Martin C. Winer

It was my mother who introduced me to the opera “Nelligan” around 1990. We were flipping channels one night when we chanced upon a TFO (the French language public television station in Ontario) airing of the Andre Gagnon – Michel Tremblay operatic rendering of the life of Emile Nelligan. My mother tracked down the CD shortly thereafter.

While the CD contained a full libretto, my rudimentary French (which has since then only marginally improved) couldn’t pull all the meaning out of the text. The opera features an aria which recited Nelligan’s most famous poem: “Le Vaisseau D’or”. I don’t want to violate copyright by posting the mp3, but I’m happy to share it privately with anyone who contacts me directly.

I have finally managed to find a translation. What follows is the original poem and a translation. As for the grander meaning of the poem: Nelligan led a tragic life and this poem is said to be autobiographic in a sense. For more information:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89mile_Nelligan

Le Vaisseau d’Or

C’était un grand Vaisseau taillé dans l’or massif:
Ses mâts touchaient l’azur, sur des mers inconnues;
La Cyprine d’amour, cheveux épars, chairs nues,
S’étalait à sa proue, au soleil excessif.

Mais il vint une nuit frapper le grand écueil
Dans l’Océan trompeur où chantait la Sirène,
Et le naufrage horrible inclina sa carène
Aux profondeurs du Gouffre, immuable cercueil.

Ce fut un Vaisseau d’Or, dont les flancs diaphanes
Révélaient des trésors que les marins profanes,
Dégoût, Haine et Névrose, entre eux ont disputés.

Que reste-t-il de lui dans la tempête brève?
Qu’est devenu mon coeur, navire déserté?
Hélas! Il a sombré dans l’abîme du Rêve!

Translation:

The Golden Ship

There was a fine ship, carved from solid gold
With azure reaching masts, on seas unknown.
Spread-eagled Venus, naked, hair back thrown,
Stood at the prow. The sun blazed uncontrolled.

But on the treacherous ocean in the gloom
She struck the great reef where the Sirens chant.
Appalling shipwreck plunged her keel aslant
To the Gulf’s depths, that unrelenting tomb.

She was a Golden Ship: but there showed through
Translucent sides treasures the blasphemous crew,
Hatred, Disgust and Madness, fought to share.

How much survives after the storm’s brief race?
Where is my heart, that empty ship, oh where?
Alas, in Dream’s abyss sunk without trace.

Selected Titles: Selected Poems of Emile Nelligan; translated by P.F. Widdow, 1960.

Some have accused the Toronto Sun of sensationalism regarding their request of the Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner, Brian Beamish, to release Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) suicide statistics for coverage by the media.  The very accusation of sensationalism reveals a double standard in the way that media outlets deal with issues of mental health.  This past February of 2009 no one accused any media outlet of sensationalism when they carried the story of a TTC fare collector who nabbed a disturbed individual who had pushed several youths on to the tracks. (http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090216/090216_ttc_collector/20090216/?hub=CP24Home)  There was no fear of copy cat pushing incidents in their coverage nor was their any need to appeal to the Freedom of Information act to secure information.  If you have the misfortune of being pushed on to the tracks, you can at least derive some solace in the fact that your city and your local news outlets will deem the story newsworthy.

If on the other hand you have the misfortune of being thrown on to the tracks by your own hand, rest assured that when you rest in peace, the story will be buried with you.  Officials of all stripes will claim that, for the good of the community, reports of suicides need to be silenced lest you invite copy cat attempts.  The TTC in its press release cites a Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention Media Guide (http://casp-acps.ca/Publications/MEDIA%20GUIDELINES.doc) which suggests that in order to: "discourage imitative or copycat suicides, it is important to avoid or minimize: Reporting specific details of the method".

Beamish, after having reviewed reams of clinical research, concluded that

"The evidence provided … establishes that news coverage which provides details of methods used, uses the word “suicide” in headlines, romanticizes suicide, or provides prominence to a particular death or attempt could reasonably be expected to result in harm. This is in contrast to the simple publication of suicide statistics which do not focus on the details of a particular death." 

