Search results for “site/human rights”

  • Hospital surgery corridor. Blurred figures of people with medical uniforms in hospital corridor

    Healthcare is a Human Right

    International Students Speak Out on Healthcare Inaccessibility in Manitoba Download 2.94 MB32 pages Five years after public health insurance was rescinded from international students in Manitoba, and in the aftermath of the most volatile years of the COVID-19 pandemic, this report brings together testimonials shared by international students across a…

  • Connect the dots: School boards, democracy, and human rights

    Democratic school boards could serve as a bulwark against far right attacks on education

    On a gray day last September, I attended a counter-protest at the Grand Parade in Halifax. I was there as part of “Education Saves Lives” – a response to the deceptively named “1 Million March4Kids”, a nationwide movement fueled by some parents’ opposition to what they call “gender ideology in…

  • BC Hydro

    Losing sight at Site C

    Court documents and FOI materials show BC Hydro knew shale would move at troubled construction project, yet Hydro proceeded with river diversion BC Hydro approved the pouring of massive amounts of concrete to build a buttress at its problem-plagued Site C dam project months before a critical drainage tunnel was…

  • Source: iStock

    The Parental Rights Trojan Horse

    Previously published in the Winnipeg Free Press August 21, 2023 On Thursday, the PC party promised to update the Public Schools Act and expand parental rights if elected. Premier Stefanson’s press conference began by outlining the changing technological landscape, but did not end with a discussion of how to increase…

  • From discrimination against temporary foreign workers to sexual harassment, there’s no shortage of issues a human rights commission could tackle

    British Columbia is the only province in Canada that does not have a Human Rights Commission. That makes us the weakest province when it comes to fostering human rights awareness and preventing discrimination. Currently BC only has a Human Rights Tribunal, which mediates and adjudicates complaints about discrimination after it…

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    Addressing the racism of the Temporary Foreign Worker Program

    There is renewed attention on Canada’s Temporary Foreign Worker Program (TFWP) in the wake of the recent damning report from the UN Special Rapporteur on Contemporary Forms of Slavery that calls the program “a breeding ground for contemporary forms of slavery.” Yet, the central critiques and recommendations made in the…

  • True reconciliation in BC requires implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

    In the span of a decade, we have moved from the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples being largely absent from political and public discourse in BC, to being fully endorsed by both the federal and provincial governments. In May 2017, implementation of the UN Declaration was called…

  • Report points to “gaping hole” in BC’s system of human rights protection

    Researchers call for an independent Human Rights Commission as BC fails to meet Canadian and international standards READ THE FULL REPORT HERE. Vancouver—Today is International Human Rights Day. But what does that mean here in BC, the only province in Canada without a human rights commission? A new report published…

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    Greenlighting fracking while protecting treaty rights?

    Agreement with BC aside, 1000s of gas wells await Blueberry River First Nations When the Blueberry River First Nations took the provincial government to court in March 2015, arguing that cumulative industrial developments had robbed them of their ability to hunt and fish, oil and gas companies could see trouble…

  • A convenient distraction: racism

    A convenient distraction: Is racist messaging being used in BC’s provincial election?

    Ever since the economy started to slow down, the political discourse in BC has shifted dramatically. Immigrants and international students are blamed for the housing crisis and for driving down wages; people experiencing homelessness, addiction or mental health crises are blamed for making public spaces “unsafe” and engaging in crime;…

  • James Gacek

    PhD (University of Edinburgh), Research Interests: (1) corrections and community justice; and (2) environmental crimes, harms and justice. He continues to extensively publish in sociological and criminological reviews, journals and international fora, particularly in areas of incarceration; genocidal carcerality; critical issues in media, justice, and security studies; the exploitation of…

  • A natural gas industry disposal well operation near BC's Hydro's Peace Canyon Dam. BC Hydro fears any re-sumption of pumping operations at the well site could trigger an earthquake with potentially devastating conse-quences for the dam and the safety of people living downstream. Photo © Garth Lenz.

    The Well from Hell

    Part 2 of a report on how fracking poses risks to BC Hydro’s Peace River Dams Read Part 1 of the report View timeline BC Hydro was so worried that its Peace Canyon dam could be badly damaged if an earthquake was triggered at a nearby natural gas industry disposal…