LIVE B.C. seeks ban on using drugs in 'all public spaces,' shifting approach to decriminalization
The B.C. government is moving to have drug use banned in 'all public spaces,' marking a major shift in the province's approach to decriminalization.
As the first National Day for Truth and Reconciliation approaches, Alana Hogstead has decided as a small-business owner to close up her shop in honour of the day.
Hogstead co-owns Martha's Music in Camrose, Alta., with her husband. The store will be closed on Thursday.
"We're just a small business and a small voice in the grand scheme of things, but we're going to make our opinion known," Hogstead said in a phone interview.
"We think there needs to be more reconciliation and honesty."
Hogstead is not alone in her decision. Businesses, cities and schools across Canada are preparing to follow the federal government's decision to observe the day, in some cases stepping up because provinces won't.
The House of Commons unanimously supported legislation in June to make Sept. 30, also known as Orange Shirt Day, a federally recognized holiday to mark the history of and intergenerational trauma caused by residential schools. The statutory holiday applies to all federal employees and workers in federally regulated workplaces.
The day is a direct response to one of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission's calls to action.
Only a handful of provincial and territorial governments are having public servants and schools observe the day.
The Alberta government said it would not make Sept. 30 a statutory holiday for its employees. That drew harsh criticism from union groups.
Hogstead doesn't agree with the decision and hopes "down the road (the province) will see the light."
In Edmonton, city employees and the Edmonton Police Service will be observing the day.
City manager Andre Corbould said planning came together quickly. The city consulted with employees, unions and Indigenous groups and elders, he said. "We listened, learned andled."
The city will mark the day with community events and workplace activities.
Corbould said the city arranged to have employees who are interested attend an Indigenous Peoples exhibit at Fort Edmonton Park. Due to the pandemic, employees had to sign up and, within 48 hours, spots were fully booked, he said.
"I do not see this as a holiday. I see it as a paid day of leave with focus on truth and reconciliation. We've asked employees to think about that."
Future plans will have to wait until after the municipal election next month, said Courbould, but he expects a request to observe the day every year will be made to the new city council.
The City of Calgary has also advised its employees to observe the day and is encouraging staff to learn more about Canada's assimilation policies including residential schools and the resulting intergenerational trauma to Indigenous Peoples, city manager David Duckworth said in a statement.
Saskatchewan has said it is not making the day a statutory holiday, but Prince Albert city council recently approved Sept. 30 as a paid day for civic employees.
The Prince Albert Urban Indigenous Coalition plans to hold a one-hour education session on residential schools. The pre-recorded session will be available through the coalition's website.
Some schools in Saskatchewan will also be closed to students on Sept. 30.
The Saskatoon Public Schools division said in a statement they have made the day a planning day for teachers at its schools.
The school division will be recognizing Orange Shirt Day on Sept. 29 and is planning learning opportunities and activities during the week leading up to the Nation Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 27, 2021.
This story was produced with the financial assistance of the Facebook-Canadian Press News Fellowship.
The B.C. government is moving to have drug use banned in 'all public spaces,' marking a major shift in the province's approach to decriminalization.
The Canadian Transportation Agency has hit a record high of more than 71,000 complaints in a backlog. The quasi-judicial regulator and tribunal tasked with settling disputes between customers and the airlines says the backlog is growing because the number of incoming complaints keeps increasing.
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
An American Airlines flight attendant was indicted Thursday after authorities said he tried to secretly record video of a 14-year-old girl using an airplane bathroom last September.
Philadelphia 76ers All-Star centre Joel Embiid has been diagnosed with Bell’s palsy, a form of facial paralysis he says has affected him since before the play-in tournament.
After the Assembly of First Nations' national chief complained to Air Canada about how staffers treated her and her ceremonial headdress on a flight this week, she says the airline responded by offering a 15 per cent discount on her next flight.
Donald Trump's defence team attacked the credibility Friday of the prosecution's first witness in his hush money case, seeking to discredit testimony detailing a scheme between Trump and a tabloid to bury negative stories to protect the Republican's 2016 presidential campaign.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
A property tax bill is perplexing a small townhouse community in Fergus, Ont.
When identical twin sisters Kim and Michelle Krezonoski were invited to compete against some of the world’s most elite female runners at last week’s Boston Marathon, they were in disbelief.
The giant stone statues guarding the Lions Gate Bridge have been dressed in custom Vancouver Canucks jerseys as the NHL playoffs get underway.
A local Oilers fan is hoping to see his team cut through the postseason, so he can cut his hair.
A family from Laval, Que. is looking for answers... and their father's body. He died on vacation in Cuba and authorities sent someone else's body back to Canada.
A former educational assistant is calling attention to the rising violence in Alberta's classrooms.
The federal government says its plan to increase taxes on capital gains is aimed at wealthy Canadians to achieve “tax fairness.”
At 6'8" and 350 pounds, there is nothing typical about UBC offensive lineman Giovanni Manu, who was born in Tonga and went to high school in Pitt Meadows.