(http://www.ipc.on.ca/images/Findings/MO-2466.pdf)

He went on to cite a Center For Disease Control report which found, conversely, that the

"reporting of suicide can have several direct benefits. Specifically, community efforts to address this problem can be strengthened by news coverage that describes the help and support available in a community, explains how to identify persons at high risk for suicide, or presents information about risk factors for suicide."

(http://www.ipc.on.ca/images/Findings/MO-2466.pdf)

-*-*-*-*-

On August 26th, while driving on the DVP, listening to the traffic news, trying to navigate the infernal Toronto traffic, I heard of an attempted suicide off the Millwood Ave overpass.  Later reporting of that same event would only discuss a ‘police investigation’. (http://cp24.com/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090826/090826_don_mills/20090826/?hub=CP24Home)  When the reporting changed to a ‘police investigation’ I knew that the attempted suicide was successful and that the media had changed its tune for our protection.  However, it didn’t take a PhD in psychology to know that ‘police investigation’ meant suicide so I wondered who the media were protecting?  The vulnerable?  If so, they only succeeded in protecting the most naive of them. 

Still, you won’t hear of any ‘police investigations’ regarding the Bloor St. Viaduct because a suicide barrier was put in place there in 2003.  As the result of some official sounding reports and official sounding thinking, some City Hall bigwigs decided that suicide was a ‘spur of the moment’ type of thing and their spurious research suggested that barriers would be an effective countermeasure.  Suicide is in its final moment, perhaps, a rash moment, but that ignores the often months and years of prodrome before a person takes their life. 

In the wake of this recent TTC report, there is again discussion of the erection of barriers.  Barriers take a Not In My Backyard-Bridge approach to suicide; simply shunting the problem elsewhere.  The Toronto Sun has acted courageously in their coverage of this taboo topic.  I hope that other media outlets to follow suit with panel discussions of social measures that can help troubled individuals deal with their issues in a respectful and dignified manner.

Toronto Plastic Bag Research Full of Holes

Martin C. Winer

The City of Toronto has undertaken a goal of 70% waste diversion from landfill.  In order to achieve this goal, City Council asked staff to prepare a report [1] which considers plastic bags along with several other ‘target materials’.  Insofar as plastic bags are concerned, both the preliminary research and the resulting plastic bag tax by-law are full of holes.  One hopes that they are printed on recycled paper because that is likely the only good either will do for the environment.

Legal Foundation:

City staff typically requests legal counsel in preparing their reports.  The October 2008 report concluded that the City of Toronto did not have the authority to impose a plastic bag tax based on the powers afforded it under the City of Toronto Act.  The City of Toronto Act (Section 8(2)) gives the city the right to issue by laws pertaining to the “Economic, social and environmental well-being of the City.” [2] The city staff believed that a plastic bag tax which would appeal to this provision “is not possible under the current City of Toronto Act, which only permits a sales tax to be applied to alcohol, tobacco and admission on places of amusement.” [3] The word ‘plastic’ is not only a noun but also an adjective meaning capable of being molded.  Evidently the legal eagles in City Council were able to use the latter meaning of ‘plastic’ to mold the blunt instrument of “environmental well-being” into a targeted attack on plastic bags.

Staff recommended a discount to incentivize reduction, not a punitive surtax

“A tax or fee on plastic retail shopping bags is not feasible under the City of Toronto Act, but the waste reduction benefit of a financial incentive is apparent.” [4] The city staff thus recommended that the City incentivize reduction via mandating a discount for using reusable bags.  “Staff recommends a per-bag discount of $0.10 to effectively drive source reduction behaviour by providing a reasonable financial incentive to reduce plastic retail shopping bag use.” [5] If City staff recommended a per bag discount, why does the resulting by-law impose a per bag tax?  Galen Weston, CEO of the Loblaws chain, caught wind of the impending legislation and paid Mayor Miller a visit.  He suggested that offering a 10 cent discount would be “prohibitive” and negotiated a 5 cent surtax instead. [6] Bearing in mind the ‘hard bargain’ Mayor Miller drove in resolving the garbage strike, it’s likely that Mayor Miller let Weston finish his plea and then in a ‘Jerry Maguire moment’ told him: “You had me at ‘hello’.”

