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NAWL Job Posting: Head of Communications
Head of Commnications (PDF) The National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL) is an incorporated not-for-profit feminist organization that promotes the equality rights of women in Canada through legal education, research, and law reform advocacy. NAWL is entering an exciting period, organizationally, with strong funding, an energized staff team, an engaged Board – and clear strategic…
“Federal law banning conversion therapy is the first step toward dismantling heteronormative views” Opinion by FLR/RDF law student Sumaya Sherif
Opinion published by the Ottawa Citizen on January 7, 2022. Read full article here. It has been long overdue. Conversion therapy practice is now a criminal offence. It only took Parliament three tries to pass the Bill — I guess third time’s the charm. But let us not get lost in this big victory. More…
“Forced evacuation of pregnant Indigenous women must stop” Opinion by FLR/RDF law student Carolina Maass
Opinion published by Toronto Star on January 6, 2022. Read full article here. Pregnant Indigenous women are being forced to travel hundreds of kilometres to give birth alone and away from their communities. Health Canada has a birth evacuation policy that requires them to take planes, buses, boats, helicopters, taxis, or even snow machines two to four weeks before…
“Supreme Court must keep women’s rights at the forefront when it rules on ‘extreme intoxication’ defence” Opinion article by Kerri A. Froc and Elizabeth A. Sheehy
KERRI A. FROC AND ELIZABETH A. SHEEHY CONTRIBUTED TO THE GLOBE AND MAIL PUBLISHED JANUARY 4, 2022 Read original Opinion article here. Three significant cases have arrived for consideration at the Supreme Court of Canada, each challenging Section 33.1 of the Criminal Code. That section, added by the federal government in 1995, addresses the “fault” element for crimes of violence. The…
“The Canada Health Act is failing people with mental illness” Opinion article by Yasmin Khaliq
Opinion article published by the Ottawa Citizen on December 3, 2021. Read the full article here. In this opinion article on mental health written by Yasmin Khaliq in her Feminist Law Reform class at the University of Ottawa taught by Professor Martha Jackman – she addresses the inadequate mental health services in Canada and the…
NAWL welcomes our new National Steering Committee
NAWL is delighted to announce our new National Steering Committee (NSC), elected at our September 2021 AGM. NAWL is excited to welcome these incredible women and the expertise on feminist law reform advocacy they each bring to the organization. New NSC appointments and directors include, Dr. Kerri Froc, Maureen McTeer and Amanda Therrien. They join…
Community Call to Action: Conversion Practices Legislation
Read the media release. We, the undersigned, call on all Parliamentarians to affirm the inherent dignity and human rights of all Canadians, including those from the 2SLGBTQI+community, to live free from discrimination, prejudice, and harm. We call on the 44th session of the Canadian Parliament to take immediate action to prohibit all forms of conversion…
NAWL Support for MLA Lynne Lund’s proposed Non-Disclosure Agreements Act
PEI Legislative Assembly 165 Richmond St. Charlottetown, PEI C1A 1J1 Dear Members of the P.E.I. Legislative Assembly: Re: Letter of Support for Proposed Non-Disclosure Agreements Act The National Association of Women and the Law is proud to support MLA Lynne Lund’s proposed Non-Disclosure Agreements Act. We thank you for your consideration of this very important…
NAWL welcomes Tiffany Butler as Executive Director
NAWL is delighted to announce the appointment of its new Executive Director, Tiffany Butler, who joined the organization in March. NAWL is excited about the new energy Tiffany brings to the organization, as well as her community-based law reform experience working to advance the substantive equality rights of women. I am honoured to be joining…
NAWL letter to the Senate in support of Bill C-6
Honourable Senators, The National Association of Women and the Law is a not-for-profit feminist organization that promotes the equality rights of women, in all their diversity, through legal education, research and law reform advocacy. We are writing to voice our support for Bill C-6, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (conversion therapy), as it…
NAWL congratulates Justice Jamal on his SCC appointment
