Many families are suffering in silence with their adult autistic children. The lack of immediate resources for autistic adults in crisis, or consistent triaged therapeutic/medical care with follow up creates an insurmountable stress on families and paints a bleak future for their children. Why funnel money into early intervention and then not offer the same level of care once these kids grow up and become adults? Doesn't make any sense. Statistically 1 in 68 children are born with autism and the incidence of autism has increased 100% over the past 10 years. Autism is the fastest growing neurological disorder and that is a fact. Everybody knows somebody who knows somebody with Autism and that means that autism affects us all. So I am begging you to get from under the bureaucracy of red tape and indecision and really do something about it. Start by providing adequate longterm care facilities with medical professionals, behavioural specialists and different levels of staff that can continue to optimize the adult autistic person's unique potential and make the future a brighter place for all of us. What is currently in place is not enough and obviously not working. Josh is a 19 year old boy with autism who has been in what can only be described ascycles of rage, including self-injurious and schizophrenic type behaviours. In this state he has no quality of life, nor does his family who spend many sleepless nights feeling helpless. His parents have been searching for appropriate resources and services for several years. They have spent many nights at emergency and gone to doctors only to be sent home with another referral that doesn't pan out, medication that renders him a zombie or even more agitated. More often than not they are simply told "that's autism" and left to go home and fend for themselves. His parents have had to resort to essentially dropping him off and leaving him in the hospital to force them to admit him so that he can get the care he deserves and bring attention to this dire situation. Imagine how desperate you must be to have to walk away from the child you love. They had no other options and they are not alone. There are many more people like Josh and they need your help now.

The Problem Vancouver is facing a housing affordability crisis. Yet Vancouver City Council is considering a new zoning plan for Chinatown (the Chinatown Economic Revitalization Action Plan update, or CRAP) that lets developers build expensive condos in Chinatown, but doesn’t add any social housing. More expensive condos will only make gentrification worse, while doing nothing to meet overwhelming need for permanently affordable, quality housing in Chinatown. In Chinatown today, there are two condos for every social housing unit. In 2016 alone, 398 new market-rate housing units opened up in Chinatown, but only 11 new units at welfare-pension rates were added. Meanwhile, Chinatown’s residents and businesses are facing rent increases, evictions, and displacement. Even City staff admit that the CRAP will do nothing to make housing more affordable in Chinatown. They claimed hearing during their public consultation that public benefits like social housing “aren’t worth it”, even though for years residents have said that new social housing is absolutely necessary for the continued survival of the Chinatown community. The Solution Instead, the Mayor and City Council should implement a zoning plan that keeps Chinatown affordable for the existing community and the generations to come. By pausing new market developments until social housing units match market-rate units, and requiring a 1:1 rate of development based on floor area thereafter, working-class residents will be shielded from a tidal wave of rent increases due to new development. But stopping gentrification isn’t enough. This is why Chinatown residents and organizations have created the People’s Vision for Chinatown to ensure that the neighbourhood remains permanently affordable and welcoming to seniors, workers, and low-income people of all backgrounds. The People’s Vision calls for truly affordable housing, culturally appropriate retail, accessible community spaces, democratic decision-making, neighbourhood safety, and better health and social services for seniors and low-income people. For more details, visit http://www.chinatownaction.org. Take Action For too long, Chinatown has been a place where people have experienced discrimination, displacement, neglect, and political exclusion. This must end today. Sign this petition, tell the City that it must put the urgent needs of people before corporate profit, and join us in support of the People’s Vision for Chinatown. 癥結所在 溫哥華正面臨房屋可負擔性危機。然而溫哥華市議會正考慮推行振興華埠經濟行動計劃，容讓發展商於華埠區內大肆發展私人房地產，而忽略公眾對可負擔房屋的需求。 高價的私人房地產只會令仕紳化的問題加劇，同時亦無法解決華埠社區正需要大量可負擔房屋的問題。今日的華埠，私人住宅和可負擔房屋的比例是二比一。單單在2016年，華埠增添了398個私人住宅單位，而新建的可負擔房屋的數量只有11間。同時，華埠社區的居民和商販正面臨租金上漲，逼遷和客源流失等問題。 市政府官員曾坦承振興華埠經濟行動計劃不會改善華埠社區的可負擔性。他們辯稱從公眾諮詢會中收集到的意見是可負擔房屋沒有價值。而事實上，區內居民多年來都強調可負擔房屋是華埠能否持續生存的重要關鍵。 解決方法 反之，市長及市議員應考慮以華埠房屋的持續可負擔性為前題而進行土地劃分。通過制衡私人住宅和可負擔房屋的發展數量，並按單位面積量度兩者的發展速度，才能有效地預防勞工階層面對由於地產發展導致租金急劇上漲的問題。 單單阻止社區仕紳化是不足夠的。所以華埠居民和組織推出了華埠人民願景，以確保華埠住宅的持續可負擔性，維護耆英、勞工階層和低收入人士的需要為前題。人民願景推崇絕對可負擔房屋、符合區內文化內涵的商店、便利的社區空間、民主的決策過程、社區安全和提供良好的保健和社會服務給耆英和低收入人士。查閱該願景的詳情可瀏覽網頁 www.chinatownaction.org 付諸行動 一直以來，華埠的居民經歷著各種歧視、逼遷、忽略和被剝奪政治權利。我們今天要結束這個局面。請您在請願書上簽名，告訴市政府他們必須重視人民的訴求多於商業利益。請支持我們的華埠人民願景。 This petition is co-created by Chinatown Action Group and Chinatown Concern Group. (Graphic image by Maria Wallstam)