Plastic Bags Levy has the luck of the Irish

In March 2002 the Irish government introduced a levy on plastic bags (colloquially referred to as the “PlasTax”).  The report to council claims that the Irish program was a huge success with: “a 94% reduction in the use of plastic bags (from 328 bags per capita to 21 bags per capita) in three years.” [7] As is often the case with political speak, the devil is in the details.  ‘A 94% reduction’ where?  Perhaps the supermarkets realized a 94% reduction in demand, but are we to believe that the Irish suddenly stopped lining their kitchen bins with plastic?  Charlie Mayfield chairman of UK retailer John Lewis remarked that the Irish tax “had reduced [retail] plastic bag usage, but sales of bin liners had increased 400 per cent.” [8] With regards to a meaningful reduction in plastic bags making it to the landfill, diminishing the supply at the supermarket ‘borrows from Peter to pay Paul’.

Why 5 cents?

Staff’s report also suggests that the Irish PlasTax “charged 15 Euro cents ($0.24 CAN) starting in 2002 and was raised to 22 Euro cents ($0.35 CAN) in 2007.” [9] The fee needed to be raised because “The use of bags increased to 33 bags per capita in early 2007, prompting officials to raise the levy.” [10] Staff’s further research revealed that: “a per-bag fee of $0.10 to $0.35 [(CAN)] would significantly reduce the consumer use of retail plastic shopping bags.” [11] Thus it’s a mystery how City Council arrived at a 5 cent levy in the face of their own research which suggests the amount is too low to be effective.

What about Paper Bags?

There is a conspicuous absence of paper bags in the staff report.  Recall that, historically, plastic bags were brought in to replace paper bags which were considered deleterious to the environment.  Conversely the final by-law states: “Persons carrying on a retail business in a retail business establishment who do not offer or provide plastic retail shopping bags to customers shall offer or provide alternatives, such as cardboard boxes or paper bags, at no charge to the customer.” [12] In fact, in Taiwan where a plastic bag levy was imposed, it was subsequently lifted in the case of fast food venues because too many were offering free paper bags, thus increasing overall pollution.

In Manhattan Beach, California the ‘Save the Plastic Bag Coalition’ launched a successful action against the municipality which had banned the sale of plastic bags.  In his ruling, The Honorable David P. Yaffe wrote: “The basis for challenge is that the adoption of the ordinance violates the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because the City did not adopt an Environmental Impact Report that compares plastic bags and paper bags and determines which of the two has a greater negative impact on the environment.” [13] Ruling in favour of the challenge he continues: “The Administrative Record in this case contains substantial evidence to support a fair argument that the prohibition of the distribution of plastic bags to customers will result in a net increase, rather than a net decrease, in damage to the environment.” [14]

Misleading Statistics

A philosopher, a mathematician and a statistician are all asked “what is 2 + 2”.  The philosopher ruminates for several days and eventually asks “what do you mean by 2 + 2?”  The mathematician quickly says “4” and then proceeds to issue a 400 page proof thereof.  The statistician draws the blinds and closes the door and asks “what do you want the answer to be?”  There are evidently many statisticians at work in the city staff:

“Conclusions from Stewardship Ontario audit data (2005), presented to the In-Store Packaging Waste Diversion Working group, estimate an average of 8.8 plastic retail shopping bags generated, per household, per week in Toronto. This represents a total generation in Toronto of 457.6 million plastic retail shopping bags per year and, with each bag weighing 6 grams, 2745.6 tonnes per year, which is approximately 6,900 cubic meters of landfill capacity per year. Plastic bags do not degrade significantly over time and therefore this volume of plastic bags will persist if landfilled.” [15]

These statistics are meaningless in that they neglect to mention how many of the plastic bags are recycled or reused.  The plastic bags of concern are the ones which are the surplus bags which are thrown out empty.  These statistics make no attempt to distinguish between the source and use of the plastic bags.

