CBC News in Review (December)

News in Review Resource Guide

December 2011 Credits Resource Guide Writers: Sean Dolan, Peter Flaherty, Jim L’Abbé, Jennifer Watt Copy Editor and Desktop Publisher: Susan Rosenthal Resource Guide Graphics: Laraine Bone Production Assistant: Carolyn McCarthy Resource Guide Editor: Jill Colyer Supervising Manager: Karen Bower Host: Michael Serapio Senior Producer: Nigel Gibson Producer: Lou Kovacs Video Writer: Nigel Gibson Director: Douglas Syrota Graphic Artist: Mark W. Harvey Editor: Stanley Iwanski

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News in Review, December 2011 1. The Rise of the Occupy Movement (Length: 13:28) 2. Canada’s Controversial Crime Bill (Length: 14:56) 3. The Struggle to Save Canada’s Farmland (Length: 13:36) 4. Healing the Invisible Wounds of War (Length: 14:12) Contents In This Issue ...... 4

THE RISE OF THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT...... 6 Introduction...... 6 Video Review ...... 7 The Rise of the Movement...... 9 The Movement Comes to Canada...... 11 Thorstein Veblen and the Modern World...... 13 Adbusters...... 14 Activity: Up for Debate...... 15 CANADA’S CONTROVERSIAL CRIME BILL...... 16 Introduction...... 16 Video Review...... 17 Bill C-10: The Omnibus Crime Bill...... 19 Bill C-10: Why So Controversial? ...... 21 Lessons from Texas...... 23 Activity: Fear of Crime, Need for Safety...... 25 THE STRUGGLE TO SAVE CANADA’S FARMLAND...... 26 Introduction...... 26 Video Review...... 27 Disappearing Farmland...... 30 “Taters versus Craters” in Melancthon Township...... 33 Two Views from the Nation...... 35 Activity: Wasted Food...... 37 HEALING THE INVISIBLE WOUNDS OF WAR ...... 38 Introduction...... 38 Video Review...... 39 PTSD...... 41 Mental Illness and the Military...... 44 The Ongoing Costs of War...... 47 Activity: Breaking the Silence...... 49

News in Review Index...... 50

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page In This Issue . . .

THE RISE OF THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT (Length: 13:28) NiR Study In September a group called Occupy Wall Street began a series of demonstrations in Modules Using print and video New York City. The movement began as a public protest against social and economic material from archival inequality and what the protestors call corporate greed. In October the movement issues of News in spread to several Canadian cities. In this News in Review story we’ll look at the Review, teachers and Occupy movement and its plans to change the world. students can create thematic modules NiR Study Modules Related CBC Videos for independent The Eurozone and the Economic Crisis. Anatomy of a Revolution assignments, and small November 2011 Meltdown: The Secret History of the group study. Is the Recession Really Over? . Global Financial Collapse December 2009 Canada Gets a Recession Budget. Related CBC Videos March 2009 Other videos available from CBC Learning; Canada Faces a Recession, December 2008 see the back cover for contact details.

CANADA’S CONTROVERSIAL CRIME BILL (Length: 14:56) Canada’s Conservative majority government has introduced a bill that would make major changes to the way justice is administered in this country. Bill C-10 would, among other things, stiffen penalties for young offenders and force judges to apply minimum mandatory sentences. In this News in Review story we’ll look at why the bill is controversial and travel to Texas to see how similar legislation has worked out in that U.S. state. NiR Study Modules Related CBC Videos A Community Fights Gangs and Guns Crime and Punishment: Plea Bargains & November 2008 Conditional Sentencing Gang Wars: Bloodbath in Vancouver Crime and Punishment: Politics of February 2006 Punishment Deathly Silence: Black Crime in Toronto

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page THE STRUGGLE TO SAVE CANADA’S FARMLAND (Length: 13:36) Every year Canada loses thousands of acres of farmland. The land is lost when farmers give up farming or sell their land to developers. But now some Canadians are trying to fight back. In thisNews in Review story we’ll look at a group of farmers in Ontario who thought they were selling their land to a big company so it could grow potatoes, only to discover it was to be turned into a quarry. NiR Study Modules Related CBC Videos Canada’s Long, Hot Summer . Farms Inc. September 2002 The Great Food Revolution: A Citizen’s The Farm Diary, November 2001 Guide to Eating in the 21st Century Down on the Farm: Crisis in Agriculture February 1999

HEALING THE INVISIBLE WOUNDS OF WAR (Length: 14:12) Canada recently ended its combat mission in Afghanistan. During the many years of fighting, more than 150 soldiers were killed, and thousands of others were wounded. But many who survived are suffering from the invisible wounds of post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. In this News in Review story we’ll look at how new treatments are offering new hope to many of our young soldiers. NiR Study Modules Related CBC Videos Canada and the Afghanistan Legacy. Beyond Words: Photographers of War May 2011 Broken Heroes Afghanistan: A Frontline Report. Love, Hate and Propaganda: The Cold November 2010 War Afghanistan: A Soldier’s Story, March 2009 Love, Hate and Propaganda: WWII for a The Hidden Wounds of War, February 2008 New Generation Remote Control War

Sections marked with this symbol contain content suitable for younger viewers. Exercises marked with this symbol indicate that a worksheet to aid in the exploration of the topic is available online.

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page THE RISE OF THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT Introduction

In July 2011, Vancouver-based Adbusters preached against corporate greed and Focus (an anti-consumerist magazine and bank bailouts and for finding solutions to In September 2011, hundreds of people website) raised the alarm. Citing a the social plagues of unemployment and camped out in a New growing gap between the rich and the poverty. York City park as part poor, Adbusters challenged its followers Within a month a larger Occupy of a protest called to protest the inherent injustice of having movement caught on around the world. Occupy Wall Street. one per cent of the population control At its peak, over 900 cities in 80-plus Within a month, over 30 per cent of the world’s wealth countries had Occupy protesters camping the initial idea went while the other 99 per cent of the world’s out downtown and speaking out against international, with the Occupy movement population struggle to make ends meet. social injustice. In Canada, Occupy eventually making its The protest—named Occupy Wall protests sprang up in 16 cities, from St. way to Canada. This Street—asked people to strike at the John’s to Victoria. News in Review story financial heart of the United States by Eventually most of the Occupy looks at the Occupy physically occupying Wall Street in New camps were dismantled. Sometimes the movement and the York City. protesters voluntarily evacuated, but social and economic Within two months, protesters more often than not local authorities changes it hopes to bring to the world. responded to the call and made their way evicted the protesters. However, the to Wall Street. However, the New York message of “the 99 per cent” seemed to City police department was ready for the have caught on. Shortly after the protest protesters so the demonstration took a began, the Occupy movement captured detour to nearby Zuccotti Park, where a the attention of the international media as makeshift camp was set up and a home well as some influential politicians. Time for Occupy Wall Street was established. will tell if the cries for social justice that Initially people wondered what the rang out in a makeshift camp a block protest was all about. Eventually a away from Wall Street will translate into variety of messages became linked to legislation that bridges the gap between Occupy Wall Street, with most of them the rich and the poor. In the meantime, citing a growing sense of disenchantment the Occupy movement has been steadfast felt by the majority toward the one per in its resolve, telling those opposed to cent of the population that controls the their movement that authorities can evict financial lives of so many people in the a few people from a park but they can’t U.S. Calling themselves “the 99 per evict an idea whose time has come. cent,” Occupy Wall Street protesters To Consider 1. Is there a need for an Occupy movement in Canada and other parts of the world? Why or why not?

2. Do you believe that a protest movement like this one is the best way to bring about change to the economic and political systems of wealthy nations? Explain your answer.

3. What is the point being made in the last sentence of the article?

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 6 THE RISE OF THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT Video Review

Check It Out Pre-viewing Questions Adbusters is an anti- Join with a partner and discuss the following: According to the Montreal consumerist protest Gazette, 3.8 per cent of Canadian households control $1.78-trillion or 67 per magazine and website cent of Canada’s ﬁnancial wealth. Does this seem fair to you? What problems that promotes non- arise when so few people control so much wealth? Are the wealthy just being violent social change greedy or do they have a right to control so much? as well as democratic, Record some of your conclusions in the space provided. economic, and environmental reform. Check out some of their rants, often in animated form, at www.adbusters.org.

Viewing Questions Record your responses to the following questions in the spaces provided. 1. What is meant by references to “the 99 per cent”?

2. Why did Occupy Wall Street start? What were the protesters concerned about?

3. What did billionaire Warren Buffet ask Congress to do to “the one per cent”?

4. Brieﬂy describe the base camps of the Occupy movement in Canada.

5. Why did some neighbourhoods want the occupiers to pack up and go home?

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 7 6. Why was it unlikely that Occupy protesters would be charged with something like trespassing after they set up their camps? What legal protection did they have?

7. How did the camp for Occupy Toronto change over the course of the protest?

8. Did Occupy Toronto protesters leave their camp willingly? How did they respond to the police the day they showed up to evict them from the camp?

Post-viewing Questions Most of the Occupy movement camps were taken down by the end of 2011. 1. Do you think the end of the camps means the end of the movement? Explain your answer.

2. Do you think people will stop ﬁghting to bridge the gap between the rich and the poor?

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 8 THE RISE OF THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT The Rise of the Movement

Focus for Reading The Occupy Wall Street protest emerged as a social justice movement founded on principles of equitability and accountability. Those involved in the movement were angered by the fact that close to 40 per cent of the wealth in the United States was held by just one per cent of the population while one in seven U.S. citizens lived in poverty (Toronto Star, September 20, 2011). While the Occupy movement did come to Canada, do you think these social issues are really cause for concern for Canadians?

The Birth of a Movement their houses and get as much money out The Occupy movement that started in of them as they could. And these were the late summer of 2011 didn’t just pop the same banks they had to bail out with up unexpectedly. When the U.S. housing their own tax dollars. Others pointed market crashed in 2006, many people out that if a regular person doesn’t do south of the border lost their homes. their job properly, they get fired. But if Those who managed to keep them saw a banker in the U.S. doesn’t do their job their property values drop by an average properly (and bankrupts the bank), they of 30 per cent. Then, in 2008, the get bailed out by the taxpayers! financial crisis hit. The U.S. economy stagnated badly, The Call to Occupy Wall Street and most experts blamed deregulation Drawing on this sense of of financial services for the crisis. Put disenchantment, the anti-consumerist very simply: measures preventing risky magazine Adbusters sent out an e-mail in investment behaviour, once illegal under July 2011 stating that large corporations U.S. law, had been legislated away. have too much power over the economy This opened the door for banks to make and government decision makers. They highly speculative investments without went on to say that big business might having enough money to cover potential pay attention if activists physically took losses. When the losses hit, the banks control of Wall Street in New York City. collapsed and the U.S. government was The e-mail was accompanied by a poster left with the painful decision to either of a ballerina perched on top of the bail out the banks or watch the economy famous Wall Street Charging Bull statue plunge into a full depression. They as protesters emerge through a fog of tear chose the former, which meant that U.S. gas in the background. taxpayers were forced to cover bank The e-mail and poster couldn’t have losses to keep the banks afloat (Montreal come at a better time. Activist groups Gazette, November 5, 2011). threw their weight behind the call, and Occupy Wall Street was born. They Disenchantment collectively picked September 17 for The combination of the housing and the date of the occupation. About 1 000 financial crises led to a growing sense people took part the first day of the protest of disenchantment among regular U.S. and, when the police turned them aside in citizens. After all, if they failed to pay the heart of New York’s financial district, their mortgage, there was no question moved to nearby Zuccotti Park and made that the banks would kick them out of it the home of Occupy Wall Street.

