Federal government moves backwards on human rights
World AIDS Day is traditionally a day for us to look back at an epidemic now entering its fifth decade, with love and an ever-lingering sadness for the lives lost, and a commitment to advocate for the rights of people who often experience poorer health outcomes because of stigma, inequitable access to healthcare and treatment, and other barriers.
We would normally take stock of how far our movement has come and offer a message of hope for a future where the rights of people living with and affected by HIV are respected, protected, and fulfilled.
Unfortunately, we can’t hide our disappointment and frustration on this World AIDS Day.
As you may already be aware, the Government of Canada has informed the Canadian Coalition to Reform HIV Criminalization (CCRHC) — of which the HIV Legal Network is a founding member — that Canada will not be keeping its promise to people living with HIV to reform the laws that criminalize HIV non-disclosure.
The government knows that it is going against the overwhelming consensus of legal and health experts throughout the world, and that continuing to criminalize people because of a health condition is contributing to an increase in HIV transmissions in Canada, driving people away from testing, treatment, and the care they need.
The federal government’s decision to abandon long-awaited law reform, after years of promises and commitments, is a devastating blow to people living with HIV and their allies across Canada. People living with HIV spoke to the continued harms that they experience at a media conference hosted by the CCRHC on Thursday, November 28. You can read the related press release here, see the press conference here, and find media coverage here (requires a Toronto Star subscription).
But this is far from the end of the story.
Advocates will continue to fight for meaningful change and against stigma and discrimination. The HIV Legal Network team will not rest until we see an end to HIV criminalization, in Canada and around the world. We know that Canada’s current approach is not aligned with the science of HIV transmission and is contrary to human rights and sound public health policy.
At the HIV Legal Network, we will continue to fight all of the laws and policies that punish people living with HIV and violate their human rights. Along with a client of Battista Migration Law Group, we are currently challenging the constitutionality of Canada’s “excessive demand” regime in federal court, which discriminates against people living with HIV who want to call this country home.
We will also continue to provide legal information to support people living with HIV to understand and advocate for their rights. Over this past year, we have produced a number of new and updated “Know Your Rights” resources to help people understand Canada’s punitive and deeply flawed laws that criminalize people living with HIV — including resources developed with our partners to provide culturally relevant information to Indigenous and African, Caribbean, and Black people.
Your support is essential to our mobilization efforts. The HIV Legal Network and the Canadian Coalition to Reform HIV Criminalization will continue to do the work that needs to be done to educate the public, to push our political leaders towards evidence-based policy-making, and to defend the rights and dignity of people living with HIV in all spheres of life.
Today, we are disappointed that our political leaders have not kept their promises, but we are not defeated.