Search results for “site/human rights”

  • Photo by Garth Lenz

    Fracking, earthquakes and hydro dams? Don’t worry. We have an understanding.

    This is the second of two posts. Read the first here. Efforts by BC Hydro to ban potentially destructive natural gas company fracking operations in the vicinity of its biggest dams fall well short of what an Alberta hydro provider has achieved, raising questions about why British Columbia isn’t doing…

  • Stack of papers with a magnifying glass resting on them

    Time to end information hide-and-seek games: Public deserves more prompt government disclosure of basic data

    No one should be told to file a Freedom of Information request simply to learn who works for them. Government must give members of the public access to up-to-date and useful information on who is there to serve them and quit obfuscating and abusing access to information laws, Ben Parfitt…

  • Making Women Count

    We need more than words to end violence against women

    It’s easier to think that violence is something that happens to someone else—in a different country, a different community, a different home. But the truth is that every day, everywhere, women are raped, beaten and killed just because they are women. Women like Loretta Saunders, an Inuk student at Saint…

  • Does Canada have unfree workers?

    In mid-March, Canadians were met with news reports about the arrest of migrant workers by agents of the Canada Border Security Agency, while a reality-show TV crew recorded the action. This incident caused immediate concerns about whether migrant workers have the privacy rights that Canadians treasure. But we should also…

  • Call the inquiry

    “I think, though, this is not a time to commit sociology.” —Prime Minister Stephen Harper, April 25, 2013 On August 21, facing new calls for an inquiry into Canada’s missing and murdered Aboriginal women after the body of 15-year-old Tina Fontaine was pulled out of the Red River in Winnipeg,…

  • BC’s draft human rights legislation a giant step in the wrong direction

    As deadline for submissions on draft legislation passes, human rights expert says proposed changes no improvement to system READ THE FULL REPORT. Vancouver – Human rights expert Shelagh Day says the provincial government’s recommended changes to BC’s human rights system are a giant step in the wrong direction. She says…

  • The Latin American Revolution (III)

    The U.S. Empire strikes back through a coup in Honduras At 1 a.m. on June 28, Manuel Zelaya, the elected progressive President of Honduras, was roused from his bed at gunpoint by masked Honduran army soldiers, who kidnapped him in his pajamas and put him on a plane to Costa…

  • Ontario vs. Toronto: Democracy on trial

    Not even three full months into his reign as Ontario premier, the battle lines between Doug Ford and the City of Toronto have been drawn and democracy is on trial.Premier Ford threw Toronto’s October 22nd municipal election campaign into chaos this summer by arbitrarily cutting the number of seats almost…

  • Human (Anti) Nature

    Why do we ignore scientists’ warnings of ecological disaster? On the front page of one its issues last fall, Maclean’s displayed the visage of Canada’s pre-eminent environmentalist, David Suzuki. It bannered in large capital letters a quote attributed to Suzuki that “ENVIRONMENTALISM HAS FAILED,” with a subhead claiming, “David Suzuki…

  • Consumer rights and responsibilities in the age of climate change and big data

    I’ll be attending the Consumers 150 conference in Ottawa this week, which is co-organized by the Public Interest Advocacy Centre, Option consommateurs, Consumers Council of Canada and Union des consommateurs. The event is billed as a chance to analyze today’s high-profile consumer rights issues—national pharmacare, the sharing economy, climate change…

  • Preventing discrimination before it occurs

    The human rights process starts with the filing of a complaint of discrimination. In BC, the complaint is filed with the BC Human Rights Tribunal. Filing an effective complaint requires a good deal of time and effort. It can be hard to devote that time and effort if, for example,…

  • Legislated Paid Sick Leave – A Historic Moment for Worker Rights

    The BC government will implement the right for all employees to have a minimum number of employer-paid sick days on January 1, 2022. BC will become just the third province in Canada to do so—and has an opportunity to make history by bringing in the strongest, most well-designed program in the country. Last…