"I felt total despair, anger, sadness, I am pro-choice, but having an abortion is not something I ever wanted to have to do."

The great municipal region of Ottawa-Gatineau, the nation's capital area, has a combined population of 1,054,253 people. Yet as local news organizations and even the National Post report, the administration of the Ottawa Hospital doesn't ensure that trained staff is available to provide critical health care and administer the sexual assault protocol to victims who are taken to Emergency. Until shameful stories made headlines, that is.

From here:

The Ottawa Hospital is the city's only provincially designated centre for sexual assault cases. The hospital's Civic campus houses the Sexual Assault and Partner Abuse Care Program, with a mandate to provide care "24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year," according to a 2006 protocol.

But hospital officials admit that they have not been meeting that standard in recent months, and that the problem has become "most acute" in the past three weeks. The hospital's roster of 15 specially trained sexual-assault nurse examiners has been reduced by almost half due to illness and unexpected leave.

A woman who asked the journalist who interviewed to call her 'Anita' when quoting her, said:

"It would have been good if they had it a couple of months ago, but I am glad it will be there for other women in the future."

Anita was attacked in the early morning of May 23. Police officers drove the 21-year-old university student to the Civic emergency room. [...]

After the nurse confirmed there were no sexual-assault nurses available, Anita says she was told to go home and that Richard Tomlinson, director of the Sexual Assault Support Program, would contact her in the morning.

"I knew that was not what should happen, and even the police officer looks at me and says, 'This is not how it should be done,' " Anita said.

Mr. Tomlinson and Anita communicated on Saturday morning, and she said she was offered the option of returning to the Civic for treatment at midnight on Sunday, almost 48 hours after the attack.

In the meantime, Anita would be unable to shower, in order to preserve evidence. The alternative, driving to Renfrew, was even less attractive, even though Mr. Tomlinson said the hospital would pay the taxi fare.

"At that point, I was pissed off, I was thinking 'This is ridiculous. Why the hell am I going to go all the way to Renfrew?' "

Anita decided she was done seeking treatment, even if it meant destroying evidence that might help police track down her attacker.

"I felt so gross, I felt like I was going to lose it if I couldn't shower," she said. "So I ended up taking a shower and giving up on the hospital."

She later told the police detective on her case about being turned away from the hospital.

"She told me I was the third case that weekend," said Anita, who is receiving counselling from a sexual-assault support worker.

A few weeks ago, Anita discovered she was pregnant.

"I felt total despair, anger, sadness," Anita said. "I am pro-choice, but having an abortion is not something I ever wanted to have to do."

It is common in the aftermath of sexual assaults to provide patients with the option of taking anti-virals to prevent sexually transmitted infections, and the morning-after pill, an emergency contraceptive that prevents pregnancy if used within three days of unprotected intercourse. Anita says no medical staff in the emergency room that night examined her, nor did they offer her medication.

More, much more here.

Rules regarding collection of evidence of sexual assault are strict.

Forensic Evidence Collection

A Sexual Assault Evidence Kit is used to collect medical evidence from the client's body and clothing to assist in legal proceedings. This evidence must be collected within 72 hours after the assault. [...] Photographs of the client's injuries can be taken and kept with the hospital chart should she/he wish to report to the police at a later date. If the police are involved at the time of the assault, they may take the photographs [...]

The defendant's lawyer, if unable to undermine the complainant's credibility, may challenge the integrity of the evidence collection process by calling the RN examiner to the witness stand.

Vicki McKenna, vice-president of the Ontario Nurses Association, said the Ottawa Hospital hasn't taken the issue seriously enough. She said many cities have dropped the on-call system in favour of permanent staffing. [...] McKenna said in addition to the low pay they receive on call, Ottawa's sexual assault nurses also sometimes have to fight to get paid for time they spend testifying in court.

Most RNs are women and the majority of sexual assault complainants are women. One wonders if that's the reason why the Ottawa Hospital doesn't consider the provision of this essential service a priority.

Shut the F*ck Up!

I live on the edge of Kensington Market in Toronto. Every World Cup, I discover that I'm living in a new 'Little' Someplace. This year, it seems Little Spain replaces Little Brazil or whateverthefuckitwas last time.

Some observations:
1. Vuvuzelas are more tolerable than whistles.

