Updates and perspectives on current events, legal decisions, and freedoms in Canada.
Physician Assisted Dying Overview
Posted onSynopsis The BCCLA filed a lawsuit in April 2011 to challenge the laws that make it a criminal offense to assist seriously and incurably ill individuals to die with dignity. The legal challenge will seek to allow seriously and incurably … Read More
Celebrating the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia
Posted onToday, the BCCLA proudly celebrates the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia by reflecting on the place that civil liberties have had and continue to have in empowering queer communities across Canada. The strengthening of Canadians’ rights to make … Read More
Deportation is Not Entertainment: Update
Posted onThe BC Civil Liberties Association is glad to join so many individuals and community groups in celebrating the news that footage obtained for the reality television show “Border Security” during a March 13, 2013 immigration enforcement raid in Vancouver, British Columbia … Read More
S7: The Combating Terrorism Act Strips Away Vital Protections
Posted onOn April 24, 2013 Parliament passed Bill S-7, known as the Combating Terrorism Act. With this action, Parliament stripped away vital protections for citizens in favour of unnecessary and ineffective measures to confront terrorism. This act unjustifiably expands the scope … Read More
Montreal’s Crackdown on Dissent has No Place in a Free and Democratic Canada
Posted onOver the last three weeks the Service de Police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM) has engaged in cracking down on expressions of dissent in shocking and deeply troubling ways. Almost 500 peaceful protesters in Montreal have been arrested and … Read More
BC’s Drinking and Driving Law Improperly Criminalizes Residents
Posted onIn 2010, British Columbia changed its drinking and driving law to create more strict penalties for impaired drivers. You would be hard-pressed to find anyone who thinks that drinking and driving is not a real problem on the roads. The … Read More
Public Lives: What Eroding Privacy Means for Democracy
Posted onOn November 14th, 2012 Policy Director Micheal Vonn delivered a full length address on the subject of the important interplay between privacy, surveillance, and democracy. This public lecture was in collaboration with the Institute for Values in Policy and Science at … Read More
Deportation Is Not Entertainment
Posted onOn March 21, 2013 the BCCLA filed a formal complaint with the federal Privacy Commissioner on behalf of a migrant worker who had been filmed for the Canada Border Services Agency’s reality television series. The complaint, brought by the BCCLA with … Read More
How the New Medical Cannabis Regulations Are Set to Throw Patients Under the Bus
Posted onCanada was among the very first countries to acknowledge a constitutional right for qualified patients to use medical cannabis. It’s almost as if the federal government decided that as penance for this inadvertent progressivism, we should develop the worst … Read More
A National ID Card by Stealth? The BC Services Card
Posted onThis year-long project has researched the policy environment and privacy implications associated with the BC Services Card. The card, which replaces the “outdated” health CareCard, proposes to join the driver’s license and health care card into one super smart ID … Read More
The “Death” of Bill C-30
Posted onFirst We Dance; Then We Gear Up for Battle with the Zombies… Time to celebrate! Here at the BCCLA, we were out dancing in the streets and sharing virtual hi-fives with our many and excellent collaborators, celebrating the “death” of … Read More
