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Abstract Background People who use drugs (PWUD) are known to fear calling emergency medical services (EMS) for drug overdoses. In response, drug-related Good Samaritan Laws (GSLs) have been widely adopted in the USA and Canada to encourage bystanders to call emergency medical services (EMS) in the event of a drug overdose. However, the effect of GSLs on EMS-calling behaviours has been understudied. We sought to identify factors associated with EMS-calling, including the enactment of the Canadian GSL in May 2017, among PWUD in Vancouver, Canada, a setting with an ongoing overdose crisis. Methods Data were derived from three prospective cohort studies of PWUD in Vancouver in 2014–2018. Multivariable logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with EMS-calling among PWUD who witnessed an overdose event. An interrupted time series (ITS) analysis was employed to assess the impact of GSL on monthly prevalence of EMS-calling. Results Among 540 eligible participants, 321 (59%) were males and 284 (53%) reported calling EMS. In multivariable analysis, ever having administered naloxone three or more times (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 2.00; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.08–3.74) and residence in the Downtown Eastside (DTES) neighbourhood of Vancouver (AOR 1.96; 95% CI 1.23–3.13) were positively associated with EMS-calling, while living in a single occupancy hotel (SRO) was negatively associated with EMS-calling (AOR 0.51; 95% CI 0.30–0.86). The post-GSL enactment period was not associated with EMS-calling (AOR 0.81; 95% CI 0.52–1.25). The ITS found no significant difference in the monthly prevalence of EMS-calling between pre- and post-GSL enactment periods. Conclusion We observed EMS being called about half the time and the GSL did not appear to encourage EMS-calling. We also found that individuals living in SROs were less likely to call EMS, which raises concern given that fatal overdose cases are concentrated in SROs in our setting. The link between many naloxone administrations and EMS-calling could indicate that those with prior experience in responding to overdose events were more willing to call EMS. Increased efforts are warranted to ensure effective emergency responses for drug overdoses among PWUD.

Experiences of First Nations, Métis and Inuit women in Canada: Highlights * Violence against Indigenous peoples reflects the traumatic and destructive history of colonialization that impacted and continues to impact Indigenous families, communities and Canadian society overall. * Violent victimization is defined in the 2018 Survey of Safety in Public and Private Spaces (SSPPS), as a physical assault (an attack, a threat of physical harm, or an incident with a weapon present) or a sexual assault (forced sexual activity or attempted forced sexual activity). * Results from the SSPPS indicate that more than six in ten (63%) Indigenous women have experienced physical or sexual assault in their lifetime. * Almost six in ten (56%) Indigenous women have experienced physical assault while almost half (46%) of Indigenous women have experienced sexual assault. First Nations, Métis and Inuit (Indigenous) peoples are diverse and have unique histories, languages, cultural practices and spiritual beliefs. [...]Indigenous women may face unique barriers to reporting experiences of violent victimization or seeking help following victimization, including a lack of access to culturally appropriate resources, inaccessibility of support services, a general distrust of law enforcement, and perceived lack of confidentiality in the justice system (Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada 2015). [...]homicide data highlights the prevalence and characteristics among homicide of Indigenous women in Canada.

The notion of infringement of rights is the most sensitive issue in the practice of youth protection law. Paragraph 4 of section 91 of the Youth Protection Act provides that when the court seized of a child’s situation under the Act finds that a child’s rights have been infringed, it may order measures to correct the situation. When the rights of a child whose security or development is compromised, have possibly been infringed, the situation awakens the sensitivities of all of the parties involved and calls for diligent action. However, the court’s power to intervene in this matter is laconically defined in the piece of legislation. It has been the subject of unequal interpretations in case law without receiving particularly critical examination by the doctrine. The author therefore seeks to establish the basis for a rigorous legal understanding of this notion in order to render its interpretation consistent and recognize its limits.

La Loi sur la protection de la jeunesse met en place un mécanisme qui permet de prendre en charge une situation dans laquelle la sécurité ou le développement d’un enfant sont ou peuvent être considérés comme compromis. Il s’agit donc de redresser une situation potentielle ou avérée de violation des droits de l’enfant. Il arrive cependant que cette intervention elle-même bafoue les droits de l’enfant. Ainsi, le recours judiciaire en lésion de droits permet à la Chambre de la jeunesse de se prononcer sur l’existence de la lésion dans le cadre de l’intervention et d’ordonner des mesures pour y remédier. Notre contribution est le résultat d’une recherche par méthodes mixtes sur des cas récents de lésion de droits examinés par les tribunaux. Nous brossons un portrait des affaires identifiées et nous les analysons, particulièrement quant aux acteurs impliqués et aux mesures ordonnées, en tirant des conclusions sur l’utilité de ce recours.

The Canadian Registry of Wrongful Convictions www.wrongfulconviction.ca  .like similar registries in the United States and the United Kingdom, was designed to facilitate research on patterns and trends in wrongful convictions.  As of its launch in February 2023, 15 of 83 remedied wrongful convictions or 17% were the result of guilty pleas by the accused. This is a similar percentage as found in a UK registry and lower than the 27% of guilty plea wrongful convictions found in the US registry. Forty percent of the guilty plea wrongful convictions were entered by women. Most of these involved  the flawed expert testimony of Charles Smith about the cause of baby deaths and the majority of all remedied guilty plea wrongful convictions were for imagined crimes that did not happen.  Almost half (7 of 15) of Canada’s false guilty pleas were taken from racialized people including three Indigenous men, one Black and Indigenous man, another Black man and a Brown man who had recently immigrated from India. Two of the fifteen false guilty pleas were taken from accused persons who had diagnosed mental health and cognitive challenges. With the exclusion of one false guilty plea to a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment and ineligibility for parole for 10 years, the average sentence in the remaining 14 cases was 10 months with evidence of “lop-sided” pleas especially in the cases involving Charles Smith and 2 of the 14 received sentences of time already served.

Drawing on Rachel Dioso-Villa''s repository of wrongful convictions published in this issue, this article examines known cases of wrongful convictions of Indigenous persons in Australia and Canada. It finds that Indigenous people are over-represented among the wrongfully convicted in relation to their representation in the population in both Australia and Canada. At the same time, there are likely many undiscovered wrongful convictions of Indigenous persons especially when the over-representation of Indigenous men and women in prison is considered. A factor in this likely under-representation of Indigenous people among remedied wrongful convictions may be the incentives that accused, especially Indigenous women, face to plead guilty even if they are not guilty. This finding underlines some of the dangers of limiting wrongful convictions to cases of proven factual innocence and not including among the wrongfully convicted those who may have valid defences such as self-defence.