June 16, 2023 – For Immediate Release Ottawa, unceded Algonquin Anishinaabe territory – In today’s ruling on the Safe Third Country Agreement (STCA) challenge, the Supreme Court of Canada agreed with the Asper Centre, LEAF and West Coast LEAF that there must not be a hierarchy of Charter rights in which equality rights occupy a lower tier. … Read more Release: Supreme Court of Canada affirms gender equality rights must not be neglected but fails to strike down the Safe Third Country Agreement
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…
West Coast LEAF, alongside the Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity (CGSHE), has made a submission to the Justice Committee at the House of Commons as it deliberates on Bill S-224, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (trafficking in persons). Our submission urges the Committee to consider the danger of conflating sex work … Read more Joint submission with the Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity on Bill S-224
West Coast LEAF intervenes in cases that will contribute to gender equality in British Columbia and Canada. Our current and past cases can be found on our cases page. Below we have provided some answers to frequently asked questions about our litigation work in the courts.
We offer legal education that is based on our feminist and social justice values. In addition to providing information about law…
This workshop encourages participants to think critically about the law, discrimination, and…
Using the 2021/2022 Gender Equality Report Card, this free online discussion between West Coast LEAF and Disability Without Poverty highlights…
May 17, 2023 – For Immediate Release Ottawa, unceded Algonquin Anishinaabe territory – Tomorrow, West Coast LEAF and LEAF are jointly intervening at the Supreme Court of Canada (SCC) in HMK v Tsang, a case that will have far-reaching impacts on how courts approach the credibility analysis in sexual assault cases where a trial judge has relied … Read more Release: West Coast LEAF and LEAF intervene at Supreme Court of Canada on common-sense assumptions in sexual assault law
When: May 12, 2023, 9:30 – 11:00 AM PT Who: The panelists will discuss how parents’ counsel can use the Charter in family policing cases, otherwise known as child protection cases. This workshop will identify reviewable decisions, concerns regarding the disclosure of medical records under section 96 of the Child, Family and Community Service Act (CFCSA) as it … Read more Webinar: Using the charter in CFCSA cases for Parents’ Counsel
Case summary This case is about how courts approach credibility analysis in sexual assault cases. In this case, the complainant alleged that she was sexually assaulted by the accused while she was affected by alcohol consumption. At the BC Supreme Court, the trial judge convicted the accused of sexual assault, finding that the survivor’s account … Read more HMK v Tsang [2023]
