 46-page report details the steps taken so far, including community engagement, and what immediate steps are needed next, including a request from council to endorse the plan, including a capital budget of $10 million to renovate existing spaces for the first five hub locations. Officials behind the hubs plan say the goal is to offer a space for those most acutely in need of a safe space to get them off the streets, stabilized, and eventually into housing. “If we are able to provide folks with space to be inside, have health-care and have access to the resources they need, something can change,” said Sean Warren, a care facilitator with the London Intercommunity Health Centre and a co-chair of the hubs implementation table. Read more here: Global News July 19, 2023

St. Thomas has dismantled a well-established encampment where people had set up tents and built make-shift shelters, angering outreach workers who say the people there have nowhere else to go. “What typically happens is they have to see if there’s room in the shelter or find another place to camp. The people who tend to camp like this are challenged with shelter stay, it’s not always safe for them, so they might be driven further into the woods, where their camps won’t be dismantled,” said Jackie Moore, the coordinator of The Nameless, a volunteer-run group that supports people experiencing homelessness. “They create a community within themselves that meets hygienic standards and safety standards for themselves, and then something like this happens and they get told to move, but there’s no supports, nowhere else for them to go.” St. Thomas police say the camp had to be taken down because it was unsafe and that workers with a mental health outreach team connected with the campers to pro

Months after spreading potassium and positivity across London, the man who gave out thousands of free bananas and sparked speculation from hundreds of Londoners has agreed to share his motivations. Tyler Lockhart, 21, says his generosity wasn’t inspired by a thirst for fame or praise, but rather a firsthand understanding of what those in need are facing. “I was living out of my car at the time and I saw all these people living on the street. I was reading the Bible a lot, and I wanted to be more Christlike,” said Lockhart. “I wanted to help those that needed the food right now. Not in a month, or two weeks.” In April, CBC London published a story about Lockhart’s ‘bananthropy’ and the speculation and scavenger hunt that ensued in local online communities thanks to the mysterious nature of the generosity. One local group that focuses on giving to those in need became a hub for banana sightings, with dozens of posts showcasing the various locations Lockhart had dropped off stacks of free

Despite not securing a multi-million-dollar grant, a St. Thomas, Ont., non-profit is still determined to get its tiny affordable homes project off the ground. The YWCA St. Thomas-Elgin says its application for an $8-million grant with the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) for its rapid housing initiative was declined. YWCA executive director Lindsay Rice tells Global News her CMHC rep told the St. Thomas team they had a very competitive bid, but there was one category where they lagged behind others. “CMHC allocates additional points to the communities they believe are in the deepest need for affordable housing,” said Rice. “Unfortunately, we just weren’t awarded those points in that area even though we know how much of a housing crisis St. Thomas is faced with right now.” Read more here: Global News July 18, 2023

The much anticipated plan to help support the homeless population in London, Ont. will include 24/7 wrap around services in hubs that will cost $2.7 million each to run. A new 46-page report to be discussed by councillors next week outlines the details of a plan that would see as many as 15 hubs open in the city with the aim of getting people into supportive housing. The goal is to open three to five hubs by the end of 2023 in different neighbourhoods, excluding Old East Village, Dundas Place and Richmond Row. “The system will support the highest acuity Londoners to move safely inside, help them get stabilized, wrap around them with supports, connect them to the right housing and help them stay housed,” the report said. “Every interaction is an active and intentional effort to meet people where they’re at, supporting an individual’s next steps toward housing.” Read more here: CBC News July 18, 2023

A city councillor in London, Ont., is coming under fire after sharing a plan to address homelessness that suggested providing support that people need to get off the streets but arresting anyone who refuses assistance. Ward 4 Coun. Susan Stevenson tweeted “London could be first” followed by an emoji face with hearts around it and a link to a blog post from Michael Smerconish, a political commentator in the United States. In the post, Smerconish writes that shelter should be offered to those who live on the streets on the condition that they accept drug counseling if they are addicted, mental health services if they have mental health issues, and must work or be looking for work if able to do so. “If they don’t do these things and return to the streets despite the availability of shelter, they can and should be arrested, for they will not be homeless. No one should be allowed to live in the public spaces of our cities,” he writes. Read more here: Global News July 18, 2023

