“Canada is a party to the three main UN drug control conventions, which aim to control illicit drugs by reducing supply and demand, in particular through requiring States Parties to adopt varying degrees of prohibitions and sanctions on a range of designated controlled substances, while also providing some degree of (often contested) flexibility for States … Read more
May 7, 2015 On April 30, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network co-hosted this ancillary event at the Annual Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS Research (CAHR), along with the Canadian Experts on HIV and Transmission Team, and HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario (HALCO). In 2012, the Supreme Court of Canada took a step in the wrong … Read more
May 7, 2015 On April 30, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network co-hosted an ancillary event on this topic at the Annual Canadian Conference on HIV/AIDS Research (CAHR), along with the Canadian Aboriginal AIDS Network (CAAN), Native Youth Sexual Health Network, Prisoners with HIV/AIDS Support Action Network (PASAN), and Ryerson University’s Department of Criminology. There’s a … Read more
While Ontario Attorney General Madeleine Meilleur has not yet publicly released her review of Canada’s new, misguided sex work law, we understand – according to a reported statement today by Premier Kathleen Wynne – that this review has found “no clear unconstitutionality” in the socalled Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act. We disagree with … Read more
As Bill C-2 comes up for a final vote in the House of Commons, organizations across Canada voice their support for life-saving supervised consumption services for people who use drugs. [Click here to read the Statement to Canadian Parliamentarians Opposing Bill C-2.]
“We strongly oppose Bill C-2 and ask our elected representatives to reject it and, instead of creating barriers, increase access to evidence-based prevention, harm reduction and treatment services in Canada. Our communities deserve better.”
Today, Members of Parliament are expected to vote on Bill C-2, the so-called Respect for Communities Act. This bill attacks the human rights of people who use drugs, impeding their access to life-saving harm reduction services. If it becomes law, Bill C-2 would create an onerous, unreasonable process for health authorities and community agencies seeking … Read more
“We, the undersigned non-governmental organizations and activists working for the promotion and protection of human rights and empowerment of all persons, regardless of their sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or intersex status, would like to express both disappointment and cautious optimism on the occasion of the adoption of the Political Declaration at the 59th … Read more
February 26, 2015 Despite widespread recognition that the so-called “war on drugs” has failed, we continue to read stories from around the world of the unjust criminalization, discrimination and the dehumanization of people who use drugs. In Russia, bad laws that infringe the rights of people who use drugs are fueling the HIV epidemic. People who … Read more
February 13, 2015 By now you know that last Friday, the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously ruled that people living in Canada have the constitutional right to medical assistance in dying, if they so choose. It was a landmark decision and a landmark day, both long in the making. We applaud this historic decision, and … Read more