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
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 – In a step backward for the legal profession, the BC Court of Appeal (“BCCA”) has dismissed an appeal regarding the Law Society of BC’s rejection of the proposed law school at Trinity Western University (“TWU”). In Trinity Western University and Brayden Volkenant v Law Society of British Columbia, the BCCA found that the Law Society’s decision … Read more Release: BC Court of Appeal decision a disappointing loss for equality
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
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
VANCOUVER – Today, West Coast LEAF released its eighth annual report card on women’s rights in BC. While there have been minor improvements in some of the nine key areas this year, the overwhelmingly low grades reveal that BC has once again failed to deliver on its responsibilities towards women. In particular, the Province has … Read more Release: BC gets low marks on report card assessing women’s equality
In September 2016, West Coast LEAF wrote to the BC Ministry of Justice in response to two consultation papers about property division and guardianship under BC’s Family Law Act. We spoke out against proposed amendments to the Act that would give guardianship to all biological parents without requiring significant involvement in caring for a child. This change would lead … Read more Submission to the BC Ministry of Justice Regarding the Family Law Act
In September 2016, West Coast LEAF submitted a letter to Status of Women Canada in response to a call for feedback on the development of a federal strategy on gender-based violence. To respond to the alarming rate of serious violence against women in relationships, including violence leading to death (intimate partner homicide), West Coast LEAF … Read more Submission to Status of Women Canada on the Federal Strategy on Gender-Based Violence
In August 2016, West Coast LEAF wrote to post-secondary institutions in British Columbia about the implementation of legislation requiring them to adopt sexual violence and misconduct policies. We’re encouraged that the BC government is taking initiative to protect the rights of survivors on campus with Bill 23, the Sexual Violence and Misconduct Policy Act (“the Act”), which will … Read more Letter to Post-Secondary Institutions Regarding Sexual Misconduct Policies