Who’s Deluded? Fact-checking the “ReachOut Psychosis” Show for Schools
ReachOut Psychosis is an “educational” show touring BC schools right now that traffics in a shocking abundance of misleading misinformation and blatant lies about the alleged dangers of psychotic or schizophrenic experiences and the wonders of pharmaceutical drugs.
I recently saw ReachOut Psychosis, and haven’t been able to rest until I’ve publicly commented on it. ReachOut Psychosis is an “educational” show touring BC schools right now that traffics in a shocking abundance of misleading misinformation and blatant lies about the alleged dangers of psychotic or schizophrenic experiences and the wonders of pharmaceutical drugs. It’s truly a wonder — and horror — that any teacher or school even brings this show in at all.
Cancelled: Opportunity to Intervene in OIPC Inquiry about Police Chief Association Records
Update June 2015: For reasons I do not fully understand, the OIPC suddenly did an about-face and refused to allow any intervenors in this inquiry discussed below, and then later did an about-face again and did allow a few selected intervenors. The process is now closed and awaiting final adjudication. I leave the rest of the post for informational purposes about this process, and will update on the next steps I intend to take.
I requested copies of the minutes of meetings of the BC Association of Chiefs of Police and BC Association of Municipal Chiefs of Police from four municipal police departments, because the Associations themselves refused to provide any records. These records were heavily redacted using exemptions reserved
BC Information and Privacy Commissioner Urges Govt to Declare BC Police Chief Associations to be Public Bodies
BC Information and Privacy Commissioner Elizabeth Denham wrote a letter urging the BC government to declare the two BC associations of chiefs of police to be public bodies, and make the associations subject to public freedom of information laws. I am disappointed that the letter does not do more to educate the public about the seriousness of the police governance, transparency, accountability and conduct issues involved, and does not address the general underlying questions about what constitutes a public body. However, I support the Commissioner’s recommendation. I am also glad that the Commissioner revisited and highlighted the ongoing question of the associations’ secretive lobbying activities. To learn about the background for this decision, read my previous articles
OIPC Launches Inquiry into Police Chief Associations
The BC Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner is investigating the legal nature and practices of British Columbia’s two police chief associations and, as part of that process, will be soliciting public input until January 17th, 2014 (revised deadline is now February 14, 2014.). Commissioner Elizabeth Denham is considering whether to recommend that the BC Association of Chiefs of Police (BCACP) and BC Association of Municipal Chiefs of Police (BCAMCP) should be declared to be “public bodies” and be made subject to the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA). The OIPC’s official announcement will appear within the next few days. (Dec. 11: Her letter to stakeholders has now been released.)
This inquiry comes after I
BC Police Chief Association Records
It would be great for other people knowledgeable about policing in British Columbia to go through these records that I’ve obtained pertaining to the BC Association of Chiefs of Police and BC Association of Municipal Chiefs of Police. If you do, please tell me what you learn.
Here’s the back story:
Are BC Police Chiefs Evading the Law?
Is the Law Catching Up to BC’s Police Chiefs?
Here are the records finally obtained during mid-2013 which are discussed in “Coup de Police”. These are pdf files that contain hundreds of pages, so they’ll take some time to download. I suggst right-clicking on the filename and choosing “save link as” or “save
Op-ed on Halifax Election Published in The Coast
(I just published the following article in The Coast in Halifax. Can’t say I’m feeling inspired by the comments below it — and I’m trying to defend these guys’ rights to fair elections becaaaaussse…?? Oh, I’m sure there’s a good reason, it just slips my mind right now what it is. rw)
Was Halifax’ e-vote Hacked?
Evidence shows last fall’s online voting in Halifax was not secure. But is anyone going to do anything about it?
It’s been several weeks since I revealed evidence that the online voting in last fall’s municipal elections in Halifax was not secure. Now I’m starting to wonder, does anyone care? How many people care about defending our most basic pillar of democracy—our elections?
Elections Ontario Releases Damning Report on Internet Voting
Elections Ontario’s “Alternative Voting Technologies Report” released today tries to put an optimistic face on things — e.g. expressing hope that a unique, enforced, province-wide government-issued ID card could help solve some of the problems — but generally they admit that online voting is too risky. A few quotes from their rundown of other jurisdictions:
“In an April 2013 report on compliance with the voting process, Elections Canada indicated that “current Internet voting systems carry with them serious, valid concerns about system security, user authentication, adequate procedural transparency, and preserving the secrecy of the vote.””
“In 2010, Washington D.C.’s internet voting pilot project was compromised by a group of four University of Michigan professors and students who, within 48
Halifax Election Security — the Story and Documents
I went on CBC radio in Halifax to discuss concerns about the security of their online election, and then was stunned to hear how an elections official went on the next day to patently dismiss all concerns. Consequently, security researcher Kevin McArthur has gone public with some of the background story, and some of the evidence, surrounding my recent video about the security vulnerabilities in the Halifax election.