Just two hours up Highway 401 from Windsor, Ont., there’s a mental health and addictions crisis centre that is a “game changer” for the London community. Now, a Windsor hospital is eyeing the same model as it plans to re-submit a proposal to the province after its original one was turned down. Since 2015, the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) Thames Valley branch has operated a 24/7 crisis centre where anyone with mental health or addictions issues can walk in, 365 days a year. And in 2020, Ontario legislation allowed paramedics to drop off those patients, giving them access to specialized services in one location. The goal was to alleviate overburdened emergency rooms and gets first responders back on the road faster. Read more here: CBC News July 17, 2023

Real estate developers say homelessness, drugs and the prevalence of people suffering from severe mental illness is holding back the full-scale revival of downtown London by making it a hard sell for prospective office tenants as the core looks to turn the corner after the COVID-19 pandemic. The downtown has long been the beating heart of London, Ont., where street life moved to the pulse of rush hour traffic and the nine-to-five crowd, whose rhythms made the neighbourhood’s tangle of offices, shops and restaurants teem with life for 10 hours a day, five days a week. But then the virus upended everything, throwing off the core’s rhythm and gutting its office sector when remote work suddenly replaced the commute, accelerating the decadeslong flight of office workers to the suburbs while doubling the city’s homeless population. Since the virus peaked, the downtown still bears the scars. Empty offices and shops are hidden behind colourfully-painted plywood facades — public art that stands

A cancer survivor says he wasn’t given access to pain medication. A man who lost 42 pounds says he couldn’t get the right food for a medical condition. Another man felt like he was going to die after staying in the back of a hot van for hours during the summer. A person reported being sexually assaulted. These are just some of the complaints by inmates at the Hamilton-Wentworth Detention Centre that were lodged in 2022 to a provincial phone line. It’s the same facility where prisoners went on hunger strikes in 2020, 2021 and earlier this year, due to what some have called poor conditions inside the maximum-security jail. Read more here: CBC News July 14, 2023

The historic core of Cobourg, Ont., brims with small-town charm. There are stately buildings, quaint shops and old-fashioned iron lampposts decorated with hanging flower baskets. The local business authority even coined a hashtag, “#8BlocksofAwesome.” But on Friday nights, just steps off the postcard main street, another side of life comes into view. Volunteers are setting up camp chairs and folding tables in an alleyway and laying out supplies, including alcohol swabs, plastic pipes and naloxone kits to be used in case of overdoses. All for an unsanctioned, pop-up safe site for local drug users, specifically geared to people who inhale rather than inject. “It just seemed that there was more and more need, and more and more people dying,” said Ashley Smoke, one of the organizers. “There’s just so many people that are struggling and no one to help.” Cobourg, home to 20,000 on the shore of Lake Ontario east of Toronto, has had a dozen fatal overdoses over the past 18 months. The nearest

Ontario now offers an 18-hour course that teaches police recruits how to deal with people suffering from a mental health crisis, marking the first time such training has been offered to the province’s law enforcement cadets. The three-day training session was introduced last week by the Ontario Police College in Aylmer, provincial officials told CBC News. The new course underscores the dual role of Ontario officers, who function as both law enforcement officials and social worker, in a province grappling with ways to minimize deadly police shootings and beatings in emergency calls involving people experiencing mental health issues . The course was designed as a direct response to the 2018 Iacobucci Report, drafted in the wake of the 2013 police shooting death of Sammy Yatim, a teenager who was killed aboard a Toronto streetcar while in a mental health crisis. Read more here: CBC News July 7, 2023

 Crisis. It’s a state I’ve become all too familiar with as a mental health nurse, but it was still unknown territory the day my patient threatened to kill me. It was an evening shift almost two years ago. I had recently joined the psychiatry unit at the Montreal General Hospital and was finding my footing. While walking the halls and passing out patients’ medications, I suddenly felt a presence close behind me. A chill ran through me as I whirled around and came face to face with a young woman — a patient of mine who was prone to sudden and violent outbursts. Her hands were balled into fists and raised toward me. She began hollering that she was going to kill me. I was cornered and alone. Fighting my natural fight-or-flight response, I knew I needed to push aside any preconceived thoughts I had about people in crisis and attempt to de-escalate the situation. Read more here: CBC News July 7, 2023

A meal, water and a portable washroom was a nice surprise for Neil Hammell, who is living in an encampment off Wellington Valley Park in London, Ont., near the Thames River. “There’s no clean down here, there’s just different levels of dirty,” said Hammell, who has been living in a tent for the past two months after losing his roommates and no longer being able to rent a home. “The outhouse brings it up a notch, and that’s one of the best things right now,” he added. It’s day one of a program to bring basic human needs to those living rough. City council approved $100,000 for London Cares and the Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) to fund the strategy which will set up in parks for 90 minutes per day. An additional $255,000 has been approved from a reserve fund for garbage cleanup. Read more here: CTV News July 4, 2023

 

London city council is moving ahead with a plan to create four service depots for homeless populations in the downtown core. As London faces an escalating homelessness crisis, the plan to ramp up emergency response supports was pushed forward by city council at a meeting Tuesday evening. City council approved additional funding for temporary mobile depots which will provide basic services such as portable toilets, sanitation facilities, drinking water, food, social supports and garbage collection at four locations in the downtown core near the Thames River. There will also be safety resources and checks to ensure fire safety and personal safety of residents including access to the overdose prevention drug Naloxone. Read more here: CBC News June 28, 2023

If you’ve been to a doctor’s office or fitness center in recent years, you’ve likely had your Body Mass Index calculated. The BMI formula uses a person’s weight in kilograms divided by the square of their height in meters. The resulting number is classified into one of four categories: underweight, normal weight, overweight, or obese. These labels are prolific in the U.S. medical system. At one point, BMI classification was even used to establish eligibility for COVID vaccines. Earlier this month, the American Medical Association voted to move away from using BMI as a measurement to assess weight and health. The calculation is problematic for many reasons. To understand why, you must first understand its history. Read more here: Psychology Today June 28, 2023

“Every time the police come after me they make me madder,” says Richard Saville-Smith, Ph.D. Saville-Smith is an independent scholar in the United Kingdom who writes about madness. He lives with madness himself. In early June his wife was worried about him and she phoned the physician, who then phoned the police. “The police officers were female and they were so fit they could run after me. I told them I didn’t want to be locked up,” says Saville-Smith. “My environment was safe for me. I had my own bed, I knew how everything worked.” They wrestled him into submission. “They cracked my rib and gave me abrasions all over my arm. There’s still nerve damage to my fingers,” he says. After an altercation with the two police officers, Saville-Smith was involuntarily hospitalized. Read more here: Psychology Today June 28, 2023

When I asked Boyd Peters, a Sts’ailes First Nation member and BC First Nations Justice Council director, about the effects of long-term incarceration on Indigenous people, his brow furrowed. He exhaled and looked down before responding. “Nobody should have to go through that,” he said. But more and more Indigenous people are going “through that” — living in Canadian prisons despite federal government commitments “to reset the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the justice system.” From 2009 to 2018, as the general prison population expanded by only one per cent, the Indigenous prisoner population increased by 43 per cent. A recent report by B.C.’s Prisoners’ Legal Services, “Decarceration Through Self-determination: Ending the Mass Incarceration of Indigenous People in Canada,” suggests a better way to address the overrepresentation of Indigenous people in Canada’s prisons. The report’s proposal seems radical, but it potentially realizes Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commi

British Columbia’s 2021 heat dome killed people diagnosed with schizophrenia at a higher rate than those with any other chronic illness, according to recent findings from researchers at the B.C. Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC). As extreme heat events are forecasted to become more common and intense, researchers and one advocate are calling for more public awareness and cooling centres for vulnerable people, including those with schizophrenia. During the heat dome’s hottest eight days in B.C., 134 people diagnosed with schizophrenia died, triple the average numbers of deaths during the same period from 2006 to 2020, found a peer-reviewed article published in journal GeoHealth in March. That represents about eight per cent of all deaths recorded during the extreme heat event, while people with schizophrenia make up only about one per cent of the population, said a June opinion article published in the B.C. Medical Journal. Read more here: CBC News June 24, 2023

The city of Barrie, Ont., has backed away from proposed bylaws that would have made it illegal to distribute food, literature, clothes, tents and tarps to unhoused people on public property. At a meeting on Wednesday night, council decided unanimously to refer bylaws 67 and 68 back to staff. The matter is expected to return to a general committee meeting later this year. “There should be zero fear out there that a bylaw officer or a peace officer is going to come and ask you not to give water to someone who needs it,” Mayor Alex Nuttall told council chambers. Coun. Jim Harris, who represents Ward 8, said the intent of the bylaws was not to prevent people from helping unhoused people. “Charitable acts of kindness, giving, are central to our community and we do not want to punish that. That’s not the intent,” Harris said. Read more here: CBC News June 21, 2023

Edmonton MP Matt Jeneroux hopes Taylor Swift’s lack of Canadian stops on her Eras Tour is not about bad blood. In several posts on his social media accounts, the Conservative politician indicated he would follow Australia’s lead and file a grievance with Parliament to encourage Taylor Swift to add some Canadian dates to her Eras Tour. “It has come to my attention that despite much anticipation, Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour has neglected to include any Canadian dates or locations as she released her international dates, which includes stops throughout Asia and Europe,” Jeneroux wrote in a letter dated and signed on Wednesday, June 21. “Similar to what’s being considered in Australia, I would like to file an official grievance within Parliament on behalf of all Swifties in Canada for her and her team to reconsider,” the letter continued. Read more here: Global News June 21, 2023

 A pseudo-psychiatric diagnosis is being used by police and other first responders. Ketamine and other tactics are then being used to subdue a person. Police and first responders to mental health crises need more training. Mental health professionals and the police must collaborate on humane handling of behavioral emergencies. Read more here: Psychology Today June 21, 2023

Taking daytime naps may help maintain brain health as we age, according to a new study. However, prior research has shown that excess napping can also be harmful. Habitual napping was linked with larger total brain volume, which is associated with a lower risk of dementia and other diseases, according to researchers from University College London (UCL) and the University of the Republic of Uruguay. On average, the difference in brain volume between nappers and non-nappers was equivalent to 2.5 to 6.5 years of aging, researchers said. “Our findings suggest that, for some people, short daytime naps may be a part of the puzzle that could help preserve the health of the brain as we get older,” said senior author Victoria Garfield, a senior research fellow at UCL, in a statement. Read more here: CTV News June 20, 2023

Simmering tensions about how the workload is being divided between councillors boiled over at city hall. On Tuesday, the Strategic Priorities and Policy Committee was tasked with nominating two councillors to sit on the Kettle Creek Conservation Authority, and another to join the Lower Thames Conservation Authority. Typically, councillors nominate themselves for appointments to fill vacancies on outside agencies, boards, and commissions. But Coun. Skylar Franke took an unexpected approach that triggered nervous laughter from her colleagues— nominating Ward 10 Coun. Paul Van Meerbergen who was absent. Read more here: CTV News June 21, 2023

It can happen to anyone: As you’re talking, you hear yourself say, “I heard that she—wait, I mean he!” A pronoun slip can be embarrassing, especially if you pride yourself on being generally good at using the language people have asked you to use. But why do pronoun slips happen, and why do we seem to mess up pronouns more than names or other gendered words? Linguistics (the scientific study of language) has answers, and can give us insight into how to use the words we want to use—and the techniques are surprisingly similar to how we learn new languages. Read more here: Mental Floss June 20, 2023

Ontario has joined seven other provinces in announcing it will no longer incarcerate migrants detained for administrative reasons in its provincial jails. Earlier this week, a Radio-Canada/CBC report revealed that Quebec and New Brunswick had ended their contracts with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), under which the provinces were paid to imprison foreign nationals held under the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act. Following that news, human rights organizations and immigration lawyers reinforced their appeal to Ontario, where CBSA detains the most migrants, to follow suit. On Thursday, Ontario Solicitor General Michael Kerzner told federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino that his government was also cancelling its contract. Under these agreements, the provinces must give CBSA one year’s notice of cancellation. Ontario’s decision was first reported by the Globe and Mail. Radio-Canada/CBC confirmed the information. “Ontario’s correctional institutions should be focu

London police officials are not doing enough to analyze their own race-based use-of-force numbers to start tackling systemic racism within their organization, an expert in police data says. London police numbers crunched by researcher Tandeep Sidhu show Black people in the city experienced force by officers at a rate five times higher than the general population in 2022. Indigenous Londoners experienced use of force by officers at a rate of just over twice as high as the general population that same year. “In order to move forward and effectively address these issues, there needs to be an acknowledgment of systemic discrimination in policing practices. This is a matter of public trust and transparency,” Sidhu told CBC News. Sidhu was with a research team analyzing data for the police watchdog Special Investigations Unit. He specializes in race-based numbers analysis and is working on his PhD at the University of Waterloo. Read more here: CBC News June 16, 2023

People who use fentanyl on the streets of London say the deadly opioid is becoming ever cheaper and more powerful, delivering higher highs, while simultaneously raising the risk of overdose death. Without widespread testing, there’s no way of knowing, but the city’s drug problem has become more visible in the core, where strung out users lay in alcoves, doorways and on sidewalks where they remain sprawled in broad daylight, sometimes for hours, as passersby go on with their daily business in the city centre. Relief agency officials say while the problem might appear more visible, it’s not because of an increased prevalence of drug abuse. Rather, the city’s homeless population has recently doubled, making people who use the drugs to self-medicate for pain, mental illness, or sometimes just to catch some sleep, more visible. “I really believe it’s getting stronger,” said Dave, a fentanyl user who spoke to CBC News on the condition his real name would not be used in order to protect him f