Kinder Morgan is short on cash, and desperately needs investors to back their Trans Mountain project — a dirty tarsands pipeline that would threaten BC’s coast with oil spills and facilitate a massive increase in climate pollution from the tarsands. [1-2] They’ve hired TD Bank to broker talks with pension funds and banks, searching for backers to bail out their struggling pipeline plan. [3] TD invests millions in branding themselves as a friendly and socially responsible bank, and they don’t want their brand associated with environmental destruction. A massive petition could show TD that supporting the Kinder Morgan pipeline could damage their brand and cost them customers. The company won’t do anything that they think will hurt their bottom line, so if we can make this campaign huge, it could work. We'll be delivering this petition at TD's shareholder meeting on Thursday. Will you add your name right now? [1] Exclusive: Kinder Morgan starts talks with investors for $5.2 billion Canada pipeline project: Sources (Reuters) http://www.reuters.com/article/us-kinder-morgan-de-canada-financing-exc-idUSKBN15W20W [2] The Kinder Morgan Pipeline (Greenpeace). http://www.greenpeace.org/canada/en/campaigns/Energy/tarsands/Kinder-Morgan-pipeline/ [3] Kinder Morgan Pipeline: tarsands oil to and from our coast (Raincoast). https://www.raincoast.org/trans-mountain-pipeline/

Kinder Morgan and their backers donated more than $771,000 to the BC Liberals, before Christy Clark approved their TransMountain pipeline. With an election just weeks away, the BC Liberals want the political donation scandal to end. If enough of us sign the open letter, we can force them to choose: Return Kinder Morgan's money, or watch this scandal continue to grow.