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 9 Tactics per cent,” camps were set up in Boston, Occupy Wall Street protesters staged Chicago, Denver, and Oakland. The mass demonstrations—including a movement claimed that they appreciated the Millionaires March and a Zombie “organic” growth of the protest and made Walk—and began disrupting traffic in the point that the goal of the occupation the financial district. They even blocked was to open a dialogue about the kind of traffic on the busy Brooklyn Bridge. socially inclusive and economically just Some demonstrations drew as many as world that the overwhelming majority of 15 000 protesters. They also held large, people wanted to live in. daily public forums called the General However, criticism surfaced from Assembly in Zuccotti Park. outside the protest that the movement New York City prohibits the use needed leadership and a more centralized of megaphones without a permit, so message. According to critics, what protesters worked together to create seemed to be emerging was a hodge- a “human megaphone,” where the podge of complaints that sounded more person speaking would make their like bitter griping than social activism. point and those gathered near them Even though Occupy Wall Street would collectively shout what they said evolved into a movement that inspired toward those gathered farther back. This over 900 similar protests in more than 80 technique worked surprisingly well and countries, many wondered if the protest was eventually adopted by other groups had done enough to capture the world’s participating in the movement. It also attention. As winter approached and the served to highlight the fact that Occupy camps came down one by one, it was Wall Street was a leaderless movement unclear if the conversations, innovations, with a common message. and systemic changes that Occupy Wall Eventually other U.S. cities began Street had hoped to inspire would come organizing Occupy protests of their own. to fruition. Embracing the theme “We are the 99 Analysis 1. According to Statistics Canada, 3.2 million Canadians (9.6 per cent of the population) are considered low-income earners, and over 600 000 children live in low-income families. Revisit the question set out at the start of this section. Is this statistic cause for concern for Canadians?

2. The Occupy movement received respectable public support in the fall of 2011. Montreal’s La Press magazine found that 58 per cent of Canadians supported the movement, while a Time magazine poll showed 54 per cent support in the United States. Based on your reading, do you support or oppose the Occupy movement? Why?

3. By the end of November 2011, the Occupy protest was ﬁghting more for their right to exist than for an end to economic injustice. Do you think this shift in focus hurt or helped the protest?

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 10 THE RISE OF THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT The Movement Comes to Canada

Occupy Canada Sites Before Reading • St. John’s A Robin Hood tax is a way of taxing large corporations and financial • Halifax institutions to benefit the public. For example, a very small tax on stock and • Fredericton bond transactions could net the Canadian government billions of dollars in tax • Quebec revenue. Should the Canadian government pursue these options? What kind of • Montreal opposition do you think the government would face if they went ahead with • Ottawa this tax strategy? • Toronto • London Occupy Canada has seen companies shift labour out of • Windsor Occupy Wall Street seemed to carry Canada in favour of cheaper labour in • Winnipeg a universal appeal for social justice other countries), the Alberta oil sands • Regina activists around the world. Eventually project (an environmental disaster • Saskatoon the rallying cry was heard and Occupy according to many), and the economic • Calgary protests began springing up in other decision to keep the dollar high (despite • Edmonton job losses in the manufacturing and trade • Kamloops cities. • Vancouver The Occupy movement officially sectors). • Victoria came to Canada on October 15, 2011. The Occupy camps were also Activists in municipalities across the controversial. One man suffered a country responded to the call and set up non-fatal drug overdose and a woman camps in public spaces in their cities. died on the site of Occupy Vancouver. Many of the camps mimicked what was Meanwhile, merchants with shops close happening in New York City: marches to the Occupy camp in just about every and traffic disruption were common, municipality complained that the protests general assemblies were held to discuss were scaring away business—in essence, issues, and camps were run on consensus hurting the ability of some of the “99 per with no discernable leaders. More than cent” to make a living. anything, the Occupy movement in Canada sought to embrace and proclaim Did Canada Get the Message? the “We are the 99 per cent” message of However, if the goal was to get people their Occupy Wall Street comrades in to talk about the Occupy movement’s New York City. overall message, some might say they accomplished their mission. Articles, A Lack of Clarity columns, editorials, and news reports However, the lack of clarity that mired heralded the plight of the 99 per cent. A the movement south of the border soon Toronto Star editorial challenged Finance emerged in Canada. Some journalists Minister Jim Flaherty’s fight against wondered why the general assemblies Robin Hood taxes. While thousands held in some Canadian cities spent an of protesters prepared to march in a inordinate amount of time complaining mass demonstration in New York City about bank bailouts—something that on October 5, Flaherty told a crowd of never happened in Canada. This left Manhattan business people that Canada some commentators frustrated because would fight any efforts to put miniscule there were uniquely Canadian problems taxes on stock, bond, and derivative that the Occupy movement could focus transactions. The Star asked the question, on namely: globalization (a process that “…why did he [Flaherty] push so hard

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 11 and give billions in federal money for an “entirely constructive” demonstration provinces to introduce the HST paid by of collective frustration about the state individual consumers—the so-called 99 of the economy and income inequality. per cent—but is fighting so hard against NDP leadership candidate Brian Topp a 0.1 per cent financial transaction tax told a Globe and Mail reporter, “The on the financial industry?” (Toronto Star, demonstrations are making this point, October 13, 2011). not just in Canada but all around the Furthermore, the Montreal Gazette world: The trend in the last 20 years was ran an extensive story that demonstrated massive, multibillion-dollar expenditures how, as of 2009, 3.8 per cent of Canadian on tax cuts to people who least need the households controlled $1.78-trillion, or help” (The Globe and Mail, October 17, 67 per cent of Canada’s financial wealth. 2011). All this while the bottom 20 per cent of While this kind of subtle endorsement income earners saw their wages drop could not be ignored, the future of the by as much as 20 per cent since 1980. Occupy movement and the revolution Indeed, the rich appeared to be getting of the 99 per cent do not seem to have richer while the poor were getting poorer had much impact on the one per cent. (Montreal Gazette, November 5, 2011). Whether the populist movement will The movement also caught the drive social change in the months attention of some pretty influential and years to come is still subject to people. Mark Carney, the Governor of speculation. the Bank of Canada, called the protests Analysis 1. Why did critics feel that the Occupy movement in Canada lacked clarity?

2. How did articles in the Toronto Star and Montreal Gazette lend support to the plight of the 99 per cent?

3. What do you think the next step of the Occupy movement in Canada needs to be? How can they keep their message alive?

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 12 THE RISE OF THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT Thorstein Veblen and the Modern World

Did you know . . . Before Reading The wealthiest Think about the role that technology plays in your life. How willing are you to person in the world is pay good money for the latest smart phone, tablet, or computer? Who profits Mexico’s Carlos Slim from your purchasing decisions? Where do you get the money to pay for your Helu, who has a net electronic gadgets? worth of $72-billion. His personal net worth Maybe groundbreaking economist and disregards the plight of those who are not exceeds the gross sociologist Thorstein Veblen could wealthy. This seems to be precisely what domestic product of teach the Occupy movement a thing or the Occupy movement was complaining over half the countries two about how things got to the point about in 2011. in the world. where the one per cent managed to Is Canada starting to reflect Veblen’s run roughshod over the 99 per cent. theory? Are Canadians more pre- In 1899, he posited in his book The occupied with conspicuous consumption Theory of the Leisure Class that a than with building an innovative and society’s evolution follows a Darwinian sustainable economy that will keep pattern that is shaped by what he called Canada progressing for decades to technological determinism. A society come? In Canada, the wealthiest one that accepts the right inventions moves per cent has captured 32 per cent of forward on the evolutionary continuum, all income growth in the nation, while while a society that either opts for the the poor have seen their income either wrong technologies or is absent from stagnate or decrease over the past 30 the process falls behind. In this way, years (Montreal Gazette, November 5, technology determines the future of a 2011) society (which is what technological Globally, things don’t look much determinism entails). better. Currently, two billion of the A society that makes the right planet’s seven billion people live on less decisions creates a class of people that than $2 a day. The disparity between rich gets very rich—so rich that they have and poor can also be expressed this way: plenty of time and money for leisure 42 per cent of global income goes to the activity. The leisure class is marked by richest 10 per cent, while one per cent serious consumerism, accumulating of global income is divided among the excess goods to show off to others. poorest 10 per cent. Veblen pointed out that the emergence While innovation is still part of the of the leisure class leads to an economy economy, there seem to be a lot of people that shifts away from innovation for with more money than they know what the benefit of all of society to the to do with. At the same time—and the accumulation of capital for the benefit of Occupy movement has done an effective the very rich. In the end, this is reflected job of pointing this out—a lot of people in a wealthy ruling class that basically are struggling to make ends meet. Analysis 1. How accurate were Thorstein Veblen’s predictions in 1899?

2. Is a society free from the dominance of the leisure class realistic? Can the majority of people manage to not be consumed with consumption?

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 13 THE RISE OF THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT Adbusters

Did you know . . . Before Reading Adbusters has What role do social activism and political protest play in challenging authority? an international What forms of activism and protest do you think are most effective? What forms magazine circulation of activism or protest do you feel are unacceptable? of close to 100 000 readers. Adbusters Activism anti-ad in the July-August 2011 issue, The Occupy movement started an ad for an iPad is parodied. The anti- innocently enough. A simple e-mail blitz ad looks just like a regular iPad ad by Adbusters asked people to take to but instead of the original image that the streets of New York and shut down demonstrated how light and thin the the city’s financial district. Calling tablet is, the anti-ad shows the iPad held the campaign Occupy Wall Street, the gingerly between a person’s two fingers protest gained international coverage and being handed to a starving black child spanned protests in over 900 cities in 80 under the caption, “Thinner than ever.” countries. The ad is shocking and takes a direct Adbusters was pleasantly surprised to shot at consumerist culture. see people respond to its appeal. Since its inception in 1989, the Adbusters brain Culture Jamming trust has been doing their best to provoke Adbusters also creates and sponsors outrage within society over issues culture jamming events like Occupy Wall like rampant consumerism, economic Street. Culture jamming—sometimes injustice, and corporate greed. Two called subvertising—tries to disrupt techniques that Adbusters uses to drive mainstream consumer culture in an its point home are anti-advertising and effort to cause people to pause and culture jamming. reflect on their role in the advancement of consumerism. The goal is to create Anti-advertising a new level of consciousness that can Adbusters magazine completely excludes free people from the grip of consumer commercial advertising from its pages. culture. For the most part, culture jams However, the magazine does have quite are very artistic in nature and appeal to a a few anti-ads. Anti-advertising seeks to wide variety of people. Some Adbusters modify existing ads to parody consumer campaigns that have gone global include culture. Over the years, anti-ads have Buy Nothing Day and Digital Detox been the signature of Adbusters. In one Week. Activity 1. Go to www.adbusters.com and find three anti-ads. What makes these anti- ads so effective?

