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.

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.

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.

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.

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's excessive use of force at a Palestine Solidarity Event on May 31, 2024.

On January 30th 2024, Pivot prepared brief written submissions to the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women and Girls (“VAWG”) for its Report to the UN Human Rights Council on Prostitution and VAWG.

On May 5th 2023, Pivot, alongside PACE Society, submitted a written brief to House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women re: its study on human trafficking What we know? The harms that flow from police-led anti-trafficking efforts have detrimental impacts incl. increased criminalization for sex workers and migrant communities with intersecting identities, shaped by race, gender, disability, and citizenship status. For instance, sex work prohibitions, exacerbate barriers to status for migrant workers, which puts already criminalized, migrant communities at risk of various abuses and systemic oppression such as heightened surveillance, detention, arrest, and deportation.

Pivot has submitted feedback to the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction for the Ministry’s first five-year review of its poverty reduction strategy for BC. A community consultation with people who have lived and living experiences of poverty informed this submission and their top priorities are increasing social belonging through increased opportunities for peer work and civic and social engagement, finding new ways to fund poverty reduction by eliminating the criminalization of people living in poverty, enshrining the protection of people living in poverty in provincial law, and funding free and accessible public transit in metropolitan areas and especially in rural areas. #defundthepolice #socialconditionprotections #freeaccessibletransit #endthewaronthepoor #peerworkiswork

Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (PCEPA) harms sex workers; the people it claims to protect. Pivot and PACE Society wrote to the Standing Committee and will be presenting today calling for a repeal to laws that criminalize sex workers.

Pivot Legal Society's written submissions to the Special Committee on Reforming the Police Act contain 26 specific recommendations