Canadian Civil Liberties Association

CCLA Reacts To Senator’s “Give Them Rope” Idea

Communications — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:04:35 +0000

Email sent to Senator Boisvenu by CCLA general counsel Nathalie Des Rosiers on February 3, 2012

Senator,

Many efforts are being made to prevent suicide particularly for people who suffer from depression. Remarks from a public figure like you, Senator, that encourage people to commit suicide are particularly damaging to the various campaigns for suicide prevention. On behalf of the families who have lost one of theirs to suicide, [...]

CCLA Concerned about Criminal Libel Charges

Cara Zwibel — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:23:04 +0000

The CCLA has recently learned of the arrest of a Fredericton blogger under the Criminal Code’s criminal libel provisions. The blogger is alleged to have defamed a member of the Fredericton Police Force and was subsequently arrested and had his home searched and computer equipment seized. Criminal libel charges are very rare in Canada and [...]

February 2012 e-bulletin

Communications — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 17:52:21 +0000

Dear friends of CCLA,

January 28th is International Privacy Day – it marks the anniversary of the first international convention on privacy and data collection in 1981. As we celebrate this anniversary and embark on 2012, it is time to reflect on the current threats to privacy. Late in 2011, the federal government announced plans to [...]

CCLA’s Report to the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association

Cara Zwibel — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 21:40:32 +0000

The UN’s Special Rapporteur on freedom of peaceful assembly and association has invited countries, national human rights institutions and NGOs to complete a questionnaire on best practices in the protection of freedom of peaceful assembly and association. The CCLA has submitted a response to the questionnaire that aims to address the positive protections that exist in Canada [...]

Nathalie Des Rosiers Named To The Order Of Ontario

Communications — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:31:26 +0000

General counsel of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association Nathalie Des Rosiers is one of 27 Ontarians being appointed to The Order of Ontario. The Government of Ontario’s news release notes that Ms. Des Rosiers is “a legal expert who has made groundbreaking efforts to ensure that victims of child sexual abuse get compensation for their [...]

Supreme Court Considers Public Interest Standing

Cara Zwibel — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 16:10:10 +0000

The Supreme Court of Canada is today hearing arguments on the test for public interest standing in the case of Attorney General of Canada v. Downtown Eastside Sex Workers United Against Violence Society et al. This case is a challenge brought by a group of sex workers from Vancouver to the prostitution-related offences under the [...]

Discussion: CBSA’s “Most Wanted List”

Communications — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:55:58 +0000

A conversation about a Canadian government fugitive list put out by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). The list includes some of the people the agency wants to deport from Canada for allegedly being war criminals, or for a number of other alleged offences. MASALA CANADA, a Radio Canada International program hosted by Wojtek Gwiazda, discusses the [...]

Gideon Bible Distribution in the Schools

Cara Zwibel — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 15:51:01 +0000

The issue of public school boards distributing Gideon Bibles is once again before some Ontario school boards. CCLA has previously expressed concerns about this practice and wrote about the issue to the Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) on a number of occasions. The WRDSB subsequently rescinded their policy on the distribution of non-instructional religious [...]

Event: Media, Politics and Protest Camps in the Occupy Social Movement

Communications — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 21:50:32 +0000

CCLA in Supreme Court to maintain meaningful redress for police wrongdoing

abby — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:22:46 +0000

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association intervened in Penner v. NRPSB, a case before the Supreme Court of Canada that will examine whether a finding by the police complaints system can effectively terminate an ongoing or subsequent civil action.

An individual who has been mistreated by the police has a number of remedies:

A victim may complain to [...]