Latest news with #CanadianCivilLibertiesAssociation
Montreal Gazette
4 days ago
- Politics
- Montreal Gazette
Letter of the day: Random street checks by police have no place in a free society
The random police street check is a routine practice — in totalitarian states. Random street checks have no place in a free society committed to constitutionally protected human rights. Section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms guarantees everyone in Canada the right to be left alone, to be able to walk, jog and cycle in the streets of Montreal free from police interference unless they have reasonable and probable grounds to believe that you have engaged in or about to engage in criminal activity. Our courts routinely affirm these principles but the Montreal police seem to believe they know better and can engage in wilful blindness of court rulings. Police Chief Fady Dagher justifies his 'law and order' rhetoric by asserting that 'the overwhelming majority of the public wants police to have discretion to stop and question people in suspicious circumstances, even if officers don't have the legal grounds to detain them,' according to The Gazette. No evidence was cited to support his assertion that is in any event irrelevant. Even if there is some 'public' support for random checks, court-mandated human rights cannot be overridden by public opinion. Also not to be overlooked, as noted by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, is that 'police services collect and retain a wide range of information about the people they come in contact with including records of contact, allegations, withdrawn charges, acquittals and mental health apprehensions, just to name a few.' These records are stored in what is euphemistically called a 'non-conviction database.' They are not criminal convictions — and yet, 'this does not mean, however, that they will never be released by the police in a background check,' the association warns. In my work as a criminal defence lawyer, I have come across reports of people with no criminal convictions applying for security-sensitive jobs and not being hired — and later recalling having been stopped by police and given their identification. Quebec Superior Court has authorized a class-action lawsuit against police forces, including the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal, over random interceptions. Such legal actions remain the only recourse for citizens as long as governments fail to rein in their police forces. But let's not forget: While Mayor Valérie Plante's administration says it's ready to pay compensation to those targeted by the interventions, it's taxpayers who pick up the cost of legal fees to defend against these lawsuits — and of the eventual payouts when damages are awarded. In a city whose infrastructure is crumbling, among other serious problems, it is nothing short of scandalous to be spending taxpayer dollars to finance police stopping innocent people in the streets of Montreal. The solution is simple: Random street checks, which overwhelmingly target racialized persons, are discriminatory and they must stop. Right now. Ralph Mastromonaco, St-Laurent Submitting a letter to the editor Letters should be sent by email to letters@ We prioritize letters that respond to, or are inspired by, articles published by The Gazette. If you are responding to a specific article, let us know which one. Letters should be sent uniquely to us. The shorter they are — ideally, fewer than 200 words — the greater the chance of publication. Timing, clarity, factual accuracy and tone are all important, as is whether the writer has something new to add to the conversation. We reserve the right to edit and condense all letters. Care is taken to preserve the core of the writer's argument. Our policy is not to publish anonymous letters, those with pseudonyms or 'open letters' addressed to third parties. Letters are published with the author's full name and city or neighbourhood/borough of residence. Include a phone number and address to help verify identity; these will not be published. We will not indicate to you whether your letter will be published. If it has not been published within 10 days or so, it is not likely to be.
