Newsroom

On International Overdose Awareness Day, over 70 Canadian civil society organizations have endorsed an urgent call to action addressed to all levels of government, urging politicians to immediately implement five recommendations that will serve as initial steps of a nationwide crisis response to reduce opioid overdose fatalities and injuries across the country. Call to Action: ACTION … Read more

The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network applauds yesterday’s landmark decision from the Supreme Court of Belize, which overturned the country’s archaic law prohibiting “carnal intercourse against the order of nature,” setting a precedent for LGBTI human rights that we hope will ripple across the region.

TORONTO, July 8, 2016 — The Jamaican Supreme Court on July 6 handed down its ruling on applications by nine religious groups and the Public Defender to be interested parties in a challenge by Jamaican lawyer Maurice Tomlinson to the country’s anti-sodomy law. All the groups except the Public Defender were allowed in the case with … Read more

As an increasing number of jurisdictions consider whether and how to legalize and regulate access to cannabis, tensions are growing between these initiatives and countries’ obligations under the UN drug control conventions. A groundbreaking new report produced by a coalition of legal and drug policy experts offers strategies for countries exploring regulatory approaches to cannabis … Read more

Close to 250 Canadian organizations have signed a statement urging federal and provincial governments to immediately implement prisonbased needle and syringe programs (PNSPs) in institutions across the country. Representing the views of a broad cross-section of Canadian civil society, the statement highlights the overwhelming scientific, empirical and human rights rationale for Canada’s governments to act … Read more

The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network applauds Amnesty International’s “State Obligations to Respect, Protect and Fulfil the Human Rights of Sex Workers,” released today, which calls for the removal of all laws and policies that make sex work a criminal offence, including those that prohibit selling, buying or facilitating sex work or living off its proceeds.

May 17, 2016 The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network applauds the federal government’s introduction today of Bill C-16, which will update the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Criminal Code to recognize the rights of transgender people. As Canada’s leading organization working on human rights issues related to HIV, we have previously called for federal legislative … Read more

One hundred Canadian civil society organizations are calling on the Canadian federal government to champion progressive and evidence-based drug policy positions at this week’s world forum on drugs. Spearheaded by the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network and the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition (CDPC), this civil society groundswell is asking federal Health Minister Dr. Jane Philpott to … Read more

As a coalition of interveners in the Supreme Court of Canada case, R. v. Lloyd, we applaud the Court for recognizing that a mandatory minimum sentence (MMS) for certain drug offences is not only harsh and damaging, but also unconstitutional. We hope that this decision is one more step towards ending Canada’s harmful, punitive approach … Read more

TORONTO, February 3, 2016 — A research study has concluded that prison-based needle and syringe programs (PNSPs), which provide sterile injection equipment to prisoners who inject drugs and help prevent the spread of HIV and hepatitis C virus (HCV), are indisputably feasible in Canada and should be implemented in Canadian prisons without delay. Report: On … Read more