2. In Digital Detox Week people have to power off all technology in their lives for one week. Try initiating your own Digital Detox Day. Spend 24 hours without a cell phone, computer, or television. Write a reﬂection on how the “detox” affected the way you spent your day.

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 14 THE RISE OF THE OCCUPY MOVEMENT Activity: Up for Debate

For this activity you will take part in a four-corners debate. For each of the statements below you will need to decide whether you:

• Strongly agree • Agree • Disagree • Strongly Disagree

Your teacher will direct you to consider one statement at a time. They will also decide which corners of the classroom will reflect each position (i.e., strongly agree, agree, etc.). Consider the statement carefully and then move to the corner of the classroom that most accurately reflects your perspective. Discuss your reasons for either supporting or not supporting the statement with people in your corner. After about five minutes the teacher will open a class debate on the statement. After the debate, either stay where you are or move to a new corner if the debate caused you to change your mind. Be prepared to give reasons for your decisions.

The teacher will repeat the process for the remaining three statements.

Statement #1 Capitalism is an idea whose time has come and gone. The sad legacy of this form of economic governance is commercialism—and this is essentially the blight of humankind at this point in our history.

Statement #2 The 99 per cent needs to stop their complaining. If it wasn’t for the economic risk-taking by Canada’s entrepreneurs—particularly the one per cent— innovation would die and the economy would grind to a halt.

Statement #3 The gap between the rich and the poor is evidence of the social injustice that has come to characterize our society. The government needs to put a cap on the maximum salary CEOs can receive nationwide and raise the standard of living for the poor to well above the poverty line.

Statement #4 What people want more than anything is “capitalism with a conscience.” Business practices need to reﬂect a concern for the common good that demonstrates empathy for other people and a concern for the environment. Capitalism is not the enemy. It just needs to be adjusted to reﬂect more humane and socially just values.

Follow-up Write a reﬂective paragraph about what you learned about yourself and your opinion on these issues.

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 15 CANADA’S CONTROVERSIAL CRIME BILL Introduction

Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s programs for addiction, violence Focus Conservative government has introduced prevention programs, anger management Canada’s Conservative government has a new crime bill that imposes harsher classes, treatment for mental health introduced a bill that consequences for certain kinds of disorders, and even the education system. would make major criminal behaviours than in the past. So the quality of education drops, and changes to the way Supporters of Bill C-10 believe that people who are from marginalized justice is administered the new bill will reduce crime, impose groups—the poor, those who have in this country. Bill greater law and order, and improve experienced violence, those who suffer C-10 would stiffen justice for victims in Canada. Critics from a mental illness—have less access penalties for young offenders and force of the bill argue that Bill C-10 is not to services that can help them. This judges to apply necessary because crime rates are down, results in an increase in crime. minimum mandatory that increased law enforcement and Why then is the Canadian government sentences. Critics building more prisons will bankrupt the trying to toughen the punishment system argue that instead of government, and that some criminals in Canada? Many commentators believe reducing crime, the need rehabilitation not jail time. it is because it is popular to do so. People bill will actually result There is some evidence that the like governments to be tough on crime in an increase in crime. critics are right. In other jurisdictions because they mistakenly believe it will where a strict, punitive approach to make communities safer. Governments crime has been taken, crime rates have try to pass bills that will make them not dropped. Take Texas, for example. popular and get them re-elected. That state has the highest number of Good governance means that the needs executions and the highest incarceration of the majority are met. This involves rate in the United States—but crime rates striking a balance between helping the have continued to climb. How is that most needy in a society, creating safe possible? communities, and punishing those who It is very expensive to build prisons. violate the personal or property rights of And it is very expensive to keep people others. Time will tell if Bill C-10 helps in prison. If money is being spent on the government strike this balance. incarceration, it has to be taken from somewhere else—often treatment To Consider 1. Do you think that criminal punishment acts as a deterrent to crime? (That is, does the fact that murder carries a mandatory life sentence in jail stop people from committing murder?)

2. Why do you think people continue to feel fearful of crime and criminals even though crime rates continue to drop?

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 16 CANADA’S CONTROVERSIAL CRIME BILL Video Review

Further Research Before Viewing Go to www.parl. By yourself or with a partner consider the questions below and record your gc.ca to read the bill responses in the spaces provided. and the resulting 1. What images do you predict you may see in a news report on a parliamentary debates. controversial crime bill?

Did you know . . . Each additional day a female inmate stays in jail cost taxpayers 2. What voices do you think should be heard in a balanced news report on a $556. For men the cost new crime bill and why? is $292 a day.

3. What are three reasons that you can predict as to why any new crime bill could be controversial?

Video Questions As you watch the video, record your responses to the questions in the spaces provided. 1. State two reasons why Texas is considered to be tough on crime.

2. State one reason why funding treatment for drug addiction is cheaper than sending people to jail.

3. What statistical proof is there that Texas’s new attitude toward justice is working?

4. According to Dr. Teresa May-Williams, why is the war on drugs not effective?

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 17 5. Why did Katherine Grifﬁn view the new idea of drug court as supportive?

6. How long did some offenders have to wait for treatment in the Texas system?

7. What is the cost of keeping one person in jail in Texas?

8. In what two ways is Canada’s new crime bill the opposite of what Texas is doing in its justice system?

9. How much has prison spending increased in Canada in the last three years?

10. What is the main reason that crime rates increase with harsher and longer sentencing?

After Viewing Return to the pre-viewing questions. Debrief them as a class now that you have had a chance to view the video. Do you think the news report was balanced? Do you think all appropriate voices were heard? Whose voices were left out (if any)?

In three or four sentences, summarize the controversy.

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 18 CANADA’S CONTROVERSIAL CRIME BILL Bill C-10: The Omnibus Crime Bill

Deﬁnition Reading Prompt An omnibus bill is a As you read the information in this section, consider the strengths and bill that contains many weaknesses of the bill. separate parts and that, if passed, will The newly tabled crime bill is ofﬁcially fact that Bill C-10 is an omnibus bill, change a number of called: “An Act to enact the Justice so named because it affects 10 former different laws at one for Victims of Terrorism Act and to crime bills—bills that Stephen Harper’s time. amend the State Immunity Act, the government failed to pass when it held a Criminal Code, the Controlled Drugs minority in Parliament. The bill passed and Substances Act, the Corrections second reading in Parliament September and Conditional Release Act, the Youth 28, 2011. Criminal Justice Act, the Immigration and The chart below summarizes the main Refugee Protection Act and other Acts.” focus of each of the 10 previous bills and This lengthy title highlights that the proposed changes to Canadian law.

Title of New Law Focus of Law Major Changes 1. Penalties for Mandatory minimum Anyone growing ﬁve or more marijuana plants for the purpose Organized Crime sentences for drug of trafﬁcking would receive a minimum sentence of six months. Act crimes Anyone growing more than 500 plants would be jailed for two years. Maximum penalty for marijuana production would increase from seven to14 years. 2. Ending House Fewer criminals will House arrest ended for those who caused bodily harm, used a Arrest for Property be eligible for house weapon, or were involved in the drug trade and Other Serious arrest. Crimes by Serious and Violent Offenders Act 3. Eliminating Fewer criminals will Eliminate pardons for sex offenders against children and for Pardons for Serious be eligible for a those who have committed more than three serious crimes. Crimes Act pardon. 4. Cyber Investigation Current laws will Allows police to demand that a telecommunications service be updated to provider preserve computer data even without a court order. cover computer Makes hate material illegal online and the possession of a and Internet computer virus “for the sake of committing mischief.” communications. 5. Protecting Children Update laws Creates new offences and imposes increased or new mandatory from Sexual pertaining to the minimum sentences for certain sexual offences against children. Predators Act Internet and child sexual exploitation

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 19 6. Sebastien’s Law New provisions Prosecution attorneys can seek adult sentencing for young (Protecting the allowing for adult offenders. Public from Violent sentencing When a young offender has been found guilty of a violent Young Offenders) offence, the court would have the option to lift the publication ban. 7. Increasing Changes in the Enshrines a victim’s right to participate in parole hearings Offender Corrections and and addresses inmate accountability, responsibility, and Accountability Act Conditional Release management Act 8. The Keeping Changes rights Gives the Minister of Public Safety more leeway to deny a Canadians Safe Act of citizenship to transfer to Canada of Canadians who are convicted of crimes Canadians convicted abroad. of crimes in other countries 9. The Justice New focus on Allows a victim of terrorism to sue perpetrators, including for Victims of terrorist crimes foreign states. Terrorism Act 10. The Preventing Named the “anti- Authorizes immigration ofﬁcers to refuse work permits to the Trafﬁcking, stripper” measure vulnerable foreign nationals when it is determined they are at Abuse and risk of humiliating or degrading treatment. Exploitation of Vulnerable Immigrants Act Sources: The Globe and Mail, September 21, 2011, “Tories unveil tough on crime legislation”; Toronto Star, “Tories roll nine bills into massive crime proposal,” September 20, 2011

Follow-up 1. What is your overall impression of Bill C-10?

2. Rank what you think are the three most important changes and why.

3. Write three critical questions regarding one of the laws that you would like more information about.

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 20 CANADA’S CONTROVERSIAL CRIME BILL Bill C-10: Why So Controversial?

Did you know . . . Focus for Reading By making it harder In some ways you would think that any bill that cracks down on crime is a good for offenders to gain thing. But many people are upset about Bill C-10. As you read the information parole, it will cost $60- that follows, ask yourself: “What are the potential problems with this bill?” million more a year to keep non-violent There are three major reasons that Bill to the gravity of the offence. These criminals behind bars C-10 is controversial: objectives are tied to the current belief longer. 1. People disagree on the bill’s focus— that victim’s rights are not being upheld which is on harsher punishment for and to society’s view that the system is certain crimes. too soft on criminals. 2. The economic costs of the bill This is a difficult argument to oppose; 3. The potential effects of the bill on however, there is no evidence that the certain groups of vulnerable Canadians sentences being handed down now are Another point of contention regarding too light and that changing them will the bill is the number of changes that make Canadians safer or victims feel are proposed. Most people can agree that justice has been served in a more that some changes are appropriate and appropriate way. warranted, while other changes provoke Conservative strategists admit that intense debate. By packaging all these tough-on-crime policies are very popular laws into omnibus legislation, the among voters. Even the opposition Conservative government seems intent parties find it difficult to criticize the on passing an all-or-nothing approach to proposed measures since they fear criminal justice that ignores statistical they will be labelled as being soft on evidence on crime rates and evidence crime. It seems that the Canadian public from the United States that similar may be more interested in punishment tough-on-crime approaches have not for criminals than rehabilitation of been not successful. criminals—and the government is responding to that sentiment. 1. Harsher Punishments Central to the new bill are mandatory 2. Economic Costs minimum penalties (MMP) for certain Each of the 13 000 inmates in federal crimes. prisons cost the Canadian government Critics of Bill C-10 point to the fact $93 000 a year. Another 22 000 prisoners that there is little research to prove that are in provincial jails. The government MMPs deter crime. Even the Justice knows that its crime bill will cause the Minister’s office stated that studies are number of federal inmates to rise. But by inconclusive with respect to the question how much is unclear. of whether MMPs deter crime. So if Plans have been released to expand mandatory minimum penalties can’t and build new jails to accommodate the be shown as a deterrent, why are they anticipated increase in the number of central to the new bill? prisoners. Public Safety Minister Vic Critics point to Justice Minister Rob Toews projects that the bill will cost Nicholson’s aim to ensure victims feel an extra $2-billion over five years. The that justice has been done and that the Parliamentary Budget Office says that amount of time served is proportional the increase would more likely be

