Poverty and Rights

Reinstallation of “inappropriate” mural that calls DTES community “skids” renews demands for coroner’s inquest
The mural depicts the Firehall’s mascot as death with a syringe as a scythe, and calls the Downtown Eastside, the community served by the fire hall the “skids.”
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April 5, 2010

BC government plans to Remove Homeless to Shelters
The BCCLA criticized the provincial government’s Assistance to Shelter Ac, as a band-aid approach that could easily be used to displace the homeless from high-visibility areas in time for the Olympics.
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October 29, 2009

Housing Minister Reverses Plan to Arrest Homeless
According to recent media reports, B.C. Housing Minister Rich Coleman is reversing plans that he endorsed as recently as Monday to arrest homeless people who refuse to report to the nearest homeless shelter during inclement weather.
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September 22, 2009

BCCLA Uncovers Plan to Turn Homeless Shelters Into Jails
The BCCLA has uncovered four documents that suggest the provincial government is in the final stages of preparing legislation to compel the homeless to remain in homeless shelters during the 2010 Olympics.
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Memos >>
September 21, 2009

Bylaws Preventing Homeless From Erecting Shelters Found Unconstitutional
The BCCLA applauds the British Columbia Supreme Court judgment released today in Victoria (City) v. Adams, which decides that Victoria’s bylaws that prevent homeless people from erecting temporary shelters violate section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
News release >>
October 14, 2008

BCCLA Granted Leave to Intervene in Important Homeless Rights Case
At issue in the case is whether the City of Victoria’s bylaws, which prevent homeless individuals from erecting shelters to protect themselves from the elements when sleeping outside, violate the Charter rights of the homeless and Canada’s international obligations.
News release >>
June 16, 2008

BCCLA Joins Movement to Reverse Legal Aid Cuts
The B.C. Civil Liberties Association joined the Trial Lawyers Association of British Columbia, West Coast Leaf, the Western Canada Society to Access Justice and the Canadian Bar Association in condemning recent cuts to Legal Aid in the province.
News release >>
Letter to the Attorney General >>
January 20, 2009

Voter ID
BCCLA criticizes new voter ID requirements as disenfranchising vulnerable people.
News release >>
November 28, 2006

Safe Streets Act: Laws For Us, Laws for Them
An article by Micheal Vonn, BCCLA policy director, that appeared in the October 20, 2004 issue of the Vancouver Sun.
Oct 20, 2004

Safe Streets Act
Street Sweeping the Poor
News release >>
Oct 7, 2004

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