Category Archives: canada

Varied takes on marijuana turn Metro Vancouver into a patchwork of unpredictable enforcement

Sarah Bowman was handcuffed by Burnaby RCMP after smoking a joint.
Sarah Bowman was handcuffed by Burnaby RCMP after smoking a joint.

Late one evening last February, Sarah Bowman was on her way home when she was approached by two RCMP officers at the Edmonds SkyTrain Station in Burnaby.

She had just smoked a joint, Bowman recounted in a telephone interview, but she didn’t think she was in real trouble. Bowman explained that she had a doctor’s prescription for the drug and had obtained it with that document at a medicinal-marijuana dispensary in Vancouver.

“I saw police officers making the rounds, so I threw my joint away,” she said. “They walked straight up to me, a gentleman showed me his badge, grabbed my hands, and handcuffed me without me even responding.”

Bowman sat on the ground as officers searched her bags. They didn’t find any marijuana and eventually located both Bowman’s prescription for cannabis and her dispensary membership card. But the RCMP officers dismissed those documents as irrelevant.

They argued that under existing laws, medicinal marijuana must be obtained via mail order from a certified Health Canada supplier. That is accurate (with exceptions) and remains true today.

On November 13, Liberal prime minister Justin Trudeau issued a mandate letter that stated the Ministry of Justice should “create a federal-provincial-territorial process that will lead to the legalization and regulation of marijuana”. But Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Raybould (MP for Vancouver Granville) has yet to act on that directive.

Both the Justice Ministry and the RCMP refused to grant interviews. Cpl. Janelle Shoihet, a spokesperson for the B.C. RCMP, did however confirm officers are still enforcing cannabis laws including those that prohibit possession.

Dana Larsen is vice president of the Canadian Association of Medical Cannabis Dispensaries. He told the Straight that although the country remains in a period of transition on marijuana, municipal jurisdictions are policing cannabis as they see fit. Larsen suggested that situation has turned an urban region like Metro Vancouver into an unpredictable patchwork where some jurisdictions zealously enforce drug laws while others turn a blind eye to petty crimes like possession.

“In B.C., it totally depends on the mayor and the mayor and city council,” he said.

Bowman was travelling from Vancouver to New Westminster but stopped in Burnaby to visit her boyfriend. The Vancouver Police Department has long maintained it does not consider marijuana possession an enforcement priority. Meanwhile, in 2014, the New Westminster Police Department recorded a seven-year low for drug offences (going as far back as data is publicly available). But Burnaby is policed by the RCMP.

“They left me shaking uncontrollably and terrified,” said Bowman, who was eventually released without charges. “I used to think that police officers were there to help. Now, I’m paranoid. I’m afraid of police.”

Murray Rankin, opposition critic for justice and NDP MP for Victoria, told the Straightthat stories such as Bowman’s should serve as a warning. He said cities like Vancouver and New Westminster may not consider it a priority to go after someone with a joint but anecdotal evidence suggests the situation is different in jurisdictions covered by the RCMP.

“It’s quite a varied landscape out there,” he said. “We want a coherent position across the country.”

Rankin added that the situation on Vancouver Island is similar to that of Metro Vancouver. The City of Victoria (which has its own municipal police force) has tacitly accepted marijuana storefronts and is drafting regulations comparable to those Vancouver adopted last June. Meanwhile, Rankin continued, in Nanaimo (where the RCMP patrols the streets), marijuana is still getting people into trouble with law enforcement.

Barely an hour after Rankin’s call with the Straight, the RCMP issued a news releasestating they had executed search warrants at three marijuana dispensaries in Nanaimo.

Rankin acknowledged that legalizing marijuana—that is, creating a framework for sales similar to rules that cover tobacco—will be complicated and take time. But he argued it would not be hard for the federal government to decriminalize possession of small amounts of cannabis. Rankin noted the Liberals have discussed this as a likely first step, and he wondered when that will happen.

As few as seven percent of B.C. marijuana violations result in charges, according to a 2011 analysis published by the University of the Fraser Valley. But according to B.C. Justice Ministry numbers, from 2003 to 2012, police across the province recorded 173,157 offences related to cannabis.