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 21 $1-billion a year. This estimate does not health concerns (compared with 14.5 Did you know . . . include the additional costs to provinces per cent of male offenders). And 25 per Statistics suggest that only a tiny minority that will also be faced with longer cent engage in self-harming behaviour. of offenders commit sentences for criminals. Mandatory-minimum-sentence new crimes while on Critics of the new crime bill also legislation may only make things worse. parole—about 1.3 per argue that money needed to build more For decades Aboriginals have been cent. prisons or house more prisoners for disproportionately represented in longer periods could be better spent on prisons. The reasons for this are rooted Did you know . . . education and health care to help deal in an ongoing legacy of colonialism Research shows that with some of the problems that result in and racism. One in three federally the longer a person is people turning to crime. sentenced women is Aboriginal, despite in prison the higher representing only three per cent of the the chance that they 3. Criminalizing Vulnerable female population in Canada. Shoshana will reoffend. Canadians Pollack, associate professor at Wilfrid A more punitive penal system keeps Laurier University states, “The main people in prison for longer periods of function of the prison is to maintain time. The majority of prison inmates are the security. They’re not treatment from vulnerable communities: people centres, and although there’s been a lot with mental illness, people who are poor, of rhetoric about prisons for women Aboriginal peoples, people who come being therapeutic and treatment-oriented, from dysfunctional families, and/or the fact is the main purpose of prison those who have grown up surrounded by is to punish and control” (Macleans, violence. When vulnerable people are January 17, 2011). It seems that existing kept in prison longer and do not receive programs and services are ineffective adequate rehabilitation or support, and insufficient to keep up with general the cycle of crime is perpetuated in demand. communities already at a disadvantage. The elimination of conditional Mandatory minimum sentences would sentences for a range of offences will worsen an already problematic situation eliminate the flexibility that, for example, for women in federal prisons. Forty-five enables judges to allow single mothers per cent of these women are classified as to continue working while serving their non-violent and eligible for accelerated sentences and preventing the break-up parole under previous rules. Sixty-six per of families. Conditional sentences allow cent of women serving time in federal judges to give those with underlying prisons suffer from substance abuse. mental health issues the community Thirty per cent have serious mental treatment they need. Analysis 1. Summarize in your own words the two main arguments in support of and against Bill C-10.

2. In your opinion, which argument do you ﬁnd the most persuasive and why?

3. Why do you think Prime Minister Harper packaged all the previous bills into one omnibus bill?

4. Send your informed questions/comments regarding Bill C-10 to your local MP.

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 22 CANADA’S CONTROVERSIAL CRIME BILL Lessons from Texas Before Reading Discuss in a small group your knowledge of another criminal justice system either in a different country or that existed in a different period in history. Rank these systems from “toughest on criminals” to “more lenient on criminals.” Explain why attitudes toward criminal justice have changed over time and/ or why you think attitudes toward criminal justice are different in different countries.

During Reading The state of Texas in the United States has a history of being tough on crime. While you read, complete a chart like the one below, based on the information in the article:

Lessons From Texas Evidence that Texas is tough on crime • • • Results of the Texas criminal justice system • • • Recent changes to the justice system • • • Results of changes to the system • • •

A Dubious Reputation when the U.S. began its war-on-drugs For years, Texas had the greatest number policy, the prison population quadrupled of prisoners behind bars and performed as drug users became more directly the greatest number of executions of targeted for prison time. any state in the U.S. Texas currently In 2005, the state realized it was facing has hundreds of prisoners on death row a crisis. It cost too much money to put all awaiting execution. Up until 2005, Texas criminals in jail—and the crime rate was had the highest rate of incarceration still increasing. in the world, with one in 20 of all its residents locked up in a jail cell. In fact, Turning Point jails were so crowded that 30 men at a New ideas and laws emerged that aimed time were often crammed into a single to keep many criminals out of prison. bunkhouse. Thieves, addicts, drunk drivers, and The state paid billions of dollars to offenders with drug or alcohol problems build prisons and to house prisoners. And would often get probation instead

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 23 of prison on the condition that they Over ﬁve years the rate of participate in a drug treatment program. incarceration in Texas dropped by 9 per The positive results could not be cent at the same time that the crime rate disputed. Thousands of people were sent dropped by nearly 13 per cent. What was to treatment instead of being required to surprising to some about the changes in serve a jail sentence. After years of drug the Texan criminal justice system was abuse and committing crimes to pay for the fact that very conservative, tough- drug habits men and women became on-crime politicians were supporting clean and sober. People got the care they the changes. Why? Because the changes needed. saved taxpayer dollars. If Texas needed The cost of putting someone in drug $2-billion to build new prisons, for a treatment was about one-tenth of what fraction of that price, drug treatment it cost to put them in prison. If they could make those prisons virtually hadn’t been ordered into drug treatment unnecessary. some might have gone to jail for life. The state of Texas still has very Drug treatment is not only cheaper than tough sentences for violent crime. The incarceration, it is also more effective, death penalty still exists, but the state because graduates are less likely to has stopped sending people to prison commit new crimes than if they went automatically for minor parole violations, to prison. Data show that 60 per cent of such as missing a parole appointment. individuals charged with drug-related That change alone is keeping 5 000 crimes would commit a new crime in people out of prison at a savings of about 11 months. For those who receive $300-million per year. Are there lessons drug treatment, that number drops to for Canada to learn from Texas? around 15 per cent. Follow-up 1. Based on what you just read, write a short statement to the Canadian government about the direction they should be taking toward crime and punishment.

2. Conduct a survey to see where young people and older Canadians stand on the proposed changes to Canadian law.

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 24 CANADA’S CONTROVERSIAL CRIME BILL Activity: Fear of Crime, Need for Safety

Feeling safe is an important psychological condition in our lives. Fear, distrust, and anxiety related to being a victim of crime or a potential victim of crime is an obstacle to leading a productive and happy life.

In addition to affecting our sense of personal security, fear of crime also impacts our communities—in particular, limiting our interactions and trust of others. A 2008 Statistics Canada study reported that 18 per cent (or about three million) Canadians indicated that they experienced fear of crime while walking alone in their community after dark, while 83 per cent reported that they did not experience fear of crime in these conditions.

Research shows that on average women and older Canadians report higher levels of fear in their local communities. Fear of crime also differs considerably across Canada. A 2000 Gallup survey found respondents who expressed fear while walking at night varied from a low of 14 per cent in Atlantic Canada to a high of 39 per cent in British Columbia. Levels of fear in Canada are also lower than in many other Western nations.

Despite differences in how safe people feel, most agree that one of the government’s main jobs is to keep them safe and secure. But there are different beliefs on how governments can maintain safety without taking away rights and freedoms. Most Canadians do not want the country to become harsh and punitive—where people’s mistakes are judged harshly by the law and where punishments focus on retribution more than rehabilitation.

How does society balance punishment with rehabilitation? And why is this important?

In a group, think about where you get your “feelings” of safety. Consider how your perceptions of safety are influenced by the following groups: the media, your friends, your family, your neighbours, law enforcement officials, and politicians. For each of these groups record their influence on your personal feelings of safety (how and why do they make you feel safe or unsafe?).

Record your answers on chart paper. Have a “dotmocracy” walk where other students walk around the room to read your groups’ responses and vote on what you believe are the main factors in making them feel safe and unsafe. Consider as a class what the two most signiﬁcant changes could be to make the people in your community “feel” safer.

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 25 THE STRUGGLE TO SAVE CANADA’S FARMLAND Introduction On a cold, rainy Sunday in October, sell out were told that their land would Focus thousands of people braved the elements continue to be used for growing potatoes. This News in Review story focuses on the and gathered on a farm near Shelburne, But within a short time, some of the future of Canada’s Ontario. They were there for Foodstock, farmers became suspicious that Highland farmland as family a one-day event featuring home-style had other plans for the land that did not farms across the food prepared by some of Ontario’s most involve potato production. country are coming renowned chefs and entertainment by The fertile farmland of Melancthon under pressure from artists such as Jim Cuddy, Sarah Harmer, Township sits over one of the most agribusinesses and Hayden, and Ron Sexsmith. A number extensive limestone deposits in the urban development. You will learn about of restaurants and food suppliers from province of Ontario. When quarried, a group of Ontario as far away as Toronto donated food for this limestone yields a high-quality farmers who thought the occasion, and the city’s Slow Food aggregate that can be used to build roads the land they sold was movement chartered a bus to the event. At and homes in the expanding Greater going to be used to Foodstock a mixed crowd of local farm Toronto Area. Although Highland did not grow potatoes but families and city residents gathered to inform local farmers of this at the time, instead was turned enjoy locally produced food and musical the firm’s intention was to build a huge, into a quarry. entertainment. But Foodstock was much open-pit quarry—about one-third the size more than just a social gathering. Its main of downtown Toronto and deeper than purpose was to draw public attention Niagara Falls—that it would mine over to what its organizers believed to be a the next century. The company promised serious threat to southern Ontario’s rich that as the quarry pits were exhausted, agricultural land, especially the farms they would be refilled with soil and the located in Melancthon Township, where land returned to agricultural use. Foodstock was held. Local farmers and residents were For years local farmers in angry and believed that Highland Melancthon—where a large part of had misled them about its plans Ontario’s potato crop is grown—had for the quarry. They worried about received generous offers to sell their the environmental effects of such a valuable land. Some of these people development and feared for the future of were close to retirement and were their way of life. As more people outside finding the demands of operating a small the area learned of this issue, a wave of family farm at a profit very difficult. opposition to the proposed quarry grew, When a Canadian businessman named leading to Foodstock. But at the event, John Lowndes, representing Highland organizers made it clear that this was Companies, a U.S. firm, began acquiring just the beginning of their campaign to farm properties in Melancthon Township halt the quarry and preserve valuable in 2006, the farmers who were happy to farmland for future generations. To Consider 1. What do you know about the importance of farming as an economic activity and a way of life in Canada today? 2. Why would people who do not even live in Melancthon Township be worried about the proposed quarry there? 3. Do you care whether or not the food you eat is grown in your province or territory? Explain your answer.

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 26 THE STRUGGLE TO SAVE CANADA’S FARMLAND Video Review Pre-viewing Questions With a partner or in a small group discuss and respond to the questions below. 1. How much do you know about farming as a business and as a way of life in Canada today?

2. Have you ever visited a farm?

3. Do you ever wonder about where the food you eat comes from and how it was produced?

4. Why do you think running a successful family farm in Canada today would be a challenge?

Viewing Questions As you watch the video, respond to the questions in the spaces provided. 1. Where is the proposed limestone quarry to be located?