I’m also posting the documents I obtained from the Canadian Cyber Incident Response Centre featured in the video: Public Safety disclosure halifax election A-2013-00029
Note that Kevin has posted some of the unredacted documents he submitted to CCIRC — very interesting, and the basics
Elderly Woman Still Hiding from VIHA
An update on Mia following her narrow escape from involuntary electroshock therapy
Eight months after an independent tribunal ordered her released from hospital, the Vancouver Island Health Authority is still pursuing a Saanich woman. Focus previously reported on 82-year-old Mia (“The Case for Electroshocking Mia,” November 2012), whom VIHA senior geriatric psychiatrist Dr Michael Cooper had slotted for electro-convulsive shock therapy against the wishes of her and her family. Last July, an official inquiry determined Mia needn’t be forcibly treated for depression nor even hospitalized; however, almost immediately VIHA representatives began calling, coming by the family home, and demanding that Mia check in with them. Mia, her granddaughter Michelle and grandson-in-law Russel and their children fled the city.
They’d
Ombudsperson Pans Incapability Assessments
Even when you already know them, sometimes it’s shocking to hear facts confirmed. In February, BC Ombudsperson Kim Carter released her 186-page investigation into BC’s processes for determining people to be “incapable” of controlling their own legal or financial affairs, “No Longer Your Decision.” Focus has reported extensively on the arbitrary, draconian, often self-serving ways by which citizens are being stripped of these basic rights by long-term care providers, health authorities, and the public guardian. Carter concluded the process has indeed been “failing to meet the requirements of a fair and reasonable procedure.”
Indeed, on nearly every key issue, the Ombudsperson’s findings disturbingly reflected many people’s worst experiences and reinforced the worst fears of the rest of us. For starters,
RCMP agrees to stop tracking innocent drivers
Victoria Police Department (VicPD) media rep Cst. Mike Russell dismissed critics of the automatic licence plate recognition (ALPR) program on CFAX in January. Russell said, “There’s conspiracy theorists out there saying we’re creating a massive surveillance database on people…”
“You mean you’re not?” said fill-in host Rosa Harris-Adler, as both she and Russell chuckled.
“Funny enough we’re not doing that,” said Russell. He described it as merely a “technicality” that VicPD had been recording and passing data about all drivers to the RCMP “for deletion.”
We’re not sure who those wacky conspiracy theorists are, but we understand how they became, er, “confused.” There are already millions of records in the police’s ALPR database. And while Russell may have meant to simply suggest
Forced Psychiatric Treatment and Electroshock in BC – Statistics
After a lot of effort, I’ve managed to get some statistics from the British Columbia Ministry of Health, and want to share them with researchers, activists and journalists.
Here are the numbers of British Columbians certified (usually meaning they were incarcerated and forcibly treated with drugs or electroshock) under the Mental Health Act in BC from 2002 to 2011, broken down by health regions: BC Forced Treatment Stats. Note that the real numbers are undoubtedly much higher, because certifying someone is a simple procedure of filling out a one-page form, and psychiatrists often need simply threaten to certify someone in order to gain the person’s compliance with confinement and treatment.
And here are the numbers of British Columbians subjected to
Lobbyist Registrar Investigating BC Police Chiefs
I recently investigated two sister groups, the BC Association of Municipal Chiefs of Police and the BC Association of Chiefs of Police. I found that both groups are playing a shellgame with the law: On the one hand, they’re claiming they are “private groups” whose activities are not subject to BC’s freedom of information laws covering public bodies. On the other hand, they are operating these “private groups” out of their police departments using police staff and public police resources. (Read the article to see how much more complicated and dubious their shellgames become when I try to obtain even basic documentation about their groups.) And even though they spend a lot of time meeting with politicians and
Researchers Encouraged by BC Privacy Commissioner’s Investigation Report
For Immediate Release
November 15, 2012
Researchers Encouraged by BC Privacy Commissioner’s Investigation Report
The three researchers whose report prompted the BC Privacy Commissioner’s investigation into Automatic License Plate Recognition (ALPR) are very encouraged by the findings of Elizabeth Denham’s report, released today.
Since 2006, the RCMP and a growing number of BC police forces have used cruiser-mounted automated camera systems to ubiquitously take pictures of BC vehicles’ licence plates. Ostensibly used for catching stolen vehicles and unlicensed drivers, the researchers found that the ALPR system had “function creeped” into many more, highly questionable uses. As a result of concerns raised by the researchers, the Commissioner investigated how Victoria Police have been using ALPR. Her findings validate the concerns that the researchers’ have
Privacy Commissioner to Review ALPR Surveillance
I’m thrilled that the BC Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner has decided to launch a full investigation into the use of Automatic Licence Plate Recognition by police in British Columbia. Here are links to all my published writings on the topic, plus my media release, and the OIPC’s press release.
Hidden Surveillance (article)
RCMP and VicPD ALPR Documents Released (documents)
Privacy Commissioner Slams Provincial Surveillance Program (Article)
What the Privacy Commissioner Really Said (Documents)
RCMP: We’ve Never Spoken About ALPR Program (Blog update)
***********************************************************
***FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE***
July 30, 2012
RESEARCHERS PRAISE PRIVACY COMMISSIONER’S DECISION TO INVESTIGATE VEHICLE SURVEILLANCE PROGRAM
Three independent researchers are praising the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of British Columbia (OIPC) for today’s announcement that it