The City of Toronto currently accepts plastic bags for recycling in their Blue Box Program.  How many of the 8.8 plastic bags per week are thus recycled?  Plastic bags are frequently reused as trash bin liners, indeed green box liners.  How many of the 8.8 plastic bags were used as garbage bags?  Succinctly, don’t judge a pile of trash simply by its cover.

While the City of Toronto decries plastic’s inability to degrade, they are talking out of both sides of their legislative mouths when they then forbid retailers from offering compostable plastic bags: “Retail business[es] … are prohibited from offering or providing … non-compatible plastic bags,” (City of Toronto By-law No. 356-2009, 604-4)  Non-compatible bags in turn are those “that are not compatible with the City’s blue bin recycling program and includ[ing] … biodegradable plastic bags or compostable plastic bags…” (City of Toronto By-law No. 356-2009, 604-1) [16] The use of compostable bags is prohibited because they interfere with the recycling of regular plastic bags!

Further, the staff report fails to mention how much 6,900 cubic meters of landfill capacity is as a proportion of the total.  The 2005 Solid Waste Multiyear Business Plan mentions that in “2003, about 1 million tones of material were collected from 1,000,000 units.” [17] So if we take 2745.6 tonnes per year and divide through by 1,000,000 tonnes per year, we get 0.2%.  So after all the fuss and commotion, City Council has managed to achieve 0.2% of its 70% goal.  There is an old Greek idiom which runs “the mills of the Gods grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly small.  If this be virtue, then Mayor Miller’s environmental stewardship is saintly in that his millstones have ground both very slowly and with exceedingly small results.

[2] http://www.canlii.ca/en/on/laws/stat/so-2006-c-11-sch-a/latest/so-2006-c-11-sch-a.html Section 8(2)

[3] http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2008/pw/bgrd/backgroundfile-17097.pdf (p. 12)

[4] http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2008/pw/bgrd/backgroundfile-17097.pdf (p. 12)

[5] http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2008/pw/bgrd/backgroundfile-17097.pdf (p. 12)

[6] http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/toronto/archive/2009/06/01/5-cent-bag-tax-now-in-effect.aspx

[7] http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2008/pw/bgrd/backgroundfile-17097.pdf (p. 11)

[8] http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article3508263.ece

[9] http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2008/pw/bgrd/backgroundfile-17097.pdf (pps. 11-12)

[10] ibid

[11] ibid

[12] http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/By-laws/2009/law0356.pdf (604, 3C)

[13] http://www.savetheplasticbag.com/UploadedFiles/Manhattan Beach ruling.pdf

[14] ibid

[15] http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2008/pw/bgrd/backgroundfile-17097.pdf (p.
[16] http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/By-laws/2009/law0356.pdf

[17] http://www.toronto.ca/garbage/pdf/2005_plan.pdf (p.28)

I attended the 3rd lecture on the Jewish Roots of Tin Pan Alley by Jordan Klapman. My notes on the previous lecture can be found here : http://mwiner.wordpress.com/2008/04/03/jewish-contributions-to-tin-pan-alley

The lecture series will continue with another 3 lectures in December of ’08.

This lecture centered around the success of “Bei Mir Bist Du Shein” (To Me You’re Beautiful) written by Jacob Jacobs (lyricist) and Shalom Secunda (composer). This overtly Jewish (Klezmer) tune was made famous by the Greek (Lutheran) Andrews Sisters. The number was brought to the Andrews Sisters by Sammy Cahn after he heard a performance of it at the Apollo Theater in Harlem sung in the original Yiddish by African American performers Johnnie and George.

The song brought the Andrews Sisters instant stardom with this, their first record. The song was recorded by many other notable artists of the day including Acker Bilk, The Barry Sisters, Buddy Clark, Ella Fitzgerald, Judy Garland (who received coaching in cantorial style from none other than Sam Goldwyn of movie fame), Benny Goodman, Lionel Hampton, Glenn Miller (who had previously passed on the tune), and Teddy Wilson.

There were many other attempts to bring overtly Jewish music into mainstream America. Klapman’s lecture featured many audio examples of such attempts. Regrettably, none of them met with the fame of Bei Mir Bist Du Shein. However, many spin offs of the success of Bei Mir Bist Du Shein resulted.

