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
The 1981 bathhouse raids in Toronto were a brutal attack by the police force on members of a marginalized community. On February 5th of that year, four bathhouses were simultaneously raided by police, who arrested and humiliated the men inside. These men had done nothing wrong, but some were convicted of being “found-ins at a … Read more
OTTAWA, March 27, 2018 – Today, Maurice Tomlinson, Senior Policy Advisor with the Legal Network, spoke to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration about his personal experience of immigrating to Canada and shared recommendations for improving the process for LGBTQ refugee claimants. Click below to download the text of his oral … Read more
“By some estimates, approximately 400 million LGBT persons live under the threat of criminal imprisonment or even death in their home country. The Immigration and Refugee Board (IRB) is faced with thousands of refugee claimants each year trying to escape persecution in their home country simply because of their sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. While strides have been made to improve the cultural sensitivity of IRB members, more could be done to enhance the cultural competence of IRB members—charged with making decisions about the lives of LGBT persons seeking asylum in Canada.”
The following blog post contains images and descriptions of violence against LGBTQI people which may be upsetting. By Maurice Tomlinson, Senior Policy Analyst The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network joins Barbadian organizations and individuals in calling for immediate police action in the recent savage attack against local transgender activist Alexa Hoffmann. On the morning of Sunday, … Read more
Thanks to the work of local activists, supported by the voices of people and organizations—including the Legal Network—opposed to hate in all its forms, an American hate-preacher was prevented from spreading his murderous message in Jamaica. Initially, it looked as if the efforts would be for naught. Steven Anderson, an American extremist Christian “pastor” who … Read more
The Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, the HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario (HALCO) and the Canadian Professional Association for Transgender Health (CPATH), welcome today’s decision by Ontario’s Superior Court of Justice (Divisional Court) regarding whether doctors can put their personal religious beliefs ahead of patients’ rights to health care. As we argued before the court, … Read more
TORONTO, August 28, 2017 — The Government of Canada must take immediate steps to implement recommendations by the United Nations’ highest body for combatting racism calling for an end to punitive drug policies that disproportionately impact Black and Indigenous Peoples, the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network said today. In its Concluding Observations on its review of … Read more
Las minorías raciales son desproporcionadamente acusadas, procesadas y encarceladas en Canadá usando leyes que criminalizan a las personas que usan drogas y quitándoles sus derechos a un trato igualitario en el sistema de justicia, a su seguridad como persona y a los servicios de salud y sociales. El hecho que Canadá no ofrezca a los … Read more
Racialized communities are disproportionately charged, prosecuted and incarcerated in Canada under laws that criminalize people who use drugs, depriving them of their rights to equal treatment in the justice system, to security of the person, and to health and social services. Canada’s failure to provide prisoners, who are disproportionately Indigenous and Black, with equivalent access … Read more