I am humbled and honoured to join the BC Civil Liberties Association in its seventh decade. Over its dedicated history, the BCCLA, together with community partners and supporters, has achieved profound and impactful change across a vast range of vital … Read More
Features Blog
Pulling Back the Curtain on Canada’s Mass Surveillance Programs – Part One: A Decade of Secret Spy Hearings
Posted onIntroduction Just under a decade ago, in 2013, the BCCLA filed lawsuits challenging secret spying programs operated by the Communications Security Establishment (“CSE”), the Canadian version of the U.S. National Security Agency (“NSA”). CSE is responsible for collecting intelligence from … Read More
Democratic Commitment Newsletter
The Mass Casualty Commission: Advocating with East Coast Prison Justice Society to Enhance Democratic Policing and Protect Marginalized People and Communities
Posted onIn April 2020, a man impersonating an RCMP officer killed 22 people in various locations in Nova Scotia. The public has been asking questions ever since, wanting to understand whether the state – especially police – could have better … Read More
Open Letter: BCCLA Urges Mayor Sim and Vancouver City Council to not Adopt IHRA Definition of Antisemitism
Posted onThe British Columbia Civil Liberties Association urges Mayor Ken Sim and Vancouver City Council not to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism. The IHRA definition of antisemitism is extremely vague, open to misinterpretation, and the document … Read More
There and Back Again: The Fight Over Canada’s Sex Work Laws Returns to Court
Posted onIn 2013, the Supreme Court of Canada in the Bedford decision[1] ruled that three provisions in the Criminal Code related to sex work (keeping a common “bawdy house”, living on the avails, and communicating in a public place) violated the … Read More
New BCCLA Staff
Posted onJoin us in welcoming the new members of BCCLA team. Vibert and Ga will be joining us as our new Litigation director and Litigation Staff counsel. We are very excited to have them on board! Learn more about them below. … Read More
David Eby Knows Better
Posted onThe BCCLA condemns BC Attorney General David Eby for throwing human rights, civil liberties, and evidence under the bus by suggesting the state should be able to involuntarily detain and force treatment on people who use drugs. As a lawyer, Minister … Read More
Solitary Confinement: Legal Torture?
Posted onSolitary confinement has been described as “the most onerous and depriving experience that the state can legally administer in Canada.”[1] The United Nations has defined solitary confinement as the detention of prisoners to their cells for 22 hours or more … Read More
A Deep Dive Into Cullen’s Final Report
Posted onOn June 15, 2022, the Cullen Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering in British Columbia released its Final Report, which totalled 1,804 pages. This report followed the completion of 133 days of evidentiary hearings, where nearly 200 witnesses provided evidence … Read More