Within weeks of the meteoric success of Bei Mir Bist Du Shein, radio executives at WHN in New York created a radio review of this new Jewish-Swing fusion called “Yiddish Melodies in Swing”. The show featured the vocals of the Barry Sisters, the “Swingtet” led by Pianist/Composer Sam Medoff, and the clarinet of Dave Tarras. The show had and extended run broadcasting every Sunday for two decades outliving the Golden Age of radio and most of its original audience.

The mainstream born Jewish: Throughout the course of Klapman’s lecture there was a pervasive pattern of mentioning a performers name followed by the Jewish name they were born with. “The Barry Sisters, born Bagelman”, “Sammy Cahn born Samuel Cohen” and on it went throughout the night. It was as if the seeds born of European pedigree needed to shed the husks of their origins before they could sow roots in Western soil. As it was with the performers names’ of the day, so too it was with the music. While Bei Mir Bist Du Shein was a single exemplar of the success of an overtly Jewish tune, allusions to Klezmer in the form of derived motifs and riffs permeated mainstream music coming out of Tin Pan Alley.

In perhaps the finest example of one such fusion taken to the nth degree we have the example of the Wedding Samba recorded by Edmundo Ros selling 3 million copies in 1949. This tune was born of the a earlier English recording of the Wedding Samba in 1940. However, the story continues, this 1940 song was born, in turn, of the Yiddish Theatre song of that same year “Der Nayer Sher” (The New Scissor Dance) composed by Abraham Ellstein.

In a demonstration of the universality of music, Hitler upon hearing the Germanic titled “Bei Mir Bist Du Shein” thought the song was “Wunderbar” until he was told that the song was written by Jews from Brooklyn. This wouldn’t be the first time that Hitlers musical tastes clashed with his politics. He was a tremendous fan of Franz Lehar who had a Jewish wife. He was also a great fan of Emmerich Kálmán of operetta fame who fled the Nazis leaving Europe for America. Music can not only circumvent politics but it can also supersede the original impetus of its composers.

Take for example, “My Little Cousin” recorded by Benny Goodman and Peggy Lee in 1942 which tells the story of boy meets girl. The Yiddish song upon which it was based, “Di Grine Kuzine” (My Green Cousin), tells the story of the culture shock of the new Jewish immigrants to American and ends with “Let this Columbus’s land burn!” As Klapman puts it “recycling is not a modern invention.”

———————————————————————————

• The lecture series will continue (tentatively) on December 3, 10, and 17 2008 with details to follow. Jordan Klapman performs with his ensemble at Jazz venues throughout the city including the Free Times Cafe.
• Jordan Klapman’s Klezmer group has a new CD out with details to follow at www.jordanklapman.com
• Jordan Klapman will appear in a free concert:
  Sunday, April 27th 2008
  The Jordan Klapman Trio
  Scarborough Civic Center
  Scarborough, Ontario Canada
  2:00pm – 4:00pm
• Klapman’s website and upcoming events can be found here:
  http://www.jordanklapman.com/
  http://www.jordanklapman.com/gigs/frameset.htm 

TVO (public television in Ontario) recently aired a lecture by Oliver Sacks, a neurologist and an author discussing his latest book Musicophilia.  I’ve always been interested in the understanding music on a neurological basis.  Music seems so universal that I often wonder what is happening on a neurological basis to make it such?  I’ve jotted down a few key points from the lecture.  The lecture audio can be found here.

Points:

• Upon visual inspection of a brain, one can tell which individuals were musicians and which weren’t.  This isn’t the case for say a mathematician.
• Even with diseases of the cerebral cortex (Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, etc) musical ability is often retained.
• 10% of musicians and 20% of born blind musicians have absolute (perfect) pitch.  Absolute pitch is the ability to recognize a note as say a G-sharp upon hearing.
• It is theorized that in born blind musicians the visual cortex is reallocated to music and tonal perception.
• Absolute pitch appears to be universal in the early years of life and is pruned away during later years.
• Some people can suffer from musical hallucinations which are loud enough to drown out their ability to hear actual conversations.

