B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
Ramen chef Kantaro Ishii has fond memories of working at his father's izakaya near their home in the city of Sendai, Japan.
"Izakayas (informal bars that serve alcohol and snacks) are busy establishments," he said. "There's very little room for mistakes."
Ishii, the eldest of two boys, would often go to the market in the mornings to buy rice, vegetables and eel, then take the bus to pick up the restaurant linen from a laundromat a couple of blocks away. It was hard work and "a huge amount of responsibility," he said, and "very overwhelming at the start."
He was only five.
"I would cry whenever people at the shops or market would ask where my parents were," said Ishii, now 28. "After all, I was just a kid and it was my first real footing into the world. It was scary."
Young children running adult errands on their own isn't rare in Japan. It's a tradition that has caught the attention of TV viewers the world over since Netflix began showing re-runs of a wildly popular Japanese variety show from the 1990s.
"Old Enough!" -- dubbed "the most wholesome show you've ever seen" by the streaming giant on the show's debut in March -- is an unscripted series in which Japanese toddlers between the ages of 2 and 5 are sent on simple errands to help their parents, entirely without supervision and often while navigating busy roads and transport systems.
In one episode, two bickering pre-schooler cousins are forced to work together to navigate traffic lights and cross streets, all while delivering a bag of groceries to their grandmother. After some tears, they eventually reach their destination and learn to put aside their differences. One of the most popular episodes of the series sees a 3-year-old named Yuka venturing out to her local market to help her mother buy back fresh seafood for dinner -- charming the vendors in the process.
The show won widespread applause in Japan when it first debuted on Nipon TV in 1991 and the re-runs have been a hit too, even if American audiences seem unsure of what to make of it.
The response to the show in the US has ranged from amusement -- Selena Gomez has parodied it in a skit for "Saturday Night Live" -- to disbelief, to shock and condemnation.
"Do this in the US and the child will never be seen again," one viewer wrote on Twitter. "It's crazy that they just let them walk around in public," said another. Some even accused Netflix of "promoting negligence and child endangerment."
For some American parents, there is even a faint sense of envy that some of their Japanese counterparts are seemingly able to let children roam free relatively safe in the knowledge that Japan's comparably low-crime environment means they are unlikely to come to harm.
"I don't think I could have done this with my child at this young an age," said one Twitter user. "I would've had a full on anxiety attack knowing how accident prone she is and all those weirdos out there in the world.
"Maybe it works in Japan only. It's a marvel to see."
The show's creators maintain that it is safe and that production staff and camera crew are always around and on standby. Some even wear costumes to pretend they are road electricians or regular passersby but are at all times, "instructed not to initiate conversation" with the children.
"They know that when a child talks to them, they need to deal with the situation like an adult would and they are instructed not to initiate conversation with the child," said executive director Junji Ouchi.
Ouchi said the original idea behind the show had been to "document the 'errand tradition' before it gradually disappears."
"Family situations have changed drastically over the 30-plus years since we started this, yet in Japan, the tradition of sending children on errands remains," he said. "We didn't feel like we were making a show for television. It was more of a documentary. (We tried) to find families who would allow us to record their stories."
The children, of course, are not always successful in their missions and there are many challenges. Groceries get lost or forgotten and distractions along the way are plenty. But there are no disasters -- something that has added to the skepticism of some critics who question whether it is stage-managed.
But Japanese parents have defended the show's portrayal -- while noting it might not reflect life in all parts of the country.
"What you see on the show may seem entertaining but it definitely isn't staged," said Emi Sakashita, a working mother from Tokyo now living in Singapore, who said toddlers were much more likely to be allowed to roam free in quieter suburbs and countryside towns. "Traffic and other risks are much higher in places like Tokyo or Osaka," she said. "Parents (in those cities) will usually wait until their kids are much older before allowing them to go out and do things on their own without any supervision."
Others point out that it is common to see Japanese children going to school on their own and that Japan's low crime rate, excellent urban planning and modern infrastructure means it is relatively safe for them to do so. Neighborhoods are designed with young children in mind; speed limits are low and drivers give way to pedestrians.
Sakashita, 43, who can still recall her own coming-of-age experience navigating streets and public transport, said the practice was important to "instil independence and confidence in children."
"But Japanese parents really do cry when we see our kids going out and doing things on their own for the first time," she said.
"We really like to see them try little by little and want to rely on them when they're older to help us out. Many of us also have little choice. We work hard and often for long hours and don't always have parents or live-in help so it's important that our kids become independent."
Her son Kanta has been venturing out on his own since he was three to buy fruits, drinks and snacks. He is now 8 and takes the bus to school by himself. "He was really brave but didn't enjoy (the independence) at first. He found it scary," Sakashita said.
His sister Kokoro, 5, walks to kindergarten on her own.
Both siblings have taken inspiration from "Old Enough!". "They are very impressed when they see kids on the show running errands and finishing chores," Sakashita said.
"They even compare their ages with children on the show and say they do what they do too."
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
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.
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.
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 Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
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 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.
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.