Category Archives: Pivot Legal Society

Insite Court Challenge

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Community Groups take Federal Government to  Court over Safe Injection Site

Sunday, April 27, 2007

On Monday, April 28, Pivot Legal Society director John Conroy will be representing the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users in a 10-day trial challenging the Federal Minister of Health’s ability to close Insite, the safe injection site in Vancouver.

Joe Arvey, representing the Portland Hotel Society which manages the site, will also be testing the federal government’s power to close Insite.

Where: B.C. Supreme Courthouse

When: Monday, April 28, 10am

Duration: 10 days

Case name: VANDU v. AG Canada and Minister of Health; PHS Community Services Society et al v. AG Canada

Presiding Judge: Judge Pitfield

It has been more than four years since Insite, the first supervised injection site in North America, opened with the goal of increasing access to drug treatment, reducing street disorder, and preventing overdose deaths and disease transmission among Vancouver’s drug user population. Numerous scientific studies in medical journals such as the Lancet and the New England Journal of Medicine have shown the effectiveness of the site in meeting those objectives. The Federal Government’s select advisory committee on Insite also published a report two weeks ago documenting the success of the site.

Despite the medical evidence, the Federal Minister of Health has refused to grant a permanent exemption to Section 56 of the Narcotics Control Act for Insite, which allows the injection of drugs on the facilities. Instead, the Minister has granted to two temporary extensions to the exemption. The most recent exemption is due to expire on June 30, 2008. After that, the future of Insite is uncertain.

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About Pivot Legal Society
Pivot’s mandate is to take a strategic approach to social change, using the law to address the root causes that undermine the quality of life of those most on the margins. We believe that everyone, regardless of income, benefits from a healthy and inclusive community where values such as opportunity, respect and equality are strongly rooted in the law.

To subscribe or unsubscribe to the Pivot Newswire, just send a note with that subject line to newswire AT pivotlegal DOT org

Pivot Legal Society Christmas Auction

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Hope in Shadows

The 5th Annual Pivot Christmas Auction

CALL FOR AUCTION DONATIONS!
You are warmly invited to attend the 5th Annual Pivot Christmas Auction on Thursday, November 8, 2007. It’s going to be a great time with some amazing performances, so please mark this date on your calendar! We have some surprises in store this year that you will not want to miss.

You can really help make the Auction a success by donating an auction item, with proceeds to charitable projects benefiting homeless and disenfranchised persons.  We are looking for socially conscious gifts as well as electronics, jewelry and one-of-a-kind items that anyone would love to receive (massages, spa treatments etc). Our goal is to raise $20,000 this year.

Silent auction items generally range in price from $100 to $500.  We are also seeking a select number of higher end items to go to open bidding with an auctioneer.

Examples of items we are seeking include:
– eco-vacation and recreation packages (golf, fishing, mountain biking etc.)
– spa treatments, massage therapy and bodywork
– First Nations artwork
– jewelry, antiques, collectibles
– electronics (MP3 players, digital cameras, personal organizers)
– educational toys
– personal training/yoga session(s)

Thanks for your support!  It makes a big impact on our work.  And we hope you can come, because it’s going to be a very fun event this year!

For more information or to make a donation, please email auction at pivotfoundation dot org or leave a message for Lisa Werring at 604-255-9700 x130.

Thank you for your generosity!

Pivot Foundation

Charter Challenge Launched to Strike Down Prostitution Laws

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Lincoln Clarkes The Three Graces

Charter Challenge Launched to Strike Down Prostitution LawsFor Immediate Release: August 3, 2007

VANCOUVER – Sex workers in Vancouver today initiated a charter challenge in the BC Supreme Court asking the Court to strike down the current criminal laws relating to adult prostitution.

The Charter challenge is being brought by a registered non-profit society called Sex Workers United Against Violence (SWUAV), a group of current and former female sex workers from the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver. The group has been meeting since 2005 and one aspect of their mandate is to lobby for law and policy reforms to improve the lives and working conditions of women involved in sex work.

“It can’t continue like this. Working girls are dying down here. The laws are to blame and they need to be struck down,” says Sarah, a member of SWUAV. “We asked the government to do something and there has been no action. So now we’re going to Court to ask them to make the legal changes necessary to make us safer.”

The Statement of Claim, filed today in BC Supreme Court, states that the current criminal laws expose sex workers to significant harm – physical and sexual violence, lack of access to police protection, social stigma and inequality, exploitation and murder. SWUAV will argue that the current criminal laws violate the security, liberty, equality and expression rights of sex workers, as set out in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Katrina Pacey is counsel for SWUAV and works for Pivot Legal LLP, a law firm that operates in conjunction with Pivot Legal Society. Joseph J. Arvay, Q.C. is co-counsel on the case and has argued many leading constitutional cases at the Supreme Court of Canada.

“We intend to call evidence that will show the harmful conditions experienced by sex workers under the current criminal laws,” said Katrina Pacey “Those laws create dangerous conditions that deny the basic human rights afforded to all Canadians under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.”

SWUAV’s challenge follows on the heels of another recent Charter challenge against prostitution laws, launched by law professor Alan Young in Toronto. No trial date has yet been set for either case.

