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UNDRIP Action Plan – CAAN & the HIV Legal Network
kiskinohtahêw (s/he guides someone) proposing a legal remedies action plan to support and implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in alignment with Canadian law This action plan outlines specific measures to ensure that Canada’s laws are consistent with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, based on … Read more
2025 Election Candidate Questions – Response from the Bloc Québécois
On Friday, April 11, the HIV Legal Network wrote to the party leaders in the Canadian Federal election with key questions on their party’s positions on issues related to HIV, human rights, and the law. Download the response from the Bloc Québécois, received on April 16, 2025 (French only):
2025 Election Candidate Questions – Response from the Green Party of Canada
On Friday, April 11, the HIV Legal Network wrote to the party leaders in the Canadian Federal election with key questions on their party’s positions on issues related to HIV, human rights, and the law. Download the response from the Green Party of Canada, received on April 22, 2025:
Letters to Candidates – 2025 Canadian Federal Election
On Friday, April 11, the HIV Legal Network wrote to the party leaders in the Canadian Federal election with key questions on their party’s positions related to HIV, human rights, and the law. You can find the responses to these letters, as they come in, on our 2025 Canadian Federal Election page. The Right Honourable … Read more
Hard Time Persists: GENDER- RESPONSIVE HEALTHCARE AND HARM REDUCTION IN PRISON
Canada must ensure that women, trans, and gender-diverse people have access to gender-responsive and culturally safe healthcare, including harm reduction programs, in prison.
Submission to the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: Review of Canada at 32nd Session (March 3-21, 2025)
The HIV Legal Network (“Legal Network”) made this submission to the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (“Committee”) in advance of its review of Canada’s periodic report, detailing our concerns about Canada’s implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (“Convention”) with respect to the rights of people living with … Read more
HARD TIME PERSISTS: HEALTHCARE AND HARM REDUCTION FOR RACIALIZED PEOPLE IN PRISON
Historic and ongoing racism in Canada has had enormous impacts on the health and well-being of racialized individuals in the country. As a result of disproportionate policing, bias in our criminal legal system, and other forms of systemic discrimination, Black people, as well as Southeast Asian men continue to be overrepresented in the criminal legal … Read more
HARD TIME PERSISTS: HEALTHCARE AND HARM REDUCTION FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLE IN PRISON
Indigenous people in Canada have long been subjected to mass incarceration, due to the enduring legacy of colonialism and ongoing racism. In 2023, Indigenous people represented 32% of the federal prison population, while making up just 5% of the total adult population. In fact, the increasing incarceration of Indigenous women has resulted in Indigenous women … Read more
MEDIA RELEASE: Despite Ontario Superior Court injunction recognizing irreparable harm, most remaining supervised consumption sites still facing forced closure tomorrow
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Despite Ontario Superior Court injunction recognizing irreparable harm, most remaining supervised consumption sites still facing forced closure tomorrow Toronto, ON | March 31, 2025 — In a small victory for those advocating for evidence-informed services, one Toronto supervised consumption site facing forced closure April 1, 2025, will keep its doors open as … Read more
Media Statement: The Neighbourhood Group Community Services and HIV Legal Network’s Comment Following the Conclusion of the Ontario Superior Court Constitutional Challenge on Supervised Consumption Sites
This statement can be attributed to The Neighbourhood Group Community Services and the HIV Legal Network March 26, 2025 – TORONTO – As of Tuesday, March 25, court proceedings in this challenge to Ontario’s Community Care and Recovery Act (CCRA) have now concluded. We are proud of the case we mounted at the Ontario Superior … Read more
STATEMENT: ONTARIO’S SO-CALLED COMMUNITY CARE AND RECOVERY ACT THREATENS THE HEALTH, SAFETY, AND LIBERTY OF MOST VULNERABLE MEMBERS OF COMMUNITIES PROVINCE-WIDE
We intervened in this critical legal challenge to uphold the health and human rights of those who are all too often pushed aside. For immediate release The following can be attributed to the HIV Legal Network and the HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario (HALCO), co-intervenors in the court challenge to Ontario’s Community Care and … Read more
Media Release: The Neighbourhood Group Community Services Files Charter Challenge Against Community Care and Recovery Act
DECEMBER 10, 2024 – Toronto, ON – Today, The Neighbourhood Group Community Services (TNGCS), located in Toronto’s Kensington Market, has taken legal action against the Community Care and Recovery Act, which was recently passed in the Ontario Legislature as part of Bill 223. The Act will force the closure of at least 10 supervised consumption … Read more
Media Release: The Government of Canada has broken its promise to reform the laws that criminalize people living with HIV
People living with HIV in Canada still live under the threat of ongoing criminalization; Canadian Government’s decision to abandon law reform efforts met with disappointment and anger November 28, 2024 – Ottawa, ON — With World AIDS Day approaching on December 1, and as a 2025 federal election looms, the Government of Canada has communicated … Read more
Media Statement: The Government of Ontario is Attempting to Force Through a Deadly Drug Policy Bill
This statement can be attributed to the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, the Drug Strategy Network of Ontario, and the HIV Legal Network. November 27, 2024 — Toronto, ON | We are watching with grave concern as the Government of Ontario attempts to force through radical legislation that will eliminate life-saving supervised consumption services (SCS) and … Read more
Media Statement – Government of Ontario’s Bill to Close Supervised Consumption Sites will Lead to More Deaths and Untenable Strain on Hospitals and First Responders
Advocates denounce the Government’s deliberate choice to legislate an increase in deaths, public drug use, and healthcare costs by eliminating supervised consumption services This statement can be attributed to the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, Drug Strategy Network of Ontario, HIV Legal Network, and Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario. November 20, 2024 – Earlier this week, … Read more
Media Statement – Government of Ontario Plan Will Lead to More Preventable Drug Poisoning Deaths
Ontario’s new restrictions on supervised consumption services will result in more death during a worsening drug poisoning crisis; dead people cannot enter treatment. This statement can be attributed to the HIV Legal Network, the AIDS Committee of Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo, and Area (ACCKWA), Canadian Drug Policy Coalition, Drug Strategy Network of Ontario, DIY Community Health … Read more
CANADA MUST END THE CRIMINALIZATION OF PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV NOW
For immediate release Aussi disponible en français : The Government of Canada knows that law reform is needed but has yet to act in Parliament — and the world is watching as international advocates gather at AIDS 2024 in Munich The following statement can be attributed to the Canadian Coalition to Reform HIV Criminalization July 16, … Read more
Media Release – New Report from HIV Legal Network Examines Legal and Policy Barriers to Supervised Consumption Services in Canada
With supervised consumption services under attack in Canada, this report details an evidence-based response to scaling up life-saving services for people who use drugs For immediate release Thursday, May 30, 2024 — Toronto — The HIV Legal Network is sharing new evidence that underfunding and the strict regulations imposed on supervised consumption services (SCS) are … Read more