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Ableism


The impacts of police and policing

The Attorney General must take immediate action to increase access to justice for people who believe they have been the victims of excessive force, discrimination, or harassment by police by:

Recommendation 3: Amending the Police Act to expand the mandate of the Office of the Police Complaint Commissioner (OPCC) in order to:

  1. ensure that all police officers and forces operating in BC fall under the mandate of the OPCC;
  2. ensure that civilian investigators and civilian staff members are responsible for the entirety of the complaint resolution process; and
  3. allow the OPCC to audit police complaints each year, particularly where they involve discrimination based on race, gender, poverty, or health status, and publicly report on areas of concern for further investigation or reform.



The impacts of police and policing

Recommendation 9: The Director of Police Services must work with the Independent Investigations Office and the Coroners Service to audit deaths and serious injuries in city cells in BC over the past 10 years, including an analysis of race, disability, housing status, and gender, and, make the findings and recommendations for reform publicly available.


How court-imposed conditions set people up to fail

Recommendation 12: The Government of Canada must amend the Criminal Code to prevent the use and prosecution of discriminatory or destructive behavioural conditions of interim release and sentencing, specifically:

  • legislate that conditions imposed on interim release be reasonable and proportionate to the nature and seriousness of the alleged offence and the circumstances of the accused;
  • define “drug paraphernalia” as harm reduction medical equipment and prohibit the imposition of conditions that would interfere with the ability to access or possess harm reduction equipment;
  • prior to imposing an abstinence condition, require that courts consider a person’s dependence on drugs or alcohol. Abstinence conditions shall not be imposed on people living with addictions, except where doing so is necessary to protect the safety of a victim, witness, or the public, and harm-reduction measures shall be preferred over abstinence;
  • limit “red zone” conditions to situations where there is a substantial likelihood that, if released without a red zone, the accused will commit an offence involving violence or serious harm within the red zone and ensure that any red zone is tailored to the alleged offence, the principles of judicial interim release or probation, and circumstances of the individual;
  • remove paragraph 504(2.1) (g), the power for police to impose “abstinence” conditions; and
  • eliminate criminal sanctions for non-violent breaches of behavioural conditions.



How court-imposed conditions set people up to fail

The Governments of BC and Canada must amend their prosecutorial policy, specifically:

Recommendation 13: Amend the BC Crown Counsel Policy Manual to include a policy on “Conditions of Release” that:

  1. aligns with the Criminal Code requirement that an accused be released unconditionally unless their detention or the imposition of conditions is justified;
  2. reflects Supreme Court of Canada jurisprudence requiring that conditions of release be minimally onerous and that every imposition of more restrictive conditions must be individually justified; and
  3. takes into consideration the potential harms of imposing certain conditions on some individuals based on their social condition, race, ability status, housing status, and substance use.



How court-imposed conditions set people up to fail

The Governments of BC and Canada must amend their prosecutorial policy, specifically:

Recommendation 15: Amend the Public Prosecution Service of Canada Deskbook Part 3.18 sections 2 and 5 to:

  1. more clearly reflect the Criminal Code requirement that an accused be released unconditionally unless their detention or the imposition of conditions is justified; and
  2. take into consideration the potential harms of imposing certain conditions on certain individuals based on their social condition, race, ability status, housing status, and substance use. ii. take into consideration the potential harms of imposing certain conditions on certain individuals based on their social condition, race, ability status, housing status, and substance use.



Service gaps and barriers

Recommendation 24: The Ministry of Mental Health and Addictions and the Ministry of Health must improve the ability of BC hospitals to meet the needs of people living with the effects of substance use, mental illness, and/or homelessness by:

  • auditing experiences in hospitals, beginning with an analysis of people’s experiences where they have been turned away from emergency rooms or discharged and where there have been negative health consequences;
  • working with people with lived experience to audit provincial standards for effectively managing substance withdrawal in hospital settings;
  • ensuring that all hospitals offer supervised consumption services to patients; and
  • working with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing to create transitional housing options to ensuring that sick and injured people are not released from the hospital to the streets or to emergency shelter.



Service gaps and barriers

The Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction must make immediate changes to BC’s Income Assistance and Disability Assistance programs including:

Recommendation 25: Increasing income assistance rates to the Market Basket Measure and indexing them to inflation.


Service gaps and barriers

The Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction must make immediate changes to BC’s Income Assistance and Disability Assistance programs including:

Recommendation 27: Increasing access to in-person services for income assistance and disability applicants.


Service gaps and barriers

The Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction must make immediate changes to BC’s Income Assistance and Disability Assistance programs including:

Recommendation 28: Ensuring that people living with disabilities can access disability support by:

  1. simplifying the application process to reduce wait times and lessen reliance on advocates;
  2. providing provincial guidelines for doctors/service providers on how and when to fill out disability forms; and
  3. ensuring that hospital social workers are resourced and directed to work with patients in need to apply for disability benefits.



Service gaps and barriers

Recommendation 29: The Legal Services Society of BC must provide legal support for appeals where a person has been denied income assistance or disability assistance.


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