Gene DiNovi Presents Benny Goodman...

http://www.jccc.on.ca/calendar/view_entry.php?id=290&date=20090530

A special thanks to my reader “Nobi” for letting me know about this.

Saturday May 30, 2009 is the 100th birthday of the great clarinetist Benny Goodman.

On that day Gene Dinovi will present the Benny Goodman Centennial Orchestra playing selections from “The Sound of Music”and Goodman favourites, including Let’s Dance, Memories of You, Don’t be that Way, Stompin’ at the Savoy, Sunny side of the Street, Rose Room, Moon Glow, One O’clock Jump, Sing Sing, Sing and more!

Pianist and composer DiNovi, who is one of the great icons of Canadian and American jazz, together with Order of Canada-winning musicians Campbell (clarinet) and Young (Bass), will be performing with and passing on a legacy to the next generation of premier jazz musicians who make up the rest of the Benny Goodman Centennial Orchestra This top talent includes: Bryden Baird (trumpet), Graham Campbell (guitar), Ernesto Cervini (drums and clarinet), Tara Davidson (alto saxophone and flute), David French (tenor saxophone), and RJ Satchithananthan (trombone).

Exactly 50 years ago pianist Gene Dinovi recorded the music from “The Sound of Music” with Benny Goodman at a famous New York club called “Basin Street East”. The band was a stellar “Tentet” featuring Benny Goodman (clarinet), Jack Sheldon (trumpet) ,Gerry Dodeion (alto sax), Flip Phillips (tenor sax), Bill Harris (trombone), Red Norvo; (vibes), John Markham (drums), Red Wooten (bass), Jimmy Wyble (guitar), and Gene DiNovi (piano).

DiNovi, Campbell and Producer Ted Ono all agreed that this was an opportunity to make a legacy of this music for the younger generations of jazz players. The first half of the concert will highlight the music from the perennially popular “Sound of Music”

These were (and remain) fresh and modern arrangements by a very talented young man in 1959 named Fred Karlin. Gene DiNovi served as an emissary between Benny and Fred at that time. Benny thought Fred a little young for the job at hand but Gene convinced Benny to go with the young guy. Sounds perenally familiar. In any case the Yale University library was very kind in the arrangements to DiNovi who enlisted the talented young musicians who fill out the exciting group.

Date & Time: Saturday, May 30, 2008, 7:30PM
Location: The Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre
6 Garamond Court, Toronto, Ontario, M3C 1Z5 (Don Mills and Eglinton)
Tickets: $35 for General Public, $30 for members of the JCCC. To purchase, call 416-441-2345 x222.

Suicide Prevention Doors

Introduction

The points herein are compiled from many sources, most listed in the ‘further reading’ section. These represent my research notes; I don’t claim this is my writing.

Costs and Timelines

Suicide prevention doors could be arriving on the Yonge St. subway line as early as 2013.

But TTC officials acknowledge it will take untold years and up to $690 million to bring the life-saving devices to the entire subway system.

Suicide / Mortality Statistics

In 2001 there were 56 traffic fatalities, 12 ttc suicides, 17 attempts, 1032 suicides in Ontario.

Population Ontario = 13 million, Population GTA = 5.6 million = 5.6/13 = 0.43

0.43 * 1032 = 443 in GTA

12/443 = 3% 3% of Toronto’s suicides occurred in the subway.

Cost is 10 million per station.

$690 million, $0.69 billion to solve 3% of the problem.

Statistics from the US NIMH

NIMH = National Institute of Mental Health

Suicide was the seventh leading cause of death for males and the sixteenth leading cause of death for females in 2006.1

Almost four times as many males as females die by suicide.1

Firearms, suffocation, and poison are by far the most common methods of suicide, overall. However, men and women differ in the method used, as shown below.1

People Involved in the Debate

Lindsay Hill (Toronto Lawyer and Activist appeared before City Council)

Toronto lawyer Lindsay Hill, who has been diagnosed with a serious mental illness, told the commission that people whose brain chemistry is agonizingly out of balance may not be able to resist the opportunity to kill themselves even though they want to live.

