DVBIA must pay Pivot for improper conduct in Ambassador case, says Tribunal. Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association engaged in “improper conduct” says Tribunal, and had significant impact on integrity of Tribunal process The BC Human Rights Tribunal ruled today that Charles Gauthier, Executive Director of the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association (DVBIA), engaged [...]]]> November 6, 2009

DVBIA must pay Pivot for improper conduct in Ambassador case, says Tribunal. Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association engaged in “improper conduct” says Tribunal, and had significant impact on integrity of Tribunal process
The BC Human Rights Tribunal ruled today that Charles Gauthier, Executive Director of the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association (DVBIA), engaged in improper conduct by disclosing confidential proceedings related to the discrimination complaint against the DVBIA filed by Pivot Legal Society and VANDU in June 2008. The Tribunal awarded Pivot and VANDU $2000 in costs, finding that Mr. Gauthier’s improper conduct “had a significant impact on the complainants and on the integrity of the Tribunal’s processes”.

Pivot and VANDU brought the complaint to highlight discriminatory practises and policies on the part of the Downtown Ambassador program. The Downtown Ambassadors are Genesis security guards contracted by the DVBIA and, until recently, partially funded by the City of Vancouver.

The complaint alleges systemic discrimination against homeless people by the Ambassadors, who target homeless people and panhandlers on streets and sidewalks and force them to move along.

The DVBIA and City attempted to have the complaint dismissed without a hearing, and their application was rejected by the Tribunal on July 3, 2009. Following the Tribunal’s June 3, 2009 decision, DVBIA Executive Director Charles Gauthier made numerous comments to the media in which he disclosed and misrepresented confidential elements of settlement discussions between the parties. Pivot declined to respond to these comments due to the confidentiality agreement signed by all parties during the settlement meeting.

In her decision, Tribunal Member Beharrell highlighted the prejudicial impact of Mr. Gauthier’s statements on the complainants: “As a result of Mr. Gauthier’s comments, and the complainants’ appropriate refusal to respond to those comments in a public forum, [the complainants] have suffered prejudice.” She ordered the DVBIA to pay Pivot costs of $2000 due to the significant prejudicial impact on the complainants and on the integrity of the Tribunal’s processes.

“Mr. Gauthier’s statements put us in a difficult position” said Laura Track, Pivot’s housing campaign lawyer. “We wanted to refute his claims, but felt bound to respect the Tribunal’s processes and the confidentiality agreement we had signed. As a non-profit organization with limited resources, we are pleased to obtain such a significant costs award, which will go some distance to helping us fund this important litigation.”

The Tribunal dismissed the DVBIA’s cross-application for costs against Pivot and VANDU. Tribunal Member Beharrell stated that she had “a number of concerns” with the DVBIA’s application, in which Mr. Gauthier continued to disclose confidential information related to the settlement – information that is not admissible in Tribunal proceedings.

The final hearing of the Pivot-VANDU complaint is scheduled to be heard in May, 2010.

Contact: Laura Track 604-721-6349

Vancouver, October 29, 2009 The B.C. College of Pharmacists and the B.C. Attorney General have taken legal positions with Pivot Legal Society against infamous pharmacist and hotel owner George Wolsey, who earlier this year evicted [...]]]> B.C. College of Pharmacists & Attorney General side with Pivot to create legal protections for Methadone patients living in Downtown Eastside hotels

Vancouver, October 29, 2009
The B.C. College of Pharmacists and the B.C. Attorney General have taken legal positions with Pivot Legal Society against infamous pharmacist and hotel owner George Wolsey, who earlier this year evicted two tenants who refused to buy methadone from him.

In 2008, pharmacist and SRO hotel owner George Wolsey was exposed for offering kickbacks and illegal inducements to attract methadone patients to his Gastown Pharmacy. The Gastown Pharmacy was shut down as a result of the controversy, but that did not stop Wolsey, who also owns the Palace and Wonder Rooms hotels, from requiring all his tenants to buy methadone from him at his hotel. This practice allowed Wolsey to make more than $6000 per year in dispensing fees for each methadone patient at his hotel.

In May 2009, Wolsey evicted two of his tenants on 24 hours notice because they opted to use another pharmacy to fill their prescriptions. When the tenants challenged those evictions at the Residential Tenancy Branch (RTB), the RTB stated that the Residential Tenancy Act did not protect them because Wolsey was providing therapeutic treatment or services in the form of methadone. The RTB made this ruling despite evidence that no treatment, services or supports of any kind were made available to tenants.

In September, Pivot applied to the B.C. Supreme Court for judicial review of the RTB decisions. Last week the B.C. Attorney General, which represents the RTB, said in a filed response to Pivots application that it supports Pivots position and agrees that the Residential Tenancy Act should apply to the Wolsey hotels.

These tenants, who were illegally evicted, spent many nights on the streets as a result of the RTBs failure to protect them from Wolseys greed, said Laura Track, lawyer for Pivot Legal Society. With the Attorney General and Pivot presenting a common position to the court, we feel confident the cases will be sent back to the RTB for a full and proper hearing.

