B.C. municipalities push for clarity around drug decriminalization

Grey areas in terms of what defines a public space, how much authority the province has over local bylaws.

Three months into British Columbia being the first province in Canada to decriminalize possession of small amounts of certain hard drugs, municipalities across the province are trying to bring different forms of regulation — and hoping for more clarity from higher levels of government.

“I appreciate the move, but we also need to refine the move,” said New Westminster Mayor Patrick Johnstone. His municipality is lobbying for Health Canada to add “public park spaces designed for and used by children and youth” as an exemption from the new rules governing drug use in the province. “We’re concerned that if a city brings in a bylaw, we might be opening to a challenge of that law as it is a federal regulation. And do we have a bylaw authority to change a federal regulation effectively?” New Westminster’s lobbying resolution will be debated at the Lower Mainland Local Government Association meeting this week in Harrison Hot Springs, with the hope of it being supported by other communities.

Kamloops tweaks its bylaws

The discussion will take place days after Kamloops — B.C.’s fourth largest municipality outside the Lower Mainland — asked staff to modify its new bylaw around where drug use is allowed, after concerns that the original ban on all public spaces could be too onerous and run afoul of Interior Health.

“This does move it into a nuisance category, which will really relieve the pressure on the public health authority to weigh in on these spaces,” said Coun. Katie Neustaeter, who put forward the changes so it would only apply to sidewalks and within 100 metres of city parks and playgrounds. S. cbc.ca/news

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these days their following and imitation of them through the innovation of “Mother’s Day” or “Family Day”, which is a day that the Christians innovated to honour mothers, or so they claim. This then became a day that was venerated, when government departments would be shut and people would get in touch with their mothers or send them gifts and loving messages. But when the day was over, things would go back to the way they were, with people being cut off from their mothers and disobeying them. What is strange is that the Muslims would feel a need to imitate them in such ways, when Allaah has commanded them to honour their mothers and has forbidden them to disobey them, and has made the reward for that (for obeying them) the highest status.

Definition of Eid

[As Mother’s Day is known in Arabic as “Eid al-umm” or “mothers’ festival”; the word Eid is derive from the root ‘aada/ya’ood meaning to come back or return]

Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyah said: “‘Eid (festival) is a name that is given to an occasion which returns, when people gather in a festive manner, whether that is annual or weekly or monthly and so on.” (Iqtidaa’ al-Siraat al-Mustaqeem, 1/441).

Ibn ‘Aabideen (may Allaah have mercy on him) said: “An ‘Eid is so called because Allaah repeatedly bestows blessings, i.e., kinds of blessings that come back to His slaves on these days, such as breaking the fast after refraining from eating, sadaqat al-fitr (obligatory charity paid at the end of Ramadaan), completing the Hajj by doing Tawaaf al-Ziyaarah, the sacrificial meats, and so on; and because the tradition on such occasions is to express joy and happiness, and to be energetic and happy.” (Haashiyat Ibn ‘Aabideen, 2/165). Source: islamqa.info en/articles/