“Suicide isn’t always a decision,” Hill said. “Sometimes you walk down to the TTC platform and you hear silence and then you hear the rushing wind and you think it would be so easy. And that calls to you and the decision is out of your hand.” (Toronto Sun)

Brian Beamish (Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner Brian Beamish) – Released TTC Suicide Statistics

Toronto Sun, under freedom of information act (Ontario Information and Privacy Commissioner Brian Beamish) asked TTC to release information regarding TTC suicides

Beamish Ruled that “romanticized coverage of suicide may contribute to imitative effects but the simple publication of suicide statistics which do not focus on the details of a particular death."

Beamish offered a countervailing piece of research from the CDC "reporting of suicide can have several direct benefits. Specifically, community efforts to address this problem can be strengthened by news coverage that describes the help and support available in a community, explains how to identify persons at high risk for suicide, or presents information about risk factors for suicide."

Paul Links (WHO)

The World Health Organization and the Canadian Association of Suicide Prevention have issued similar cautions. Paul Links, a psychiatrist specializing in suicide prevention, said copycat suicides are more likely to occur when media reports are sensationalized, there is close attention to the method used and when the story draws a link between an event in a person’s life and their decision to end it.

Toronto Transit Commission

The TTC has a policy of not publishing statistics or news revolving around suicide on TTC property. Despite the ruling and the one time revelation, the TTC remains committed to this policy going forward.

In 2009 19 people committed suicide by jumping in front of a subway train, causing 23 hours of delays for commuters.

Mary Lynn Porto, the co-ordinator of the Gatekeeper Project, a suicide prevention training program for TTC booth collectors and subway drivers, says training helps avert five suicides a month.

What about slowing down?

Slowing trains down before entering a station would add on 15 minutes to a run per line and require the TTC to add six trains on each line, costing about $216 million more, according to a commission study.

The report adds that slowing down isn’t effective in stopping subway suicides anyway.

Suicide Prevention in Hong Kong

”We are suffering major losses from suicide,” said Masaki Ogata, general manager for transport safety of JR East. ”We’ve been studying the problem for 13 years now. There are various measures that we can take to reduce suicides, but in the end, man is the problem.”

The decade-long rash of suicides has coincided with an economic stagnation that is unequaled in modern Japanese history. In a society where much is driven by shame, record-high levels of unemployment have turned many men into despondent, daytime wanderers who pretend to have gainful occupations by staying away from home all day.

Suicide victim’s family charged for clean up! Train companies charge the families of suicide victims for damages caused by the suicides. JR East is just one of several train and subway companies operating in the Tokyo area, but it is widely rumored that JR East became the most popular line for suicides because it charged the bereaved families the least.

Newer train lines in Japan have suicide prevention platforms. 5-foot walls span the entire platform, with doors that only open when the train has safely stopped at the station. Jumping in front of a moving train is one of the most common suicide methods in Japan—it was, at least, until people started spreading information on how to gas themselves at home.

Death by Gassing at Home in Japan: The reason these suicides (by gassing) have been so newsworthy are because they all took place using household items to create the poisonous gas, hydrogen sulfide. The first one of these suicides took place last year, and since then, the methods for creating this gas have been spreading across the Internet. Since the beginning of this year, these suicides have been growing in number, finally coming to a head and breaking into the media spotlight this April with an astonishing 59 suicides.

More than 870 people have killed themselves in Japan by inhaling toxic fumes from household chemicals this year(2008), 30 times more than the total for all of last year, the government said today.

Suicide Prevention in Seoul South Korea

Between the roar of incoming trains, the soothing strains of Beethoven’s "Fur Elise" or Ben E. King’s "Stand By Me" float across the platforms of Seoul’s labyrinthine subway network.

The music fades and a preacher-like male voice intones: "Dear passengers, let’s think again about the parents and sisters and brothers we love and the preciousness of our life."

Driven by debt, lost love, terminal disease and other miseries, 95 people killed themselves in Seoul’s subway system last year.