2. What is the name given to the rich soil found in this area?

3. What proportion of Ontario’s total potato crop is grown here?

4. What is the name of the U.S. company that has been buying farmland in the area?

5. Why is the proposed limestone quarry such a huge operation?

6. What name did anti-quarry organizers give to the event they organized in October 2011 to draw public attention to the issue?

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 27 7. What do you think David Waters means when he says that the anti-quarry campaign is the “Avatar” of Ontario?

8. Why is limestone such an important resource for the construction industry in southern Ontario?

9. What is the technical name for the high-quality aggregate produced from limestone and used as a building material?

10. Why does local farmer Lyle Parsons regret his decision to sell his farm in 2006?

11. What clues did Parsons notice that led him to believe the company buying land had plans for it that did not include potatoes?

12. How do the two executives from Highland Companies explain the fact that farmers were not informed about the company’s plans to develop a quarry on farmland it bought from them?

13. What promises has the company made to local residents about the environmental safety of the proposed quarry development?

14. What step did the Ontario government take to examine the issue of the quarry development more closely?

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 28 Post-viewing Questions Join with your partner or small group again and respond to the following questions.

1. Now that you have watched this video, revisit your responses to the Pre- viewing Questions. Add any information you learned from the video, or otherwise update your answers.

2. If you were a resident of Melancthon Township, Ontario, how might you feel about the proposed limestone quarry? For example, would you be worried about the loss of farmland, or be excited about the jobs the quarry would create? Explain the reasons for your opinion.

3. Do you think that events like Foodstock play an important role in mobilizing public opinion behind an issue such as the threat to Ontario’s farmland and farming as a way of life? Why or why not?

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 29 THE STRUGGLE TO SAVE CANADA’S FARMLAND Disappearing Farmland Focus for Reading Many factors (causes) have contributed to the disappearance of Canada’s farmland. As well, the disappearance of the land has multiple consequences. Use the Multiple Causation and Multiple Consequence Webs from the News in Review website (http://newsinreview.cbclearning.ca/worksheets/cause_ consequence/) to organize the information presented in this section. You will be identifying the causes and consequences of this issue. Work with a partner or in a small group to complete your charts.

Changes to Family Farming it did a hundred years ago, and a A century ago, Canada was one of the growing trend toward the consolidation world’s foremost agricultural nations, of farmland into big “agribusiness” producing far more food than could be operations is slowly erasing the family consumed by its own people. Exports of farm as an institution in Canada. agricultural products, especially grains Farmers today have far less influence such as wheat, were a major contributor in national and provincial politics than to the nation’s economic growth. they did a century ago, and younger Farmers then were a large, important, people are leaving the land for more and politically influential segment of the lucrative occupations and greater population, and political and business opportunities in Canada’s growing leaders needed to take their concerns cities. seriously. Canada is a vast country, but only At that time, most of Canada’s about six per cent of its total land farms were independent, family-run mass is suitable for farming. And of operations, spread across the country, that, only 0.5 per cent is designated from relatively small holdings in the as Class 1 land—the most fertile and Maritimes and Eastern Canada, to productive. Most of this very good huge, sprawling grain and cattle farms farmland happens to be located near on the Prairies. Farming was more the country’s growing cities, such as than just a means to earn a living; it Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. was also a way of life with its own As these urban centres spread out into values, beliefs, and culture, and deeply the rural hinterland, once-productive engrained in the national psyche. farmland is purchased and turned Today the situation is very different. into housing developments, industrial Farming is an occupation pursued by zones, and shopping malls. From 1972 a tiny and ever-shrinking percentage to 2001, Canada lost a total of of Canada’s population. Many farmers 14 000 km2 of agricultural land face constant economic uncertainty and to urban uses—and the trend has find it increasingly difficult to turn a accelerated since then. profit. Although exports of agricultural Ontario is the province endowed products are still important, other with most of Canada’s Class 1 land, natural resources such as mineral, but between 2001 and 2006, 240 000 forest, and petroleum products have hectares (ha) disappeared forever. It is surpassed them in economic terms. estimated that the province loses one Canada imports far more food than km2 of farmland to development every

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 30 day. In other provinces, the story is demanding business that requires high much the same, with Quebec losing 3.4 start-up costs, long hours of work, and million ha over the past two decades, an almost 50-per-cent chance of failure. and Nova Scotia seeing 80 per cent of Most Canadian farm families find it its total farmland eliminated between necessary to supplement their income 1921 and 2006. with second jobs off the farm. But As Canada’s farmland disappears, for those willing to take the risks and food imports become more important endure the hardships associated with to the national economy. For example, it, farming remains an appealing way in 1964, only four per cent of red meat of life for many Canadians seeking an was imported, whereas by 2001 one- escape from the stresses and pressures quarter of it was. In 1967, Canada’s of urban living and the rewards of centennial year, two-thirds of our fruit seeing the fruits of one’s labours was imported, while now almost all growing before their eyes. of it is. Vegetable imports have grown from 20 per cent to almost half since Saving Farmland the 1960s. At the same time, although Two good examples of innovative Canada continues to be a major government policies designed to halt exporter of agricultural products, its the encroachment of urban sprawl on position has dropped from third in the prime farmland are British Columbia’s world to number seven, as countries Agricultural Land Reserve (ALR), and such as China, Brazil, and Argentina Ontario’s Greenbelt. Under the ALR, have advanced on us. 47 million hectares of the most desirable With more than 90 per cent of farmland of British Columbia—or Canada’s farmers over the age of 35, five per cent of the province’s total and fewer young people willing to land area—are legally protected from replace them, the family farm may development. The B.C. government soon be a vanishing institution in the introduced the ALR in the early 1970s Canadian society of the 21st century. to halt or at least slow down the trend Elderly farmers close to retirement of disappearing farmland, appointing an are attracted by offers to sell their independent agency to decide which land property from real estate developers should be protected and how the interests or big agribusiness firms, especially if of farmers, municipal governments, and these farms are located near growing developers could be reconciled. urban centres and can command a good The provincial government of market value. Ontario passed the Greenbelt Act However, there are opportunities in 2005. Its goal was to promote for small farms specializing in agricultural and environmental niche-market products that appeal protection, culture, recreation and to consumers interested in eating tourism, a strong rural economy, and a healthy, organically grown foods. sustainable approach to infrastructure Farmers’ markets are becoming and natural resources. The Greenbelt increasingly popular in a number of is one of the largest areas of officially Canadian cities—Toronto’s flourishing protected land in the world, comprising St. Lawrence Market and Ottawa’s a 728 000 ha swath of land wrapping Byward Market being but two well- itself around the Greater Toronto known examples among many. Area (GTA) and stretching as far To be sure, farming is a difficult and south as Niagara Falls. It is 325 km

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 31 long and 80 km wide at its broadest Friends of the Greenbelt was created, point, making it larger than the entire with an initial government investment province of Prince Edward Island. The of $25-million, to promote the Greenbelt contains some of the most Greenbelt among the population. fertile soil in the province, along with Many international experts on urban sensitive environmental areas such as and rural planning view the Greenbelt Rouge Park, the Oak Ridges Moraine, as one of the most forward-thinking and the Niagara Escarpment. approaches to farmland protection in The Greenbelt was designed not the world. But the program does have only to protect valuable farmland its critics. On the one hand, groups from development but also to ensure such as Sustain Ontario believe that that some of the province’s most the exemptions permitted under the attractive natural features close to large legislation are too broad, leaving it cities were preserved for the use and possible for farmers to sell their land enjoyment of its residents and visitors. to developers even if it is located It was hoped that farmers whose land inside the Greenbelt. Some farmers was included in the Greenbelt would also resent the fact that they were grow local food that would be available not consulted before the Greenbelt to nearby urban dwellers, in the process legislation was passed, and that they boosting both the agricultural economy now face many bureaucratic roadblocks and a more healthy style of eating. A should they wish to sell their farms. non-proﬁt organization known as the Follow-up With a partner or in a small group compare the information you recorded on the main causes and consequences of the issue of disappearing farmland in your worksheets.

1. List the causes you would consider to be long-term and those that you would consider short-term and state reasons for your decision.

2. List the consequences you would consider to be intended and those that you would consider to be unintended and state reasons for your decision.

3. How successful do you think that farmland protection policies such as British Columbia’s ALR and Ontario’s Greenbelt have been in reversing the trend of the disappearance of farmland?

4. Do you think that the institution of the family farm can survive into the 21st century? Why or why not?

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 32 THE STRUGGLE TO SAVE CANADA’S FARMLAND “Taters versus Craters” in Melancthon Township Focus for Reading As you read this section, use a chart like the one below to summarize the main arguments in favour of and against the proposed limestone quarry in Melancthon Township, Ontario.

In Favour Against • The proposed quarry will bring much- • The quarry will remove prime needed jobs to the area. farmland from production. • • • •

On October 16, 2011, a group of local land in Canada. Roughly one-quarter residents and visitors gathered on a farm of all the potatoes grown in Ontario near Shelburne, Ontario. Despite the come from the area. But beneath this cold, windy weather that day, thousands fertile soil lies a bed of limestone of enthusiastic participants had come to from which amabel dolostone, a high- celebrate what the organizers of the event quality aggregate can be extracted. called Foodstock, a lively protest against This substance is in great demand as a plans to develop a limestone quarry in building material for buildings and roads the area’s fertile farmland. One hundred in the rapidly expanding Greater Toronto chefs from across the country, including Area (GTA). celebrity cooks like Jamie Kennedy and The controversy now engulﬁng Michael Stadtlander prepared delicacies the once-sleepy rural communities in made from local ingredients. Well- Melancthon Township basically boils known Canadian musicians like Jim down to this question: what should come Cuddy, Sarah Harmer, Hayden, Cuff the ﬁrst, preserving an agricultural way of Duke, and Ron Sexsmith entertained life that helps feed urban dwellers or the crowd, who had brought their own embracing a new project that could bring plates, cups, cutlery and napkins to the much-needed development and jobs to event. the area and deliver building materials Although those who attended to the cities? In essence, in the words of Foodstock certainly enjoyed the one of the Foodstock participants, it is a delicious food and the entertainment, choice between “taters” or “craters.” their motivation was very serious. They In 2006, John Lowndes, a Canadian were there to demonstrate their support businessman representing Highland for local farmers who are resisting Companies, began purchasing land in efforts by Highland Companies, a U.S.- the area, offering farmers as much as based conglomerate, to sell their land. $20 000 per hectare. He has been able And they were also strongly opposed to acquire some 6 000 hectares of fertile to the company’s plans to use the land land, including two of the largest local it purchased as the site for a huge potato farms. While sketchy about the limestone mega-quarry. details of the company’s intentions, he The honeywood loam of Melancthon gave his clients reason to believe that Township, about 100 km northwest of the land they sold would remain under Toronto, is some of the richest Class 1 cultivation for potatoes.

