CCLA Rights Watch
La veille sur les
droits et libertés

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms turns 30 today. Although the Charter has been used to help advance the struggles and rights of many equality seeking groups, it has done nothing to slow or reverse the growing economic inequality in Canada.

See here for an editorial by West Coast Legal and Education Action Fund (LEAF)’s Legal Director Laura Track on how the Charter fails to protect poor Canadians.

A class-action lawsuit has been filed in BC Supreme Court by lawyers representing a former Nanaimo, BC RCMP officer alleging sexual harassment against her employer. Janet Merlo claims she was subject to 20 years of sexual harassment while part of the force, including sexual pranks and comments by male supervisors.

Lawyers that filed the suit are now awaiting certification by a judge that the lawsuit is a class action (a process that could take up to two years). The suit follows the widespread allegations of sexual harassment and abuse in the RCMP that became public last fall, and is among the latest stories of unaccountability and discrimination having to do with the RCMP.

More information about the lawsuit can be found here. The notice of civil claim can be found here.

One of two independent lawyers appointed to represent the public interest at the Missing Women Commission of Inquiry has resigned. Robyn Gervais, appointed to represent Aboriginal interests at the Inquiry resigned her position today, effective immediately. Appointed in August of last year, Gervais cited concerns with the lack of Aboriginal witnesses called by the Commission, the lack of ongoing support from the Aboriginal community, and the disproportionate focus on police evidence in the hearings as reasons for her resignation. According to Gervais, after 38 days of police testimony, the Commission has yet to hear from one Aboriginal witness.

See her news release to the media here.

The Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) and West Coast Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (West Coast LEAF) have joined calls by other groups to the Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs to delay the passage of Bill C-10, the Safe Streets and Communities Act (also known as the “Omnibus Crime Bill”). LEAF and West Coast LEAF are raising concern about the discriminatory impacts the proposed legislation would have on women and Aboriginal peoples, noting that the Bill contravenes the government’s obligation under section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to promote and protect the equality rights of disadvantaged persons in Canada.

Their submission to the Committee can be found here.

The BC legislature resumes today, as memorial marches are being held across the province to remember missing and murdered women, and to draw attention to the province’s lack of action to stop violence against women.

According to organizers, the first women’s memorial march was held in 1991 in response to the murder of a Coast Salish woman in Vancouver. This year marks the 21^st march, bringing people together to honour and remember missing and murdered women, and to call for an end to the violence women face on a daily basis.

“We are here to honour and remember the women, and we are here because we are failing to protect women from the degradation of poverty and systemic exploitation, abuse and violence. We are here in sorrow and in anger because the violence continues each and every day and the list of missing and murdered women gets longer every year,” says Marlene George, Memorial March Committee organizer.

The march follows a demonstration yesterday by local advocacy groups, hoping to draw attention to their ongoing concerns with the Missing Women’s Commission of Inquiry. The Commission was established by the BC government to examine why serial killer Robert Pickton was not arrested earlier, despite reports of evidence of his guilt, and to examine police conduct respecting women reported missing from Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Since its creation, the Commission has been heavily criticized for its lack of respect for those most affected by the inquiry. For example, the majority of Downtown Eastside organizations in Vancouver were granted standing at the inquiry, but then withdrew from the process after the province refused to cover their legal costs.

Reports today found that over $4 million has been spent on the inquiry so far. There are now 24 lawyers at the inquiry, most representing police or former police officers, whose legal fees are being paid for by the officers’ employers. Read more about this story here.

More information on the Missing Women’s Inquiry can be found at the following links:

http://missingwomen.blogspot.com

http://www.missingwomeninquiry.ca

BC Lawyers who act as duty counsel have withdrawn their services as part of their campaign to pressure the government to restore funding for legal aid. The two-week withdrawal of services, that began on February 1, is phase two of the action, which will see the withdrawal of services escalate each month until a full withdrawal for the entire month of April.