Howe Sound is magical. Visitors and locals alike are drawn here by its wild natural beauty, recreational opportunities, and the vibrant communities we call home. However, Howe Sound is under threat from Woodfibre LNG, which proposes to construct and operate a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export facility on the previous Woodfibre Pulp and Paper Mill site located approximately 7 km west-southwest of Squamish. Why is Woodfibre LNG a problem? The project is owned by Sukanto Tanoto, an Indonesian billionaire that has been found guilty of tax evasion and human rights violations. LNG tanker traffic puts Howe Sound residents, Vancouver residents, and Victoria residents at risk, and the potential conflict between recreational sailors and LNG tankers has not been adequately addressed. Increased local air pollution will affect human health, particularly the elderly and kids with asthma. Underwater noise and light pollution will affect salmon migration routes, herring, and marine mammals. Locally, Woodfibre LNG will create nearly double the greenhouse gas emissions of all of Squamish. Woodfibre LNG's local and upstream greenhouse gas emissions are equivalent to adding 170,000 cars to the road. If Woodfibre LNG goes ahead, it will result in 24 new fracking wells per year in northeast B.C. My Sea to Sky is aiming to double the number of signatures we have on the Howe Sound Declaration by March 31st, so we can make Woodfibre LNG a provincial election issue. Please sign the Howe Sound Declaration now and ask your friends and family to sign too.

It is important not only to our people but to all Canadians who live under the poverty line giving those who need the financial security the motivation to make and do more allowing people the safety net allows for low income families to put better food on the table, takes the stress off some mentally and allows all canadians equal playing fields. Lets not forget that it will greatly reduce the strain on our financial assistance programs freeing up money that could be better allocated into health,education and other aspects of the government mandates. This program was attempted in the 70s and recieved great reviews and proved for some time the benefits of having guranteed income . PEI and Ontario both stated they would be rolling out pilot programs to aid in research of it and to see if it benefits in the long run . Ontario seems to be the only Province of the two taking it seriously and PEI being one of the poorest provinces in the country stated they would and now its time they do because i believe seeing impact in PEI is crucial to a national roll out of the program.

The Senate committee is tasked with listening to Indigenous people about their experiences with Canadian colonialism, and recommending ways to foster new relationships between Canada and First Nations, Inuit and Métis individuals. Senator Beyak’s comments that Canada should focus on the “good deeds” done by residential school system - which stole children from their homes in an effort to forcibly assimilate Indigenous peoples - are totally unacceptable. They fly in the face of the spirit and goals of the committee, and show that Beyak is unfit to serve on it. Beyak's continued presence on the committee will also do more harm than good. Indigenous peoples must feel that they can trust the committee in order to engage with it, and it in turn needs their participation to do its important work. Residential school survivors, church groups, MPs, and even the committee Chair are speaking out. The committee has been getting an unprecedented number of emails and phone calls from people calling for Senator Beyak’s removal - but according to the rules, only Senator Beyak can step down herself. Sign this to tell Senator Beyak that she should step down from the Senate Committee. Source Calls mount for Senator Beyak to step aside from Aboriginal committee after residential schools remarks, http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/beyak-aboriginal-peoples-committee-1.4027716

Last week, hundreds of TD bank employees blew the whistle on a toxic, predatory, and unethical sales culture within the bank. In a shocking CBC report, TD employees admitted to breaking the law by signing customers up for products they didn’t want, without their consent. Multiple sources within TD agree the problem starts at the top, with upper management pressuring bank employees to meet impossibly high targets, forcing TD employees to choose between breaking the law, or losing their job. [5] One employee described her manager standing behind her three times a day, pressuring her to sell more. Another employee said "I'm in survival mode now because it's a choice between keeping my job and feeding my family … or doing what's right for the customer." It’s time for government to step in and investigate TD. The Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC) regulates national banks, but they only launch investigations in response to complaints. If thousands of us sign a petition calling FCAC to investigate TD, we can file the biggest complaint they’ve ever seen -- and trigger a massive investigation into TD’s shady practices. Sign the petition calling on our banking regulators to investigate TD now!

The Order of Canada is the second highest honour in Canada. It recognizes outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to our nation. Not paying your taxes is a stunning gesture of dishonesty. It is equal to cheating. It’s cheating the nation that has honoured you, cheating other Canadians who carry the tax burden and it’s utterly despicable. It is not worthy of the Order of Canada. Please sign this petition to ask the Order of Canada’s Advisory Committee to recommend to our Governor General David Johnston that this honour be stripped from Vic De Zen. Do it for the little people that pay taxes.