2. Gasoline isn't nearly expensive enough.

3. If the cops need another kettling exercise, I'd totally be behind one right now at College and Bathurst.

I was really rooting for the Dutch, who were planning to party on King Street.

A Con job by any other name

still smells the same.

This old joke has been recently revived and tweaked.


An Alberta cowgirl named Maisey was overseeing her large herd in a remote mountainous pasture, when a brand-new Land Rover advanced toward her out of a cloud of dust.

The driver, a man in a Tom Ford suit, Fry boots, Oakley sunglasses, Rolex watch and Ralph Lauren tie, leaned out the window and shouted to the cowgirl, "If I tell you exactly how many cows and calves you have in your herd, will you give me a calf?"

Maisey looked at the man, then looked at her peacefully grazing herd and calmly answered, "Sure, why not?

The driver parked his car, whipped out his laptop, plugged it into his cell phone, and surfed to a NATO page on the Internet, where he called up a GPS satellite to get an exact fix on his location which he then fed to another NATO satellite that scanned the area in an ultra-high-resolution photo. The guy then opened the digital photo in Adobe Photoshop and exported it to an image processing facility in Hamburg, Germany. Within seconds, he received an email on his Blackberry that the image has been processed and the data stored. He then accessed an MS-SQL database through an ODBC connected Excel spreadsheet and, after a few minutes, received a response. Finally, he printed out a full-color report on his hi-tech, miniaturized HP LaserJet printer, turned to the cowgirl and said, "You have exactly 1,586 animals.

"That's right. Well, I guess you can take one of my calves," said Maisey with amusement, then watched as the man took one and shoved it in the back seat of his car.

Then Maisey said to the guy, "Hey, if I can tell you exactly what your line of business is, will you give me back my calf? " He thought about it for a second and then said, "Sure, why not?"

"You're a Conservative politician", said Maisey.

"Wow! That's correct," says the man, "but how did you guess that?"

"No guessing required." answered the cowgirl. "You showed up here even though nobody called you. You wanted to get paid for an answer I already knew, to a question I never asked. You used millions of dollars worth of equipment trying to show me how much smarter than me you are; and you don't know a thing about how working people make a living - or about cows, for that matter. This is a herd of sheep, by the way."

"Now give me back my dog."

Cherchez la police!

Here's a story that a strong, independent, credible news gathering organization with deep pockets and resourceful journalists should investigate.


It's not an original narrative; tyrants in many countries over the centuries have made use of military or police forces to build, consolidate and maintain their power. What may be unique to Canada is the Faustian deal that a (once-upon-a-time) admired and respected crime-fighting organization has made with a narcissistic and vindictive control freak.

Though Chretien may have been the first to overtly enlist the RCMP in support of an authoritarian agenda, Stevie Spiteful has tapped the right-wing elements of the organization to its murkiest and most fascistic depths. He tested the waters, back in 2005:

During the last federal election the RCMP announced a (fraudulent?) investigation into the Ralph Goodale (Liberal Minister of Finance) Income Trust measures. The announcement was unprecedented, was apparently fraudulent, and is alleged to have seriously changed the outcome of the election [...]

The success of this tactic only whetted Harper's appetite and it remains to be seen whether this is valid speculation:

One is forced to wonder if a hidden agenda of the government was to build the RCMP's technical and surveillance capacity. Are they preparing for the kind of social unrest that might develop in the future if Canada is serious about meeting its G20 pledge of halving its deficit by 2013 – at a time when the world seems heading back into recession? Do our security forces look at the rising tide of strikes and protests in Europe and decide to get ready here?

One need not be paranoid to imagine how abusive and unbridled Stevie and his bullies could and would become if provided with a majority of seats in Parliament.

Not all Ontario public officials have been bullied into submission by Stevie Spiteful

Less than a month ago,

[...] after a nasty, three-month fight to keep his job was publicly played out. [Ontario Ombudsman André] Marin said his office is doing what it does best by “staying the course” and ignoring detractors. The ombudsman can serve as a “bulwark of democracy” in troubled economic times, Marin said. The report highlights the work the provincial watchdog did throughout the year.

Little did Marin suspect, when he said those words, that he would be the first public official to investigate the complaints of citizens bullied by riot police and deprived of civil liberties and human rights during the G-20 in Toronto.