Larsen emphasized that even without a charge, an apprehension such as the encounter with RCMP Bowman experienced is usually entered into a police database, where it can remain for years and create problems for someone when the apply for a job or travel to the United States.

Like Rankin, Larsen said he accepts that full legalization will likely be a long process. “But there is no reason to continue arresting people for possession,” he said. “Especially when those charges are likely going to be dropped in a few months anyways. What’s the point?”

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This article was originally published in print and online at Straight.com on December 2, 2015.

Downtown Eastside street vendors blame city for loss of income and community

A new city-sanctioned site for vending at 501 Powell Street has failed to attract many customers. Travis Lupick photo.
A new city-sanctioned site for vending at 501 Powell Street has failed to attract many customers. Travis Lupick photo.

A survey of more than 50 street venders in the Downtown Eastside reveals that a majority feel they are negatively impacted by new policies the City of Vancouver implemented on November 16.

Since that date, the Vancouver Police Department has kept hawkers off the once-crowded unit block of East Hastings Street, which runs between Carrall and Columbia streets.

The survey, conducted between November 21 and November 24 by the Carnegie Community Action Project, collected 48 responses to the question: “How have you been impacted by the VPD’s crackdown?” Of those, 38 people, or 79 percent, reported a loss of income.

One respondent claimed that the change led them to prostitute themselves. Several others warned that the crackdown on venders will drive low-income people to commit crimes such as robberies.

In a telephone interview, Vision Vancouver councillor Andrea Reimer acknowledged concerns for venders’ incomes. “That came through loud and clear,” she said about the survey.

Reimer emphasized that the city didn’t just “encourage” venders to move from the unit block but also made two alternative sites available. Those are 62 East Hastings and 501 Powell Street. (A Sunday market on Carrall between Cordova and East Hastings will also continue to operate.)

The survey suggests a majority of venders have issues with those sites, mainly, that they do not attract the same volume of foot traffic as the unit block.

Reimer noted that very few respondents suggested abolishing either of the new sites. “If there were a way to get the customers up…if you can solve that problem, then this is a preferable model,” she said. “But it’s really challenging.”

According to Reimer, part of the blame for so many people living in poverty in the Downtown Eastside lies with the province. “If anything, what that document represents to me a damning indictment of a lack of welfare-rate increase since 2007,” she explained.

In addition to economic hardship, a number of people said the clearing of the unit block resulted in a loss of community.

“I don’t know where everyone is,” one response reads. “I can’t find friends and family. The street market was social and we looked out for each other. I have lost friends.”

A small minority describe the city’s program in a positive light. “Glad its been cleared up,” one person said. “I was embarrassed.”

Doug King is a lawyer with Pivot Legal Society who has publicly denounced the city’s new policy on the unit block as one of “displacement”.

“We believe that the ultimate solution is bylaw reform,” he said. “The street-and-traffic bylaw is archaic in how it is worded.”

That piece of municipal legislation forbids unauthorized street vending. King suggested the law be amended to limit nuisances related to vending but allow the activity itself.

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This article originally appeared in print and online at Straight.com on December 2, 2015.

Cigarette-style warning labels about climate change may soon appear at gas stations around Vancouver

The City of Vancouver could follow the City of North Vancouver and become the second municipality to require gas-pump warnings on the effect of fossil fuels on climate.
The City of Vancouver could follow the City of North Vancouver and become the second municipality to require gas-pump warnings on the effect of fossil fuels on climate.

In the early 2000s, Health Canada began requiring graphic warning labels on cigarette packages. In explicit detail, they depict children harmed by secondhand smoke and conditions such as lung cancer to remind consumers of tobacco products’ full effects on human health.

Now a plan is in the works to see the same sort of campaign raise awareness of climate change via messages posted on fuel pumps at gas stations.

In a telephone interview, city councillor Tim Stevenson said the idea caught his attention last spring and he’s been pushing hard for the City of Vancouver to make it happen.

“There were initial concerns that this would be problematic, legally, but both the head of the law department and internal staff have told me there is no impediment,” he told theStraight. “I am anticipating that staff will come back within two to three months, and then we can move forward.”

