A mural depicting the grim reaper wielding a scythe with a drug syringe tip prompted civil liberties advocates to urge staff at the Vancouver (Canada) fire hall, where it's mounted, to get sensitivity training — a call the firefighters say is unnecessary. According to The Canadian Press, the controversial painting is visible only through the windows of the Downtown Eastside fire department, serving a neighborhood known for its large drug-using population and safe-injection site.
The blade of the scythe displays the department's nickname during the time it was painted, “Skids,” and a motto below states: “It's not the end of the world. But we can see it from here.”
The mural has been up for more than a decade but thanks to new media attention, the fire hall is promising to take it down soon.
But the B.C. Civil Liberties Association says the process has taken much longer than it should have and can't just be shrugged away.
When association members were alerted to the mural last month, they asked for it to be taken down. The mural was promptly covered up, and remained so throughout the Winter Olympics. (workersxzcompxzkit)
Nearly seven weeks later, the association's executive director was reportedly aghast to spot it in full view once more.
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