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Criminalization and Policing

CLAS and Pivot Condemn Province’s Continued Rollback of Tenant Protections

On March 4, 2026, Minister Christine Boyle proposed sweeping new legislation to further erode the rights of tenants living in supportive housing, fundamentally undermining the legislative process and vesting virtually unfettered decision-making power in the hands of politicians and contracted housing providers.
By Laura Macintyre Laura Macintyre | Mar 06, 2026 | Criminalization and Policing, Homes For All, Letters & Statements

Request for OPCC Review of Police Board Decisions - OPCC File # 2024-26600/Board File 2024-021

Pivot and BCCLA write pursuant to s. 172(2)(a) of BC’s Police Act, requesting the OPCC’s review of the Vancouver Police Board’s inaction with respect to service and policy complaint (#2024-26600) as required under s. 171 of the Act. We urge the OPCC to implement its own independent investigation into the systemic causes of the use of force complaint!
By Simone Akyianu Simone Akyianu | Feb 13, 2026 | Criminalization and Policing, Letters & Statements

Pivot & BCCLA File Review with BC’s Police Complaint Commissioner for Police Board Inaction on VPD’s Excessive Use of Force at Palestine Protests

PRESS RELEASE - Pivot and BCCLA request BC’s Police Complaint Commissioner’s review of Police Board inaction with respect to VPD’s use of force in Palestine protest
By Taz Khandwani Taz Khandwani | Feb 13, 2026 | Criminalization and Policing, Press Releases

Prisoners’ Rights Affirmed at the Supreme Court of Canada in Dorsey v. Canada (Attorney General)

In May 2025, Pivot Legal Society (“Pivot”), alongside several public interest groups intervened in Dorsey v Canada (Attorney General), 2025 SCC 38. Dorsey was an appeal brought by prisoners which affirms access to habeas corpus to challenge continued unlawful confinement in more restrictive prisons and forms of confinement that deprive a person of their liberty.
By Simone Akyianu Simone Akyianu | Dec 18, 2025 | Criminalization and Policing, Blog, Legal Submissions

Joint UN Submission on Systemic Racism Against People of African Descent in the Criminal Justice System

These submissions highlight pervasive systemic racism against people of African descent within Canada's criminal justice system. Canada’s reliance on racialized use of force and segregation exacerbates systemic racism and social exclusion.
By Simone Akyianu Simone Akyianu | Sep 24, 2025 | Criminalization and Policing, Legal Submissions

Freedom of Information Request Toolkit

YOUR INFORMATION RIGHTS + MUNICIPAL POLICE DEPARTMENTS - If you experience an aggressive police encounter or are arrested and searched, what are your rights in accessing information police keep about you? This guide on how to access information about yourself from the police is borne out of on-the-ground experiences of folks engaged in direct, non-violent social justice actions, and is a collaborative project between the BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) and Pivot.
By Nina Taghaddosi Nina Taghaddosi | May 30, 2025 | Criminalization and Policing, Anti-Stigma, Public Legal Education

Pivot to Intervene at the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) in Dorsey v. AG of Canada

At a time when 51% of Indigenous and Black people are being classified and confined to maximum-security prisons, the mass incarceration and hyper-securitization of Indigenous and Black peoples, under the pretext of public safety considerations, in Canada’s prison system remains a critical racial justice issue. In an order by the SCC’s first Indigenous judge, Justice O’Bonsawin, Pivot was granted leave to intervene at the Supreme Court of Canada in Frank Dorsey and Ghassan Salah v Attorney General of Canada.
By Simone Akyianu Simone Akyianu | Mar 18, 2025 | Criminalization and Policing, Sex Workers' Rights, Blog, Legal Submissions

Marked: Poverty Discrimination is a Public Health Issue and the Human Rights Code Can Help

Connecting the intersecting fields of social justice and public health by illustrating the undeniable link between the structural determinants of health and a person’s social condition on their quality of life.
By Nina Taghaddosi Nina Taghaddosi | Feb 12, 2025 | Criminalization and Policing, Blog, Anti-Stigma

Pivot and BCCLA Request Review from BC’s Police Complaints Commissioner re VPD’s Use of Force and Surveillance of Palestinian solidarity protests

On December 11, 2024, Pivot and BC Civil Liberties Association filed a request for review by the Police Complaint Commissioner pursuant to ss. 172 & 173 of BC’s Police Act, RSBC 1996, c. 367, relating to the Vancouver Police Board’s screening decisions of two Service and Policy Complaints filed in respect of VPD’s discriminate treatment of Palestinian solidarity protests.
By Simone Akyianu Simone Akyianu | Dec 20, 2024 | Criminalization and Policing, Legal Submissions

Service and Policy Complaint – VPD Surveillance of Demonstrators Supporting Palestinian Human Rights

On September 18, 2024, Pivot Legal Society (Pivot) and the BC Civil Liberties Association (BCCLA) filed multiple complaints, under BC’s Police Act, against the Vancouver Police Department (VPD) for excessive use of force and the targeting and surveillance of people expressing support for Palestinian human rights. This particular Legal Submission is a Service and Policy complaint regarding VPD Surveillance of Demonstrators Supporting Palestinian Human Rights.
By BC Civil Liberties Association BC Civil Liberties Association | Dec 20, 2024 | Criminalization and Policing, Legal Submissions
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Pivot Legal Society is located on stolen lands of the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam Indian Band), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish Nation), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh Nation). We are grateful to Indigenous Peoples for their continuous relationship with their lands and are committed to learning to work in solidarity as accomplices in shifting the colonial default. 

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