Dear friends and supporters,

Thank you for the warm welcome I have received as I step into the role of the Executive Director of the BCCLA.

I have partnered with the BCCLA for many years. During that time, I observed the association work within coalitions and alongside community groups to achieve important victories such as the right to a physician assisted death, striking down indefinite solitary confinement laws, and challenging an unaccountable border enforcement agency. Now, in my first month in the BCCLA office, I have witnessed first-hand the team at BCCLA, including our extraordinary staff, dedicated volunteers, committed pro-bono counsel, and passionate board members, doing critical work to advance civil liberties and human rights every single day.

I am thrilled to join the organization at such an exciting time – with a vision to be effective and ethical through strategic litigation, law and policy reform, public legal education, and community relations. As you know, the organization now has its first strategic plan in place to guide our work on strengthening democratic rights, resisting rising authoritarianism, advocating for patient rights, demanding law enforcement accountability, and centering equity and inclusion in all our work. We also know that access to justice is fraught, and a systemic barrier, especially for Indigenous peoples and nations asserting their own legitimate legal orders.

I am humbled and honoured to be in service of the BCCLA’s collective mandate – one that affirms dignity, liberty, and justice for all – which you, as our supporters and friends, have helped us fight for and strive for. Thank you for your trust in me and our team as move this work and vision forward.

In solidarity and struggle,

Harsha Walia

Executive Director