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 33 But in the months following the sale quarry in Melancthon Township all along. of his land, a farmer named Lyle Parsons He denied having misled local residents at began having second thoughts about his the time they sold their land to Highland decision. He observed people drilling for and argued that the proposed project, if soil samples and clearing trees, and then managed carefully, would result in great a team of archaeologists combing it for economic benefits for the area. any possible prehistoric artifacts. This is At a loss to account for the strongly when the alarm bells went off, because negative public reaction to his company’s such steps are not required if potatoes are proposals, he went to great lengths to being grown, but only when the land is reassure the community that the quarry to be converted to other purposes. would be environmentally safe. He Parsons now believes he was misled promised that it would be introduced in when Lowndes led him to think that stages over the course of 50 to 100 years, his land would continue to be used in 120 ha stages. Once a section had for farming. What started as a rumour been mined, the resulting crater would in the area has now become a fact: be refilled with soil and the land returned Highland Companies had a plan from to agricultural use. The vast quantities the beginning to establish a limestone of water pumped out of the pits, which quarry on the land it was acquiring in lie below the region’s high water table, Melancthon Township. This firm has amounting to an estimated 600 million a number of ideas for development in litres per day, would be purified and the area, including harnessing wind returned to the area’s aquifers. power and reviving a rail link between In early September 2011, on the eve Toronto and Owen Sound that would of a provincial election, Environment run through the land. But the number- Minister John Wilkinson announced that one priority is a huge limestone quarry, a full environmental assessment of the which, if approved, would run around potential impact of the quarry on the the clock and create over 300 jobs in the local area would have to be held before community. Highland Companies would receive In an exclusive interview with the permission to begin digging. Such a CBC in October 2011, Joseph Izhakoff, review could take many months, if not an official with Highland Companies, years to complete, putting the company’s publicly acknowledged for the first time plans for the quarry on hold, at least for that his firm had intended to develop a the time being. Analysis 1. With a partner or in a small group, compare the information in your summary chart. Help each other complete any missing information.

2. With a partner or in a small group, review the arguments you have summarized in favour of and against the quarry in Melancthon Township. Which side do you ﬁnd more persuasive? Why?

3. Do you think that Highland Companies was completely honest in its dealings with farmers who sold their land to the ﬁrm before it made its plans for the quarry public? Does it matter if they were? Why or why not?

4. Do you think that events such as Foodstock are an effective means of mobilizing public opinion around a controversial issue? Why or why not?

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 34 THE STRUGGLE TO SAVE CANADA’S FARMLAND Two Views from the Nation Focus for Reading As you read this section, summarize the information presented in it using the following chart.

A New Business Model Farmers’ Markets Problem Problem

Solution Solution

A New Business Model on the world, there was a great need for cheap Prairies sources of protein in the form of what Saskatchewan-born Greg Menzies had are known as “pulse crops,” including spent most of his adult life running his beans, lentils, and chick peas. For own technology company in Vancouver. people too poor to purchase meat or fish, But in 2005 his uncle asked him to return such staples could mean the difference to his native province and take over the between starvation and a meager but management of the family farm, located healthy diet. near Regina. Looking for a change, he In response to this, Menzies switched accepted the offer and asked his uncle the 3 200-ha farm’s production from to see the farm’s financial records. traditional crops like wheat and flax to a After carefully scrutinizing them, he many-sided operation that grows 18 000 came to the conclusion that the farm’s tonnes of pulse crops, which it markets entire mode of operation was in total successfully in North Africa and South contradiction to everything he had Asia. In addition, it runs a cleaning and learned in business school. The farm packaging facility and a division selling was growing crops and then looking fertilizers and chemicals. From the for potential buyers, while Menzies farm’s original two employees, the staff believed that it was necessary to identify has grown to over 90. the customers first, and then develop a Menzies has even more ambitious plans strategy to meet their needs. for development. He eventually envisages In pursuit of his goal of making a 80 000-ha operation, leasing farmland Wigmore Farms more profitable, in 3 200-ha modules to local farmers. Menzies travelled the globe, attending Menzies’ biggest challenge is finding international food shows in places like the funds to finance his ever-growing Paris and Dubai. There he learned that activities, and he believes that many for most of the poor countries of the government policies stand in the way of

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 35 projects like his. But he is convinced that markets and the products they supply is businesses like his mean more than just on the increase, many farmers are finding profit. “It’s about feeding and finding it difficult to fulfill the need. In the food for the world” (The Globe and Mail, Prairie Provinces, traditionally Canada’s November 23, 2010). agricultural breadbasket, most farms are now large agribusinesses operations, The Growing Demand for producing one or at most a few grain Farmers’ Markets crops or livestock, and are neither Across Canada, farmers’ markets equipped to nor interested in supplying are becoming ever more popular, products to farmers’ markets. as consumers are looking for local, For small family farms wanting to sell organically grown alternatives to mass- their products to farmers’ markets, the produced, imported fruits and vegetables. demands of time, energy, and finances During the warm summer months, such can be great. Kim Shukla, the co-owner markets attract large crowds of shoppers, of Stoneland Orchard in Manitoba, especially in the province of Ontario, explains that she and her husband, where about 150 of the country’s 500 Richard Whitehead, have to choose farmers’ markets are located, accounting the markets they sell to very carefully for almost two-thirds of total sales. to make sure that they are a profitable The rich farmland on the outskirts of investment of their time. She says that the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is also they need to sell between home to a number of pick-your-own $2 000 and $10 000 worth of produce a operations, where city dwellers can day to break even after staff and travel travel by car to gather apples, tomatoes, expenses are paid. But Bert Andrews, strawberries, and other products during the owner of Andrews Scenic Acres, the summer months. Some people a pick-your-own berry farm west of also patronize community-supported Toronto, dispatches trucks to 11 farmers’ agricultural operations, where they pay markets across the GTA every weekend. a certain amount per week in return Exposure to his produce at such events for a selection of locally grown foods also helps bring customers to his farm, delivered by local farmers. where they can enjoy the experience of However, while demand for farmers’ picking their own berries. Follow-up 1. With a partner or in a small group, compare the information summarized in your chart. Help others complete any missing information.

2. With your partner or in groups, discuss the problem identiﬁed in each section and the proposed solution to it. How viable do you think the solution is?

3. If you were operating a Canadian farm today, what marketing strategies might you adopt to make it proﬁtable?

4. Have you ever been to a farmers’ market or a pick-your-own farm operation? If yes, did you enjoy the experience? If no, would you like to? How would it be different from shopping for food at a supermarket?

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 36 THE STRUGGLE TO SAVE CANADA’S FARMLAND Activity: Wasted Food

Wasted food in Canada is a serious problem. It is estimated that Canadians throw away approximately 40 per cent of the food they do not consume every year. Much of this is completely edible. This amounts to an estimated $27-billion in waste annually.

The Bluewater Recycling Association is a Canadian organization afﬁliated with a British group called “Love Food, Hate Waste.” It offers many suggestions on how the problem of food waste can be addressed—in homes, schools, and grocery stores. Second Harvest is a Canadian organization that promotes alternatives to food waste as a means of feeding the hungry.

Your Task A. Conduct Research 1. Select a partner.

2. Visit the websites of the Bluewater Recycling Association (www.bra.org/ lovefoodhatewaste.html) and Second Harvest (www.secondharvest.ca).

3. Review the sites and record 10 pieces of information that you can use to explain how the issue of food waste impacts you, your family, and the global community.

4. Brainstorm ﬁve ways you think food waste could be reduced or even eliminated.

5. Prepare a short report that summarizes your answers to questions 3 and 4 to share with your class.

B. Take Action With your teacher’s permission, prepare a plan to implement one of the ideas you came up with in question 4 above.

Suitable activities could include: • Working with the staff at your school cafeteria or the manager of your local supermarket or restaurant to reduce waste. • Finding out if the local food bank or shelter is willing to receive donations of “extra” food that is being discarded from your school or local grocery store. • Plan and organize projects that you could do in your class to raise awareness of this issue (e.g., “lunch money days,” food drives).

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 37 HEALING THE INVISIBLE WOUNDS OF WAR Introduction You smug-faced crowds with kindling eye disability; more than 5 000 soldiers Focus Who cheer when soldier lads march by, with PTSD are now receiving veterans’ This News in Review story is about post- Sneak home and pray you’ll never know disability payments. traumatic stress The hell where youth and laughter go. Senior members of the military have disorder (PTSD) — Siegfried Sassoon, “Suicide in the thrown their support behind programs in the Canadian Trenches” (1918) to change the culture of the Canadian military. PTSD is now Forces and its attitude toward mental recognized as the For many people, mental illness is still a illness. One such program—It’s All most common form of condition that is best kept secret. Unlike Right to Hurt—has seen officers and mental illness to affect Canada’s soldiers. In most other illnesses, it has a real stigma enlisted personnel alike share their this story we look attached to it—a suspicion that somehow stories of PTSD with other members at the symptoms the person with mental illness has of the forces to encourage victims to and treatment of somehow failed and is really responsible come forward for treatment when they the illness, how the for his or her condition. experience symptoms. Coping with Canadian Forces are This attitude has—and continues to stress and mental illness is now a basic dealing with the be—a special problem in the Canadian component of military training. problem, and the economic and social military. Soldiers have always been But for many the stigma remains. Part costs of PTSD for expected to suck it up when they find of the problem is that no soldier wishes Canada. themselves under extreme stress. Any to appear weak in the eyes of others. other behaviour is considered to be a Equally significant, however, is a long- sign of weakness, a proof of inadequacy, standing rule that requires all personnel or a failure to make the grade. to be fit for deployment for any duty, It is only since 2000 that coping with including combat, or leave the military. post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), With recent news stories revealing the most common form of mental illness Canadian Forces’ policy of redeploying to which soldiers are subject, has been personnel who have received treatment a priority for the Canadian military. As for PTSD, it is likely that the Canadian will become apparent in both the News in military and its handling of PTSD will Review video and guide, significant steps remain a controversial topic for some have been taken to identify and treat time. And, if as predicted, more veterans those showing symptoms of PTSD and to of the Afghanistan conflict develop assist the families of sufferers. PTSD has symptoms of PTSD, the real costs of war also been recognized as a pensionable will become more significant.

To Consider Siegfried Sassoon’s poem was written during the First World War and is about a young soldier, likely suffering from PTSD, who commits suicide. It can easily be applied to any modern conﬂict.

1. What images come to mind when you re-read the lines from the poem?

2. Do you think we glorify war in our culture? If so, in what ways?

3. Search for Sassoon’s poem on the Web and read the rest of it. Which parts of the poem still apply to soldiers serving in armed conﬂict today? Which parts do not?

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 38 HEALING THE INVISIBLE WOUNDS OF WAR Video Review

Further Research Pre-viewing Activity A video, “PTSD: Stress Post-traumatic stress disorder is a mental illness that is an extreme anxiety and Resilience,” about disorder. We would likely all agree that being part of a military operation is a recent (U.S.) National likely to cause considerable anxiety in anyone. Based on what you know about Institute of Mental Canada’s mission in Afghanistan, what would you consider to be some of the Health study of PTSD most stressful activities performed by Canada’s soldiers? Make a short list and is available at www. compare it with those of other members of the class. nimh.nih.gov/health/ topics/post-traumatic- stress-disorder-ptsd/ index.shtml.