The following sections of the Criminal Code will be challenged:
Sections 212(1)(a),(b),(c),(d),(e),(f),(h) and (j) and (3), and 213 of the Criminal Code of Canada

The Plaintiff will argue that these sections violate the following sections of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms:
Section 7: life, liberty and security of the person
Section 15(1): equality
Section 2(b): freedom of expression

Contact:
Katrina Pacey
604.729.7849

A full statement of claim is available upon request. Please call Katrina at the number above or email her at kpacey at pivotlegal dot com.

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About Pivot Legal Society
Pivot’s mandate is to take a strategic approach to social change, using the law to address the root causes that undermine the quality of life of those most on the margins. We believe that everyone, regardless of income, benefits from a healthy and inclusive community where values such opportunity, respect and equality are strongly rooted in the law.

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United Nations invites Pivot Legal Society lawyer David Eby to Geneva

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Dave EbyUN agency invites Pivot lawyer to Geneva

David Eby to present on homelessness and Olympics

May 31, 2007

Vancouver – A United Nations-funded housing rights agency has invited Pivot Legal Society lawyer David Eby to Geneva to make a presentation on the impacts of the 2010 Olympic Games on Vancouver’s most marginalized residents.

Eby’s presentation to the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) in mid June will be part of a larger workshop presenting final results from COHRE’s two-year study of the housing rights impact of international events, with a specific focus on the Olympic Games.

“I am honoured that this internationally recognized research agency has chosen Pivot to present on homelessness and the Games,” said Eby. “I will do my best to provide this international audience with a comprehensive report on Vancouver’s progress, or lack of progress on these issues.”

Eby has spent the last two years with Pivot studying the state of low-income housing in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Canada’s poorest urban neighbourhood. In 2006, he was co-lead author of Cracks in the Foundation, Pivot’s comprehensive study of housing issues facing low-income residents in Vancouver. In 2007, he was an editor of the Impact of the Olympics on Community Coalition’s Interim Report Card and is a member of the Board of that organization. Experts from the UN High Commission on Human Rights and UN-HABITAT are also scheduled to present.

“Given Vancouver’s experience with Expo ’86, I would have thought our governments would be more concerned,” said Eby, “but with just over two and a half years to go before the games, the affordable housing legacy promised in the bid process has yet to appear and through Civil City our city council is poised to harass and displace Vancouver’s most vulnerable citizens.”

Stops at the World Health Organization, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS are on Eby’s itinerary.

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The results of the COHRE study are announced June 14 and Mr. Eby is speaking on June 14 and 15.

For more information contact:

David Eby – Pivot Legal Society – (778) 865-7997

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About Pivot Legal Society
Pivot’s mandate is to take a strategic approach to social change, using the law to address the root causes that undermine the quality of life of those most on the margins. We believe that everyone, regardless of income, benefits from a healthy and inclusive community where values such opportunity, respect and equality are strongly rooted in the law.

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PSA: civil city slam Vancouver

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From Pivot Legal Society:

“Civil City Slam”

Tuesday, May 22, at 7 pm at First United Church 320 E. Hastings St, at Gore Ave.

This forum is being organized as a result of an initiative undertaken by 16 Vancouver progressive elected representatives, representing 3 levels of government, including MP Libby Davies; MLAs David Chudnovsky, Adrian Dix, Jenny Kwan, Gregor Robertson, and Shane Simpson; City Councilors David Cadman, George Chow, Heather Deal, Raymond Louie, and Tim Stevenson; School Board Trustees Allan Blakely, Sharon Gregson, and Allan Wong; and Parks Board Commissioners Spencer Herbert and Loretta Woodcock.

David Eby from Pivot Legal Society will speak at this event.

Read Pivot’s reaction to the appointment of former B.C. attorney-general Geoff Plant in today’s papers, including the International Herald Tribune.

Where is Ottawa?

Wednesday, May 23, at 7 pm – 9 pm at Unitarian Church 949 West 49 Ave.

“Stop homelessness for now, for 2010, forever.” Organized by the Carnegie Community Action Project in cooperation with The City Wide Housing Coalition.17 Members of Parliament from Vancouver and the GVRD have been invited to discuss what the role does federal government have in solving homelessness and housing crisis.

Come and say hello to the Pivot volunteers and staff at the Booth table!

HOPE IN SHADOWS: Can you help?

We are full-steam ahead in organizing this year’s HOPE IN SHADOWS photography contest, exhibition and calendar. Every year we need corporate sponsors, and this year is no exception. We are hoping to expand on the successful training we offered last year, but we need a few more businesses interested in supporting us. If you know of any company that has a policy of helping the community, please let Paul Ryan know. We accept all levels of sponsorship, from the purchase of a month by to in-kind donations. Please e-mail Paul at pryan at hopeinshadows dot com or call Paul on 604 782 2861 if you can help, even if it is just telling us about a company you think would be suitable, and we will contact them. HOPE IN SHADOWS now has its own website: http://www.hopeinshadows.com

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About Pivot Legal Society
Pivot’s mandate is to take a strategic approach to social change, using the law to address the root causes that undermine the quality of life of those most on the margins. We believe that everyone, regardless of income, benefits from a healthy and inclusive community where values such opportunity, respect and equality are strongly rooted in the law. 

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