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
Coast Salish Territory/Vancouver, B.C. – Today a Coalition on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls responded to the Federal Government’s announcement of the national Inquiry. The Federal Government has released the names of the Commissioners and the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the Inquiry. The Coalition continues to demand justice for missing and murdered … Read more Release: Coalition calls federal plan for national inquiry too vague
VANCOUVER – Today, West Coast LEAF calls on all levels of government to commit to addressing violence against Indigenous women and girls through a robust, effective national inquiry. Following decades of advocacy by Indigenous and women’s activists, the federal government finally committed to an Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls in Canada. Earlier … Read more Release: Federal inquiry into missing, murdered Indigenous women lacks provincial commitment
VANCOUVER – Today, a national coalition of women’s organizations including West Coast LEAF was granted intervener status in the inquiry into the conduct of Justice Robin Camp while he presided over a sexual assault trial in Alberta in 2014. Justice Camp asked the complainant, an Indigenous woman who was 19 years old and homeless at … Read more Release: Coalition intervenes in inquiry into judge’s conduct during sexual assault trial
Case summary This Inquiry concerns the conduct of a judge while he presided over a sexual assault trial (R v Wagar) as a judge of the Provincial Court of Alberta, including the judge’s remarks that: “sex and pain sometimes go together […] that’s not necessarily a bad thing”; “young wom[e]n want to have sex, particularly … Read more Inquiry Pursuant to Section 63(1) of the Judges Act regarding the Hon. Justice Robin Camp [2016]
In 2016, West Coast LEAF and the Canadian Centre for Elder Law created Roads to Safety, a legal handbook for older women in BC, as well as multilingual wallet cards listing sources of support. The handbook covers legal issues that older women might deal with when they have experienced violence. It explains rights and options, … Read more Roads to Safety
The Legal Strategy Coalition on Violence Against Indigenous Women has issued a press release to highlight its public statement urging full involvement of the provinces and territories in the national inquiry on missing and murdered Indigenous women. The participation of provincial and territorial governments is essential in order to ensure coordinated efforts in responding to and preventing … Read more Release: Coalition on violence against Indigenous women statement on the importance of full cooperation with the National Inquiry on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls