In September, policy director and author Michael Vonn of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) wrote an article about the new policies Bill C-51 has brought in to the Secure Air Travel Act (SATA). The “no-fly” list, known as the Passenger Protect Program has changed from an older model where reviewing of these lists [...]
On September 26th, 2016, the BCCLA and Canadian Association of Refugee Lawyers (CARL) challenged the current government to protect the rights of Canadians who are facing revocation of their Canadian citizenship based on allegations of misrepresentation. The argument The argument made was that any Canadian in this situation should have a full and fair opportunity [...]
We have previously written posts that have cited the far-from-humanitarian practices of prisons in Canada. This includes issues regarding the abuse of solitary confinement, the poor treatment towards the mentally ill, as well as the poor treatment of marginalized sectors like indigenous people. This type of treatment in the prison community does nothing to rehabilitate [...]
Early last year, Quebec resident Oscar Villaroman challenged his 2013 conviction for possession of child pornography. The Alberta Court of Appeals overturned the conviction as it excluded other possibilities as to how the pornography showed up on his computer. As a result Villaroman was acquitted, but the case was then taken to the Supreme Court [...]
Recently, an article was written by the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) summing up the ongoing debate of the highly controversial use of Stingrays by the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) and Canadian Police overall. Background A Stingray is a cellular phone surveillance device that was initially developed for the military and intelligence communities. They [...]
In 2011, several claimants challenged the Federal Court of Canada against the laws that surround an ill person’s ability to end their life with the help of a physician. The British Columbia Civil Liberties, a patient withthe degenerative diseaseALS, a couple who traveled to use an assisted suicide clinic for an ill and elderly family [...]
On January 19, 2015, the BCCLA and John Howard Society sued the Federal government over issues regarding solitary confinement in Canadian prisons. The lawsuit describes that the use of solitary confinement – subjecting a prisoner to isolation for up to 23 hours a day for often months or years at a time – results in [...]
As a response to heated debates taking place next door in the U.S, Liberal Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that legislation ensuring “full protection” of transgender Canadians would be tabled on Tuesday morning this week. Trudeau who recently received an award for fighting homophobia and transphobia said the demand for true equality is necessary and [...]
In April of 2015, the B.C Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) reacted to two Supreme Court of Canada decisions which deemed some of the previous government’s legislation regarding criminal law unconstitutional. The cases Lloyd andSafarzadeh-Markhali have presented the dangers and unjustness of mandatory minimum sentencing for drug offences through Bill-C10, The Safe Streets and Communities Act. The [...]
In 2014, Bill C-24 stirred up huge controversy. Essentially, the bill offered two tiers of citizenship – natural born and naturalized – a convoluted and rather controversial move that differentiated between those who were born in Canada and those who migrated in the past. More importantly, the law also allowed Ottawa to revoke citizenship of [...]
