Koskie Glavin Gordon is partnering with other organizations to intervene in an important case about systemic discrimination at the B.C. Court of Appeal. The case is VANDU v. Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association, which was brought on behalf of a group of street homeless people in downtown Vancouver who were forcibly removed from Vancouver’s public spaces.
At the B.C. Supreme Court the judge found that these removals were discriminatory. The Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association has appealed.
Koskie Glavin Gordon associate Devyn Cousineau is part of a team representing West Coast LEAF and the Community Legal Assistance Society in this case. We will present arguments about the nature of evidence that decision makers should consider in examining a claim of systemic discrimination. We will argue that it is discriminatory to target a group of people who are predominantly Aboriginal and/or have disabilities for removal from public space.
More information about the case can be found here: Case Summary