West Coast LEAF has long been a trans-inclusive organization – to some extent. Since 2003, we have explicitly defined “women” as encompassing all those who define themselves as women, whatever their sex assignment at birth. The hard part for us in recent years has been whether and how to include people who don’t define themselves as women; … Read more The Feminist Tent
West Coast LEAF wrote to the executives of all Vancouver municipal political parties to urge them to prioritize substantive gender equality in their 2018 campaign platforms. We expressed our support of the non-partisan project Hot Pink Paper Campaign 2018 and outlined practical commitments for moving towards gender equality in Vancouver, unceded Coast Salish homeland. Read our letter. Submissions
VANCOUVER – Yesterday, the BC Court of Appeal (BCCA) released its judgment in a case about discrimination against Vancouver’s street homeless population. The Court upheld the 2012 dismissal of a human rights complaint brought on behalf of the population of homeless in downtown Vancouver. In many ways, this case is about equal access to human rights protections … Read more Release: BC Court Decision Leaves Street Homeless Vulnerable
Read our 2017 Annual Report. to learn about West Coast LEAF’s work for gender justice in the 2016/2017 fiscal year. Publications
VANCOUVER – Today, the Supreme Court of Canada released its judgment in Schrenk v BC Human Rights Tribunal, a case about the scope of human rights protections against discriminatory harassment in the workplace. The Court ruled in the complainant’s favour, finding that human rights law prohibits discrimination in the workplace regardless of whether it is perpetuated by an … Read more Release: Supreme Court of Canada decision is a win for human rights
In December 2017, West Coast LEAF submitted recommendations to BC’s Fair Wages Commission, with a focus on closing the gap between the living wage and the minimum wage and addressing the gendered dimensions of economic insecurity. Our recommendations included: Read our briefing note here. Submissions
On December 6th, 2017, the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women, West Coast LEAF issued our 9th annual CEDAW Report Card, assessing BC’s progress in nine key areas impacting women’s human rights, including access to justice, economic security, affordable housing and child care, and women’s health and safety. Government inaction in all of … Read more 2017 CEDAW Report Card
VANCOUVER – Today, West Coast LEAF released its ninth annual report card on the rights of women in BC. While BC has pulled up its grade in seven of the nine key areas this year, the report card still shows a serious need for improvement in order to fulfill international commitments on women’s human rights. The … Read more Release: BC still not making the grade in women’s equality, despite modest improvements
On June 15, 2023, West Coast LEAF appeared before BC’s Select Standing Committee on Finance and Government Services to share our key recommendations for Budget 2024…
Pivot Legal Society, Community Legal Assistance Society, BC Civil Liberties Association, and West Coast LEAF are calling on the provincial government to implement significant changes to BC’s justice and legal systems in order to support marginalized and Indigenous communities in the province, and to improve the delivery of justice to all British Columbians. The organizations … Read more Release: #JusticeReformBC – Broad coalition of legal organizations calling for significant reform to BC’s justice system