Centre Publications
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| British Columbia, Human Rights Commission, human rights lawBritish Columbia human rights law welfare United Nations social rights economic rights women's poverty Canadian government social program cuts homelessness social assistance domestic human rights law Gosselin v. A.G. Québec advocacy Q & As Human Rights Commission human rights housing Charter BC CEDAW poverty human rights treaties Social Union Framework Agreement Woodward's squat tent city BC Housing Corporation single mothers women's inequality
Category: Commentary
UN singles out BC government on women’s rights (March 2003)
B.C. is not meeting its obligations to women under international human rights law. That
was the clear message of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of
Discrimination against Women in comments issued recently in New York City.
The U.N. Committee singled out the province of British Columbia for criticism in its
review of Canada’s compliance with the United [...]
Posted in Commentary Tagged British Columbia, social program cuts, United Nations, welfare, women's poverty
Majority embraces stereotype of the poor (December 2002)
Majority Embraces Stereotype of Poor
by Shelagh Day
The majority decision of the Supreme Court of Canada in last week’s welfare rights case,
Gosselin v Quebec, is a disturbing one. Five judges endorsed a Quebec scheme that
consigned thousands of 18 to 30 year old welfare recipients to extreme poverty, and
found that it did not harm the human dignity [...]
Posted in Commentary Tagged Gosselin v. A.G. Québec, human rights law, poverty, social rights, welfare
Who’s in contempt over the Woodward’s squat? (November 2002)
the BC Housing Corporation dropped proceedings against
the 54 Woodwards squatters charged in October with contempt of court for occupying a
publicly-owned and vacant building. The Corporation seems to have realized that
continuing the contempt proceedings against the “Woodwards 54” would have increased
the public’s sympathy for the protesters, and further underlined the contempt that the
provincial government is guilty [...]
Posted in Commentary Tagged BC Housing Corporation, British Columbia, homelessness, housing, Woodward's squat
Proposed human rights legislation gets failing grade (September 2002)
For the second time in twenty years, the Government of British Columbia has decided to
abolish its Human Rights Commission. If the draft legislation set out in Bill 53 passes,
the Commission will be erased again, this time in the name of providing British
Columbians with a new, more efficient “direct access” model of human rights
enforcement.
For the second [...]
Posted in Commentary Tagged British Columbia, Human Rights Commission, human rights law
Human rights plunge into the past (April 2002)
Human rights in British Columbia may be about to plunge backwards by twenty years. In
1983 Bill Bennett abolished the Human Rights Commission, fired all the Commissioners
and staff, and narrowed human rights legislation in one sweeping assault. Though a little
slower off the mark, the current government seems poised to substantially weaken the
province’s human rights institutions and [...]
Posted in Commentary Tagged British Columbia, Human Rights Commission, human rights law
Take The Welfare Time Limit Off the Books