Some nervous jumpers put black plastic bags over their heads to block out their surroundings and maintain their resolve just before leaping in front of an oncoming train.

The songs include Frank Sinatra’s "Send in the Clowns," "Sailing" by Rod Stewart, and Simon & Garfunkel’s "Bridge Over Troubled Water."

Electronic boards inside subway cars and platforms flash the sign:
"Giving up your life will inflict an unbearable pain on your family and the society!"

Subway suicides have also been a problem in Japan. In Tokyo, authorities once installed mirrors on the wall at the incoming end of platforms, where most people jump, theorizing that people would change their mind if they looked at their own image.

Pushing Incidents

Feb 16 2009, TTC fare collector chased and apprehended a man who pushed two men on to the tracks. Why is the media not afraid of copy cat pushing incidents in this case?

Other Suicide Magnets in the City: Bloor Viaduct

Bloor St Viaduct “Luminous Veil” cost 5.5 million (not luminous, ran out of cash).

Luminous Veil is a suicide barrier over the Bloor St Viaduct which until it was erected was the 2^nd most popular suicide location in the world, behind the Golden Gate Bridge.

Bloor Street Viaduct – in 1997 there were 17 suicides

Appendix A – MEDIA GUIDELINES ( via Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention)

News stories, articles, and dramatic presentations on the subject of suicide have come under question in the last few years. The concern has been that such presentations may have stimulated some persons to attempt suicide. There is confusion about how the subject of suicide should be treated to minimize this danger.

As a service to the news media and to the people making public presentation on the subject of suicide, the American Association of Suicidology and the Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention offer the following guidelines. These are intended to be general statements to aid in a responsible presentation of information about suicide.

1. To discourage imitative or copycat suicides, it is important to avoid or minimize:

• Reporting specific details of the method

• Descriptions of a suicide as unexplainable e.g., "He had everything going for him."

• Reporting romanticized versions of the reasons for the suicide(s), e.g., "We want to be together for all eternity."

• Simplistic reasons for the suicide, e.g., "Boy commits suicide because he has to wear braces."

In addition, the print media can reduce the imitative effect by:

• Printing story on inside page

• If story must appear on first page, print it below the fold

• Avoid the word "suicide" in the headline

• Avoid printing a photo of the person who committed suicide

It is important to report a suicide in a straightforward manner so that the suicide does not appear exciting. Reports should not make the suicidal person appear admirable, nor should they seem to approve of the suicide.

2. To encourage prevention of suicide, it is helpful to:

• Present alternatives to suicide, e.g., calling a suicide prevention centre, getting counselling, etc.

• Whenever possible, present examples of positive outcomes of people in suicidal crises.

• Provide information on community resources for those who may be suicidal or who know people who are.

• Include a list of clues to suicidal behavior, e.g.:

Warning Signs of Suicide

Suicide threats

Statements revealing a desire to die

Previous suicide attempts

Sudden changes in behaviour (withdrawal, apathy, moodiness)

Depression (crying, sleeplessness, loss of appetite, hopelessness)

Final arrangements (such as giving away personal possessions)

What to Do

Discuss it openly and frankly

Show interest and support

Get professional help

Call your local Crisis/Distress Line

Appendix B – TTC Suicide Statistics

Below, are the subway suicide incidents and attempts from 1998 to 2009.

Further Reading

http://www.eopa.ca/newsletters/DialogueNL.June2001.pdf (pps 8-9)

http://casp-acps.ca/Publications/MEDIA%20GUIDELINES.doc

http://www.ipc.on.ca/images/Findings/MO-2466.pdf

http://www.cp24.com/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090216/090216_ttc_collector/20090216/?hub=CP24Home

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/suicide-in-the-us-statistics-and-prevention/index.shtml

http://www.tokyomango.com/tokyo_mango/2008/09/suicide-prevent.html

http://www.japaninc.com/node/3240

http://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/06/world/kunitachi-city-journal-japanese-trains-try-to-shed-a-gruesome-appeal.html?sec=health&&scp=1&sq=chuo%20japan%20suicide&st=cse

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/international/asia_pacific/view.bg?articleid=1129152&