Calgary officers punched, Tasered man at hotel before he died: police watchdog

TORONTO – The Canadian Institute for Health Information says more than 7,000 people with diabetes undergo a leg, foot or toe amputation every year — and the majority of those procedures could have been prevented.

The report issued today says people with diabetes living in the lowest-income neighbourhoods are three times more likely to have an amputation than those living in the highest-income communities.

It also says people with diabetes living in remote communities are at higher risk of leg amputations than those living in urban centres.

Erin Pichora, CIHI’s program lead for population health, says lack of access to a primary-care provider to help people manage diabetes is one likely factor behind the inequalities.

She says disparities are also likely in access to specialists who can treat diabetic wounds on people’s feet — including podiatrists and chiropodists — before they worsen.

Diabetes Canada says the report shows the importance of ensuring people with diabetes have equitable access to the care and resources they need.

“People living with diabetes who undergo amputations face significant emotional and financial distress,” Laura O’Driscoll, senior manager of policy at Diabetes Canada, said in an emailed statement to The Canadian Press.

“We need to ensure that everyone with diabetes has affordable, timely access to the medications, devices, education, and care needed to manage their condition and prevent complications like amputation.”

The CIHI researchers reviewed hospital records from across Canada for fiscal years 2020-2021 and 2022-2023 and found about 7,720 “lower limb” amputations associated with diabetes per year among people 18 and older.

Each year there were about 3,080 hospitalizations for “above-ankle” leg amputations and 4,640 hospitalizations for “ankle-and-below” amputations, including feet and toes.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.

Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.

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GRAND FORKS, B.C. – Wildfire officials say an evacuation order for the B.C. southern Interior town of Grand Forks, has been downgraded to an alert, even as an out-of-control wildfire in Washington state surges north and threatens to cross the border.

The Regional District of Kootenay Boundary says residents must be ready to leave at a moment’s notice since the Goosmus wildfire remains a risk to life and safety.

Emergency Info BC says the updated alert, posted late Wednesday, is in place for west of Highway 41 and south of Highway 3, as well as properties west of Highway 3 from Sleepy Hollow Rd to Phoenix Rd.

It is advising everyone under alert to review their emergency plans and stock a grab-and-go bag.

The district says that when necessary, residents should leave via Highway 3, go to the Jack Goddard Memorial Arena in Grand Forks, and wait in their vehicles until the reception centre opens.

The district says if you cannot evacuate at that time, you should call 911.

The BC Wildfire Service dashboard says the fire was discovered Wednesday and is about two square kilometres in size.

Mark Stephens, director of the district’s emergency operations centre, called it “a very fast-moving and developing situation.”

“We ask everyone to stay vigilant and to keep checking the (regional district’s) website for information,” he said in an online statement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

CALGARY – An analysis of race-based data shows Calgary police used a disproportionate amount of force against Indigenous and Black individuals in the city last year.

The Calgary Police Service made a commitment to collect and report on race-based data in 2020.

The findings, in two reports released at the Calgary Police Commission, showed that when it comes to use of force, Indigenous women and men along with Black males were overrepresented compared with their population totals.

Use of force includes stuns and strikes, dynamic takedowns, leg restraints, spit masks, restraint rings as well as the use of batons, pepper spray, conducted energy weapons, bean bag guns and firearms.

The reports examine racial data associated to the use-of-force subjects and allows the police to identify and monitor indicators of bias and systemic racism.

The report also found that racialized males and females were underrepresented in numbers when it comes to use of force.

Calgary Deputy Police Chief Brad Tawfik told the commission that the information is not based on interviews with the perpetrators or victims of violent crime – but officers’ perceptions and from reports that are filed.

“At this point it’s perception data but there’s talk at the national table around whether it should be self-identification … or both,” Tawfik said.

“This is a start and we recognize that limitation in our analysis so I think it’s a good caution for all of us.”

Tawfik said the public has to be careful about drawing conclusions just from the data.

He said the data shows that only one in every 703 officer interactions rises to the level where the use of force is used.

“It’s quite small. It’s about 0.14 per cent of interactions that we have would rise to a level of use-of-force report being submitted,” Tawfik said.

“That doesn’t take away from the significance of what we see here and what we find around the data but it just gives context to a quite small sample. But it’s something we obviously want to pay attention to.”

Chief Const. Mark Neufeld said the service has worked concurrently with its partners nationally on the development of data standards while developing its own interim methodology.

“We are sharing the results of the analysis conducted by the Calgary Police Service as additional efforts towards a national framework remain underway.”

When it comes to victims of violent crime, Indigenous individuals are 2.5 times overrepresented as victims while females who are assaulted, robbed and victims of sex offences are disproportionately higher than their percentage of the population.

The chair of the Calgary Police Commission said the collection of the data has been a priority.

“Race-based data helps us better understand areas where some communities are experiencing policing differently than others, and it makes it possible to track the effectiveness of the ongoing work in this area,” said Shawn Cornett.

“While the release of these reports is a big step in the right direction, we know it is not the last step. There will be a lot more analysis and hard work ahead that this data will make possible.”

A report released by police in Toronto in 2022 found 39 per cent of people police used force against in 2020 were Black.

It also found Black residents were more likely to have a police officer point a firearm at them when they appeared to be unarmed than white people.

Toronto’s police chief publicly apologized.

Other findings in the report include that of the approximately 5,000 missing persons reported last year, youth between 12 and 17 make up more than half of all reports and that female Indigenous youth with chronic histories are the most overrepresented group.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 25, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.