Stevenson said the idea has worked its way into the “Greenest City Action Plan”, a strategy document that sets goals the city says will make Vancouver the cleanest metropolis in the world by 2020.

If Vancouver does require information about fossil-fuel emissions to be displayed on gas pumps, it will become the second in the region to enact such a measure. On November 17, councillors for the City of North Vancouver voted unanimously in favour of a bylaw that requires gas stations to post such information.

“We’re told we’re the first in the world,” Coun. Linda Buchanan told the Straight by phone.

Buchanan said the reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. She acknowledged there have been some concerns raised about whether overtly negative messages could anger people and turn them off the issue of climate change. Therefore, Buchanan continued, city staff are exploring how attention can be called to the connection between fossil fuels and climate change in ways that are positive.

“This is about establishing that link for people but also engaging them in the dialogue,” she said.

The idea came from Our Horizon, a Canadian environmental group that focuses on helping cities reduce carbon emissions. On the phone from Victoria, B.C. campaign director Matt Hulse called attention to recent news that the New York state attorney general is investigating oil giant Exxon Mobil to establish whether or not it has lied to the public about fossil fuels, climate change, and impacts on human health. That inquiry, revealed by the New York Times on November 5, has attracted comparisons to legal troubles cigarette companies have faced since the early 1990s. Hulse listed additional parallels between tobacco and oil.

“Both have addictive qualities,” he told the Straight. “There are similarities in their problems, and that encourages similarities in their solutions as well.”

Hulse noted that studies have shown cigarette packages’ graphic warnings have proven effective in reducing the number of people smoking, and he said he is optimistic a similar campaign could do the same for oil.

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This article originally appeared in print and online at Straight.com on November 25, 2015.

First Nations activist appeals Vancouver police dismissal of complaint

A review and dismissal of a complaint against the Vancouver police filed by Audrey Siegl includes many pages that are almost entirely redacted. Travis Lupick photo.
A review and dismissal of a complaint against the Vancouver police filed by Audrey Siegl includes many pages that are almost entirely redacted. Travis Lupick photo.

A prominent First Nations activist is appealing a decision by the Vancouver Police Department’s professional standards section (PSS) to dismiss a complaint she filed claiming abuse of authority and oppressive conduct toward a member of the public.

B.C. Corrections makes it official policy to house transgender inmates based on gender identity

On September 30, Bianca Sawyer was transferred from Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre, a prison for men, to Alouette Correctional Centre, a provincial prison for women located in Maple Ridge. That change made her the first pre-op transgender inmate in B.C. to be housed in a facility based on her gender identity.
On September 30, Bianca Sawyer was transferred from Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre, a prison for men, to Alouette Correctional Centre, a provincial prison for women located in Maple Ridge. That change made her the first pre-op transgender inmate in B.C. to be housed in a facility based on her gender identity.

British Columbia has become the second province in Canada to make it official policy to hold transgender prisoners in facilities based on gender identity as opposed to physical attributes.

As the Straight reported on November 4, B.C. Corrections permitted the first transfer of such an inmate in September.

That individual is named Bianca Sawyer, a transgender woman who was born with the physical characteristics of a man and who was previously known as Jaris Lovado. Sawyer was originally held at Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre, a prison for men, and was transferred to Alouette Correctional Centre, a provincial prison for women located in Maple Ridge.

Interviewed for that story, B.C. Justice Minister Suzanne Anton described the move as part of formal changes in rules and procedures.

“The written policy is still under development, but you can see the application of the policy is already underway,” she told the Straight on October 28. “We have had our first person placed based on gender-identity, and it seems to have worked out very well.”

As of November 15, that policy is officially down on paper.

The changes concern section 9.17 of the B.C. Ministry of Justice Adult Custody Policy, according to a copy of the revised document obtained by the Straight.

It previously stated that an inmate is not permitted such a transfer until they have progressed in treatment to step four of six outlined in that document. Step four is described as “surgical removal of sex organs”.

The revised section 9.17 states that an inmate who identifies as transgender will be involved in the decision process that dictates whether they are held in a facility designed for males or one for females.

