Law & legal issues

Legal Aid Denied: A 20th Anniversary retrospective

Oct 20, 2017
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Legal Aid Denied: Women and the Cuts to Legal Services in BC was written in 2004 shortly after the election of a neo-conservative Liberal government in BC. The report outlined the nature of the changes this government quickly introduced to the provision of Legal Aid in BC including slashing funding from almost $100 million to… View Article

To protect her legacy, Premier Clark should put a moratorium on the destruction of documents

Jun 1, 2017
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British Columbia is in interesting times politically and that makes transparency around government decisions more important than ever. It is both a medium-term issue and a critical short-term issue. Controversies around access to government information dogged the government in recent years. The “triple delete” scandal saw a government functionary fined $2,500 for making false statements… View Article

A Dam Big Problem: Regulatory breakdown as fracking companies in BC’s northeast build dozens of unauthorized dams

May 3, 2017
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A subsidiary of Petronas, the Malaysian state-owned petro giant courted by the BC government, has built at least 16 unauthorized dams in northern BC to trap hundreds of millions of gallons of water used in its controversial fracking operations. The 16 dams are among “dozens” that have been built by Petronas and other companies without… View Article

Distinguishing consent from veto in an era of reconciliation

Apr 10, 2017
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An unfortunate legacy of the Harper era in Canada is that public officials and the media often conflate the right to consent for projects or policies that could affect Indigenous peoples with veto power. That error is not supported by Canadian or international law, and is at odds with the goal of reconciliation between Aboriginal… View Article

The crumbling case for two-tiered health care

Dec 15, 2016
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Brian Day has put Canadian universal health care on trial in BC Supreme Court, seeking to swing the doors open to privatization by challenging foundational laws that underpin our public health system. Yet ironically, at the same time, the public policy case for privatized health care is increasingly in tatters. As I recently discussed, the… View Article

Shining an international light on women’s human rights in BC

Oct 24, 2016
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The international spotlight is about to shine on Canada’s track record on women’s human rights and BC may get caught in the glare. Provincial and federal compliance with the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women is set to be reviewed on October 25th by the expert UN Committee tasked with… View Article

CETA: A significant shift from democratic governance

Oct 13, 2016
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Imagine a far-off dystopia when foreign corporations are given the same status as citizens in public hearings. When the overriding priority for government in issuing licenses for fracking, pipeline and other projects is to make the process simple for corporations. When, regardless of how much a project is opposed by the public, governments have to… View Article

Potential profits big enough to justify a massive lawsuit: 6 things you should know about the Cambie trial

Sep 8, 2016
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The biggest constitutional trial “perhaps ever” in Canada is now in court. The future of our publicly funded health care system is at stake. Putting Canadian Medicare on trial is complex, and vulnerable to the blatantly false and simplistic messaging that increasing “private care” will take the pressure off public wait lists, increase patient choice,… View Article