Bylaws Preventing Homeless From Erecting Shelters Found Unconstitutional The BCCLA applauds the British Columbia Supreme Court judgment released today in Victoria (City) v. Adams, which decides that Victoria’s bylaws that prevent homeless people from erecting temporary shelters violate section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

BCCLA Criticizes Voter ID Requirements in Advance of Federal Election The BCCLA opposes new federal voting rules that require all voters to produce identification at the polls. Amendments to the Canada Elections Act will require a driver’s license or two pieces of approved ID that contain a voter’s name and address to confirm voter eligibility.

BCCLA Calls for Government Investigation and Action Against VANOC'S Unconscionable Efforts to Stifle Free Speech The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games purchases of outdoor advertising locations for the ten-week period surrounding the Olympic Games amounts to an unconscionable effort to suppress other viewpoints.

BCCLA Boycotts RCMP Complaints Process The BCCLA is boycotting the RCMP public complaints process where civil remedies in court or other agencies are available. After many years of assisting complainants and launching its own complaints, the BCCLA has concluded that the process is fundamentally flawed and does not work.

BCCLA Calls for a Halt to Gov't Copyright Trade Negotiations The proposed ACTA initiative appears to us likely to lead to more litigation and less clarity about the rights of ordinary Canadians. It appears that the rights of individuals will get trampled in the process.

BCCLA Opposes Use of Foreign Police in Canada The BCCLA has complained that Texas State Troopers were permitted by the RCMP to engage in law enforcement activities as part of an exchange program in British Columbia focused on the drug trade.

BCCLA Granted Opportunity to Present Public Interest Argument in Freedom of Information CaseThe BCCLA has been granted the opportunity to present its position to the Supreme Court of Canada in Criminal Lawyers’ Association v. Ontario, a case which involves the scope of freedom of expression and access to information. At issue in the case is whether portions of the Ontario Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act infringe the Charter right to freedom of expression. Ontario’s privacy legislation gives the government an absolute right to withhold information by saying its release would compromise law enforcement activities.