CBC
30-05-2025
- Business
- CBC
Special economic zones: the secret weapon in Doug Ford's Bill 5
Premier Doug Ford's justification for his controversial Bill 5 is to protect Ontario's economy against the threats posed by U.S. President Donald Trump by reducing red tape and speeding up approvals of major projects. Ford campaigned vociferously on that theme this winter and it carried his Progressive Conservative Party to its third straight majority. However, Ford never said a word during the 29-day election campaign about the single most powerful thing in Bill 5: granting cabinet the authority to create "special economic zones." The bill would enable cabinet to designate any location in Ontario as a special economic zone, and then to exempt any company or project in the zone from having to comply with whichever provincial laws, provincial regulations or municipal bylaws the government chooses. It opens the door for cabinet to declare that such things as Ontario's minimum wage rules, its environmental regulations, its tax laws or a city's noise restrictions don't apply in the designated zone. No other Canadian province has anything like this. Asked to name jurisdictions that do, Ford government officials offered a list that includes Singapore, South Korea, Poland and Panama. "Essentially, the cabinet could give corporations a free pass to circumvent all sorts of important protections," Anaïs Bussières McNicoll, a director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, said in an interview. WATCH | Ontario NDP, Liberals successfully stall Bill 5 with midnight filibuster: Ontario NDP, Liberals successfully stall Bill 5 with midnight filibuster 16 hours ago Duration 3:36 Bussières McNicoll says the powers government would get to create special economic zones are akin to emergency powers to override laws, and should therefore be time-limited with checks and balances. 'Easier for companies to invest' Ford and his ministers haven't been quite as specific in explaining the purpose of special economic zones as they've been with other parts of Bill 5, such as shortening the timelines for mining approvals or replacing Ontario's endangered species legislation. "We need to get rid of unnecessary red tape, make it easier for companies to invest, to hire and to grow, and that's exactly what Bill 5 is going to do," said Vic Fedeli, Minister of Economic Development, Jobs and Trade, in question period Wednesday. Under the bill, Fedeli is the minister who gets the power to hand out the legal exemptions to companies of his choosing in the special economic zones. There's some indication the zones are meant to attract foreign investment. There's a line in the text of Bill 5 that talks of making Ontario "the best place in the G7 to invest, create jobs and do business." What's not in the bill are any criteria for deciding which locations, companies or projects would be eligible to be a special economic zone, nor any limits on which laws could be taken off the books in such zones. The only caveat in the Special Economic Zones Act section of Bill 5 was added by the government as an afterthought, more than a month after tabling it: a clause saying that its provisions will be consistent with existing Indigenous and treaty rights under the Constitution. Ring of Fire, 401 tunnel are candidates The government added that clause on Wednesday, six weeks after Ford first signalled that his top priority for a special economic zone is the Ring of Fire mineral deposit in the treaty lands of northern Ontario. The government now says it won't actually designate such a zone in the Ring of Fire without consulting with First Nations, but that hasn't satisfied First Nations leaders who feel the government shouldn't have plowed ahead with the bill without consulting first. The other project Ford has floated as a candidate for a special economic zone is his idea of building a tunnel under Highway 401 through Toronto. But there's nothing in the legislation stopping the government from giving any project or business in Ontario the special status. WATCH | First Nation leaders tell Ford government to kill Bill 5: First Nation leaders tell Ford government to kill Bill 5 3 days ago Duration 2:14 Critics of Doug Ford's Bill 5 say the proposed law would gut environmental protections for wildlife and infringe on treaty rights. As CBC's Mike Crawley reports, Ontario First Nations leaders are now warning of 'conflict on the ground' if it passes. For instance, it could declare the massive Volkswagen electric vehicle battery plant to be built in St. Thomas, Ont. — described as the largest auto industry deal in Canadian history — a special economic zone, and exempt the company from whichever laws cabinet chooses. "You can call them special economic zones, but what we know you are doing is opening up the floodgates for an abuse of power by government," NDP Leader Marit Stiles said. 'The power to override every law' "The government is giving themselves the power to override every law," Stiles said in question period on Wednesday. Ford has expressed disbelief at the opposition to Bill 5, insisting that his entire campaign focused on its measures and that the voters gave him a mandate to take action. "I was crystal clear about getting rid of the red tape, getting rid of the regulations, making sure that we attract investments," Ford said in question period Tuesday. It's true that Ford promised during the campaign to speed up mining approvals and to shrink bureaucracy, both central parts of Bill 5. However, the phrase "special economic zones" never publicly crossed his lips, nor does it appear in the PC platform. The closest the platform comes is a paragraph that promises to designate areas with multiple deposits of critical minerals as "regions of strategic importance" where select projects would get "automatic" approvals to proceed with early phases of work — nowhere near as sweeping as the blank cheque of special economic zones as laid out in Bill 5. Labour unions say Ford is using the Trump threat as a pretext to create the zones. "Under the cloak of an impending economic crisis and the guise of fighting tariffs, Doug Ford plans on delivering workers to the wild west of working conditions, all to the benefit of big business," said CUPE Ontario president Fred Hahn in a statement. Greenbelt parallels It's not a stretch to see parallels between Ford's move to create special economic zones (as a response to the tariff threat) and his move a few months after the 2022 election to allow development on certain properties in the Greenbelt (as a response to the housing crisis.) Both measures involve giving select companies special exemptions from existing rules, neither measure was promised during the preceding campaign and it's unclear how effective either measure would be in achieving its stated economic goal. Ford ultimately reversed course on the Greenbelt.
