The BCCLA is delighted to honour the 2013 Liberty Award recipients for their outstanding leadership to promote human rights and freedoms in Canada. Previous Liberty Award recipients can be viewed here.

Sheila Tucker is the recipient of the Excellence in Legal Advocacy – Individual Liberty Award. As the co-lead counsel on Carter v. Canada, Sheila Tucker secured a watershed victory from the B.C. Supreme Court where the court ruled that the right to die with dignity is protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. A lawyer at Davis LLP, Sheila practices litigation with a focus on administrative and public law. She recently represented the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority in the litigation that affirmed the Authority’s right to operate Canada’s only safe injection site, Insite.
McCarthy Tétrault is being awarded Excellence in Legal Advocacy – Firm. In the last several years, many lawyers at McCarthy’s have represented the BCCLA pro bono at all levels of court. In addition, McCarthy’s hosts lawyers group meetings every month for the BCCLA, helps with recruiting new lawyers, and assists on an ad hoc basis with fundraising and special events. Michael Feder is our prime contact at McCarthy’s and he has devoted many hundreds of hours to the work of the Association.
Brian Hutchinson is the National Post’s western columnist, based in Vancouver. He joined the newspaper in 2001 after serving as senior writer at Saturday Night, Canadian Business, and Report On Business magazines. He is most known to the BCCLA for his investigative journalism on the theme of police accountability. He uncovered the “Cowboy Mountie” who was involved in the 2003 death of Clayton Alvin Willey in Prince George, and his in-depth coverage of the more recent Missing Women Commission of Inquiry was unparalleled.
Shane Koyczan is an outstanding Canadian Poet, Author and Performer. Born in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Koyczan grew up in Penticton, British Columbia. In 2000, he became the first Canadian to win the Individual Championship title at the National Poetry Slam.In February of 2013 Koyczan released an animated video of his spoken word poem “To This Day” on YouTube and at the TED Conference. The poem focused on the subject of bullying that Koyczan and others had received during their life and its lasting effects. “To This Day” went viral shortly after its release, with the video receiving over 7 million views as of March 2013 and prompting many viewers to send Koyczan letters thanking him for publishing the poem.
OpenMedia.ca is a grassroots organization that fights for the open Internet. They work towards informed and participatory digital policy.The staff at Openmedia.ca are a youthful team of leaders who have played a pivotal role in stopping the Canadian government from passing legislation that would allow policing forces to have unprecedented access to internet users information. With a mandate to promote an open and accessible internet, Openmedia.ca has not only achieved landmark successes in its foundational years, it is also poised to continue its advocacy in the years ahead.The BCCLA has partnered with openmedia.ca on a few occasions. This partnership was most prominent around the proposed Lawful Access legislation in 2012, in which the BCCLA and Openmedia.ca issued joint press releases, and co-hosted events to raise awareness about the implications of the legislation for Canadians.