Today, we sent a briefing note to legislators that calls on BC’s Ministry of Children and Family Development to eliminate policies and practices that require parents to have an open child protection file – despite the lack of risk concerns – in order to receive critical support services, including child care. Read our briefing note here. Submissions
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…
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…
In February 2017, West Coast LEAF wrote to the Standing Committee on Children and Youth to recommend maintaining the Representative for Children and Youth’s statutory oversight of the child protection system. Read our full submission. (PDF, 304 KB) Submissions
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
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
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 April 2016 West Coast LEAF wrote a letter calling on the Burnaby Board of Education to establish a Sanctuary Schools policy so that all parents, regardless of immigration status, can feel safe sending their children to school without jeopardizing their lives in Canada. Such a policy would also reduce barriers for undocumented women experiencing abuse because … Read more Letter in Support of Sanctuary Schools Burnaby Proposal