“Transgender inmates are placed in a correctional centre according to their self-identified gender or housing preference, unless there are overriding health and/or safety concerns which cannot be resolved,” it reads. “Those concerns are clearly articulated to the inmate. Consultation occurs with the medical director and/or the director, mental health services.”

The document adds that a transfer is not required.

“The inmate is involved in the decision-making process,” it continues. “It is recognized that not all transgender inmates want to be housed according to their self-identified gender.”

B.C. Corrections’ revised policies cover a number of other areas concerning the care and security of transgender inmates.

For example, they state transgender inmates should be given “preferred institutional clothing and underclothing”, that they should be provided with personal items that may be required “to express their gender identity”, and that accommodations should be made to allow for transgender inmates to use the washroom and shower in private.

In a letter to the Straight, Sawyer described what the policy change meant for her.

“When I was called for transfer I was ecstatic to say the least,” she wrote. “A calming euphoria of appreciation and thanks washed over me.”

The changes at B.C. Corrections follow the Ontario government implementing similar reforms in January 2015.

Jen Metcalfe is a lawyer with West Coast Prison Justice Society who helped push for Sawyer’s transfer. She described the revised procedures made public today as an example the rest of the country should follow.

“The policy may be the best example of any jurisdiction in Canada and the world for the accommodation of transgender prisoners,” Metcalfe wrote in an email to the Straight. “B.C. transgender prisoners are now protected by policy from being put at risk of sexual harassment and assault, and are now afforded the dignity and equality that all people deserve.”

In a separate email, Adrienne Smith, a lawyer with Pivot Legal Society, similarly applauded the change in regulations. However, they emphasized discrimination against transgender people remains “endemic”, not just inside prisons but throughout society overall.

“The new corrections policy addresses a historical wrong of prisons misgendering trans inmates by housing them in way that exposes them to harm,” Smith wrote. “B.C. is catching up to other provinces with this prison policy. But that the real solution will be to address the root social and economic reasons why so many trans people end up being sent to jail in the first place.”

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This article was originally published online at Straight.com on November 23, 2015.

Protesters cry gentrification after city clears vendors from unit block of East Hastings

SFU student Amy Widmer said she organized a protest against the city clearing vendors from the unit block of East Hastings because that program fits into a wider pattern of gentrification and displacement. Travis Lupick photo.
SFU student Amy Widmer said she organized a protest against the city clearing vendors from the unit block of East Hastings because that program fits into a wider pattern of gentrification and displacement. Travis Lupick photo.

A small but vocal protest stopped the flow of traffic along East Hastings Street at Main for more than an hour this afternoon (November 20).

The demonstrators, mostly students from Simon Fraser University, said they were there in response to what they described as the city’s forced removal of vendors who once lined the unit block of Hastings between Carrall and Columbia streets.

“The recent police action displaced vendors along East Hastings Street and displaced everyone who was sleeping along this street as well,” said Amy Widmer, an SFU student and one of the protest organizers. “I don’t want to swear but this is bullshit. It’s another action to provide space for the wealthy.”

Before last Monday (November 16), the unit block was crowded with hawkers, many of whom survive off vending as their primary source of income. But beginning on that date, the City of Vancouver working with the Vancouver Police Department implemented a program that aims to keep the block free of street vending.

A heightened police presence was deployed to the area in an effort to deter crowds from congregating there. Meanwhile, the city made available two new sanctioned sites for vending. Those are at 62 East Hastings Street and 501 Powell Street. A third location open on Sundays at Pigeon Park will also continue to operate.

The November 20 protest began on the south side of the unit block of East Hastings Street near Carrall. Interviewed there, a well-known activist who calls himself Homeless Dave told the Straight the new sites the city is promoting don’t make up for the space they took from vendors by moving people from the unit block.

“This is a small marketplace,” he said of 62 East Hastings. “It’s much smaller than what’s required, it’s off the street to the side, and it isn’t frequented. It’s not visible.”

Dave similarly described the second new site, at 501 Pender Street, as “terrible”.

“There are no people there,” he said. “It is out of the way. People, the foot track around here and from Gastown, they’re not going to go there.”

