CBA Influence - Public Policy and Advocacy

The Immigration Law Section of the Canadian Bar Association, in a letter to the deputy minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada, suggests improvements to program delivery regarding temporary foreign workers, in the context of the International Mobility Program, or IMP.

The federal government can be commended for its commitment to implement the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination, or ICERD, but there could be improvements in its reporting.

Canadian values are contrary to capital punishment, writes CBA President Steeves Bujold in a letter to Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly and Minister for Women and Gender Equality and Youth Marci Ien.

The Canadian Bar Association, in a letter from President Steeves Bujold to the Honourable Richard Wagner, Chief Justice of Canada, is cheering the Court’s September sitting in Quebec City.

Canadian charities wishing to operate in Afghanistan have to be able to navigate Canada’s anti-terrorism financing legislation.

Stephen Rotstein, President of the Canadian Bar Association, wrote to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at the conclusion of the G7 Bar Leaders meeting to inform him of issues of concern to Bar leaders and seek his support in endorsing them.

The Canadian Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Section and its Committee on Imprisonment and Release wrote to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his colleagues in support of Indigenous decarceration and self determination.

The Competition Law and Foreign Investment Review Section of the Canadian Bar Association writes, in a letter about the Competition Bureau’s Draft Bulletin on the approach the Bureau takes on communications during its investigations, that it supports efforts to communicate better and to be more transparent about its work. But there are a few concerns.

In a letter addressed to David Lametti, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada, the Canadian Bar Association’s French Speaking Common Law Members Section and Judicial Issues Subcommittee recommend improving training for federal judicial advisory committee members. Specifically, the letter suggests adding training on their respective jurisdictions’ experiences and needs regarding access to justice in French.

When Medical Assistance in Dying, or MAiD, legislation was adopted by Parliament in March 2021, a Special Joint Committee was appointed to review the Criminal Code and its application to issues relating to mature minors, advance requests, mental illness, the state of palliative care in Canada and the protection of Canadians with disabilities.