Case summary Schrenk v British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal is a case about the scope of discrimination regarding employment in British Columbia’s Human Rights Code. Specifically, the Supreme Court of Canada considered whether protection from discrimination in the workplace applies only where the wrongdoer is someone in a position of power or authority over the complainant and … Read more Schrenk v British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal [2017]
Read our 2016 Annual Report. to learn about West Coast LEAF’s work for gender justice in the 2015/2016 fiscal year. Publications
Canada is a signatory to a number of international declarations and conventions that commit our governments to advancing the equality rights of women in BC. One such international treaty is the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). CEDAW provides a comprehensive code of what women’s equality means in marriage, … Read more 2016 CEDAW Shadow Report
The project aims to identify strategies to reduce barriers in the justice system for sexual assault survivors through dialogue among key…
In November 2016, we wrote to Burnaby’s City Councilors and Mayor Derek Corrigan to urge them to take into account the possible consequences of displacement from rental housing for vulnerable residents, particularly women and their children, as they consider the Metrotown Development Plan. We explained why women and children’s safety and economic security are at … Read more Letter to Burnaby about the Metrotown Development Plan and women’s housing security
VANCOUVER – Today, West Coast LEAF and the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC (CCCABC) are at the United Nations in Geneva to participate in a review of Canada’s federal and provincial progress under the international bill of women’s rights. West Coast LEAF and CCABC are meeting with the UN Committee on the Elimination … Read more Release: Canadian child care system under the international microscope
Joint Statement by Canadian Civil Society Organizations Today Canada’s record of women’s equality is under the spotlight at the United Nations in Geneva. The 65th Session of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women happens at an opportune moment for Canadian women. Canada has a new federal government with a Prime Minister who … Read more Release: Canada held to account for its disappointing women’s rights record by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
In October 2016, West Coast LEAF partnered with the Coalition of Child Care Advocates of BC on a submission to the United Nations about the essential role of child care for fulfilling Canada’s obligations under CEDAW (the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women). Our Director of Law Reform traveled to Geneva, Switzerland … Read more Joint submission to the UN on child care and CEDAW
West Coast LEAF has issued a press release jointly with the BC Civil Liberties Association, Pivot Legal Society, BC Public Interest Advocacy Centre, and Community Legal Assistance Society calling on the BC government to raise social assistance rates and address the resulting epidemic of food insecurity and the dire consequences for human health and safety. The press release coincides with … Read more Release: Human rights groups call for increased welfare rates, protection of right to food
For the 8th year in a row, West Coast LEAF has issued our CEDAW Report Card which grades BC’s progress in nine key areas in women’s rights, including access to justice, economic security, affordable housing and child care, and women’s health and safety. BC’s actions and inactions are assessed against the obligations set out in the UN Convention … Read more 2016 CEDAW Report Card