From the south sidewalk of the unit block, a crowd of between 20 and 30 people moved into the street and blocked both lanes of traffic along East Hastings. The group then moved to 138 East Hastings and stopped there, continuing to impede vehicles.

Widmer said the demonstration targeted that address because it’s an example of higher-income people moving into the Downtown Eastside in ways that push lower-income residents from the neighbourhood.

“We are at Sequel 138 because these condos are opening in three weeks and it is no coincidence that they [the city] are displacing all the vendors just before the opening of these condos,” she said. “This is the gentrification process.”

From the sidelines of the demonstration, Landon Hoyt, executive director of the Hastings Crossing Business Improvement Association, said he sympathizes with a lot of what the student demonstrators were saying.

“We understand the reasons for wanting to protest this kind of stuff,” he said. “We’ve worked with the Downtown Eastside Street Market for quite a while now. We’re all about finding income-generating opportunities in whatever form. And so the city providing this space that is safe and legal and checks all the boxes for these people to vend, we think it’s a really positive thing.”

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This article was originally published online at Straight.com on November 20, 2015.

City sweeps Downtown Eastside vendors off the unit block of East Hastings

Before Monday, November 16, a section of East Hastings Street that runs between Carrall and Columbia was crowded with street vendors. But since that date, merchants have been kept away by an increased police presence. Travis Lupick photo.
Before Monday, November 16, a section of East Hastings Street that runs between Carrall and Columbia was crowded with street vendors. But since that date, merchants have been kept away by an increased police presence. Travis Lupick photo.

The City of Vancouver has finally cleared vendors from the unit block of East Hastings Street, officials confirmed in a November 17 meeting with community members and police at the Woodward’s Building.

Taking care to avoid saying that people are being forced to leave the area, the city made clear it will no longer tolerate the crowd that for years has congregated along the north side of the street that runs between Carrall and Columbia.

An email obtained by the Georgia Straight provides more information. On November 13,Mary Clare Zak, City of Vancouver managing director of social policy and projects, sent relevant stakeholders a note about the initiative.

“As many of you are aware, City staff (along with Park Rangers, VPD and Housing Outreach) have been working over the past months to find ways to address the subject of street vending in the DTES, most notably in the 0-300 blocks of East Hastings,” it begins.

“The objective of the Street Vending Task Force is to assist and facilitate the movement of street vendors from the Unit Block E. Hastings Street and surrounding area, to designated vending locations,” the email continues.

It states that beginning November 16, “you will begin to see a larger City presence in the DTES, including VPD officers, as we continue our efforts in the area to ensure it is a safe place for everyone”.

It appears three events aligned to create the right time and an opportunity for the city to clear the block of hawkers, many of whom survive off vending as their primary source of income.

The first, discussed in Zak’s email, is the city opening new sanctioned sites for street vending; those locations are 62 East Hastings and 501 Powell Street. Council approved these last June.

“The ability to better consolidate the activity, along with a thoughtful and constructive enforcement approach, will decrease and address unlawful vending taking place in other areas of the Downtown Eastside, including the blocks of East Hastings between Main and Carrall Street,” a staff report reads.

In addition, the Sunday market on Carrall Street between Cordova Street and East Hastings will continue to operate.

The second issue at play is what Vision Vancouver councillor Andrea Reimer told the Straight is an increased level of violent crime in the area and deteriorating health conditions on the block.

“There is not a desire to force anyone [to move],” she said by phone. “There is a desire to support the safest possible environment.” Reimer denied that the actions described in Zak’s email are about moving vendors off the block.

The third factor is the demolition of a building that previously occupied 41 East Hastings, at the centre of the block. According to a report that went before city council in September 2013, that site—previously a three-storey building housing a ground-floor bottle depot—will soon host a 14-storey social-housing project operated by Atira Development Society.

VPD Const. Brian Montague said the construction project will not leave room for vendors.

“There is going to be scaffolding there,” the force spokesperson told the Straight. “They are just not going to be able to be there anymore. So we are using it as an opportunity to encourage people to go to one of these three sites rather than making it a habit to go to that specific block.”

As the Straight went to press on November 17, city officials were still in the meeting with vendors and community members convened to discuss the project.

