Submissions and Statements

2024  Submissions

February 29, 2024

Opening Statement submitted on Thursday, February 29, at the House of Commons’ Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights for the study of Bill C-332, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (controlling or coercive conduct).

I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to speak before you today regarding the important topic of the proposed legislative amendments, specifically Bill C-332, aimed at addressing coercive control within the Criminal Code. The Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic since 1985 has been at the forefront of providing trauma-informed legal, counselling, interpretation services and support to marginalized and racialized women and gender-diverse individuals who have experienced violence.

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2023

November 23, 2023

Submissions to the Standing Committee on the Status of Women on Bill C-205, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and to make consequential amendments to another Act (interim release and domestic violence recognizance orders)

Thank you, honourable chair and committee members. I am Deepa Mattoo, Lawyer and Executive Director of the Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic. I appreciate the opportunity to address you today and to present these submissions on behalf of the Clinic.

The Clinic offers trauma-informed legal services and representation, counselling, multilingual interpretation, and system transformation to support women and gender-diverse people who have experienced violence. Our efforts are rooted in the foundational principles of intersectionality, trauma-informed care, and a resolute dedication to a client-centred approach.

In my submissions, I want to focus on the voices of our clients. I will articulate four key points in response to the proposed amendments. I will talk about how these changes relate to the experiences of survivors of gender-based violence, the implications for marginalized communities, an assessment of the current conditions of our system, and finally, a recommendation for evidence-based law reform.

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October 31, 2023

Position Paper on Bill C-202 and Bill C-332: An Act to amend the Criminal Code (controlling or coercive conduct)

The Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic is writing to offer our expertise in response to recent legislative proposals to criminalize coercive control, Private Member’s Bill C-202, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (controlling or coercive conduct), and Private Member’s Bill C-332, An Act to amend the Criminal Code (controlling or coercive conduct).

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October 19, 2023

Proposed Amendments to Bill C-48 and Important Considerations about the Bail System

This brief is the result of a collaboration among organizations that work with and on behalf of women and gender-diverse people who have faced gender-based violence, intimate partner violence, and processes of criminalization.

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June 1, 2023

Input on the country visit to Canada of the Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery.

Submitted by Legal Assistance of Windsor, FCJ Refugee Centre, Alliance for Gender Justice in Migration, Collaborative Network to End Exploitation, and Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic

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Universal Periodic Review

Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Stakeholder Report

We thank the UN for the opportunity to participate in the UPR process. The following recommendations reflect the voices of survivors. We hope they will remind Canada of its human rights obligations—especially those related to gender-based violence.

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2022 SUBMISSIONS

Written Brief to Status of Women Committee on Intimate Partner Violence and Domestic Violence in Canada

 

 

2022 STATEMENTS

Joint Statement in solidarity with Indigenous families mourning the murder of four Indigenous women. ( December 6)

December 6, 2022 – As we observe the 16 Days of Activism on GBV and the National Day of Remembrance and Action on VAW, the announcement of charges in the murder of four Indigenous women at the hands of an alleged serial killer linked to white supremacist ideology is a tragic indication that the urgent action long called for by Indigenous women, families, and communities to address the ongoing genocide of Indigenous women, girls, Two-Spirt, and gender-diverse people has not been taken.

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Joint statement urging the federal government to take immediate action on reforms to Canada’s EI social insurance system. (December 12)

Ministers, we are writing on behalf of the Inter-provincial EI Working Group to call for urgent action on reforms to Canada’s EI social insurance system. We need to restore its role as an automatic economic stabilizer and ensure we have an EI system that works for workers. Over 80 years ago workers joined an On to Ottawa Trek to demand, among other reforms, a social insurance system that would provide income maintenance during periods of unemployment. In the decades since the 1940 UI Act, the system has played a critical role in the health of the larger economy as well as individuals and their families. A 1990s federal study found that EI was ‘the single most powerful automatic stabilizer’ reducing both GDP and job losses by up to 14% during recessions. But much of that earlier capacity has been lost after repeated cutbacks and only 40% of the unemployed receive EI at any given time.

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2020

Family Law Reform in Ontario: increasing safety for women and children and bringing more consistency between the Children’s Law Reform Act and the Divorce Act (January 2020)

The Clinic is pleased to provide the following recommendations for amending the Children’s Law Reform Act to assist women who are accessing Ontario’s family law legal system for safe and fair resolutions following family breakdown. We believe the following recommendations will increase safety for women and children. In addition, we believe these recommendations will bring more clarity and consistency to the family law system overall for all women, regardless of whether they are married or seeking a divorce.

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Submissions to the UN SRVAW thematic report on rape as a violation and gender-based violence against women grave and systematic human rights (May 2020)

The Clinic, and organizations like the Clinic, focus on access to justice for sexual violence survivors who have an ongoing struggle for sustainable funding and resources in Canada. While we do raise charitable donations to support our work, we primarily rely on public funding to provide our services free of charge. 

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Government’s Response to COVID-19 Pandemic (June 2020)

We are pleased to provide the following recommendations to the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of Persons with Disability, in relation to the Government’s Response to COVID-19 Pandemic. We would like to thank Parliament for their quick, emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the efforts that have been made through the COVID-19 Economic Response Plan to support the Canadians left most vulnerable by this global health crisis.

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United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence against women’s Call for submissions: COVID-19 and the Increase of domestic violence against women (June 2020)

This submission has been prepared through the collaboration of leaders, experts, and researchers from a number of frontline and advocacy organizations, including Deepa Mattoo and Alina Butt from the Barbra Schlifer Commemorative Clinic, Lise Martin and Krys Maki from Women’s Shelters Canada, Raji Mangat from West Coast LEAF, Anjum Sultana from YWCA Canada, Suki Beavers from the National Association of Women and the Law, the Ontario Council of Agencies Serving Immigrants, and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.

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2019

Submission to the UN Commission on the Status of Women

The Clinic’s submission pertains to Section 108(1) (a) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act in which a “claim for refugee protection shall be rejected, and a person is not a Convention refugee or a person in need of protection,” if, “the person has voluntarily reavailed themself of the protection of their country of nationality.”  The Act, in our experience, discriminates against women who are victims of domestic violence in failing to consider the lived realities of these individuals and by not reflecting a gender-sensitive based approach.

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Submissions to the UN SRVAW thematic report on rape as a violation and gender-based violence against women grave and systematic human rights

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Submission to the UN Commission on the Status of Women regarding the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.

The Clinic’s submission pertains to Section 108(1) (a) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act in which a “claim for refugee protection shall be rejected, and a person is not a Convention refugee or a person in need of protection,” if, “the person has voluntarily reavailed themself of the protection of their country of nationality.”  The Act, in our experience, discriminates against women who are victims of domestic violence in failing to consider the lived realities of these individuals and by not reflecting a gender-sensitive based approach.

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Feedback to Continuing Committee of Officials on Human Rights (CCOHR) Protocol

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2016

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