Epoch Times
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Epoch Times
Canada Needs ‘Even-Handed' Policy to Protect Youth From Social Media Harm Without Compromising Free Speech: Report
As social media is increasingly linked to youth mental health concerns, Canada should consider focusing on how children use these platforms rather than regulating online content, a new report suggests. It argues that content-based regulation could raise concerns about privacy and freedom of expression. While governments in some countries have introduced policies aimed at reducing online harm to youth by moderating content on social media platforms, enforcing these policies in a consistent and impartial way can be difficult, as definitions of 'harmful' content are often subjective and context-dependent, says an April 15 The report, titled 'Wired for worry: How smartphones and social media are harming Canadian youth,' examines the link between declining youth mental health and the widespread use of smartphones and social media, as well as the measures adopted by some governments to reduce social media's impact on youth. It notes that efforts to regulate social media content to curb its effects on youth, such as those proposed in Canada's Online Harms Act, could be misused, if implemented, to silence critics or dissenting voices. 'Given the risks to free speech and privacy posed by many attempts at social media regulation, Canada should aim for an even-handed policy response that protects the mental health of young people without significantly threatening privacy, creating new bureaucracies, or demanding complex changes to social media platforms,' reads the report. The report's author, Jonah Davids, a Toronto-based researcher and writer, says that 'beyond clearly depraved content like child pornography and snuff films, or material explicitly promoting self-harm or suicide, there is little consensus about what constitutes 'harmful' content.' Related Stories 4/11/2025 4/5/2025 'Liberals might view an Instagram video cautioning adolescents against gender transitioning as harmful, while conservatives might see a video encouraging gender transitioning as harmful,' Davids wrote, adding that it would be 'deeply problematic' for governments to restrict content in a 'neutral, consistent, and fair' manner. The Liberal government under former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau introduced Bill C-63, the Online Harms Act, in Parliament in February 2024, but the legislation died earlier this year when Trudeau The legislation Ottawa previously Civil liberties groups like the Canadian Civil Liberties Association had Then-Justice Minister Arif Virani said at the time the bill would enhance free expression by targeting 'the worst' online content and 'empowering all people to safely participate in online debate.' The Impact of Social Media on Youth The report's author says social media is a major contributing factor, if not the main cause, of declining mental health among young Canadians. Depression rates among Canadians aged 15 to 24 doubled to 14 percent over the decade leading up to 2022, while anxiety rates quadrupled in the same age group, says the report, with the increases coinciding with the widespread adoption of smartphones and social media in the early 2010s. 'Time spent on social media now often replaces in-person interaction, exposes users to damaging content, and leads some to interpret normal distress as mental health symptoms,' reads the report. 'Studies suggest that one to two hours of daily social media use is associated with good mental health, but mental health worsens as use increases beyond that.' Davids cites a theory developed by psychologist Jonathan Haidt, which suggests that social media harms youth mental health by limiting in-person social interactions. [Page 8] 'The introduction of smartphones and social media have created a developmental environment where youth spend less time in person with friends and family and more time online,' says the report. 'As social media saps time away from building these critical relationships, youth grow more anxious and depressed.' In addition to limited in-person contact, social media may expose youth to various risks, the report says, including cyberbullying, mockery and harassment through private messages, or public humiliation through posts shared by others. They can also be blackmailed, threatened, and extorted through social media, which can result in serious consequences, as observed in the As well, exposure to social media content can not only trigger the desire in youth to compare themselves to others, thus leading to body image, self-esteem, or self-harm issues; but also lead to the conscious or unconscious adoption of symptoms of mental or neurological disorders. One example cited by the author involves a group of The author notes that the rise in mental health diagnoses since 2010 may also reflect a longer-term trend of 'diagnostic inflation,' where mild symptoms of distress are increasingly labeled as mental health conditions or other disorders. 'Given that information and ideas about mental health spread through social media, using these platforms could increase one's chances of interpreting normal distress as a mental health issue or diagnosable disorder, which would help to explain the uptick in self-reported mental health symptoms,' reads the report. Policy Proposals The author argues that regulating the content youth encounter on the Internet is less likely to tackle the harms of social media than limiting the time they spend on these platforms. 'Given that the exorbitant amount of time youth spend on social media is a major contributor to its adverse impact on their mental health, bills that restrict young people from using social media until they are a reasonable age are likely to be better at getting to the root of the problem than bills that protect them from specific types of content,' writes the author. He proposes raising the minimum age of social media use in Canada from 13 to 16, following He also recommends strengthening school policies that restrict cellphone and social media use. Eight provinces currently have some form of restriction, says the report, ranging from requiring phones to be kept out of sight to fully banning them in classrooms. Re-orienting children around 'free play' and in-person interactions instead of screens is another proposal outlined in the report. Schools could contribute to the initiative by reducing reliance on screens in education, and promoting outdoor time and socialization when possible, it says. Families could play a role in this regard by 'setting clear limits on screen time, ensuring their children have ample opportunities for independent outdoor play and face-to-face socialization, and modeling healthy screen use themselves,' Davids wrote. Matthew Horwood contributed to this report.