There at the Woodward’s Building, city communications manager Tobin Postma said there are now enough official locations for vending and so no longer any reason for unsanctioned vendors to line the block. VPD district commander Howard Chow confirmed that the force has increased patrols in the area. Addressing community concerns, Chow claimed that ticketing would not be used as a tactic for moving people along.

In a telephone interview, Roland Clarke, a coordinator for the Downtown Eastside Street Market Society, recounted watching the first day of the initiative unfold.

“There were at least five or six police officers visible on the block,” he said. Clarke added that they remained there for some time and their presence dissuaded people from stopping to sell goods.

“The city is rolling out a policy to really try and prevent the unsanctioned vending,” he concluded.

Clarke noted the market society has no formal interest in vending on the unit block but said it plays an informal role in keeping the peace in the area, given many people who occupy the strip are also registered members who participate in the sanctioned Sunday market on Carrall.

A video recorded on November 16 and shared with the Straight confirms Clarke’s account of November 16, showing the north side of the unit block completely cleared of vendors. When the Straight visited on November 17, VPD officers were stationed in pairs at either end of the block and for the second day in a row, the area remained empty.

Sarah Blyth is a member of the street market society’s board of directors and a former Vision Vancouver parks commissioner. She said the non-profit—which has more than 800 registered vendors—is trying to make the best of a bad situation.

“I think it is a push to get rid of the vendors on Hastings Street and to get them into 62 and 501 Powell,” she said. “The thing is, there is not enough space. So it’s really going to be difficult to do.”

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This article originally appeared in print and online at Straight.com on November 17, 2015.

FOI watchdog finds City of Vancouver chief of staff “deletes emails on a weekly basis”

A January 2015 complaint reviewed by B.C.'s privacy commissioner reveals chief of staff for the City of Vancouver Mike Magee deleted emails on a weekly basis. Matt Burrows photo.
A January 2015 complaint reviewed by B.C.’s privacy commissioner reveals chief of staff for the City of Vancouver Mike Magee deleted emails on a weekly basis. Matt Burrows photo.

The Mayor of Vancouver’s right-hand man has been regularly deleting emails, a practice that has engulfed the provincial government in a widening scandal related to how civil servants destroy information in ways that may interfere with the public’s access to information.

That city-hall revelation was included in a complaint review by the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner for British Columbia (OIPC) pertaining to Mike Magee, chief of staff for the City of Vancouver.

“The City informed me that its IT department searched Mr. Magee’s City email account for all emails fitting the criteria set out in your request, which includes all emails to, from and CC,” it reads. “Mr. Magee has advised that he saves very few of his emails and deletes emails on a weekly basis.”

The OIPC’s decision is dated January 28, 2015, but was not made public until freelance journalist Bob Mackin published it online on November 10. It pertains to a complaint he filed with the OIPC alleging the city failed to meet its obligations under the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. The OIPC ruled in the city’s favour and dismissed Mackin’s complaint.

Magee was not made available for an interview. Deputy city manager Sadhu Johnstontold the Straight there are rules that ensure staff comply with record-keeping requirements. He said each staff member is responsible for their own email account, but he argued that storage constraints mean staff can’t retain every digital record they send or receive.

“We do expect people to delete emails from their accounts,” he said. “Most of our staff get hundreds of emails per day and, as the OIPC says, you have to determine whether the record is transitory or permanent. And if it’s permanent, you do need to store it on our document storage system.”

Mackin told the Straight he published the OIPC review that mentioned Magee’s emails because of attention paid to similar practices in an October 22 OIPC report that described how employees in the premier’s office and two ministries regularly deleted emails from their accounts. The OIPC expressed concern for a practice known as “triple deleting”, where civil servants took extra steps to make deleted records difficult to recover.

Johnston said he was “not aware of people doing that” at City Hall.

“I wouldn’t call it triple deleting,” he added. “But, yes, you can delete emails from your inbox that are transitory.”

The same day Mackin published his concerns, the OIPC announced it had begun a review of Vancouver’s access to information practices. OIPC spokesperson Cara McGregor told the Straight it was not initiated in response to a specific complaint. She said it was part of an ongoing “audit and compliance program” started in 2014.

