About the Report Card The BC Gender Equality Report Card 2019/2020 assesses the BC government’s progress in advancing human rights and gender justice between December 2018 and early April 2020. It explores six issue areas: access to justice; economic Read More
Mind the Pay Gap: A Legislative Approach to Ending Pay Discrimination in BC
Graduate students from the School of Public Policy at Simon Fraser University prepared Mind the Gap: A Legislative Approach to Ending Pay Discrimination in BC, a report that evaluates the legislative tools available to the province of BC to Read More
Letter urging Canada Child Benefit eligibility for kinship caregivers
The many children in BC living in homes led by kinship caregivers should not be left out of the financial supports the federal government is providing to families during the COVID-19 crisis. This is why we have joined Parent Read More
RELEASE: Survivors of sexual assault will be supported by a new legal toolkit to protect against invasive disclosure of private records and sexual history
For immediate release – April 28, 2020 VANCOUVER – Today, West Coast LEAF launched a toolkit for navigating the admissibility of evidence of a survivor’s sexual activity and the production of third-party records in criminal proceedings. Designed for Read More
Calling all lawyers: we are working to ensure survivors are receiving the legal representation they deserve
Today, we’re launching our new resource for lawyers who represent survivors of sexual assault in criminal court proceedings. In response to critical recommendations we heard from survivors and those working in the justice system, we have put together a Read More
A toolkit for navigating section 276 and 278 Criminal Code matters as complainant counsel in criminal proceedings
For survivors of sexual assault navigating the criminal legal system, the disclosure of private records and introduction of evidence about their sexual history can be a devastating intrusion. Concerns about this type of intrusion can also be a major Read More
Happy birthday to equality rights in the Charter! And happy birthday to us!
Today is Equality Day: the 35th birthday of the equality rights protections of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. These provisions were included in the Charter thanks to the relentless leadership of feminists. Today, we thank and celebrate those Read More
Letter calling for an end to the three-month wait period for health care
In January 2020, West Coast LEAF added our voice to the call by Sanctuary City Vancouver and many other groups to end the three-month waiting period to access health care for people entering or returning to Canada. Read our Read More