Canada Revenue has been selectively targeting over 4000 First Nations individuals in biased and unfair collection practices. Most of the individuals affected are women who were largely earning minimum wage, working under an employee leasing program that supplied personnel to work in off-reserve Native non-profit agencies that served the urban Aboriginal population. Over three quarters of these 4000 individuals are sole support mothers with modest incomes while the overwhelming majority worked in the off-reserve non-profit sector. Legal steps to clarify a Status Indians right to tax exemption has been going through the courts since 1983 and there is a last remaining case currently before the Federal Court of Appeal. A Remission Order Application under the Financial Administration Act has been filed with the Canada Revenue Agency where processing has unfortunately been stalled. In the meantime, pursuant to an aggressive tax collection policy mandated by the former government, Revenue Canada officials have been making significant and onerous demands on these First Nations individuals. Examples of actions against these individuals include: - Seizing $23,000 of a lump sum pension from a woman with cancer who's only other source of income is CPP. - Forcing a former Native Leasing Services employee to take out a $62,000 mortgage on her home to satisfy a tax bill that started out as $10,000. - Garnisheeing the CPP of a 68 year old widow who is currently on sick leave from her job at a Native Centre. - Forcing a 60 year old Dryden area woman into bankruptcy over a $2000 tax bill that ballooned to $21,000 with interest. Canada Revenue collectors even went to her bank in an attempt to broker a loan to pay off the tax bill. - Clawing back GST and child tax credits from a legally blind woman and her husband whose tax bill is nearly $100,000 - mostly interest.