At the same time, a related OIPC media release describes Vancouver as “among public bodies with the highest number of complaints and access to information appeals received by this Office”.

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This article originally appeared in print and online at Straight.com on November 10, 2015.

B.C. Corrections transfers first transgender inmate from men’s to women’s facility

As an inmate who identifies as transgender, Bianca Sawyer has plenty of criticism for how B.C. Corrections treated her in the past. But she says reforms that allowed her to be transferred to a facility of her gender identity have exceeded her expectations.
As an inmate who identifies as transgender, Bianca Sawyer has plenty of criticism for how B.C. Corrections treated her in the past. But she says reforms that allowed her to be transferred to a facility of her gender identity have exceeded her expectations.

Bianca Sawyer was overjoyed when she entered the Alouette Correctional Centre, a provincial prison for women located in Maple Ridge.

“For three days my face hurt from smiling,” she wrote in a letter to the Straight.

Born Jaris Lovado, Sawyer is the first transgender individual that B.C. Corrections has allowed to be transferred to a facility of the gender she identifies as, rather than one selected on the basis of physical attributes.

“I am the first pre-op male-to-female transgender to be transferred from a male B.C. provincial jail to a female once,” she writes. “B.C. Corrections is calling it ground breaking.”

According to section 9.17 of the B.C. Ministry of Justice Adult Custody Policy, an inmate is not permitted such a transfer until they have progressed in treatment to step four of six outlined in that document. Step four is described as “surgical removal of sex organs”.

Sawyer’s transfer marks a departure from that policy.

In a telephone interview, B.C. Justice Minister Suzanne Anton described the move as part of formal changes in rules and procedures.

“The written policy is still under development, but you can see the application of the policy is already underway,” she said. “We have had our first person placed based on gender-identity, and it seems to have worked out very well.”

Anton stressed she could not speak about any specific individual on account of privacy legislation, but did confirm Alouette Correctional Centre as the facility that received the transfer.

She said staff are now working out the details and revising exactly how the policy will appear on paper.

In addition to allowing inmates to reside in facilities that match their gender identities, Anton said B.C. Corrections will also improve transgender individuals’ access to medical treatment, and provide enhanced training to staff for how they should accommodate transgender inmates.

“Corrections staff will be trained to deal with individual situations as they come along,” she said.

The changes at B.C. Corrections follow the Ontario government implementing similar reforms in January 2015. Anton said a review of those developments was conducted as part of the process her ministry has undertaken.

According to Sawyer’s letter, the transfer occurred on September 30.

“When I was called for transfer I was ecstatic to say the least,” she wrote. “A calming euphoria of appreciation and thanks washed over me.”

To understand why Sawyer was so happy upon arriving at Alouette Correctional Centre, one has to understand from where she came.

She was transferred from Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre, a prison for men.

“Imagine being female in a male population,” she wrote. “Imagine this…name calling, sexual harassment and bullying would be a constant threat? What about the very real possibility of sexual abuse? No doubt that a population of sexually deprived men wanted to do things to me, a truly scary situation.”

She goes on to recount having to urinate in front of male inmates, being strip-searched by male guards, and regularly receiving verbal abuse that focused on her gender from both inmates and staff.

“I stayed awake all night crying,” Sawyer writes about one day when she was repeatedly frisked by a male guard.

Sawyer lobbied for the transfer with the assistance of West Coast Prison Justice Society (WCPJ), a group based in Burnaby that provides legal aid to prisoners across Canada.

In a telephone interview, WCPJ lawyer Jen Metcalfe said the risks faced by this group of prisoners has always been extreme.

“The problem with holding transgender women in men’s prisons is that they are at a huge risk for violence, sexual assault, and harassment,” she explained. “Most of our transgender clients say that they are verbally harassed by other prisoners, sometimes guards….Our federal transgender clients, I have had a few reports that they’ve been raped or physically assaulted.”

Metcalfe told the Straight it’s impossible to say how many people reside in B.C. Corrections facilities who might be eligible for facility transfers like the one Sawyer was granted. She acknowledged it is very likely a small number. But Metcalfe stressed the significance of each case given the circumstances of extreme vulnerability transgender prisoners face when housed among inmates of a gender different from their own.

