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.
An exceptionally rare first-edition printed copy of the U.S. Constitution is going on sale in New York, with Sotheby's auction house expecting bids up to US$20 million.
It is one of just 11 surviving copies -- and the last in private hands -- from the first printing of the document's final text, produced for delegates of the 1787 Constitutional Convention and Continental Congress.
Drafted during secret meetings in Philadelphia, the U.S. Constitution laid the foundation for American democracy and guaranteed citizens' basic rights. Following the production of two earlier drafts, the Constitutional Convention's official printers created 500 copies of a final "official edition" and distributed them to delegates, according to Sotheby's.
The text up for auction in November belongs to collector and philanthropist Dorothy Tapper Goldman. It was originally acquired by her late husband, Howard, and had been "one of (his) dearest possessions," Goldman said in a statement.
"When it passed to me, I felt an incredible sense of responsibility to care for it, to share it, and to promote our nation's Constitutional principles," she added.
In a press release, Sotheby's described the document as "rarer than the first printing of the Declaration of Independence." The auction house's senior books and manuscripts specialist, Selby Kiffer, is meanwhile quoted as saying that the item is "one of the most rare and coveted historical documents" ever to head to auction.
Kiffer also oversaw the document's 1988 sale to the Goldmans, who purchased it for US$165,000 from a private Philadelphia collector. In the years since, it has been loaned to institutions including the New York Historical Society and United States Supreme Court, among others. The other 10 surviving copies from the first printing are all now held in institutional collections, Sotheby's said.
The document is part of a larger sale of historic American documents from Goldman's collection, which features an early copy of the Articles of the Confederation, as well as an official printing of the Stamp Act.
Other rare copies of the U.S. Constitution are included in the sale, such as editions signed by Presidents Millard Fillmore and Franklin Pierce. The two-part auction will also feature a range of state constitutions, with at least one from each U.S. state up for sale.
Proceeds from the sale will go towards the Dorothy Tapper Goldman Foundation, an organization dedicated to "furthering the understanding of our democracy and how the acts of all citizens can make a difference" according to a press release.
Prior to the sale, the first-edition constitution will be exhibited at locations across the United States, starting at Sotheby's New York galleries, before moving onto Chicago and Dallas.
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.
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.
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.
Devastating tornadoes tore across parts of eastern Nebraska and northeast Texas Friday as a multi-day severe thunderstorm event ramped up in the central United States.
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.