LE FRANÇAIS SUIT Roghayeh “Mina” Azizi Mirmahaleh is a 60 year old human rights activist scheduled to be deported to Iran on February 28th and currently being held in a detention centre in Laval, Quebec. As a primary school teacher in Iran, Mirmahaleh campaigned for women’s rights, human rights and free elections. In the 1980s, she was imprisoned with her 11 month old daughter and tortured. In 1988 her husband Ebrahim was executed by the regime along with 20,000 other political prisoners. Throughout the next several years, Mirmahaleh struggled to live her life in Iran, under constant threat from the government. In 2012, Mirmahaleh came to Canada on a temporary visitors visa obtained by her daughter, a post-doctoral student at McGill University. She applied for refugee status in late 2013 when her visa expired. In 2015, she was found inadmissable. Since her arrival, she has taken part in weekly protests in Phillips Square opposing human rights abuses in Iran. These political actions would put her in further danger should she be deported. Despite this, the Canadian government has rejected her application for a pre-removal risk assessment, a process intended to ensure applicants are not deported to countries where they would face persecution. The government acknowledges her imprisonment and her husband’s execution but claims there is insufficient evidence that her life would be in danger upon her return to Iran. On the morning of February 21st, the day after Montreal was symbolically named a “sanctuary city”, Mirmahaleh’s community and supporters rallied in Montreal, demanding that the Canadian government reassess her refugee claim and stop her deportation to Iran, where she faces imprisonment, torture and execution. The rally was planned to correspond with Mirmahaleh’s meeting with the Canadian Border Service Agency in Montreal. During her meeting, Mirmahaleh was separated from her lawyer and daughter, arrested, and transported to a detention centre in Laval where she is currently being held. We are calling on Ahmed Hussen, Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Refugees, Ralph Goodale, Minister for Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for the immediate release of Mirmahaleh from the detention centre, and the cancellation of her deportation. ----------------------------------------- Roghayeh “Mina” Azizi Mirmahaleh a 60 ans et est une défenseure des droits humains. Pour le moment, elle est prévu d'être déportée en Iran le 28 février, et est détenue dans un centre de détention à Laval, Québec. Mirmahaleh était une enseignante à une école primaire en Iran, où elle a fait campagne pour les droits de la femme, les droits humains et les élections libres. Pendant les années 1980s, elle a été emprisonnée avec sa fillette de 11 mois, et torturée. En 1988, son mari, Ebrahim, a été exécuté, avec 20 000 autres prisonniers politiques, par le régime. Pendant les années qui ont suivi, le gouvernement était une menace constante pour Mirmahaleh, qui a luttais pour mener une vie en Iran. En 2012, Mirmahaleh est arrivée au Canada avec un visa de visiteur, obtenu par sa fille, une étudiante au postdoctorat à l'université de McGill. En 2013 elle a demandé le statut de réfugié, mais sa demande fût jugée irrecevable. Depuis son arrivée au Canada, elle a participé à des manifestations hebdomadaires contre les abus des droits humains en Iran, au Square Phillips. Ces actions politiques peuvent d'autant plus porter un grave préjudice à Mirmahaleh, si elle est déportée. Malgré tout cela, le gouvernement canadien a rejeté sa demande d'un examen des risques avant renvoi. Cet examen consiste à s'assurer que personne ne soit expulsée vers un pays où il/elle sera victime de persécution. Le gouvernement reconnaît l'emprisonnement de Mirmahaleh, ainsi que l'exécution de son mari, mais affirme toujours qu'il n'y a pas assez de preuve que sa vie soit en danger si elle devait retourner en Iran. Le matin du 21 février, Montréal a été nommé une « ville sanctuaire ». Le jour d'après, la communauté de Mirmahaleh et ses supporteurs on manifesté à Montréal, exigeant que le gouvernement canadien réévalue sa demande de statut de réfugié et qu'il arrête sa déportation en Iran, où elle sera emprisonnée, torturée et exécutée. La manifestation était planifiée de façon à correspondre à la rencontre de Mirmahaleh avec l'agence des services frontaliers du Canada à Montréal. Durant sa rencontre, Mirmahaleh a été séparée de son avocat et de sa fille, a été arrêtée et transportée dans un centre de détention à Laval, où elle est actuellement détenue. Nous appelons Ahmed Hussen, ministre de l’immigration, des réfugiés et de la citoyenneté, Ralph Goodale, ministre de la sécurité publique et de la protection civile, et premier ministre Justin Trudeau pour la libération immédiate de Mirmahaleh du centre de détention et pour l'annulation de sa déportation. ------------------------------ Press/Presse Mirmahaleh’s daughter fears for her mother’s life, should she be forced to return to Iran: http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/mcgill-post-doc-student-fears-for-her-mothers-life-if-returned-to-iran On February 20th 2017, Amir Khadir of Quebec solidaire called a press conference, asking the federal government to stop Mirmahaleh’s deportation, saying, “It’s a matter of life and death.” http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/amir-khadir-seeks-stay-of-deportation-for-iranian-woman Radio-Canada (CBC) reports on Mirmahaleh’s arrest on February 21st 2017: http://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1018193/iranienne-demande-statut-roghayeh-azizi-arretee Journal Metro reports on Mirmahaleh’s arrest on February 21st 2017: http://journalmetro.com/actualites/montreal/1093391/la-dissidente-iranienne-roghayeh-azizi-mirmahaleh-arretee/ http://plus.lapresse.ca/screens/2e3603c0-087c-4ccf-832c-d7d679ee7e09%7C_0.html