“It’s just cruel,” she said. “I think it’s time for policy reform.”

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This article was originally published online at Straight.com on November 4, 2015.

Methadone patient alleges discrimination and targets the B.C. government with a class-action lawsuit

Laura Shaver, a member of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (Vandu), has opened the door for a class-action lawsuit against the B.C. government for allegedly discriminating against methadone patients. Travis Lupick photo.
Laura Shaver, a member of the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (Vandu), has opened the door for a class-action lawsuit against the B.C. government for allegedly discriminating against methadone patients. Travis Lupick photo.

An advocate for recovering heroin addicts has taken the first step in a potential class-action lawsuit against the Government of British Columbia.

“I want to help everybody in the Downtown Eastside who is on methadone and who has to pay this,” Laura Shaver told the Straight.

According to a notice of civil claim filed today (November 4) in the B.C. Supreme Court, Shaver entered into an agreement with the province that results in a monthly deduction from her social-assistance payments (commonly referred to as welfare).

The claim alleges Shaver entered that agreement while under duress, and that the nature of that agreement amounts to discrimination on the basis of a disability.

None of the allegations included in the lawsuit’s notice of claim have been proven in court. The province has yet to file a statement of defence.

The lawsuit pertains to a group of people who are both enrolled in the province’s methadone maintenance program (MMP) and who receive social assistance under the B.C. Employment and Assistance Act.

The claim explains that as one of those people, Shaver was asked to enter into a “fee agreement” with the Ministry of Social Development before her physician would prescribe her methadone, a form of an opioid-substitution therapy favoured in B.C. for the treatment of an addiction to heroin.

“Ms. Shaver signed the Fee Agreement unwillingly and under duress to gain access to necessary medical treatment,” the notice of claim reads.

That fee agreement preauthorizes the provincial government to deduct an amount from Shaver’s monthly social-assistance payments and provide that money to the private clinic where she is prescribed methadone.

“The Fee Agreement purports to allow the Province to deduct $18.34 from Ms. Shaver’s social-assistance payment per month despite the Province’s implicit understanding and awareness that Ms. Shaver has no resources to cover that cost and that going without methadone was not a practicable option for Ms. Shaver,” it continues.

The notice of claim states that because the fee agreement in question is only applied against methadone patients, the monthly deduction from Shaver’s social-assistance payments amount to a violation of Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It states that every citizen is equal before the law and ensured equal treatment regardless of any mental or physical disability.

The Straight has requested an interview with the Ministry of Social Development and Social Innovation. This article will be updated if a representative is made available.

Shaver, who is also a member of the B.C. Association of People on Methadone and the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users (Vandu), is represented in her legal challenge by Jason Gratl, a Vancouver-based lawyer.

“From a legal point of view, the signature on patients’ consent forms—the signature on the forms consenting to the payment—was obtained by means of duress,” he said.

Gratl conceded that to many people, $18.34 a month won’t sound like a lot of money. But to those on welfare, it can account for a noticeable fraction of their budgets.

“The ministry and the prescribing doctors are forcing people to choose between necessary medical treatment and food,” he argued.

In B.C., the maximum amount of monthly income assistance for a single employable person is $610, which includes a $375 shelter allowance .

Gratl said that he wants the legal challenge to result in the province refunding money to any patient enrolled in the methadone maintenance program who saw money deducted from their monthly social-assistance payments.

“There is no legal authority allowing for such deductions to occur,” he said. “Those services are medically necessary.”

The B.C. Supreme Court has yet to certify the claim as a class-action lawsuit. Gratl told the Straight he is confident it will receive that classification and advance in the near future.

According to a May 2014 B.C. government report, in 2012-13 there were 14,833 patients enrolled in the province’s methadone-maintenance treatment program.

That document states that to keep one patient in opiate substitution therapy, it costs B.C. approximately $3,268 per year.

If the government were to stop its monthly deductions from cheques like Shaver’s, that number would grow to approximately $3,488 per year.

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This article was originally published online at Straight.com on November 4, 2015.