Racism & racial justice

To reduce gender inequality, introduce paid sick leave

Mar 9, 2021
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In the week of International Women’s Day let’s celebrate BC’s positive steps toward gender equality while bringing attention to the changes still needed.   When it comes to gender and (paid) work, one recent big achievement is the BC government’s introduction of job-protected paid leave for workers who experience sexual and domestic violence. In March 2020,… View Article
Photo of Japanese Canadian elementary school students at Pine Crescent Elementary School, Bay Farm, BC. The BC Government refused to pay for the education of these students.

The Racism behind Japanese Canadian Internment Can’t Be Forgotten

Jun 25, 2020
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When John Horgan talked about BC’s historic racism, he failed to mention Japanese Canadians. Here’s why it matters. Premier John Horgan began a media conference on June 3 with a statement about racism and the “blemishes” on BC’s history. Horgan mentioned the head tax used to restrict immigration from China and the Komagata Maru incident that highlighted Canada’s discriminatory… View Article

CCPA statement on systemic state violence and anti-Black racism

Jun 2, 2020
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The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives is angered and outraged by ongoing police violence and brutality against Black citizens and protestors across the continent. And while much of the current media attention is focused on the United States, these same problems are painfully alive and present across Canada, including in every province where CCPA offices… View Article

Elevating Indigenous women’s voices is critical to addressing gendered colonial violence

Apr 3, 2019
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These are the voices of Indigenous women survivors documented in a powerful new report, Red women rising: Indigenous women survivors in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. The comprehensive study centres the stories of Indigenous women living in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. The research grew out of activities around the Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Women and was carried… View Article

From discrimination against temporary foreign workers to sexual harassment, there’s no shortage of issues a human rights commission could tackle

Dec 10, 2014
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British Columbia is the only province in Canada that does not have a Human Rights Commission. That makes us the weakest province when it comes to fostering human rights awareness and preventing discrimination. Currently BC only has a Human Rights Tribunal, which mediates and adjudicates complaints about discrimination after it has occurred. The Tribunal does… View Article