In our clinical experiences we regularly see patients burdened by the cost of medicines and unable to fill their prescriptions. We know how aware of this you are from your medical practice too. We are shocked by how medication costs are determined in Canada. Canadian physicians, residents, and medical students expect healthcare policy in this country to be evidence-based, and we have placed our trust in you to do this. We have the evidence now that a National Pharmacare Strategy would be cost effective, eliminating a long standing barrier to implementation – the belief that a universal publicly funded pharmacare plan would be too expensive. The landmark 2015 article published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal builds on an already robust literature base articulating the need for a National Pharmacare Strategy. The findings of this cost-benefit analysis are that universal public drug coverage would reduce total spending on prescription drugs in Canada by an estimated $7.3 billion [link to study]. Citizens need provincial and federal buy-in for a pan-Canadian solution. As you have said, we need to do things differently. We need to bargain more effectively and revisit our relationship with Big Pharma, not accepting price inflations that are then offloaded onto third party insurers and out of pocket payers. We need to purchase smarter through national bulk purchasing strategies in order to secure lower, more reasonable drug prices. We need to use the best available evidence under the guidance of objective academic drug detailing programs and harness our purchasing power to bring costs down. During the election, as doctors of tomorrow we sought federal leadership that would return to undertaking pan-Canadian healthcare responsibilities. We have new CMA leadership from a long-serving rural physician, Dr. Granger Avery who, at the Canada 2020 Summit on a new Health Accord reiterated the need for a National Pharmacare Strategy. The CMA has identified that Universal Pharmacare is an integral component of a high performing system that cannot be ignored; it is a tenet underpinning every area of healthcare and would have the most substantial impact of any changes made to our system. With the billions saved, funds could be redirected towards home care, care of the elderly, care of Indigenous populations, and comprehensive mental health services. Consistent with the universality and equitable accessibility promised by the Canada Health Act, a National Pharmacare Strategy would be the epitome of action to fulfill Prime Minister Trudeau’s words of establishing strong national unity. As you have said, the last time a doctor was the Minister of Health was perhaps nearly a century ago. We appreciate your efforts to take steps towards lowering costs that Canadians face for their medications. This includes working to install regulatory changes to the way drug prices are set in Canada, and working with the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board. It is actionable steps like this that will pave the way toward Universal Pharmacare in our future. Yet, in order to most effectively move towards a goal, it needs to be stated with clarity and conviction. The current medico-political climate is unique, Dr. Philpott. We have informed physicians in leadership roles with awareness of evidence, relationship-building capacities to forge new alliances, and abilities to mobilize changemakers. We need to be bold and “think big” to make real change happen. Thus, we urge you to draw on your courage, seize this critical time in our Canadian history and commit to a National Pharmacare Strategy. If you don’t, who will? #makecanadianuniversalmedicareuniversal Visit a recent CBC Fifth Estate episode on Canada's Drug Problem (http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/episodes/2016-2017/the-high-cost-of-phamaceuticals-canadas-drug-problem) and Minister Philpott's full interview (http://www.cbc.ca/fifth/blog/full-interview-with-minister-of-health-jane-philpott). See http://pharmacare2020.ca/ for additional information. Additional Reading: - Canada is the only country in the world that prides itself on universal healthcare, yet contradictorily does not have universal medication access. Canada has 19 publicly funded drug plans and over 1000 private insurance programs: a fragmented, non-equitable patchwork that leaves many uncovered. We spend 30% more on drugs than nations with Universal Pharmacare programs! - Canadians spend more than $700 US per capita for prescription, non-prescription, and personal health supplies, whereas the average per capita expenditure for OECD countries is $500. - In a recent Angus Reid Institute national survey nearly 1 in 4 Canadians did not take a prescribed medicine because she/he could not afford it. Food and shelter costs undermine medication costs when it comes to day-to-day survival. Inadequately treated chronic disease inevitably decompensates. Hospital admission for acute disease management then culminates in hefty inpatient costs. - Our generic drug prices are dependent on patented drug prices, established as the median of seven comparator OECD nations. This list includes the four places on the globe where drugs are most expensive. - Prices for the same medicines vary depending on province or territory of residence. In order to make drug prices more appealing to provincial and territorial governments, pharmaceutical companies artificially inflate prices to present the government with a “discount price,” whilst channeling the cost burden to third party insurers (10% higher costs compared to government costs) and most significantly to out of pocket purchasers, many of whom are the working poor. - Take the price of the common cholesterol medication, atorvastatin, which is cheapest in Ontario and costs 31 cents. Compare this to that same pill in New Zealand, which costs 2.6 cents!