Category Archives: Publications

Human Rights Denied: Single Mothers on Social Assistance

Human Rights Denied documents the very difficult conditions in which single mothers are raising their children in British Columbia today. It is a call for the Government of British Columbia to abandon its current policies – because they are a cruel failure. Human Rights Denied: Single Mothers on Social Assistance (PDF)

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Gosselin v. Attorney General (Quebec): Autonomy with a Vengeance (2004)

In Gosselin v. Quebec (Attorney General), the first poverty case under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to reach the Supreme Court of Canada, the Court ruled against the applicant, Louise Gosselin and the class of social assistance recipients she represented. The decision is deeply divided, and the majority decision turns on a finding that the evidence […]

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Take The Welfare Time Limit Off the Books

The Government of British Columbia now says that, over the next year, only 339 people will be affected by the 24-month time limit on welfare––the rule intended to limit “employable” welfare recipients to two-years of support during any five year period. On Friday, the Government created a new exemption––the 25th. Now those who follow their […]

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Letter to the Prime Minister and BC Premier on welfare time limits

A letter written to Prime Minister Paul Martin and Premier Gordon Campbell, endorsed by 137 organizations, asking them to act immediately, together and separately, to ensure that legislation which imposes a twenty-four month time limit on eligibility for welfare in B.C. is rescinded before April 1, 2004, and that no similar provision is implemented in B.C. or any other […]

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The Right to Social Assistance: 14 Questions and Answers (October 2003)

British Columbia is the only province in Canada to place a time limit on welfare eligibility. From diverse perspectives, many people are concerned about the harmful results of this harsh and unprecedented new rule. This report is a response to numerous requests that the Poverty and Human Rights Project has received from concerned groups and […]

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Moving Forward on Women’s Equality, Brief to the Standing Committee on Finance Pre-Budget Consultation (September 2003)

The B.C. CEDAW Group submits that the federal government, when considering spending priorities, must take into account 1) the negative impact on women of recent cuts and changes to social programs and services made in the Province of British The B.C. CEDAW Group’s submission to the Standing Committee on Finance, outlining that the federal government, […]

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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 […]

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B.C. CEDAW Report: British Columbia Moves Backwards on Women’s Equality

B.C. CEDAW Report: British Columbia Moves Backwards on Women’s Equality, prepared by the Poverty and Human Rights Project for 12 women’s and anti-poverty organizations in British Columbia, submitted to the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women on the occasion of the review of Canada’s 5th report on its compliance with the […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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