A Winnipeg man living with a cocaine addiction who has previously spent time in a provincial jail is back behind bars, this time in a federal penitentiary — and that’s what he wanted. Jason Walmsley, 34, told CBC in an interview inside the federal Stony Mountain Institution that a prison sentence — as opposed to a provincial jail sentence at Headingley Correctional Centre, where he’s served time before — will give him a better chance at staying clean after he’s released. With a provincial jail, “when my release date comes, that’s exactly what it is — it’s a release. You get let go at the first bus stop in the west end of Winnipeg,” Walmsley said. “I know for a fact that when I get released from this [federal] prison [and] that while I’m in this prison, the biggest concern for them is something called my correction plan.” Read more here: CBC News June 15, 2023

In a few weeks, a black van with tinted windows will be rolling into communities across midwestern Ontario, offering help for people dealing with everything from anxiety to addictions. “You’ll see the clinic doesn’t have any logos or any identification on it. We want it to be a discreet, stigma-free opportunity for people,” explained Erik Sande, president of Medavie Health Services. With funds from the province, Medavie Health will be the operators of midwestern Ontario’s first mobile mental health and addictions clinic. Starting later this summer, one social worker and one registered nurse or nurse practitioner will travel around Perth, Wellington, Huron, and Bruce counties, offering immediate help for people dealing with things like anxiety and depression, and referrals for more complicated mental health and addiction emergencies. Read more here: CTV News June 13, 2023

Anthony Kelly trudged through southwest Baltimore, each laboured footstep a reminder of the roofing accident that left him with chronic pain and a raging opioid addiction several years after he returned home from serving in the Marines. Doctors used metal plates to reconstruct his lower legs and Kelly spent months learning to walk again. So began his plodding journey into the depths of substance use disorder, a downward spiral that would gradually weaken his body and consume his mind. After his prescribed painkillers ran out, Kelly turned to a combination of heroin and cocaine that sometimes cost $500 per day. More than a decade later, his substance use is more manageable and less expensive, though it remains a controlling force in his life. He takes buprenorphine, a prescription medication that’s considered the gold standard for treating opioid addiction by reducing cravings and easing withdrawal symptoms. Read more here: CTV News June 11, 2023

As pushback and protests continue over drag storytimes across Southwestern Ontario, advocates say making those experiences available is a way to teach understanding and accepting differences. Adam Davies, the co-chair of the Anti-Oppression Rainbow Research Lab at the University of Guelph — who is also a registered early childhood educator — believes drag queen storytimes are something worth fighting for. “It is of the most – the utmost importance – to fight for drag and drag storytime because of how it really is showing children, young people, families what we could be as a future society in terms of reimagining and transforming gender,” Davies told CBC News. “And these spaces are so important because we know that children start bullying and policing each other’s gender at a very young age, and those behaviours are often learned from parents and family figures.” Read more here: CBC News June 7, 2023

In a dominantly white culture, racialized people in Canada may “codeswitch”, Selam Debs, an antiracism coach said. Code-switching refers to a person changing their behaviour, expression or appearance Debs told CTV’s Your Morning on Monday, explaining the reasons for doing so can include safety, job opportunities or quality service. “Black, Indigenous and racialized folks are often considered ‘the other’ when it comes to accents,” she said. “So we might change the way that we speak, recognizing that it is in relationship with trying to fit into what is considered professional.” Read more here: CTV News June 5, 2023

The city has approved a deal with charity Indwell for 44 deeply affordable, highly supportive housing units, a step toward London’s promise to open 100 such apartments by the end of the year. City councillors approved the plan for the supportive housing units last week. It will cost about $1.7 million a year to operate the facility, money that will come from the city initially but will eventually receive subsidies from provincial health care and federal homelessness funding. The building at 403 Thompson Road in the Glen Cairn neighbourhood will provide 24/7 onsite care that includes mental health, addiction and nursing services, as well as one meal per day, activities and other and housing stability supports for tenants. “To be able to transition this site to something that supplies 44 of the 100 highly supportive units that we want to have this year puts us on a really good track to demonstrate to the funding partners that we are 100 per cent serious about moving forward with our plan

