Submission to the United Nations Working Group on the issue of discrimination against women in law and in practice. The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network (“Legal Network”) welcomes this opportunity to provide comments to the United Nations Working Group on discrimination against women in law and in practice (“Working Group”) on the issue of women deprived … Read more
“Exploitation within the sex industry, including human trafficking, is of great concern to sex workers and to allied groups such as the Legal Network working to uphold sex workers’ human rights. However, anti-trafficking policies must be based on evidence and human rights — not ideological positions on sex work or moral panic.”
The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network welcomes this opportunity to provide comments on recommendations that Canada has received during its third Universal Periodic Review (UPR), which took place on May 11, 2018. In this brief, the Legal Network provides comments on priority recommendations that Canada should consider accepting of the 299 recommendations received during the UPR. … Read more
Why the Caribbean? And why LGBTI human rights? As a region, the Caribbean has the second-highest HIV prevalence rate in the world, after sub-Saharan Africa. UNAIDS and regional and national agencies have identified homophobia as a factor contributing to this troubling statistic. In numerous countries, particularly the Commonwealth Caribbean, the criminalization of consensual same-sex relationships … Read more
This submission is made jointly by the HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario (HALCO) and the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network in response to the call for comments from the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada on its Draft Position on Online Reputation. The rapid proliferation of personal information online, driven by the monetization of … Read more
While Bill C-66, An Act to establish a procedure for expunging certain historically unjust convictions and to make related amendments to other Acts (“Bill C-66”), was described by Member of Parliament Randy Boissonnault as a law intended to address criminal offences that were used “to victimize LGBTQ2S+ people systematically,” the Legal Network and HALCO are … Read more
Note: this brief was originally published in 2018 and has been updated with recent developments in 2020. In recent years, the Government of Canada has renewed a commitment to ongoing dialogue and constructive engagement with civil society in the response to HIV, hepatitis C virus (HCV) and other sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBIs). In … Read more
The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (“IRPA”) stipulates that foreign nationals are inadmissible to Canada on health grounds if their health condition might reasonably be expected to cause an “excessive demand” on health or social services, or if they have an inadmissible family member (i.e., an inadmissible spouse or dependent child). In this submission, we will … Read more
Why “pop-up” overdose prevention sites are a legally justifiable and morally necessary response to the opioid overdose crisis and government inaction.
“There is no evidence that mandatory prison time for people convicted of drug offences reduces the problems associated with drug use, or drug use itself. “At the same time, there is a growing body of evidence that mandatory minimum sentences wreak terrible damage on individuals (particularly those who are dependent on drugs), families and communities, … Read more