NAWL’s NSC chair Martha Jackman, a professor of constitutional law at the University of Ottawa, spoke with Toronto Star reporter Tonda MacCharles, on Maumud Jamal’s appointment to the Supreme Court of Canada. Jackman said, it’s clear Jamal is “highly qualified as a jurist, as a scholar” and his appointment “brings a level of diversity to the court that was…
Open Letter to Ministers Bennett and Miller on behalf of gender justice and human rights organizations in solidarity with the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation and all First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Peoples
The Honourable Carolyn Bennet, Minister of Crown-Indigenous Relations The Honourable Marc Miller, Minister of Indigenous Services Government of Canada Dear Ministers, On behalf of national, regional and local gender justice and human rights organizations, we are in solidarity with the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation and all First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Peoples and…
Letter to Canadian Government: Decriminalize Simple Drug Possession Immediately
May 13, 2020 | Updated March 3, 2021 The Hon. Patty Hajdu, Minister of Health The Hon. Bill Blair, Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness The Hon. David Lametti, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Dear Ministers: We write with urgency in light of two unprecedented public health emergencies. As the…
“A glimmer of hope” Opinion Article by Nathalie Chalifour and Anne Levesque on SCC Carbon Pricing Ruling
Opinion article published by CBA National on May 3, 2021. Read full article here. “The carbon pricing ruling at the SCC is a partial victory for equality-seeking groups. But will it be interpreted in a manner that is equality affirming and aligned with climate justice?” The Supreme Court of Canada’s recent decision confirming the constitutionality of…
Supreme Court of Canada Rules Carbon Pricing Law Constitutional: Intervenors for rights of women and girls welcome the decision
For immediate release Algonquin Territory/Ottawa, Ontario – March 25, 2021 – The Supreme Court of Canada’s judgment declaring the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act constitutional is a victory for women and girls. Saskatchewan, Ontario and Alberta went to court over the Act arguing that it was unconstitutional because Ottawa was stepping into provincial jurisdiction. The…
Open letter in support of Bill C-15, An Act Respecting the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
“The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples is the framework for reconciliation at all levels and across all sectors of Canadian society.” – Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Principles of Reconciliation, Principle # 1. Parliament has an historic opportunity to advance reconciliation. The UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples…
National feminist groups welcome long-awaited legal action on abortion access in New Brunswick
For Immediate Release A coalition of national feminist organizations welcomes the initiation of legal action by the Canadian Civil Liberties Association to fight the discriminatory and anti-choice regulation that prohibits the funding of abortion care outside of hospital settings in New Brunswick. In October 2020, Clinic 554, the only free-standing clinic providing surgical abortions in…
NAWL signs joint letter to the Prime Minister and Minister Freeland re: Taskforce on Women and the Economy
The Right Honourable Justin Trudeau Prime Minister The Honourable Chrystia Freeland Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance House of Commons Ottawa, ON K1A 0A6 Re: Action Plan on Women in the Economy Taskforce Dear Prime Minister Trudeau and Minister Freeland, The economic downturn caused by this pandemic has had a disproportionate impact on women.…
NAWL and FOE: A real climate-emergency plan must address inequality
Op-ed published by iPolitics on October 15, 2020. Read full op-ed here Written by Anne Levesque, co-chair of the National Association of Women and the Law and Beatrice Olivastri, CEO of Friends of the Earth Canada. ‘In the recent global fires, floods and droughts, it’s women who have borne the brunt of climate catastrophe.’ It…
NAWL endorsed Luke’s Place brief on BILL 207: An Act to amend the Children’s Law Reform Act, the Courts of Justice Act, the Family Law Act and other Acts respecting various family law matter
NAWL endorsed the brief by Luke’s Place presented to the Ontario legislature’s Justice Committee, on October 13, 2020, on BILL 207: An Act to amend the Children’s Law Reform Act, the Courts of Justice Act, the Family Law Act and other Acts respecting various family law matter. The link to the brief and list of endorsements on…
