What do people in prison have to say about the Canadian government’s unwillingness to permit the distribution of clean needles in prison? Between 2008 and 2009, interviews were conducted in person and over the phone in British Columbia, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, resulting in sworn affidavits or testimonials from 50 … Read more
In this article, which is based on a public lecture he gave at the 1st Annual Symposium on HIV, Law and Human Rights, held June 12 – 13, 2009 in Toronto, Canada, South African Constitutional Court Justice Edwin Cameron analyzes the surge in criminal prosecutions, discusses the role that stigma plays in these prosecutions and … Read more
Harm reduction measures aimed at preventing HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV) transmission in prisons are neither new nor groundbreaking in Canada. Prison systems have implemented, to varying degrees, forms of harm reduction such as condoms, bleach and methadone maintenance treatment. However, as of September 2008, no Canadian jurisdiction had established a prison-based needle and … Read more
FEATURE Clean switch: the case for prison needle and syringe programs CANADIAN DEVELOPMENTS Quebec’s funding cut endangers study on alternative treatment for people addicted to heroin Constitutionality of gay blood donor ban challenged in court In brief Report: Cancelled prison tattoo initiative had potential to reduce disease transmission Municipal support on Vancouver Island for access … Read more
“For Canada and the world, 2010 is a year of opportunities that can and should be seized by Parliament and the Government, working in collaboration with community organizations, to make real progress in saving lives and making a healthier nation and world.” (Advertisement placed in The Hill Times, Monday, January 18, 2010, p. 21)
On the evening of December 2, 2009, in a victory for treatment activists, Canada’s House of Commons voted narrowly (143 in favour, 127 against) to move forward with a private member’s bill that would streamline “Canada’s Access to Medicines Regime” (CAMR), the law originally passed in 2004 to implement the WTO General Council Decision of … Read more