A new study has revealed an increase in antipsychotic drugs use in long-term care homes across Canada despite no significant increase in behavioural symptoms of residents – something that may expose a potential area of concern for quality of care, researchers say. The study, published in Health Services Insights, examined data from yearly Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) reports to assess how COVID-19 impacted resident admission and discharge rates, resident health attributes, treatments, and quality of care. The report data was collected two years pre-pandemic and in the first year of COVID-19, and was from more than 500,000 residents across Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, and British Columbia. Read more here: CTV News June 3, 2023

Despite the promises of “universality” and “accessibility” enshrined in the Canada Health Act, virtual delivery of family physician services for mental health varies enormously across the country. Before the COVID-19 pandemic onset, virtual delivery of physician services in Canada was rare – other than in specific settings, it was not included within publicly funded health services. Soon after the start of the pandemic, 50 per cent of outpatient care was provided through virtual modalities, an astonishing 56-fold increase, comprising 71 per cent of primary-care visits in the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was a welcome change for many patients, who had reported substantial barriers to accessing virtual care in the past. These changes also impacted accessing mental-health services for many patients, given that primary mental-health care physician services are publicly funded, and therefore free-of-charge to most patients. Our team’s work has demonstrated that anxiety and de

Despite the increased availability of resources to tackle the student mental-health crisis across Canadian universities, three in four post-secondary students are unaware of how to access campus mental-health resources. Undergraduate students voice that there is a disconnect between what is available to students with mental-health disabilities and their knowledge of their rights and resources, preventing them from utilizing accessibility services. Of those registered with accessibility services at the University of Toronto, mental-health disabilities are more prevalent than all other disabilities combined, according to an emailed statement from the school. Despite this, students often have little time for conversations with their accessibility department to learn how to navigate within academics, says Jeanette Parsons, director of the Accessible Learning Centre at Wilfrid Laurier University. “Maybe some additional resources could be added,” she says. Some students may not be aware of t

People think we’ve got the market cornered on houselessness here in Portland, Ore., but traveling across Idaho, Utah, and Arizona this winter helped confirm that this is not a uniquely West Coast Thing; it’s endemic. Houseless folks make people anxious, which explains how housed people often react. They made me anxious, too, when someone camped on my sidewalk for the first time. My anxiousness embarrassed me, so I became curious where it came from. That curiosity led me to a series of experiences trying to help people who were experiencing houselessness, working with mutual aid agencies, government services, and nonprofits. I don’t have all the answers, but I have developed personal policies that help guide my actions now. They are imperfect, and always evolving, but here’s what I’ve learned along the way. Read more here: Lifehacker May 26, 2023

Carolyn Weiss didn’t give it much thought when she posted a news article that spoke positively about vaccines on her personal Facebook. It was January 2021 and COVID-19 vaccines were beginning to be administered across the country, sparking fierce public debate. Little did the chiropractor based in Selkirk, Man., know that post would be the start of an 18-month ordeal — one that put her career in jeopardy and led to a public inquiry that cost her thousands of dollars in legal fees before she was cleared of all wrongdoing. All because the articles mentioned the word vaccines. “I was confused and baffled,” Weiss told CBC News. “I posted something that was general health information.” The complaint placed Weiss in the middle of an ongoing divide in the profession over vaccination and what can be said. Read more here: CBC News May 23, 2023

Years ago, when I was looking for my first faculty position, I sought the advice of someone who was technically supposed to serve as one of my advisors. This person offered me only two pieces of advice: Go to a career fair and read career advice books. Yep, that’s what I got from this person, who in the career advice arena was about as useful as a ferret serving as IT support. This person was essentially saying, “Don’t ask me to really help you.” These were but two examples of the plethora of useless career advice that I received when I could have instead used some real help. Read more here: Psychology Today May 22, 2023

The lived experience, the direct and unintentional (as in not stunt journalism) experience of homelessness, is increasingly used and prioritized in policy and program realms. While much of this is good, I think it needs to be examined more closely. As someone with the lived experience of homelessness when I was a young adult in my then-hometown of Richmond, Virginia, it is a concept that I wrestle with. What counts as lived experience, who decides what counts, and is lived experience something that automatically turns people into, as referred to by Pathway UK, experts by experience? I find it encouraging that there is a growing understanding of the importance of people with the lived experience of homelessness needing to be included in real, not token, ways for more effective program planning and policy-making. An example of this locally is Marc Dones, a Black non-binary person with the lived experience of homelessness and mental illness (bipolar disorder), who was named the first dire