Quote “When one mother said her son was Viewing Questions on the verge of Answer the questions in the spaces provided. committing suicide, 1. How many Canadian soldiers were killed during the Afghanistan combat she went to his mission? How many were wounded? supervising ofﬁcer in Petawawa, who told her to suck it up.” 2. What Canadian military policy especially worries Steve Lively, former — CBC News in Review video, December 2011 soldier and PTSD patient?

3. What does the term redeployment mean?

4. How does psychologist Ken Welburn describe the effects of redeployment?

5. What does the universality-of-service rule mean for Canadian soldiers?

6. According to Dr. Rakesh Jetly, how long is the military’s predeployment training before a soldier with PTSD is redeployed on a combat mission?

7. Brieﬂy describe how virtual reality (VR) therapy is used to treat PTSD.

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 39 8. How does exposure therapy help a PTSD patient?

9. Why is VR therapy not being used by the Canadian military to treat PTSD?

10. How does U.S. soldier Jason Skinner describe his current condition after undergoing extensive VR therapy?

Post-viewing Discussion Make notes on the following questions and then join with a partner or small group to discuss. 1. Is the universality-of-service rule unfair to members of the Canadian military? Must all members of the Canadian military be able to serve on combat missions? Why or why not?

2. With 20 per cent or more of Canadian soldiers leaving Afghanistan with PTSD and other mental disorders, is it realistic to expect that most of them could be redeployed on a combat mission in six to nine months? Note that most psychiatrists expect the average treatment for civilian PTSD to take about two years. Should we expect soldiers to be treatable in a shorter period of time?

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 40 HEALING THE INVISIBLE WOUNDS OF WAR PTSD

Further Research Reading Prompt A good one-page As you read this section, make a list in your notebook of the causes and summary of the symptoms of and usual treatment procedures for PTSD. causes, symptoms, and usual treatment Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) natural disasters; acute illnesses; of PTSD is available is an anxiety disorder. The symptoms acts of terrorism; physical, sexual, from the U.S. National of this form of mental illness have been or psychological abuse; and wartime Library of Medicine recognized for centuries, but it is only stressors. PTSD often occurs in persons at www.ncbi.nlm.nih. since 1980 that PTSD has been classified who provide care to trauma victims, gov/pubmedhealth/ PMH0001923/. as a specific form of mental illness by the such as police officers, fire fighters, and medical profession, appearing as such in health-care personnel. the third edition of the Diagnostic and According to the Canadian Medical Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Association, about one in 10 people The symptoms of PTSD result from has PTSD. With treatment, recovery on situations of extreme trauma, such as average takes about two years. abuse or episodes of violence. The names used to describe PTSD before 1980 Symptoms include shell shock, war neurosis, battle PTSD symptoms are grouped into three fatigue, and post-Vietnam syndrome. categories: Clearly PTSD is not a recent occurrence • Re-experiencing. Patients relive the in the military. original trauma, often experiencing physical distress such as racing Defining a Mental Illness heartbeats. They react intensely to PTSD is not limited to soldiers. Modern visual or auditory cues that symbolize definitions recognize that anyone is a the event. Nightmares are frequent and potential victim of PTSD. especially distressing. “PTSD is an anxiety disorder that • Avoidance. Patients often try to avoid some people get after seeing or living anything that reminds them of the through a dangerous event. When in traumatic event—people, places, and danger, it’s natural to feel afraid. This activities. They may lose interest fear triggers many split-second changes in things that once were enjoyable. in the body to prepare to defend against Reminders of the event may result in the danger or to avoid it. This ‘fight- feelings of guilt or depression. Amnesia or-flight’ response is a healthy reaction may be present—patients may have meant to protect a person from harm. real trouble remembering some of the But in PTSD, this reaction is changed or event. Patients are often emotionally damaged. People who have PTSD may numb. feel stressed or frightened even when • Hyper-arousal. Patients tend to they’re no longer in danger” (www. be constantly tense and irritable. nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/post- They may have trouble sleeping or traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd). concentrating on a task. They often The extreme events that might startle easily and react to surprises in a trigger PTSD include accidents; way that is totally inappropriate.

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 41 Diagnosis Collateral Damage Quote “If you’re the spouse Only an experienced psychiatrist or People suffering from PTSD often suffer and you’re sleeping psychologist can diagnose PTSD. The from alcohol or drug addiction. A study in the same bed, diagnosis is very specific. The patient of Vietnam veterans with PTSD in the the person might must have all of the following for at least United States showed that 60 to 80 per be screaming out one month: cent of them exhibit substance abuse or at night, may be • One or more re-experiencing symptoms dependence. Studies also indicate that drenched in sweat, • Three or more avoidance symptoms PTSD develops first; alcohol or drug may be tossing and turning, may • Two or more hyper-arousal symptoms addiction follows and may develop as a be striking out at form of self-medication. somebody that they Treatment Often, the families of PTSD sufferers feel are a threat. So Treatment for PTSD involves also require assistance to deal with quite often people psychotherapy and medication, often the effects of the condition. One study end up sleeping in working together. reported by the Hamilton Spectator separate rooms, (October 16, 2010) looked at how PTSD in separate beds.” Psychotherapy treats a mental illness — Lt.-Col. Rakesh by encouraging patients to talk about can affect teenagers. Sociology professor Jetley, Esprit de Corps, their condition. This is especially helpful Deborah Harrison found that adolescents February 2010 with PTSD patients. “By encouraging living with parents with PTSD could face talk about the experience and listening physical abuse, emotional neglect, and attentively, the psychotherapist unpredictable rage. demonstrates that the event can be dealt The stress on spouses trying to care with and that the patient can safely for both their partner with PTSD and relate details. The healing process their family makes it critical that they, comes from communicating the memory too, seek assistance. This is necessary of the trauma to another person and because they need to be educated to experiencing the memories and emotions understand that PTSD is an illness that together” (Patient Care, October 15, requires proper treatment and time to 1999). heal. There is every indication that As part of their psychotherapy, patients a united and understanding family learn to deal with their special needs. contributes to a sufferer’s recovery. They may be taught ways of relaxing, Helpguide.org offers the following controlling anger, or dealing with guilt suggestions for those dealing with a feelings. loved one with PTSD (http://helpguide. Medication—including org/mental/post_traumatic_stress_ antidepressants—also has a role to play disorder_symptoms_treatment.htm): in treatment of PTSD. Drug treatments • Be patient and understanding. Getting help in many ways: providing relief from better takes time, even when a person flashbacks and nightmares, alleviating is committed to treatment for PTSD. depression, and reducing hyper-arousal Be patient with the pace of recovery symptoms. and offer a sympathetic ear. A person On its own, medication is rarely with PTSD may need to talk about the a solution for PTSD sufferers. It is traumatic event over and over again. most effective in providing relief in This is part of the healing process, so combination with psychotherapy. Often avoid the temptation to tell your loved selective medication is used to prepare a one to stop rehashing the past and patient for psychotherapy. move on.

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 42 • Try to anticipate and prepare for PTSD seems distant, irritable, or closed triggers. Common triggers include off, remember that this may not have anniversary dates; people or places anything to do with you or your associated with the trauma; and certain relationship. sights, sounds, or smells. If you are • Don’t pressure your loved one into aware of what triggers may cause an talking. It is very difﬁcult for people upsetting reaction, you’ll be in a better with PTSD to talk about their traumatic position to offer your support and help experiences. For some, it can even your loved one calm down. make things worse. Never try to force • Don’t take the symptoms of PTSD your loved one to open up. Let the personally. Common symptoms person know, however, that you’re of post-traumatic stress disorder there when and if he or she wants to include emotional numbness, anger, talk. and withdrawal. If your loved one Follow-up 1. Using your notes, prepare a chart showing a typical patient diagnosis of PTSD with a complete list of required symptoms.

2. Write a short treatment plan for the PTSD sufferer and his/her family.

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 43 HEALING THE INVISIBLE WOUNDS OF WAR Mental Illness and the Military

Quote Focus for Reading “For a lot of soldiers The military’s official attitude toward mental illness in general, and post- especially, to have a traumatic stress disorder in particular, has changed considerably in recent years. mental health disorder As you read through this News in Review section, makes notes on how the is self-perceived as official attitude compares with that of the average soldier. After completing this a failure as a soldier section, write a one- or two-paragraph report describing these attitudes. and as a person. You’re not allowed While the symptoms of PTSD have PTSD and Canada’s Military, to be sick, and to been recognized for centuries, many Round One have a mental health in the military have questioned its It was 1980 before the American Medical illness is even worse. reality as a medical condition. Many So often the person Association recognized PTSD as a with PTSD is caught doubted PTSD’s very existence; any specific mental illness. It took another up in the shame of problems associated with soldiering in 20 years for the Canadian military to being a failure and wartime were something that just had recognize it as a disability. In 2000 the therefore is not even to be sucked up. It was only with the Veterans Affairs table of disabilities—in really thinking about First World War that the true nature of its first update since 1919—added a help, they’re thinking, PTSD began to become apparent, with section on stress and anxiety disorders ‘how can I hide this thousands of soldiers suffering what was from everybody?’” (PTSD is defined as an anxiety disorder). — Psychiatrist Ken known at the time as shell shock. It was hoped that this classification Welburn, Esprit de “For the British High Command, such would help the many soldiers who Corps, February 2010 exhibitions were symptoms of mass suffered with PTSD as a result of service malingering and cowardice—signs, in places like Croatia, Bosnia, and perhaps, of the corruption of the British Rwanda. character brought on by the years But in 2002, André Marin, the of relative affluence and leisure that military’s ombudsman, issued a report on preceded the war. But the numbers were the medical services offered to Canadian too great and the conditions too bizarre soldiers with PTSD. The report indicated to completely ignore, so psychiatrists and that support staff for dealing with PTSD neurologists were hastily commandeered, was inadequate. It also pointed to an hospitals were set up, and the field of even bigger problem for soldiers with military psychiatry was born” (www. PTSD: the military culture. walrusmagazine.com/articles/2010.07- According to Marin, many soldiers health-the-enemy-inside/). were afraid to state publicly that they By the end of the Second World were suffering from PTSD because War most of the symptoms were well it could end their careers. He wrote: understood, and various therapies to assist “There was a distressingly common its victims were being developed. But belief among both peers and leaders that many in the military still believed that those diagnosed with PTSD were fakers, most of the psychiatric casualties were malingerers, or simply poor soldiers” either malingerers or cowards trying to (The Globe and Mail, February 6, 2002). avoid active service on the front lines. In a news conference he stated: “PTSD is The true face of PTSD and the havoc it seen as a professional death sentence.” wreaked only began to be recognized after At the time of the report, Canada the return of many damaged individuals to was beginning its involvement in the the U.S. during and after the Vietnam War. Afghanistan conflict, and 2 500 military

