Updates & Press


Release: Supreme Court of Canada affirms gender equality rights must not be neglected but fails to strike down the Safe Third Country Agreement

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



Our intentions and values for public legal education and information

We offer legal education that is based on our feminist and social justice values. In addition to providing information about law, our approach includes analyzing power and privilege, critiquing the law, and valuing non-legal pathways. Our public legal education programming has been providing people with information about colonial law for more than 20 years. Since then, … Read more Our intentions and values for public legal education and information



Release: West Coast LEAF and LEAF intervene at Supreme Court of Canada on common-sense assumptions in sexual assault law

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



Release: A huge win for parents’ right to privacy at BC Court of Appeal

For Immediate Release – April 25, 2023 Vancouver, unceded Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) homelands – Yesterday, the British Columbia Court of Appeal released a decision that improves protections for parents’ right to privacy when being surveilled by the family policing system, also known as the child welfare system. The decision in T.L. v. … Read more Release: A huge win for parents’ right to privacy at BC Court of Appeal



Release: BC Gender Equality Report Card finds province failing to meet urgent needs in healthcare and economic security

January 24, 2023 – For Immediate Release Vancouver, unceded Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) homelands – Today, West Coast LEAF released a report card assessing BC’s progress in advancing gender equality in economic security and access to healthcare. The Gender Equality Report Card reveals that from January 2021 to November 2022, the BC … Read more Release: BC Gender Equality Report Card finds province failing to meet urgent needs in healthcare and economic security



Release: Case to determine parents’ right to privacy at BC Court of Appeal

For Immediate Release – January 16, 2023 Vancouver, unceded Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) homelands – Today, West Coast LEAF is intervening at the BC Court of Appeal in a case that will impact how parents are surveilled by the family policing system (also known as the child welfare system), T.L. v the Attorney … Read more Release: Case to determine parents’ right to privacy at BC Court of Appeal



Release: A huge win for single mothers fleeing violence

December 15, 2022 – For Immediate Release Vancouver, unceded Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) homelands—After five years of fighting to be heard, single mothers will finally have their day in court. Today, the BC Supreme Court granted the Centre for Family Equity (CFE), formerly known as Single Mothers’ Alliance (SMA), public interest standing … Read more Release: A huge win for single mothers fleeing violence



Release: BC Human Rights Tribunal rules family policing system discriminated against Indigenous mother

November 23, 2022—For Immediate Release Vancouver, unceded Xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) homelands – The BC Human Rights Tribunal ruled yesterday that the Vancouver Aboriginal Child and Family Services Society (VACFSS), a delegated agency of the Ministry of Children and Family Development, discriminated against an Afro-Indigenous mother, R.R., while R.R.’s children were in … Read more Release: BC Human Rights Tribunal rules family policing system discriminated against Indigenous mother