Wednesday, February 24. 2016

Today's schedule is B-AG-A-Assembly-D-C

B Block Social Studies 10 - Today with Mr. Elliott...Today we are exploring the idea of Indigenous world view. We will view and discuss an section of "Canada's First Founding Peoples"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sA-bsDC8nxg  and start thinking about what
happens when very different world views come into contact.

A Block Introduction to Law 9/10 - Today we'll continue with Geographic Profiling completing our  Comox Valley Crime Map with data from the Comox Valley CrimeStoppers website. The "B&E Heat map" to the left was completed by the VPD (Vancouver Police Department) for February 10th through 16th this year and should help you in terms of what your map should look like. For our map we will need to use colours that show areas of high, moderate, minimal and low risk for B&E (if one street has 5 incidents out of 61 in a year that's 8% of all Courtenay's B&E incidents...is that a lot? What if it's Crown Isle or Mission Hill or Valley View or Punteledge or the Old Orchard neighbourhood rather than just a street? How many incidents took place in a neighbourhood?) I want you to figure out where you think the Comox Valley RCMP should focus their attention to aid in community-based crime prevention for the city of Courtenay. Where would be a good place to start a Block Watch? Why?

D Block Social Studies 10 - Today we'll finish our overview/look at the cultural landscape of Canada along with the First Nations peoples that existed on the land before the European settlers arrived. We'll focus on how the land shaped Aboriginal society in Canada and see the influences of the land on the way people lived. There are six major cultural regions of First Nations in Canada. From east to west, these are the Woodland First Nations, the Iroquois First Nations of southeastern Ontario, the Plains First Nations, the Plateau First Nations, the First Nations of the Pacific Coast and the First Nations of the Mackenzie and Yukon River basins.

Remember, each  nation possesses its own unique culture, language and history and the practice of identifying all First Nations as a homogeneous group obscures the unique and rich traditions that each First Nation has developed and nurtured. Having said that, although there are many differences between First Nations, there are commonalities as well. For example, all First Nations were dependent on the land for survival and prosperity. All First Nations were hunters and gatherers. Some were also farmers. Without the skills and knowledge to hunt and fish and to gather food and

medicines, First Nations would not exist today. Another commonality is that all First Nations lived in organized societies with their own governments, religions and social and economic institutions. Individuals, families and larger groups of people, such as clans, tribes and Nations, behaved according to a broad range of agreed-upon social, political and economic values. A third commonality was trade. All First Nations in Canada and North America as a whole traded extensively throughout the continent. Expansive trading practices contributed to the growth and development of First Nations cultures. These practices also enabled many First Nations to respond to the fur trade as competitive, efficient trading partners with Europeans.

C Block Law 12 - Today we have a guest speaker, Mr. Ken Lees. Mr Lees used to teach at Vanier, but now works with SD71 Aboriginal Education Services. He's going to talk with us about Aboriginal principles of justice and how they are being adapted into the Canadian legal system. From the Justice Education Society:

If you have been charged with a crime and are an Aboriginal person, there are special cultural considerations that the court must take into account in assessing your case. This applies to all Aboriginal peoples of Canada, including status and non-status Indian, Inuit, and Métis and whether living on or off reserve. What this means is that, as an Aboriginal offender, a restorative justice process may be more appropriate for you. Such processes focus on healing those affected by the criminal act, including the offender, and so are more in line with traditional Aboriginal justice. Also, a restorative justice approach will often allow for a solution with no jail time, which helps reduce the drastic over-representation of Aboriginals in Canadian jails.

Tuesday, February 23. 2016

Today's schedule is C-AG-D-A-B

C Block Law 12 - Today we'll examine the collective rights of Canada's Aboriginal/First Nations people. We'll talk about the significance of the Calder v. Attorney-General of British Columbia, 1973 decision. From the Agreements, Treaties and Negotiated Settlements Project:

The decision in Calder v Attorney-General of British Columbia was handed down by the Supreme Court of Canada on 31 January 1973. It is often credited with having provided the impetus for the overhauling of the land claims negotiation process in Canada. The case was initiated in 1968 by the Nisga'a Tribal Council against the Government of British Columbia. It failed both at trial and in the Court of Appeal. The Supreme Court overturned the Court of Appeal's finding in recognising the possible existence of Aboriginal rights to land and resources, but was equally divided on the issue of whether the Nisga'a retained title. The decision prompted the federal government to develop new policy to address Aboriginal land claims. In 1976 Canada commenced negotiations with the Nisga'a Tribal Council. British Columbia did not join the negotiations until 1990. The Nisga'a Final Agreement was concluded in 1999 and implemented by legislation in 2000.

