Please note that we are not providing legal advice, but are collecting information in regards to enforcement.
Stay up to date with all the latest work that CCLA is doing to monitor the response to COVID-19, ensuring it’s based on science and is not unnecessarily intrusive to our liberties.
COVID Related Resources
We have compiled and produced reports, guides, and other resources to help you stay informed about COVID’s impact on your civil liberties.
Our Recent COVID Related Cases
View our latest work and activity.
Emergencies Act
While action in Ottawa was necessary, the federal government’s national invocation of the Emergencies Act was not. Emergency powers are, by definition, extraordinary. Resort to emergency statutes should not be normalized.
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Vaccine Passports
The lines are being drawn between those who support and oppose some version of a vaccine passport. At CCLA, we have flashed red and yellow lights at any effort by a Canadian government to mandate public disclosure of private health care information.
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Defending Mobility in NL
Bill 38 gives “inspectors” – as defined by the Minister – the ability to conduct warrantless searches and gives the police the right to remove individuals to a point of entry, such as an airport or ferry terminal. The province has also used a Special Measure to ban non-residents from entering the province, with limited exceptions. This amounts to a Newfoundland “travel ban”, as well as essentially legalizing banishment. We think this is unconstitutional.
Privacy During COVID
Providing personal health information directly to law enforcement is an extraordinary invasion of privacy. There is a real risk that using this database will create a false sense of security when first responders are interacting with individuals who have not been flagged, thus serving to create rather than mitigate danger. If having this information is not strictly necessary to respond to the pandemic, then sharing it is not legal.
Fighting for Safe Shelter
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we are deeply concerned that the City continues to operate and oversee shelters that do not adhere to physical distancing standards. The overcrowded conditions in Toronto’s homeless facilities have created a humanitarian crisis that threatens the people who use these spaces, along with the shelters’ staff and volunteers, and the city’s broader neighbourhoods and communities. The City is endangering those who use the shelter system.
Families & COVID
Children’s Aid Societies are responsible for the delivery of child protection services, in accordance with legislation, regulations, and ministry policy and standards. At CCLA, we believe while the existence of a public health emergency requires caution, denying parents and children the opportunity to be together or risking a loss of the valuable child-parent bond is a violation of human rights and freedoms.
COVID & Enforcement Report
CCLA and PPMP Release New Report Examining Covid-19 Policing in the Second Wave, which examines the use of coercive fines and law enforcement to respond to a public health crisis.
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Protecting Civil Liberties in Thunder Bay
CCLA and our partners fought to have Thunder Bay’s Medical Officer of Health rescind her February 8th Class Order targeting individuals released from Thunder Bay District Jail. Detention outside of the rule of law is a clear and deeply concerning violation of constitutional rights. An emergency is a perilous time for civil liberties. Emergency powers are extensive – but they are limited – limited by law and by the Canadian constitution.
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Latest COVID-19 Updates and Briefs
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Protecting Your Civil Liberties During a Pandemic
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