ndp

By: Heidi Ulrichsen - Sudbury Northern Life Staff

 

As a former health care administrator, Nickel Belt MPP France Gélinas said she thought she knew “how bad” things were for those with mental health and addictions issues.

 

She said her eyes were opened even further through her experiences on the provincial legislature’s Select Committee on Mental Health and Addictions.

 

The nine-member committee, made up of representatives of all three parties in the legislature, released a report Aug. 26 based on 230 presentations and 300 written submissions.

 

“The people who came to us had tried to access services,” Gélinas said.

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A message from Canada's NDP:

 

OTTAWA — New Democrats are demanding the Conservative government to immediately start a comprehensive review of regulation of unconventional oil and gas production in Canada they promised in the spring.

 

On June 2, Conservatives and opposition MPs unanimously voted for a motion by New Democrat Environment Critic Linda Duncan (Edmonton—Strathcona) to immediately conduct an open public review of relevant federal laws, regulations and policies regarding the development of all unconventional sources of oil and gas. Since then the Conservatives have turned their backs on that promise.

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A message from Canada's NDP:

 

OTTAWA – Today, New Democratic Leader Jack Layton called on Prime Minister Harper to stop interfering and let Canadians see the Canadian Firearms Program Evaluation report. This report, completed in February evaluates the effectiveness of the Canadian firearms program, but has still not been released.

 

“This report was supposed to be tabled in May but the government claimed that it was still in translation,” said Layton. “There is no way it takes months to translate a report – they’re stalling for political purposes.”

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Open Letters to Ministers & Public Officials

 

The Honourable Rob Nicholson

Minister of Justice

House of Commons

Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6

 

Dear Minister Nicholson,

 

I write to express my concern about your government’s recent announcement of regulatory changes to the Criminal Code, especially in regard to prostitution.

 

In 2007, the Parliamentary Sub-committee on Solicitation Laws, of which I was a member, heard from over 300 witnesses and examined available literature to come to the majority conclusion that current laws surrounding prostitution are harming women and men working in the sex trade.

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By: Mitchel Raphael, Macleans

 

NDP MP Libby Davies returned to Canada last week after attending the XVIII International AIDS conference in Vienna. Jet lag prevented her from attending a rally with iconic singer Annie Lennox, but she was the only North American MP to participate in the first-ever politicians panel at the conference.

 

Davies was pleased with the conference’s Vienna Declaration, which endorses drug harm-reduction models like the safe-injection health facility Insite located in her East Vancouver riding.

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Libby Davies, NDP Spokesperson for Drug Policy and Vancouver East MP

 

“The raids on Canada’s Compassion Clubs are an attack on patient’s rights and must stop,” said NDP MP Libby Davies (Vancouver East).

 

After years of openly supporting medical marijuana users in their communities, a number of compassion clubs in Quebec and Toronto have been shut down.

 

The clubs serve patients with chronic illnesses and have emerged largely in response to the gaps and problems with federal Marijuana Medical Access Regulations. The BC Supreme Court ruled in 2009 that the program is unconstitutional and needs to be changed, yet the Conservatives have failed to respond beyond the most minimal legally necessary changes.

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By: Dale Smith, Xtra News

 

Nearly six months after the federal government announced that it would not be going ahead with a planned HIV vaccine manufacturing facility as part of the Canadian HIV Vaccine Initiative (CHVI), they announced where the $139 million would be going.

 

From the World AIDS Conference in Vienna, Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq made the announcement.

 

Of the $139 million, the redistribution would see $102 million go toward improving basic science in developing countries, with an eye on developing clinical vaccine trials there while working to improve regulatory capacity in Canada and those developing countries. So far, far $51 million has been spent.

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NDP

 

HALIFAX – The Prime Minster has refused an invitation to be a keynote speaker at an International AIDS Conference for the second time in a row. The conference is this week in Vienna.

 

“By refusing the invitation to be a keynote speaker at the conference, the Prime Minister has thrown away an opportunity for Canada to be an integral part of the global discussion on HIV/AIDS,” said Megan Leslie, New Democrat Health Critic and Co-Chair of the HIV/AIDS and TB Parliamentary Caucus. “The message from the government is that Canada has spent money on this issue, but that is an extremely limited view of the options that the government has at their disposal.”

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By: Gloria Galloway , Globe and Mail

 

A plan by the Conservative government to reinvest money in AIDS research and prevention is being dismissed by the Liberals as a half measure layered with right-wing ideology.

 

Federal Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq, who is in Vienna this week at a major international AIDS conference, announced Tuesday the government will invest $60 million in the program – with half going to AIDS research and the other half to the maternal-health initiative Prime Minister Stephen Harper introduced at last month’s G8 and G20 summits.

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NDP

 

OTTAWA – New Democrat Public Safety and National Security Critic Don Davies (Vancouver Kingsway) has written a letter to recall the House of Commons Public Safety committee to study all issues surrounding security at the G8 and G20 summits.

 

The letter has been circulated to other parties for their signature, and will trigger a committee meeting within five days of its receipt by the committee clerk.

 

“The implementation of summit security has raised critical issues that the committee needs to start work on immediately,” said Davies. “Serious questions have been raised about the conduct of security personnel, violations of civil liberties, violence and property destruction and the questionable political decisions that led to these problems. Read more »