POST FACTO: Hospital OD secrecy, a 'rubber stamp' police board, consumption site survives vote
13,000 paid hours for suspended cops. Police corruption tied to Olympic drug case. Class action over separatist data leak
Right now we're finishing stories that cover the interaction of policing, freedom of information, overdose prevention, and legal processes.
Look for the first article to arrive later this week!
For now, here are new stories from around Canada on those same topics:
EX FACTO
News we're reading about the subjects we cover.
Attempt to shut Victoria's only official supervised consumption site voted down 7-1
Councillor Marg Gardiner motioned for city council to formally request a closure of Island Health's The Harbour. She argued the Pandora site is a “magnet” for drug users and dealers, and harms the wellbeing of nearby (housed) residents and businesses.
Research indicates that consumption sites reduce deaths by overdose, tend to reduce public consumption, and do not increase local crime.
Public input massively opposed the now-defeated closure motion, 458 to 20, councillor Matt Dell posted after Thursday's meeting.
About 250 people use the site every day for overdose prevention, and up to another 250 go for harm reduction supplies, Doctors for Safer Drug Policy co-founder Jess Wilder told De Facto last month.
An Island Health local toxic drug advisory went out just days before the vote, after Royal Jubilee hospital was overwhelmed by overdoses (during hours when The Harbour was not open). One harm reduction worker told the Times Colonist that amid a recent “bad batch,” a person needed more than 12 Narcan doses.
The Downtown Victoria Business Association also recently called for The Harbour's closure, though even VicPD publicly criticized that as short-sighted and likely to lead to more public drug use.
The Harbour's federal drug exemption runs to June 2027. Gardiner has now moved motions against it in both June 2026 and June 2025 (delayed and voted down 7-2 in November). Mayor Marianne Alto said it will be up to the council elected this fall whether to support a further exemption next year.
Toronto police corruption case now linked to ex-Olympian’s alleged cocaine empire
A year ago, an apparent hit on a jail official was foiled. Now, warrant applications from the sweeping Project South corruption investigation show that investigators believed:
- the gunmen got the official’s address from a police officer’s database search
- the officer got the official’s licence plate from a prison supervisor
- the supervisor had a romance with a detainee
- the detainee was the man US authorities accuse of coordinating shipments for snowboarder / alleged kingpin Ryan Wedding
The officer faces multiple charges, but neither the supervisor nor detainee have ever been charged over these suspicions.
The Canadian Press
Most of the 500-page warrant application is under a publication ban.
The Toronto Star and other outlets are fighting the ban in court. The presiding justice said the public “does need to know” the “shocking” contents — but it’s “a matter of timing.” The Star says it was poised to publish on items not in the ban until the Crown had them added last-minute on Friday.
How many people OD in BC hospitals? Health authorities don't know — or won't say
After BC announced more overdose prevention at hospitals last summer, The Tyee's Michelle Gamage filed FOIs with 7 BC health authorities. Those FOIs asked how many patients in each hospital had a fatal or non-fatal overdose over the last 5 years.
But only Fraser Health fully complied, disclosing 6,280 non-fatal overdoses in its hospitals (another 14 were fatal, per the BC Coroner).
The other requests were denied or never properly answered. Some health authorities claimed such data “would unreasonably violate patient privacy,” especially in small communities. But when The Tyee amended its request to only include higher-volume hospitals, Interior Health then said it didn't track the data at all.
The Tyee appealed twice to BC's Information and Privacy Commissioner — ultimately losing its final appeal recently.
Official overdose prevention sites operate at some hospitals; Doctors for Safer Drug Policy continue to run unsanctioned ones at others.
First-ever civilian appointee resigns from Hamilton police board, and wants it dissolved
Physician Anjali Menezes cited “persistent mistreatment” from colleagues and said the board is increasingly a “rubber stamp” rather than oversight body, often adding meeting items without proper notice and leaving them unread before voting. Many members have been vocally pro-police, and the vice-chair's son is a local cop.
Over the past year, Hamilton police have been scrutinized for:
- punching a handcuffed woman
- killing a Black civilian
- racial disparity in using force
- extremist online posts
VicPD paid 6 years of salary to suspended officers
Through freedom of info requests, watchdog site NeedsMoreSpikes found that in 2024 and 2025:
- 6 officers served 13,040 total hours of paid suspension, making an estimated $800,000
- 4 officers served 144 unpaid hours
Paid suspension hours have quintupled since 2018-2023.
In Winnipeg's top 10 public salaries list, 7 are cops
An undisclosed superintendent made nearly half a million — more than the chief — and multiple officers out-earned the fire chief and mayor. [Winnipeg Free Press]
More news:
- Class action initiated for 2.9M Alberta voters whose data were exposed by separatist group's public database. [The Orchard]
- Toronto's extreme-heat response is not enough for unhoused residents, critics say. [Global]
- CRA argues a charity is just a “conduit” for pro-Israel media monitor (and harassment machine) HonestReporting, amid court fight to revoke status. [IJF]
- BC Supreme Court rejects reopening Cowichan case, saying it would harm judicial finality and efficiency to let Montrose Properties join defendants after the fact. [CHEK]
- Donations to Alberta education minister's constituency association surged — and most came from private schooling and childcare. [IJF]
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