The Supreme Court of Canada has granted an exemption from criminal law to Insite, Vancouver's safe-injection site. The decision is a victory for health care in Canada. But it represents a stern rebuke to Tony Clement, who was once the federal health minister and the fellow who decided to recriminalize the injection site. After reviewing the circumstances of the case, the court ruled firmly against Clement and the Harper government's tough-on-crime approach to the injection site. [continues 270 words]
Dakwakada Forest Products Inc. has declared war on drugs. The Haines Junction sawmill, owned by the Champagne and Aishihik First Nation, has initiated random drug testing among its 18 full-time employees. And no one is above the tests. If you refuse to take the tests, you are suspended without pay until you do. Thursday, Paul Birckel, the company's president and a former chief of the First Nation, had to provide a urine sample. He was the third employee to be singled out for the twice-monthly tests, which cost the company $50 apiece. [continues 635 words]
