July 26, 2010
By CBC News
Police in southern Alberta have charged a Medicine Hat woman with manslaughter in connection with the death of a toddler at her private-home daycare.
Police in southern Alberta have charged a Medicine Hat woman with manslaughter in connection with the death of a toddler under her care at her private-home daycare.
An original charge of aggravated assault has been upgraded to manslaughter, Medicine Hat police said on Monday. The 24-year-old woman also faces a charge of failing to provide the necessities of life.
Mercedes Pepper, who was 19 months old, was flown last week to the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary, where she died from head injuries. Investigators believe she suffered the trauma at her day home, a provincially approved facility run out of a private residence.
The accused, whose name has not been released, is in police custody and is scheduled to appear at a bail hearing Tuesday morning.
Police had previously reported that Pepper was 18 months old and the accused 23 years old.
Alberta’s 2,800 day homes – usually run by parents seeking extra income – are allowed to care for up to six children. Day homes must pass 12 standards, while full-fledged daycares are licensed under more stringent criteria.
A trust fund has been set up in the name of Pepper’s mother, Sarah Hemstra. People may contribute at any TD Bank location. Money collected will go toward the girl’s burial costs, according to local reports.
PLEASE WRITE TO YOUR MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT AS WELL.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
As you may know, the federal government recently announced proposed changes to the Canadian census to make the mandatory long-form questionnaire voluntary for the 2011 Census. Imagine Canada is urging the government to reconsider this decision and I have written a letter to the Hon. Tony Clement sharing our disappointment and concerns.
“Many charities and nonprofits use census data and census-derived data to develop their own approaches to ensure that the services they provide respond to the unique needs of their communities. Imagine Canada itself makes extensive use of census-derived data to better understand the nonprofit sector and to identify emerging trends and issues to which the sector needs to respond in order to continue to effectively serve individuals and communities across the country.
Without the accurate representative data that the long form census provides, the sector will lose a significant resource that has been essential for developing its responses to the economic, social, environmental and cultural challenges that face communities across Canada.”
– from Imagine Canada’s letter to the Hon. Tony Clement, PC, MP
Please download our letter: Proposed Changes to Census Data Collection will Create Challenges for Canada’s Charities and Nonprofits (pdf) and send it to your Member of Parliament.
We encourage you to share this email and our letter amongst your colleagues.
Sincerely,
Marcel Lauzière
President and CEO
www.imaginecanada.ca
2 Carlton St, Suite 600
Toronto ON, M5B 2J3
We thought it would be helpful to our ABI research community and other valued stakeholders to share some updates on our activity in the ABI field.
From Ontario Neurotrama Foundation: Update on ABI Activity-July 2010 (pdf)
The Chronicle Herald
NEW GLASGOW, Nova Scotia — A girl’s bicycle helmet prevented serious injuries in a Monday afternoon collision, police said.
The 12-year-old was taken to hospital after her bicycle was struck by a car but her injuries appeared to be minor, thanks to the helmet, Const. Ken Macdonald said.
The collision took place at 3:30 p.m. at the intersection of MacIntosh Street, East River Road and Marsh Street.
The girl was pedaling along the sidewalk and continued into MacIntosh Street as a Pictou County man drove his car across East River Road from Marsh Street.
There are traffic lights at the intersection.
Police don’t anticipate laying charges.
Please feel free to circulate this widely.
I hope everyone is having a great summer!
2010 Brain Injury Awareness Month
First and foremost, I want to thank all the community members who worked so hard to create awareness to the general public about Acquired Brain Injury from Newfoundland and Labrador to Vancouver Island. One could write a book on all the good things that went on this past month.
Thank YOU to one and all!!
2010 Brain Injury Association of Canada Conference
It has been a busy few weeks but I do want to touch on a few things as the summer season progresses.I know that our conference is just around the corner. Take a look at our great list of BIAC conference speakers and our program and please register.
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This will be of interest to members in the Brain Injury Community as it is to many more.
Tansi colleagues and friends
I would like to share some information regarding the impacts that the decision to discontinue the long form census will have on not only on the quality and comprehensiveness of First Nations, Indian, Inuit, and Metis health data, but also as you are all well aware on health and social policy decisions, which are informed by this data.
As most of you know, I write firstly as a Metis woman, family physician, and Indigenous health data specialist who has had the privilige of working with most of you. Today I also write as a member of the National Statistics Council, which is the senior advisory body to Statistics Canada. I have cc’d Ian McKinnon who is the chair of the National Statistics Council and also very concerned about this recent decision, which was imposed by cabinet on Statistics Canada with no consultation or discussion involving the National Statistics Council.
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The International Academy of Applied Neuropsychology is pleased to announce a one day CE workshop “Scientific Update on Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (MTBI) and Postconcussion Syndrome (PCS): New Evidence for Diagnosis and Management” to be held in London on Friday 07th April 2011
Michael McCrea, who will present the workshop, will highlight the question “what is the true natural history of MTBI?”
Further details of the workshop may be found at: http://pdf.koenigundmueller.de/kurs/FB110407A.pdf
For registration information, click on the International Academy of Applied Psychology link at: www.koenigundmueller.de
From July 9-14 of 2012, the 14th World Congress of the International Association for the Scientific Study of Intellectual Disabilities (IASSID) will be held in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
The 2012 IASSID World Congress, whose theme is “A World of Potential,” will bring approximately 1,500 delegates from around the world to Halifax. The conference will consist of more than 200 concurrent sessions in which presenters will share their recent findings, and will include approximately a dozen plenary addresses about major advances in the biological, behavioral, and social sciences related to intellectual disabilities. The conference will enable the transfer of knowledge between colleagues throughout the field of intellectual disability, including policy-makers and practitioners from around the world.
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Terrace Standard, Terrace, British Columbia – Letters
Support helmet bylaw
Published: July 06, 2010 11:00 PM
Dear Sir:
I think Terrace City Council should strongly support this request of a helmet bylaw for skateboarders. While enforcement may be an issue, having the bylaw in place creates an opening for discussion and education of the general public. Having a brain injury in the family becomes a lifetime of conflicts, stress and financial burden. Not to mention that the person who acquires a brain injury is sentenced to a life trying to regain the one they left behind.
As a former resident of Terrace for 20 years, I have many happy memories of the town and community. The spirit of residents and the generosity that comes from that. I would not want one person in Terrace to suffer what we have been through as a family. Having to move to Vancouver to find services and watching our family member frustrated at trying to get their life back. The loss is devastating.
Please consider the this a small step in the right direction and support us all with a helmet bylaw.
Mike Rossiter,
Vancouver, B.C.