The Trial Lawyers’ Association, the organization behind the action, has estimated that approximately two-thirds of BC’s provincial courthouses will be impacted by the withdrawal. They note that a provincial tax on legal fees generates $140 million each year that is meant to fund legal aid, yet the government puts less than half of it into the program. Their news release can be viewed here.

The Coalition for Public Legal Services, a group made up of a number of advocacy groups and legal organizations in BC, endorsed the action and the call to restore funding to legal aid, noting that BC is the third lowest province in per capita spending on legal aid. The result, according to the Coalition, is that low-income and marginalized people have nowhere to turn for legal representation with issues relating to family law, tenancy, employment standards and immigration.

The next phase of withdrawals is scheduled for March 1-21. For more information, click here.

The planned closure of two girls’ units inside youth prisons in Victoria and Prince George has raised concern among advocacy groups about potential breaches of girls’ human rights. According to the BC Ministry for Children and Families, the cost of running the two units has led them to decide to centralize services in Burnaby. This displacement will only affect girls, as youth prisons for boys will continue to operate in both cities, raising concern about the discriminatory nature of the move.

The West Coast Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF), the BC Civil Liberties Association, and Justice for Girls have written to BC’s representative for children and youth, Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond, to voice their concerns and ask her to intervene. Read the news release here and the full letter here.

The groups note that the potential dislocation will breach girls’ human rights, and particularly Aboriginal girls, who are disproportionately represented in BC youth prisons as a result of colonization and over policing. Specifically, the groups are raising concern about further dislocation from family and community for extended periods of time (particularly for girls from central/northern BC), inhumane treatment through extended transportation in shackles (a minimum of 11 hours from Prince George to Burnaby), extended detention periods in adult police lockups waiting to be transported, and displacement in an unknown city upon release.

Rather than displacing the girls hundreds of kilometers away from their homes, the rights groups are asking the province to instead create community-based alternatives to imprisonment. Read more here.

Sergeant George Chong was found guilty of assault yesterday, after a vascular neck restraint he administered left a prisoner unconscious.

Provincial court Justice Weitzel found that the neck restraint used on prisoner Frank Blair while jail staff attempted to fingerprint him was not necessary, and handed Chong a suspended sentence and 12 months probation.

An earlier investigation by Victoria Police Chief Jamie Graham of the same incident found that Chong did not “intentionally or recklessly” use unnecessary force, resulting in Chong being suspended for only 5 days without pay.

Read the full story here.

While the “Occupy Victoria” movement, and specifically, the city’s response to it, has been a prominent issue in the city’s municipal election campaign, a new report released by the Vancouver Island Public Interest Research Group (VIPIRG) has identified additional concerns for tomorrow’s municipal election vote.

In a recent report entitled “Out of Sight: Policing Poverty in Victoria”, VIPIRG highlights the failings of the city’s police force in dealing with some of the city’s most vulnerable people. Through direct interviews with over 100 members of the street community, the report (found here) explores the experiences, perspective and ideas of Victoria’s street-involved people.

Key findings of the report highlight health issues, illicit drug use and disabilities as being prevalent in the street community. The reports’ findings with regards to policing are striking, as street-involved people reported seeing and experiencing discriminatory and unfair policing practices, being heavily policed, and witnessing and experiencing violations of the BC Police Act Code and abuses of police authority. Eighty-six percent of those interviewed reported witnessing use of unnecessary force by police officers.

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Mary Ellen Turpel-Lafond was re-appointed for a second five-year term on November 16 by BC’s provincial government. As the province’s representative for children and youth, Turpel-Lafond’s position serves as an independent watchdog, bringing to light issues affecting the province’s vulnerable youth.

The position was created after a 2005 report (the Hughes Review) sighted failure of the Ministry of Children and Family Development in protecting young people, such as the death of a 19-month old child in 2002 who had been placed in the care of her uncle by the Ministry. Former Saskatchewan judge Ted Hughes, the author of the report, recommended the position be created to advocate for children and families and to monitor and investigate public agencies involved with children and their care.

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