Last week, sex workers and support organizations awoke to a disappointing decision from the Ontario Superior Court of Justice. The case, brought by the Canadian…
The #StopTheSweeps coalition has been organizing for nearly 2 years now – bringing together individuals and representatives from the Coalition of Peers Dismantling the Drug War, Defund 604 Network, Pivot Legal Society, VANDU, and the Vancouver Tenants Union to directly confront street sweeps.
Safety on public transit has become a serious concern for Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) users and a microcosm of the broader ways our governments and…
Vancouver police officers killed Myles Gray on a hot August day in 2015. They pepper sprayed him, handcuffed him and tied his legs together with…
On May 7, CUPE 5089 announced its endorsement of former Toronto Police Service (TPS) chief Mark Saunders for mayor of Toronto. I consider this an…
Encampment evictions through police violence are never about housing, safety, or community wellness. The street sweeps and encampment clearances are about control of space for property and profitability.
The City of Vancouver’s mass decampment of people sheltering in the Downtown Eastside is just the city’s latest assault on poor people.
On January 7, 2023, five officers from the Memphis Police Department beat Tyre Nichols to death. The officers were members of the department’s proactive policing…
Layered policing takes many forms. Hallmarks of these programs are partnerships with community, groups, non-profits, and charities. These can soften or downplay the impacts of policing while providing police with some public relations cover.
During the first week of November, the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) once again bumbled clumsily into the world of politics with a social safety net…
On November 26, 2020, Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) officers shot and killed 18-month-old Jameson Shapiro and his father, William Shapiro (33) in the city of…
Threats and violence against unhoused people serve to reinforce property relations and labor markets, which inevitably harm all working-class people. They also serve purposes of further enclosure—establishing community or public spaces as sites of surveillance, policing, and social control.
