158 search results for
Independent offices of the Legislature
Recommendation 3:
We call upon all levels of government to fully implement Jordan’s Principle.
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Recommendation 17:
We call upon all levels of government to enable residential school Survivors and their families to reclaim names changed by the residential school system by waiving administrative costs for a period of five years for the name-change process and the revision of official identity documents, such as birth certificates, passports, driver’s licenses, health cards, status cards, and social insurance numbers.
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Recommendation 21:
To facilitate meaningful access to counsel, we recommend legislation or policy providing:
- That outside agencies should be allowed to provide in-person legal aid clinics in SIUs on a regular basis.
- That CSC staff must deliver and facilitate all legal callback requests within 24 hours.
- That CSC must share relevant documentation directly with counsel at least three days in advance of all SIU reviews, without requiring a signed consent form.
- That outgoing faxes to counsel be provided to all prisoners free of charge and within one working day.
- That prisoners be provided sufficient time to meet with counsel in person, in a confidential room.
- That all necessary steps be taken to facilitate the attendance of counsel at hearings, including advising counsel of the time and date of the hearing as soon as it is scheduled and confirming requests by counsel to attend.
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Recommendation 8:
To ensure that the review reflects the current reality of both publicly subsidized and private-pay assisted living residences, the Seniors Advocate would begin by conducting three mini audits:
- To determine the proportion of residents currently living in assisted living residences who do not qualify for assisted living (as defined by the Bill 16 amendments) and identify the extent to which there are problems related to inappropriate prescribing and the lack of safeguards in medication storage;
- To determine the percentage of current residents in long-term care who do not require this level of support and who could be more appropriately supported in an assisted living residence (instead of relying on RAI-MDS data as is currently the case); and
- To determine the number of assisted living residents using emergency services, and the reason for and frequency of these visits and the costs to the system.
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Recommendation 6:
This would determine how to operationalize Bill 16 in ways that support a broad continuum of affordable seniors’ residences and care services and ensure access to high-quality assisted living services for all British Columbians who could benefit from them. This review would include an outreach plan to gather input from residents in assisted living, their families and friends, assisted living staff and community members on how this sector should be reconfigured, and on the services and staffing supports required to ensure a sustainable and viable relational model of care.
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Recommendation 15:
The Supreme Court of Canada, in Michel v. Graydon, which specifically deals with the B.C. Family Law Act, discusses principles that apply to the interpretation of statutes which directly bear on the role of the B.C. Legislature in upholding children’s rights, including their participation rights. The concurring judgment states: (1) that the Legislature is presumed to take into account Canada’s international obligations, which includes those found in the CRC (at para. 103); and (2) that the Legislature is taken to know the social and historical context in which it makes its intention known (at para. 97). The literature, taking an approach consistent with these principles, suggests that the Legislature plays a critical role in implementing children’s right to participate effectively in court processes. Though many important legislative, regulatory and policy steps have been taken, the literature identifies several others that are necessary to meet B.C.’s obligations to children in family law and child welfare processes. They include the specific incorporation of the CRC in both the FLA and the CFCSA, ensuring that both court processes incorporate procedural safeguards and guarantees, making sure that children in court processes are fully informed of their participatory rights and allowing children to apply for declarations relating to their best interests.
In addition, specific legislative changes and clarifications are necessary in the FLA and the CFCSA. For the FLA, these include a review of the following sections: s. 37(1) (b), views of the child; the s. 1 definition of family violence (to clarify that intent is not required); s. 203, dealing with legal representation; s. 199, dealing with conflict and family violence; and s. 37(2)(j), considering any other civil or criminal proceeding. For the CFCSA, amendments are required which provide the legal advice and representation children require throughout the processes, as well as specific provisions relating to hearing children’s views.
In addition, specific legislative changes and clarifications are necessary in the FLA and the CFCSA. For the FLA, these include a review of the following sections: s. 37(1) (b), views of the child; the s. 1 definition of family violence (to clarify that intent is not required); s. 203, dealing with legal representation; s. 199, dealing with conflict and family violence; and s. 37(2)(j), considering any other civil or criminal proceeding. For the CFCSA, amendments are required which provide the legal advice and representation children require throughout the processes, as well as specific provisions relating to hearing children’s views.
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Recommendation 1:
The Representative is calling for a special convening of the child-serving systems and the children, youth, families and communities they serve to respond to the cracks in our care system that are contributing to children and youth being pushed and pulled away from the systems of care and being subjected to increased risks of serious incidents or critical injuries and deaths. To address the root systemic and structural causes of children and youth going missing from the child welfare system we need to collectively explore:
- What are the conditions of unbelonging that lead to children becoming lost or missing in the child welfare system?
- How are children’s unmet needs across systems contributing to them going missing?
- How do we align systems of care and protection to respond more effectively and uphold the rights of children who have disappeared in the system?
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Recommendation 23:
The Province of British Columbia must amend the Human Rights Code, RSBC 1996, c 210 to prohibit discrimination and harassment based on social condition.
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Recommendation 21:
The BC Human Rights Commission to prioritize stigma-auditing areas of law and policy that most directly impact highly stigmatized populations including sex workers in areas such as:
- Public space governance,
- Income assistance and disability policy,
- Housing policy and residential tenancy law,
- Child welfare law and policy,
- Policing law and policy,
- Health policy related to mental health and substance use,
- Privacy law as it relates to people who live in public spaces and people who are criminalized as a result of poverty and substance use.
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Recommendation 3:
The BC Human Rights Commission should undertake a review/inquiry into MCFD culture, training, policies, procedures, practices, and accountability mechanisms to assess whether MCFD policy and practice is in line with the Human Rights Code.
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