THECommitment DEMOCRATIC JOURNAL OF THE BRITISH COLUMBIA CIVIL LIBERTIES ASSOCIATION MARCH 2000, VOLUME 33 NUMBER 4 Annual Report for 1999 Annual General Meeting The Annual General Meeting of the BC Civil Liberties Association will be Thursday, March 30, 2000 at 7:30 pm in the YWCA, Room 1 on the 4th Floor, 535 Hornby Street, Vancouver, BC Guest Speaker: Andrew Coyne, syndicated national affairs columnist for the National Post The Fourth Annual Reg Robson Civil Liberties Award will be presented in honour of the late Constable Gil Puder Honourary directors The BC Civil Liberties Association takes pride that prominent individuals from a variety of backgrounds and political persuasions demonstrate their belief in the importance of our work by lending their names to our list of Honourary Directors. The BC Civil Liberties Association This year, we are especially pleased that 425 - 815 West Hastings Street former British Columbia Information and Vancouver, BC V6C 1B4 Privacy Commissioner, David Flaherty, Phone: (604) 687-2919 has agreed to lend his support to the E-mail: [email protected] Association. Web: www.bccla.org Office hours: 9:00 am to 4:30 pm David Barrett Monday to Friday. Ron Basford, PC, QC Thomas Berger, QC, OC Board of Directors Robin Blaser Craig Jones, President The Right Honourable Sam Black, Vice-President Kim Campbell, PC, QC John Dixon, Secretary Andrew Coyne Alan Rowan, Treasurer Hugh Curtis Dale Beyerstein, Warren Bourgeois Bill Deverell Walter Block, Alister Browne Phil Bryden, John Cox F.E. Devito Steven Davis, Greg DelBigio David Flaherty Conrad Hadland, Avigail Eisenberg John Fraser, PC, QC Alayne Fleishman, Hamar Foster Gordon Gibson Tom Gore, Gordon Ingalls Patricia O. Hall Andrew Irvine, Stephen Katz Don Hamilton Ross Lambertson, Bob Lane Mike Harcourt John J. McIntyre, Ann Pollak Walter Hardwick Dino Rossi, John Russell Rev. Phillip Hewett Martin T. Schechter, Bob Seeman Art Lee David Sutherland, Tanya West James M. Williams Alex MacDonald, QC Rafe Mair Staff Darlene Marzari Murray Mollard, Pam Murray Harry Rankin, QC John Westwood, Lil Woywitka Father James Roberts Svend Robinson, MP The Democratic Commitment is a Rev. John Shaver quartlery publication of the BC Civil Homer Stevens Liberties Association. The Association David Suzuki was established in 1962, and is the oldest continuously active civil liberties association in Canada. Its mandate is to preserve, defend, maintain and extend civil liberties and human rights in British Columbia and across 2 Canada. THE DEMOCRATIC COMMITMENT 1999 Annual Report Table of contents A brief history of the BCCLA..........................................................................4 Presidents message.........................................................................................7 Brickbats & bouquets......................................................................................9 Reg Robson civil liberties award....................................................................10 1999 highlights..............................................................................................11 New positions................................................................................................16 Meetings & delegations.................................................................................19 Casework.....................................................................................................20 Board of Directors..........................................................................................26 Volunteers.............................................................................................................27 Staff................................................................................................................29 Membership report........................................................................................30 Treasurers report..........................................................................................31 Auditors report.............................................................................................32 Financial statements.....................................................................................33 [The BCCLA is] a scrupulously non-partisan associationdefender of the free speech of bigoted right-wingers and liberal- minded homosexuals and... [is] a seriously undervalued treasure in our community. Stan Persky Vancouver Sun, March 20, 1999 3 THE DEMOCRATIC COMMITMENT 1999 Annual Report Brief history of the BCCLA The BC Civil Liberties Association, which was established in 1962, is the oldest continuously active civil liberties organization in Canada. We are a non-profit, non-partisan organization incorporated under the Society Act, with charitable status under the Income Tax Act. ROM OUR BEGINNINGS as a small In setting policy, the BCCLA Board of volunteer group that met in Directors carefully weighs claims to rights F and freedoms against competing rights and members homes, the BCCLA has grown in size and stature over the years. against the public interest. As a result, our We now have a modest, four-person views on matters of public importance are office in Vancouver, relatively stable often sought by governments, by private funding and a large and active Board of sector institutions, and by the media. Directors. When we judge that a law or policy The major areas of our work are: violates civil liberties, our first, second and n assisting individuals to address third strategies are to try to persuade the violations of their civil liberties government or institution to change it. n educating citizens about the importance Going to court is expensive and time of protecting civil liberties consuming. However, if all else fails, we n encouraging reform of laws and policies are prepared to litigate the issue or which infringe on civil liberties. intervene in a court challenge. Casework HE BCCLA DOES NOT NORMALLY n meeting with school officials and Toffer legal advice or school boards on such topics as teaching representation. We mainly offer creationism in science classes, students paralegal and practical advice, help clients access to sex education and random to use existing complaints mechanisms searches of student lockers and make submissions to government n approaching the Police Commission bodies and officials on their behalf. In rare with concerns about high speed police cases we may arrange for pro bono counsel chases, police use of breach of the peace to represent a client when there is an powers and videotaping police interactions important civil liberties principle at stake. with citizens Typical examples of casework are: n critiquing the McEwen Report into n successfully defending a local theatre alleged sexism and racism in UBCs charged with obscenity for producing the Political Science Department critically acclaimed play The Beard n sitting as a member of the PharmaNet n arranging for counsel for clients facing Committee which oversees some uses of Police Board hearings into their police the sensitive prescription information on complaints BC citizens n successfully challenging a provincial n attending meetings with clients when government decision to remove abortions they are interviewed by police about their from coverage under the Medical Services complaints. 4Plan continued on next page Ü THE DEMOCRATIC COMMITMENT 1999 Annual Report Brief history of the BCCLA continued from previous page Public education HE KEY TO PROTECTING fundamental therapies; Liberties, a collection of rights and freedoms is an important BCCLA position papers; and T The Privacy Handbook, a practical guide informed and vigilant citizenry. From the beginning the BC Civil Liberties to citizens privacy rights Association has devoted considerable n writing, translating into four resources to producing and publishing foreign languages, and distributing The handbooks, brochures and a quarterly Citizenship Handbook, a guide to journal; speaking at public gatherings and citizenship rights and responsibilities in the media; and (more recently) taking for new Canadians; and a companion advantage of the opportunities presented brochure Civil Liberties in Canada ... by the Internet. Our and How to Protect Them public education n publishing and distributing the The police must have efforts have included: brochures Drug Testing in the legal authority to n producing and Workplace and Making a Complaint search somebody or distributing Against the Police continuously since n organizing the conference The move them along; they 1963 our quarterly Charter: Ten Years After do not have that journal The Democratic n speaking at numerous conferences, authority... simply Commitment workshops and seminars on civil because it is New Years n publishing and liberties topics Eve. distributing three n making numerous presentations in widely-read 1990 schoolsto 1997 Executive Director John Westwood handbooks: Youth and n traveling around the province to Vancouver Sun,December 29, 1999 the Law, Discrimination, speak at public gatherings and and Arrest: Civil Rights encourage the formation of local civil and Police Powers liberties groups n conducting two landmark studies, n designing and maintaining a web Ethnic Conflict in Vancouver and AIDS site (www.bccla.org) containing Discrimination in Canada, and position papers, legal factums, distributing reports on these submissions to governments, press n publishing and distributing the releases and case updates books Catastrophic Rights, on AIDS n appearing