Today, Marin stated in a news release:

[...] his investigation will probe "the origin and subsequent communication of the controversial security regulation passed by the province prior to the June 26-27 G20 summit."

The temporary powers regulation, which was published in the official Ontario Gazette last Saturday, five days after it lapsed, became publicly known when a man was arrested two days before the summit for refusing to provide ID to police while exploring the fence around the G20 "red zone." [...]

Marin said his office has received 22 complaints alleging a lack of transparency over the new rules. "The complaints we've received so far raise serious concerns about this regulation and the way it was communicated, and I think there is a very strong public interest in finding out exactly what happened and how that affected the rest of the events of the G20 weekend," [...]

Good. It's a start.

Inquiries, Inquiries

The doubtlessly lame Police Services board.

The probably equally lame if way louder federal Public Safety committee.

And now the Ontario Ombudsman.

TORONTO (Friday, July 9, 2010) – Ontario Ombudsman André Marin today announced he is launching an investigation into the origin and subsequent communication of the controversial security regulation passed by the province prior to the June 26-27 G20 summit.

The investigation, to be conducted by the Special Ombudsman Response Team (SORT), will examine the involvement of the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services in the origin of Regulation 233/10, made last month under the Public Works Protection Act to apply to parts of downtown Toronto near the summit meeting site – and the subsequent communication about it to stakeholders, including police, media and the public.

The Ombudsman’s office has received 22 complaints relating to the G20, including several alleging that a lack of transparency and public communication about the regulation led to an atmosphere of secrecy and confusion and contributed to violations of civil liberties. “The complaints we’ve received so far raise serious concerns about this regulation and the way it was communicated, and I think there is a very strong public interest in finding out exactly what happened and how that affected the rest of the events of the G20 weekend,” Mr. Marin said.

The investigation is expected to be completed within 90 days, Mr. Marin said. Anyone who has a complaint or relevant information is asked to call 1-800-263-1830 during business hours or complete an online complaint form at www.ombudsman.on.ca .

This is encouraging, but we still need a full public inquiry with broad powers to subpoena witnesses.

'This ain't Canada right now.' It's Upsidedownland

Strange days, indeed. The Sun is making sense again.

Referring to the video you can see here, Joe Warmington writes:

“This ain’t Canada right now.” — a police officer during a G20 arrest.

For a few hours during G20 weekend it sure didn’t look like Canada.

But since it is Canada one thing I would like clarified is no matter how annoying a mouthy activist can get, what authority do police have to decide his liberties are no longer valid?

(Man, the cops fucked up BIG TIME by detaining and/or roughing up journalists.)

Joe's got more good questions.

An incident during the protests on University Ave. — captured on video — would be a good one to study.

In it an officer says “this ain’t Canada right now” while another one says “this is G20 land.” And when a man, who was put in a physical hold by police for no reason clear on the video, said “I don’t like to have my civil rights violated” an officer can be heard saying “there’s no civil rights here in this area.”

Where did these officers get this idea? On their own or from above?

And how far above?

This is verrrrry interesting:

So many sources are telling me the RCMP were largely at the helm which, if true, means a federal investigation or inquiry is what is needed — something with the power to subpoena and interview the brass of all of the police services involved, deal with all of the public complaints and hear the individual front-line officers’ point of view, as well.

The whole schmozzle did have the feel of a good old Mountie barn-burning, didn't it?

By the way, membership in the Facebook group Canadians Demanding a Public Inquiry into Toronto G20 just hit 50,000. So what are you waiting for?

Yay Spain!

Spain's socialist government keeps its promise to liberalize the abortion law in one of the world's most heavily Vatican-Talibanized countries.

A new law allowing abortion without restrictions in the first 14 weeks of pregnancy went into effect on Monday, but the Constitutional Court could intervene to suspend or change it.

People in my nabe are so revved they're driving their cars around and honking and yelling and celebrating this major advance for women's rights. . .

Oh.

Never mind.

Call the Cops!

Or email them.

According to a commenter at Maclean's, one can email any York Regional Police officer using badge number followed by @yrp.ca.

Hm.

It was York Regional Police who told passers-by that they weren't in Canada anymore and didn't have civil rights.

If the number on the epaulet is the badge number, I can make out 1775, 8952, 9422, and the head honcho has a three digit number. I think it's 815, maybe 813. Or?

Again. Hm.