In addition, the College of Pharmacists of B.C., in response to concerns raised by Pivot over Wolseys practices, announced that it has amended its bylaws to prevent pharmacists from limiting patients choice of pharmacy. The new bylaws make the types of contracts used by Mr. Wolsey illegal. The College also informed Pivot that it has sent letters to Mr. Wolsey advising him of the changes and noting numerous complaints against him for these practices.

“We are very happy that the College of Pharmacists and the Attorney General have responded in the way they did,” said Track. “This kind of exploitation is completely unacceptable, and we hope that Mr. Wolsey amends his practices before we are forced to bring further legal actions against him.”

Junk Mail is the national magazine of the Australian Injection and Illicit Drug Users League. AIVL has produced 13 issues of this excellent journal – “made by users for users” – this century.

You will find all 13 issues of Junk Mail staring you in the face at AIVL’s [...]]]> You definitely want to consume this.

Junk Mail is the national magazine of the Australian Injection and Illicit Drug Users League. AIVL has produced 13 issues of this excellent journal – “made by users for users” – this century.

You will find all 13 issues of Junk Mail staring you in the face at AIVL’s site, waiting for you to download in .pdf format. As the saying goes, “Just Do It”.

And while at the AIVL site, look around. Its really packed with info. Observe how users are organized in Australia. “AIVL is a peer-based organization, which means that it is run by and for people who use or have used illicit drugs” consisting of several Member Organizations from cities and regions all over the country, with a national office that represents all of the locals as well as issues of national significance for people who use or have used illicit drugs.

Police are ticketing people for jay-walking, leaving the sidewalk, smoking in a doorwar, and other petty offences.

Fines quickly add up to the hundreds of dollars and police [...]]]> VANDU members recently gave a series of video interviews to speak out against the Vancouver Police Department handing out jay-walking tickets to the poor in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside neighbourhood.

Police are ticketing people for jay-walking, leaving the sidewalk, smoking in a doorwar, and other petty offences.

Fines quickly add up to the hundreds of dollars and police levy such fines knowing full well the individuals issued tickets will be unable to afford such fines. Since there is no diversion option, such as community service, people end up doing months of jail time due to unpaid jay-walking tickets.

Several other VANDU members made videos about their ticketing and the impact it makes upon their lives:

• Patrick Ellis
• Ken Barnes
• Danielle F
• Dianne Tobin
• Rose Davison

Randy’s passing [...]]]> Randy Beddow, a long-time activist with the Society of Living Intravenous Drug Users (SOLID), died on October 4th in his apartment in Victoria. Randy will be missed by friends and comrades. We last had the privilege of seeing Randy at the Pacific Summit on Drug User Health in Vancouver last May.

Randy’s passing was noted in an article in the Victoria Times-Colonist newspaper. Read the online article here.

This study is the first psychedelic research in Canada in over [...]]]> Health Canada has approved a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study of the safety and efficacy of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy in the treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), a US-based non-profit research and educational organization.

This study is the first psychedelic research in Canada in over 35 years.

Psychiatrist Ingrid Pacey, M.D. and Psychologist Andrew Feldmár, M.A., the principal investigators of the study, will treat 12 subjects with treatment-resistant PTSD. The study is expected to cost approximately $330,000, all of which will be paid by charitable contributions. 

This will be the first time MDMA has ever been legally imported into Canada. MAPS will pay US $5350 to ship approximately seven grams of research-grade MDMA from Switzerland to Vancouver.  Ironically, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Canada is a major shipping route of MDMA into the U.S. The street value of seven grams of MDMA in the U.S. is approximately US $1,400.00.

MAPS’ goal is to develop MDMA-assisted psychotherapy into a legal prescription treatment approved by Health Canada, FDA, the European Medicines Agency, and other regulatory agencies around the world. MAPS is also sponsoring ongoing MDMA/PTSD studies in Switzerland and Israel with projects under development in Jordan and Spain.

Since MDMA is off-patent and is administered only a few times over a four month period of mostly non-drug talk therapy, no pharmaceutical companies are willing to invest money in developing MDMA into a generic prescription medicine. MAPS’ non-profit drug development approach, seeking donations and grants rather than investments, is the only way that the healing potential of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy will become legally available.

Project Benefit

On October 24, at 6:30 p.m., MAPS will host a benefit for the project at the Century-Plaza Hotel in downtown Vancouver. MAPS Executive Director Rick Doblin, Ph.D., Ingrid Pacey, M.D., and Andrew Feldmár, M.A., will speak about the study. In addition, Mark Achbar (producer of “The Corporation”) will preview a clip of his upcoming film, “A Perfect Pill: From Neurons to Nirvana.” The suggested minimum donation to attend is $125 ($100 tax-deductible). Reservations can be made by emailing askmaps@maps.org or by calling U.S. 831-429-6368.