Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - October 3, 2021, Winnipeg, Manitoba C M Y K PAGE A3 “I think we all understand even though this is happening in Texas — it could happen here,” Tona told the crowd. Fontaine said her time in the legislative as- sembly has demonstrated Canada’s reproduc- tive rights and abortion access are “fragile;” Manitoba’s legislative assembly has twice voted down Fontaine’s Bill 207 — the abortion process buffer zone act — which would mandate a 50 to 150 metre protection area free from anti- abortion protestors around women’s hospitals and clinics. During Saturday’s rally, Fontaine noted the legislature will vote on the bill again this Thursday. Asagwara noted the Progressive Conservative government in Manitoba has placed reproduc- tive health issues under the portfolio of the minister for the status of women, rather than minister of health. Paige Mason, who works with the abortion rights coalition of Canada, helped recruit signa- tories Saturday to a petition for the buffer zone act. “Abortion is, under the Canada Health Act, classified as an essential service,” Mason said. “So they should be able to access that service free from harassment, free from someone tell- ing them they’re a murderer, that they’re a ter- rible person, and seeing this graphic and often false imagery.” Mason said she was happy and encouraged by the diverse turnout at the weekend event, and by the number of people eager to join the peti- tion for Bill 207. “In Canada especially we like to think that because our politicians aren’t so overtly anti- choice that our rights are protected,” Mason said. “The fact is that they like to introduce anti-choice legislation quietly. When these laws in the States go into effect, they embolden the conservatives here to introduce legisla- tion.” Laure Moody and her child Leia Moody- Lepine attended the rally in what has become a notable symbol at reproductive justice events: Handmaid’s Tale outfits. The red robes and white caps, drawn from HBO’s TV interpretation of the Margaret Atwood novel The Handmaid’s Tale have be- come symbols of women’s oppression since the Women’s March movement began in 2017. Laure Moody noted Canada has “imperfect access” to reproductive health care, and worries conservative politicians could push that access further and further away for vulnerable peoples if given the chance. “It’s great that it’s legal, but you need to be able to find it when you need it and for a lot of women in Manitoba that’s not a reality,” Moody said. “The reality is that we have opportunities and access to health care here that women up north don’t have. They’re already living in their ver- sion of The Handmaid’s Tale.” julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @jsrutgers A 3NEWS I LOCAL /CANADASUNDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2021 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COM T HE power is back on for two re-mote northern First Nations forced to evacuate this summer after wildfires damaged community Hydro poles. Manitoba Hydro confirmed that Pauingassi and Little Grand Rapids First Nations were “energized” as of noon Saturday, noting the Canadian Red Cross and community leaders would be in charge of helping residents return home. In August, Manitoba Hydro an- nounced 91 poles and 35 structures on the line serving the communities were damaged by forest fires, causing a long- standing outage affecting more than 1,500 people. Though many residents had already evacuated due to risk from the fires, their stays in hotels across Winnipeg were extended several weeks as crews worked to restore the power on the line. In a phone call Saturday, Manitoba Hydro media relations officer Bruce Owen said the line serving both com- munities extends to Bloodvein, and work to restore power along the line was similar to the process of resetting a fuse in the home. Difficult terrain, including poles mounted on rock outcrops, made restor- ation time consuming, Hydro has said. Repairs to damaged poles and struc- tures were completed earlier in the week, leaving crews to monitor power restoration over the weekend. “Our goal all along was to get the power on as quickly as possible,” said Owen. The Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs and First Nations leaders had previous- ly criticized Manitoba Hydro for delays in restoring power to the communities, calling for a state of emergency to en- courage faster restoration. Chief and council members for Little Grand Rapids and Pauingassi were not available for comment Saturday, how- ever a flyer from the Canadian Red Cross shared on social media indicat- ed residents from Little Grand Rapids would begin flying home on Monday. julia-simone.rutgers@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @jsrutgers Power restored for two First Nations, allowing residents to return JULIA-SIMONE RUTGERS PROVINCE OF MANITOBA FILES In August, 91 hydro poles and 35 structures on the line serving Little Grand Rapids (above) and Pauingassi First Nations were damaged by forest fires. PHOTOS BY MIKE SUDOMA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Signs bearing pro-choice slogans were everywhere as hundreds of people attended the rally for reproductive justice at the legislature Saturday. TORONTO is preparing to ask the feder- al government to decriminalize the pos- session of illicit drugs for personal use in the city, saying the move is needed as drug-related deaths reach record highs. A public consultation on the matter wrapped up this week and the city’s top doctor said Toronto expects to send its request to Health Canada later this fall. “In Toronto, deaths involving all substances, including opioids, have in- creased to record highs,” Dr. Eileen de Villa said in a statement. “The situa- tion remains urgent and more action is needed to respond.” Toronto Public Health said a total of 521 confirmed opioid overdose deaths were recorded in the city last year. That represented a 78 per cent increase from deaths recorded in 2019, it said. City data also indicates that in the first three months of this year, para- medics responded to 1,173 suspected opioid overdose calls, including 93 in- volving a death. That compared to 46 calls involving death in the first three months of 2020. The decriminalization request To- ronto is preparing — which will ask Health Canada for an exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act for personal drug use in the city — would follow a similar one made by Vancouver in May. Leigh Chapman, a registered nurse and co-organizer with the Toronto Overdose Prevention Society, called To- ronto’s planned federal request “a step in the right direction.” She lost her 43-year-old brother, Brad, to an opioid overdose in August 2015 — a few weeks after he was released from jail. His death led to a coroner’s inquest that yielded a series of recommenda- tions to better safeguard vulnerable people living with addictions. One of the recommendations was that the federal government should con- sider decriminalizing the possession of all drugs for personal use and increase prevention, harm reduction and treat- ment services. Chapman said those measures could have saved her brother. “Brad’s whole life would have been different if he hadn’t had... literally a cycle of incarceration for probably over 20 years on and off,” she said. A 2016 study published in the journal PLOS ONE found that between 2006 and 2013 in Ontario, one in ten drug toxicity deaths in adults occurred with- in one year of release from provincial incarceration. Coun. Joe Cressy, chair of the To- ronto Board of Health, said city staff are “currently consulting on the details of what an exemption would look like” when it comes to decriminalizing drugs for personal use in Canada’s most popu- lous city. “We are dealing with a public health crisis,” Cressy said. “And the way to ad- dress it is with a health response.” Decriminalization is a key element in a series of measures needed to tackle the overdose crisis, alongside treat- ments, increased harm reduction servi- ces and a safer supply, Cressy said. Toronto’s Centre for Addiction and Mental Health recently released a state- ment on the issue, saying making crim- inals out of substance users has been ineffective and counterproductive. Cressy added that while Toronto’s re- quest to the federal government would be specific to the city, national decrim- inalization was something the local board of health has called for every year since 2018. “A nationwide framework, something that CAMH has called for, that Toron- to’s Board of Health has long called for, could and should be done immediately,” he said. Health Canada did not immediately respond to a request for comment. — The Canadian Press Toronto seeks to have feds decriminalize drug use NOUSHIN ZIAFATI RALLY ● FROM A1 Paige Mason, who works with the abortion rights coalition of Canada, says ‘When these laws in the States go into effect, they embolden the conservatives here to introduce legislation.’ A_03_Oct-03-21_FP_01.indd A3 10/2/21 11:32 PM ;