There is a simple, time-honoured rule about attempting to “balance” human rights classes in legislation so that it works out a particular way every time, and it goes like this: You can’t. That is a court’s role. When two human rights classes are put into conflict in a way that
Continue readingTag: Social Justice
Dented Blue Mercedes: BDSM, Gender, Entitlement, and Jian Ghomeshi
Whether anybody wanted the conversation right now or not, it’s become time to have a conversation about BDSM, gender and entitlement. Over a week ago, Jian Ghomeshi, the then-popular then- CBC commentator, appeared to be coming out of the closet about engaging in what he referred to as “rough sex
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Our destinies are bound together (even if our needs are diverse and sometimes at odds)
Monica Roberts at TransGriot is exploring the future of the trans* movement: “One of the things I was pondering recently was triggered by me seeing a pic of a five year old trans girl. I began to ponder what her Trans World that we 2K10’s activists are fighting tooth and
Continue readingMy journey with AIDS...and more!: I’m Thinking, “This is Going to Hurt!”: On ‘How Not to Deal with Grief’
From my friend Betty Ann on her Facebook page: “This article deeply moved me…as I suspect it will for any of you who have been impacted by the kind of grief associated with multiple loss, deaths due to overdose and or HIV/AIDS. Rather than just clicking on “like”, can you
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: On conscience-based medical exemptions
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario is currently reviewing its Human Rights Code policy on conscience-based exemptions for medical professionals, and their effect on access to medical services. This review was sparked by a number of news reports of doctors in Ontario and Alberta refusing to prescribe birth
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Could Canada’s Anti-Sex Work Bill C-36 Also Stifle LGBT Speech?
Slightly over a week ago, Canada introduced legislation to replace the anti-prostitution laws that had been struck down by the Supreme Court of Canada. The Conservative government has been trying to race Bill C-36 through both the House and the Senate simultaneously, at breakneck speed. But the text of the
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Could Canada’s Anti-Sex Work Bill C-36 Also Stifle LGBT Speech?
Slightly over a week ago, Canada introduced legislation to replace the anti-prostitution laws that had been struck down by the Supreme Court of Canada. The Conservative government has been trying to race Bill C-36 through both the House and the Senate simultaneously, at breakneck speed. But the text of the
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: C-36: Conflating sex work with human trafficking
I recently asked whether the vague definition of “sexual services” and definition of the Internet as a public space could be used to make the anti-prostitution Bill C-36 ban pornography. Regardless of how one feels about porn, such a thing would certainly require a debate, and it’s a question worth
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: C-36: Conflating sex work with human trafficking
I recently asked whether the vague definition of “sexual services” and definition of the Internet as a public space could be used to make the anti-prostitution Bill C-36 ban pornography. Regardless of how one feels about porn, such a thing would certainly require a debate, and it’s a question worth
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Bill C-36, the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act: an overview
I recently asked whether the vague definition of “sexual services” and definition of the Internet as a public space could be used to make the anti-prostitution Bill C-36 ban pornography somehow. Regardless of how one feels about porn, such a thing would certainly require a debate, and it’s a question
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Bill C-36, the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act: an overview
I recently asked whether the vague definition of “sexual services” and definition of the Internet as a public space could be used to make the anti-prostitution Bill C-36 ban pornography somehow. Regardless of how one feels about porn, such a thing would certainly require a debate, and it’s a question
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Could anti-prostitution Bill C-36 also ban porn?
One of the concerns that has been raised about Bill C-36 is that “sexual services” is not defined. Terri Jean Bedford, one of the plaintiffs in the case that overturned the previous anti-prostitution laws, has raised this question a number of times, without receiving an answer. A professional dominatrix’s job,
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: Could anti-prostitution Bill C-36 also ban porn?
One of the concerns that has been raised about Bill C-36 is that “sexual services” is not defined. Terri Jean Bedford, one of the plaintiffs in the case that overturned the previous anti-prostitution laws, has raised this question a number of times, without receiving an answer. A professional dominatrix’s job,
Continue readingIlluminated By Street Lamps: Supervised Injection In Toronto: Why The Discussion Has Screeched To A Halt
By Joe Fantauzzi @jjfantauzzi Drug use is a multifaceted issue in urban life. Addiction can take an enormous toll on individuals and can leave the municipalities in which those people live struggling to adequately service their needs as well as the needs of the community. Supervised injection facilities, in which
Continue readingIlluminated By Street Lamps: Ontario: A leading jurisdiction for intense, coercive neoliberalism
By Joe Fantauzzi@jjfantauzzi Global capitalism has liberalized incrementally since the end of the Second World War. As the Keynesian welfare state fell out of favour in the late 1970s amid a stagnating economy and rising government spending, a new business-friendly approach dubbed neoliberalism (literally, “new liberalism”), emerged and ushered in
Continue readingIlluminated By Street Lamps: The Toronto G20 Summit: A State of Exception
By Joe Fantauzzi@jjfantauzziBetween June 26 and 27, 2010, thousands of demonstrators[1] descended on Toronto, Ontario to protest while the leaders of the world’s 20 largest economies[2] met behind a protective fence built of steel and secretive legislative authority. When the tear gas cleared and the G20 Summit ended, 1,105 people had been
Continue readingPostArctica: Katie Rentzke
Excellent street photographer who works for social change. Urban Voice Youth Photographic Project is a program that gives an artistic voice to underprivileged youth by teaching them basic photography skills. The project goals are to use the camera to motivate youth’s discovery of the world around them, show youth that
Continue readingIlluminated By Street Lamps: Locating Canada’s State Multiculturalism As A Racist Doctrine
By Joe Fantauzzi@jjfantauzziCanada is a multicultural nation. More than four decades of policy, legislation and celebration have engraved this country’s pluralism into its national character. The ethnic diversity of this country is presented globally as a fundamental strength of the Canadian nation. But massive structural inequalities which have not been
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: The Department of Justice Public Consultation on sex work ends Monday March 17th.
The Department of Justice Public Consultation on sex work closes March 17, 2014. Although the questions appear to be stacked, it’s important that people who support decriminalization participate. There’s certainly no shortage of people filling out the forms and calling for new criminalization. The questionnaire is here, and Maggie’s Toronto provides
Continue readingDented Blue Mercedes: The Department of Justice Public Consultation on sex work ends Monday March 17th.
The Department of Justice Public Consultation on sex work closes March 17, 2014. Although the questions appear to be stacked, it’s important that people who support decriminalization participate. There’s certainly no shortage of people filling out the forms and calling for new criminalization. The questionnaire is here, and Maggie’s Toronto provides
Continue reading