No-Fly Launch Met By Growing Opposition
Invasive Impaired Driving Bill
In the early days, we were among the few to oppose the government's plan to imitate the disastrous U.S. no-fly list. But it looks like we might have started a vogue, because now there is a growing chorus of concern from across the political spectrum. The program that Canadian Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart described as "quite a nightmare" became operative on June 18th.
The BCCLA is joined by other human rights groups in calling for the immediate cancellation of the no-fly program which was introduced through the backdoor without proper Parliamentary debate. We are calling for the program to be reviewed and public submissions heard by the appropriate Parliamentary Committees. We are planning to bring a Charter challenge if the program remains operative. In addition to the credible concerns that such secret watchlists are heavily reliant on racial and religious profiling, we are also deeply concerned that the list will inevitably be available to foreign governments which will endanger those Canadians on the list who are travelling abroad.
The BCCLA was in Ottawa this month making a submission to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights. Kirk Tousaw, the Chair of our Drug Policy Committee, represented the Association in opposing Bill C-32 which would make amendments to the Criminal Code pertaining to impaired driving. While the BCCLA clearly opposes impaired driving, we are also opposed to intrusive new laws that diminish civil liberties and do not effectively address impaired driving. We stated our objections to several aspects of the bill, including a provision imposing specific penalties for driving while in possession of a drug. Noting that it is already illegal to possess drugs, we say that this provision is nonsensical in relation to the legislative objective:
"On the idea that because you possess a drug in your car you ought to be punished both by a maximum penalty of five years' imprisonment and the imposition of mandatory driving prohibitions, there's simply no connection. There's no connection between taking away someone's ability to drive... and the fact that they may have a had a small amount of marijuana in their car or a friend may have had a small amount of marijuana in their pocket and the driver knew it. It's just not related to impaired driving."
We also opposed the regime of invasive mandatory tests envisioned by the proposed legislation.
Ms. Pastine joins the Association from Bull Housser & Tupper LLP, where her practice included general civil litigation, including human rights and civil liberties cases. She was a member of the legal team representing the Government of British Columbia in its action to recover tobacco-related health care costs. Prior to joining BHT, she practiced law in Washington and Oregon. She attended law school at the University of Washington and earned her B.A. in English literature from Wells College in Aurora, New York.
Ms. Pastine served on the Board of Directors of the BCCLA since 2006 until she resigned to accept the position of Litigation Director for the BCCLA. She represented the BCCLA at the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal in Barker and the Vancouver Police Department v. Hayes, a case in which the Association advocated for an expansive judicial interpretation of the sexual orientation provisions of the B.C. Human Rights Code in order to protect minority sexual rights.
Her skills as a litigator will be a great and timely addition to the BCCLA to meet the demands of increased BCCLA litigation. The BCCLA Litigation Director position is made possible with increased funding from the Law Foundation of British Columbia.
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