After, we'll talk about the LGBT community in Canada and the Civil Marriage Act (which legalized same-sex marriage in Canada on July 20, 2005) and finally we'll take a closer look at Human Rights and how they are enforced in Canada.

To finish, I'll have you work on: Questions 1-4 on page 94:

1. Explain the difference between civil rights and human rights.
2. How do prejudice and stereotyping lead to discrimination?
3. Explain the difference between a complainant and a respondent.
4. What is the difference between intentional and unintentional discrimination?
Questions 4 & 5 from page 97
4. Explain the concept of a poisoned work environment. Provide an example.
5. Explain the difference between accommodation and undue hardship.
AND Question 5 from page 104
5. What types of remedies are available under human rights law?

For more on the BC Human Rights Code look at the Attorney General's Human Rights Protection site. For more on the Canadian Human Rights Act see the Canadian Department of Justice site. For more on Human Rights in Canada see the Canadian Human Rights Commission. 

D Block Social Studies 10 - Today we are going to finish the five themes of Geography and wrap up yesterday's questions. After we'll look at the cultural landscape of Canada along with the First Nations peoples that existed on the land before the European settlers arrived in Canada. We'll focus on how the land shaped Aboriginal society in Canada and see the influences of the land on the way people lived. There are six major cultural regions of First Nations in Canada. From east to west, these are the Woodland First Nations, the Iroquois First Nations of southeastern Ontario, the Plains First Nations, the Plateau First Nations, the First Nations of the Pacific Coast and the First Nations of the Mackenzie and Yukon River basins.

Los Angeles Auto Theft hot spots 2003

A Block Introduction to Law 9/10 - Today we'll work on a Geographic Profiling Comox Valley Crime Map with data from the Comox Valley CrimeStoppers website. We'll look at Residential Break & Enters for 2015 in the city of Courtenay. There are two basic types of residential break and enters: opportunistic and organized (you could also say amateur and professional). What are the differences? The scale of proceeds (size/quantity/value); the ability to dispose of proceeds (quality fences who will purchase stolen property); the capacity to store proceeds (hold on to stolen items); the level of planning/complexity (how much time is needed to organize a plan of attack for the size of the and challenge of the residence); and the level of risk involved.

If the B&E is done to commit another offense then the motives can range from intimidation/extortion to negatively impacting the business of another or to commit a further offence (eg domestic violence, sexual domestic violence, sexual offence, assault, mischief). If the B&E is done with the intent to steal then the motives can range from boredom to profit.

I want you to think about data here; I'll give you a list of the 61 incidents in 2015 and first I want you to map them out. After, consider where they are located and what kinds of neighbourhoods they are a part of. Think about where the 24,099 people live in the 29.38 square kilometer area that is Courtenay. The 2011 Census Data for Courtenay and the National Household Survey both reveal some interesting data about our city.

1. 58.2% of our city's population was participating in the labour force (employed or unemployed) that means 41.8% were retired or not old enough to work.
2. Our unemployment rate was 11.1% and most people were employed in retail (19.54%), health care and social assistance (12.2%), or public administration (9.55%)
3. The average yearly income for each person in Courtenay was $33,737 (when you blend part and full time workers together - those who worked full-time their average yearly income was $48,302) and the average family income was $72,186. Only 5.4% of the city's population made over $100,000 per year, 17.55% of the city's population made between $50,000-$99,999 per year, 39.4% of the city's population made between $20,000-$49,999 per year, while 36.6% of the city's population made less than $19,999 per year.
4. Of the 10,890 dwellings in Courtenay 7,575 were lived in by owners while 3,315 were lived in by renters (2,115 of those dwellings were a part of a condominium development).

So there's a little info about housing & income for people in Courtenay and when we match some of that data to your map, I want you to figure out where you think the Comox Valley RCMP should focus their attention to aid in community-based crime prevention for the city of Courtenay. Where would be a good place to start a Block Watch? Why?

B Block Social Studies 10 - Today with Mr. Elliott we will be discussing the ways in which we figure out what happened
in history. We will learn the difference between a primary source and a secondary source and look at an example. Diary entry: http://www.fortyfirst.org/writings/byfield.htm
from July 25th 1814