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 44 personnel were posted abroad. The launching a campaign called “All Right Further Research number who might be affected by PTSD to Hurt,” an attempt to lessen the stigma The 2008 ombudsman’s report, was believed to be as high as 20 per cent. associated with mental illness in the “A Long Road to Both the government of the day and military. During the campaign, members Recovery: Battling the military appeared to embrace the of the military publicly shared their Operational Stress report. Defence Minister Art Eggleton struggle with mental illness. Injuries,” is available released a statement that said: “We need The CBC interviewed Lieutenant- at www.ombudsman. to effect a cultural change to eliminate Colonel Stephane Grenier, who had forces.gc.ca/rep-rap/sr- the stigma associated with PTSD, or any served in Rwanda with the United rs/osi-tso-3/index-eng. asp. type of mental injury. Failure to respect Nations forces during the genocide. and properly treat our members who He returned from there with a new are suffering from these illnesses will perspective on the military and mental not be tolerated” (The Globe and Mail, illness. February 6, 2002). Lieutenant-General “What happened to us in Rwanda Christian Couture said that soldiers really shocked my own belief systems, needed to recognize that PTSD is as real my own values, my own morals. The an injury as a broken leg. military tends to be a ‘very macho, very stoic culture,’ so getting support within PSTD and Canada’s Military, that workplace from superiors is key Round Two to recovery,” which is what happened Fast forward to 2008, and a new for him, Grenier said. “That’s what this military ombudsman’s report by Mary campaign is all about—to change that McFadyen. The report stated that the culture of ours and make it acceptable “strong commitment” by senior military that the mind can also be injured” (www. leaders to deal with PTSD had yet to cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2009/06/25/ reach the community level. military-campaign025.html). Some progress had been made, including improved screening before Institutional Support soldiers are sent into conﬂict, support National Defence and the Canadian groups for families of PTSD sufferers, Forces (NDCF) provide mental health and a commitment to hire more mental services for members of Canada’s health professionals by March 2009. military. Those services are outlined on But the negative stigma, myths, and the NDCF website at www.forces.gc.ca/ stereotypes of PTSD remain a real health-sante/ps/mh-sm/default-eng.asp. problem in most military establishments. Services include the Road to Mental The ombudsman’s report was released Readiness (R2MR) program that at a time when more than 20 per cent includes special training before, during, of Canadian soldiers and police ofﬁcers and after deployment. It includes training sent to Afghanistan were leaving the components not only for military force with PTSD or other psychiatric personnel, but also for their families. problems. NDCF also provides a number of Partly in response to the ombudsman’s psychosocial services—like crisis report, the House of Commons Defence intervention or addiction counselling—as Committee in June 2009 asked the well as mental health programs. Special Minister of Defence and the Chief programs at major military bases treat of the Defence Staff to speak up and patients with PTSD. debunk the myths surrounding PTSD. Veterans Affairs Canada (www. General Walter Natynczyk responded by veterans.gc.ca/eng/mental-health) also

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 45 provides mental health services for Support (OSISS) Program. It provides veterans, members of the Canadian peer support co-ordinators who are Forces, members of the RCMP, and themselves victims of operational stress families of those with mental health to assist PTSD sufferers. Family peer problems. Of special signiﬁcance support co-ordinators are also available for those suffering from PTSD is to assist families affected by PTSD or the Operational Stress Injury Social other operational injuries. Follow-up Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire suffered PTSD as a result of being commander of the United Nations Assistance Mission for Rwanda. He has worked to promote awareness of PTSD among the military and the general public. Use the CBC website (www.cbc.ca/news/background/dallaire/), the CBC Archives (http://archives.cbc.ca/war_conﬂict/peacekeeping/clips/11660/), and other sources to research and write a brief account of how PTSD affected his life.

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 46 HEALING THE INVISIBLE WOUNDS OF WAR The Ongoing Costs of War

The direct costs of Canada’s combat costs of war will likely continue for Further Research missions are relatively easy to predict some time even after the conclusion of Search for the CBC news story “Domestic and to quantify. What can be far more our military role in Afghanistan. By 2009 violence up in difficult to evaluate are the auxiliary more than 20 per cent of our soldiers and Canadian military costs, both economic and social, that police officers deployed to Afghanistan families” online at result from participation in foreign were leaving the forces with psychiatric www.cbc.ca/news. The conflicts. In this section we look at problems. The number in the year page also provides some of those ongoing costs—costs preceding April 2009 was 1 053; the year access to video and audio reports on the that continue long after the mission before that it was 700. same topic from The is complete. We begin with economic It’s not easy to predict the total National and The considerations. residual costs of a conflict like Current. Afghanistan, but David Perry, a Disability Pensions and Veteran researcher at Carleton University, has Care made an educated estimate. Canada It may have taken years for post- now has about 41 000 veterans of the traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to come Afghanistan conflict, about 9 000 of to the attention of the Canadian Forces, whom will likely suffer some kind of but by 2005 it certainly was having an mental health problems. Working with acknowledged impact. More than 5 000 U.S. estimates on the cost of veterans’ ex-soldiers were receiving disability care, Perry determined that the lifetime pensions for PTSD. Half of those care for 41 000 Canadian Afghanistan pensions were awarded once combat veterans could cost around $11.5- began in Afghanistan. billion (thetyee.ca/News/2009/03/26/ In 1995 only 25 pensions were AfghanStress/). awarded to veterans diagnosed with PTSD. In 2004 the number was 1 141. Social Costs PTSD disability pensions make up more One of the most powerful examples than half the pensions paid out to ex- of the ongoing social cost of war is its soldiers with psychiatric disorders. In effect on military families. 2005 that number was over 9 000. In March 2011 the CBC obtained Not all the veterans applying for a copy of a military police domestic PTSD disability pensions served violence report completed in 2008 but in Afghanistan. Many served in not publicly released. It reported that peacekeeping roles in countries like domestic violence on military bases Bosnia, Kosovo, and Rwanda. The rose steadily as soldiers returned from number of applications has been growing deployment in Afghanistan. rapidly. The report indicated that the problem On the other hand, in 2005 Veterans was especially acute at Canadian Forces Affairs was administering a total of Base Petawawa. In fact, after troops 170 000 disability pensions payable to returned to base following Operation ex-soldiers or their widowed partners. Athena, there was a five-fold jump in The total cost to Canadian taxpayers was reported cases of domestic violence. $1.5-billion. Psychologists believe the rise in PTSD’s contribution to the ongoing domestic violence is directly linked to

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 47 physical and emotional trauma suffered the-table-in-the-evening-having-popcorn by soldiers in Afghanistan, especially type of thing is no longer enjoyable. The PTSD. The Canadian Forces believe that spouse ends up giving up a lot of things that correlation is possible but unproven. that they were able to enjoy” (Esprit de The U.S. military has found a four-fold Corps, February 2010). higher risk of violent behaviour among Ultimately, however, no one pays a PTSD sufferers. The likeliest victims of higher social price that the PSTD sufferer that violence are family members. him- or herself. Soldiers tell of returning Domestic violence is not the only to Canada completely alienated from social problem faced by families of civilian society. Many turn to drugs and PTSD sufferers. Lieutenant-Colonel alcohol in an attempt to self-medicate Rakesh Jetley, a psychiatrist with the to try to cope with the worst effects of Canadian Forces, describes living with their illness. Several, in despair, attempt a PTSD victim. “Suddenly you may suicide. Most never regain 100 per cent have somebody that no longer wants to of their health. go out to dinner, no longer wants to go Canada’s soldiers are highly trained, to a concert, no longer wants to go to a capable individuals. The failure to fully mall, no longer wants to go to movies, reintegrate them into civilian society anywhere with a lot of people. They and to make full use of their skills and may not want to watch the same TV abilities is a tremendous loss to the shows because, perhaps, CSI or Criminal country and a signiﬁcant ongoing cost of Minds, the favourite family, sit-around- war. For Discussion According to many psychiatrists, children are especially vulnerable to the secondary effects of PTSD on the family. What might be some of these effects, and how would they affect young people?

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 48 HEALING THE INVISIBLE WOUNDS OF WAR Activity: Breaking the Silence

As we have seen, mental illness remains a difficult topic for many people. Here is Quote your opportunity to open a dialogue on the topic. “As many as 20 per cent of Canadian soldiers serving in Your Task Afghanistan are Part I likely to suffer from In small groups, you will investigate some of the stigmas associated with mental mental illness upon illness. You may wish to use information in the video or guide to inform your their return home.” discussion. — Lieutenant- Colonel Stephane Use the following questions to get you started: Grenier (www.cbc. ca/news/canada/ Why is it so difficult to talk about mental illness? story/2009/06/25/ military-campaign025. What do we perceive as the significant differences between mental and physical html) illness?

Why are feelings of shame and guilt so often associated with mental illness?

Are there different types of mental illness that especially promote those feelings?

Do men and women approach a discussion of mental illness differently? Is it easier for one or the other to discuss mental illness?

How does the casual use of pejoratives like “crazy,” “nut case” or “loony” affect the way people think of mental illness? Is there a need for us to be more careful with our language?

Who needs to take the lead in promoting frank discussion of mental illness?

How can we as a society make people comfortable when they want to discuss mental illness?

Part II Make a list of the main points that result from your discussion and present them graphically, perhaps as a Wordle, or in some type of graphic organizer, to the class. You may also choose to represent the results of your discussion artistically.

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 49 News in Review Index A list of the stories covered last season and to date in the current season is provided below.

The complete chronological index for all 21 seasons of News in Review and a subject- oriented index listing News in Review stories appropriate for various subject areas can be accessed through our Web site at http://newsinreview.cbclearning.ca.

SEPTEMBER 2010 September 2011 The Controversy Over the Census The Massacre in Norway The G20 Summit: Talks and Teargas War and Famine in Somalia The Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico The 9/11 Attacks: Ten Years Later Residential Schools: Truth and Healing Life, Work, and Smartphones OCTOBER 2010 OCTOBER 2011 The Tamil Boat People Controversy The Life and Death of Jack Layton Pakistan’s Catastrophic Floods Terry Fox: Remembering a Canadian Hero The Fate of the Long-Gun Registry Libya and the Fall of Gadhafi Journey Back to Nagasaki The Vancouver Riot: What Went Wrong? NOVEMBER 2010 NOVEMBER 2011 Hurricane Igor Hits Newfoundland Teen Suicide: Breaking the Silence Canada’s New Governor General The Eurozone and the Economic Crisis Afghanistan: A Frontline Report Amanda Lindhout’s African Journey BPA: The Chemical Inside Us Coping with the Stress of Graduation DECEMBER 2010 The Trial of Omar Khadr The Oil Sands and the PR War A New Campaign to Fight Bullying The Rescue of the Chilean Miners FEBRUARY 2011 Wikileaks and the Information War Haiti in a Time of Cholera The Assassination of Rafik Hariri How Healthy Are Canadians? MARCH 2011 Parliament and the Election Question Egypt and the Days of Anger The Shooting of Gabrielle Giffords Vacation Nightmare in Mexico APRIL 2011 Japan and the Nuclear Nightmare The Uprising in Libya Hockey and the Concussion Debate How Facebook Changed the World MAY 2011 CBC Learning Canadians Vote in a Spring Election P.O. Box 500, Station A Canada and the Afghanistan Legacy Toronto, Ontario, Canada Revising the History of the Americas M5W 1E6 The Real Story of the King’s Speech Tel: (416) 205-6384 Fax: (416) 205-2376 E-mail: [email protected]

CBC News in Review • December 2011 • Page 50