Global News
06-05-2025
- Business
- Global News
Critics slam Ontario for proposal to create zones where projects are exempt from laws
First Nations, civil liberty groups and environmentalists are slamming Ontario for a proposed bill that would give cabinet the power to create 'special economic zones' and allow the government to exempt itself from following laws on certain projects. Critics say it's a power grab designed to ensure projects like Premier Doug Ford's proposed tunnel under Highway 401 and mining critical minerals in northern Ontario get done with little resistance. Get daily National news Get the day's top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day. Sign up for daily National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy Several First Nation leaders from the Ring of Fire region visited Queen's Park Monday and said they have yet to be consulted on the bill, despite pledges from the province it would fulfil its duty to consult. The Canadian Civil Liberties Association says the bill is alarming and such power should only be used in emergency situations such as a pandemic, not on mining and construction projects. Energy and Mines Minister Stephen Lecce says the province has broad support to move forward quickly on its plans to become an energy superpower by mining northern Ontario. Story continues below advertisement The bill passed second reading Tuesday and was sent to committee to be studied further.
Global News
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Global News
Faqiri family demands answers on implementing coroner inquest recommendations
The family of a mentally ill man who died in a provincial jail is demanding to know if the Ontario government has implemented any recommendations that came out of a coroner's inquest, saying they believe nothing has been done. Several dozen civil liberty and mental health organizations have also called for action in a letter to Premier Doug Ford and Solicitor General Michael Kerzner following the death of Soleiman Faqiri and the subsequent inquest. In December 2023, inquest jurors issued 57 recommendations meant to improve oversight of the correctional service and access to mental health care within it. They also ruled Faqiri's death on Dec. 15, 2016 to be a homicide. It is unclear if the province has implemented any of the jury's recommendations. Yusuf Faqiri, Soleiman's brother, said it appears the government has done nothing. No charges have been laid in his brother's death. Story continues below advertisement Kerzner did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 'More than 16 months have passed since that coroner's inquest, and not one, not one of those recommendations have been implemented, including the one with a simple public statement saying that individuals suffering from mental health challenges should not be in jails,' Yusuf Faqiri said at a news conference at Queen's Park. Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy The family has also demanded an apology from the province, though one has yet to materialize. 'No one in your government has reached out to my family to issue an apology into his tragic death,' Faqiri said in a plea to Ford and Kerzner. 'The system that killed my late brother continues unchanged. Our work and this fight for change must continue and will continue.' The Canadian Civil Liberties Association also called on the province to implement the jury's recommendations, which it says would treat inmates better while also protecting society. 'The crisis in Ontario prisons undermines the basic human dignity of those in custody, the vast majority of whom are waiting for their day in court and presumed innocent,' said Shakir Rahim, director of the association's criminal justice program. In May 2024, the Faqiri family demanded similar actions from the government to act on the recommendations. Story continues below advertisement At the time, Kerzner said his government was reviewing the inquest jury's report. The inquest heard that Soleiman Faqiri, who had schizophrenia, appeared increasingly unwell during his time at the Central East Correctional Centre in Lindsay, Ont., and many correctional and medical staff members expressed concerns about him. However, Faqiri was never taken to a hospital, nor did he see a psychiatrist, the inquest heard. On his 11th day in jail, a fight broke out between Faqiri and jail guards as they escorted him back from a shower. The inquest heard guards struck Faqiri numerous times, pepper sprayed him and eventually handcuffed him, covered his head in a spit hood and left him face down on a cell floor, where he died. The jury's recommendations included creating an independent inspectorate for corrections that would have the ability to launch investigations, and adding an independent rights adviser and prisoner advocate in all correctional facilities. Other recommendations included establishing a provincial agency to oversee and deliver health care in correctional facilities and ensuring people in custody who have acute mental health issues are assessed by a mental health professional within 24 hours of a court order or remand. Recommendations issued in a coroner's inquest are not binding and the finding of homicide carries no legal liability.
