Pivot Legal Society

Sex Work Laws: Pivot Legal Update Post-Kloubakov Join Pivot on November 4-5th, 2025 for a discussion on legal developments in sex work laws post SCC’s decision in R v. Kloubakov!

Community consultation – November 5th 2025 at 12 PM - 312 Main Street - For directly impacted communities, advocates & sex workers - Lunch will be provided. For RSVPs & access needs (incl. stipends), check out: www.pivotlegal.org/r_v_kloubako...

Virtual forum – November 4th at 3 PM PST/ 6 PM EST - For sex workers, advocates & service providers. Register today via: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...

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Join Pivot on November 4-5th, 2025 for a discussion on legal developments in sex work laws post the SCC’s decision in R v. Kloubakov!

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No Arrests for Drug Possession at an Overdose Pivot to appear before the Supreme Court of Canada to fight clawbacks to the Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act Pivot has been granted leave to make submissions on the real-world impacts of potential ...

The GSDOA was passed in 2017 to encourage people to call 911 during an OD without fear of criminal sanction. Fear of arrest means reluctance to call for help, and an increase in fatal ODs.

Read our full argument here: www.pivotlegal.org/pivot_to_int...

What it means: The SCC affirmed that ODs are a medical event – not a policing opportunity. When police arrive at the scene, no one is to be arrested for, charged with, or convicted of drug possession. Read the decision here: decisions.scc-csc.ca/.../en/item/...

BREAKING WIN for PWUD: Supreme Court of Canada rules against the Saskatchewan government and police attempt to claw back the Good Samaritan Drug Overdose Act in R v Wilson. Pivot argued, and the court agreed, the law protects against simple possession convictions, charges, AND arrests at ODs.

Pivot welcomes Randall Cohn as Executive Director A 15-year journey through direct service, criminal defense, and refugee law, has now brought Randall Cohn to Pivot as Executive Director.

Pivot Legal Society is pleased to announce Randall Cohn as our next Executive Director!

Learn more about Randall here:
www.pivotlegal.org/pivot_welcom...

Join us for our webinar: HIV/AIDS, Harm Reduction & 2SLGBTQIA+ History.

We’ll look at how these movements began, the victories communities won, and how solidarity can advance health, dignity & justice.

📅 Oct. 8 2025
⏰ 1 PM ET / 10 AM PT
🔗 Register: sfu.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

To learn more, check out: www.pivotlegal.org/social_condi...

Be sure to sign-up for updates and future actions: www.pivotlegal.org/get_updates

Contact your MLA to remind them why it is important to include Social Condition as a protected characteristic in BC's Human Rights Code. We have an email template that you can use and adjust according to your own personal experiences.
www.pivotlegal.org/send_a_messa...

Can you guess which communities in BC aren’t protected from discrimination?

Take the next step in advancing BC's Human Rights Code.
www.pivotlegal.org/send_a_messa...

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

Learn more and read our recommendations here:

www.pivotlegal.org/pasan_and_pi...

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

PASAN and Pivot’s joint 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.

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Join us on Aug 31, International Overdose Awareness Day, to learn how we can replace the toxic drug supply, fight back against toxic drug policies, and dismantle the war on drugs and drug users!

www.facebook.com/share/17EfGe...

#IOAD25 #EndTheWarOnDrugs

Training people to administer naloxone and distributing over 250 naloxone kits (in a matter of few hours!) could very well save many lives. Yet there's so much more we can do.

March being held in Nanaimo ahead of Overdose Awareness Day Advocates call for more overdose prevention sites and harm reduction services

Organized by @dsdp.ca Doctors for Safer Drug Policy, @momsstoptheharm.bsky.social Moms Stop the Harm and #Nanaimo Area Network of Drug Users, on Friday, Aug. 29, ahead of International Overdose Awareness Day @overdoseday.bsky.social #VancouverIsland #BC www.nanaimobulletin.com/local-news/m...

Does involuntary care work? Three B.C. residents share their personal stories B.C. opened 28 new involuntary care beds, but this treatment has existed for people under the Mental Health Act. Three first-person stores.

“The PTSD I live with — not as a result of being mentally ill, not as a result of being a substance user, but as a result of what I endured in treatment for those conditions — is so severe that my quality of life continues to be exceptionally poor,”
#bcpoli #abpoli
vancouversun.com/health/does-...

Does involuntary care work? Three B.C. residents share their personal stories B.C. opened 28 new involuntary care beds, but this treatment has existed for people under the Mental Health Act. Three first-person stores.

"money should instead be spent on preventing people from becoming unwell in the first place," says our policy analyst Nicole Luongo — including modernizing outpatient mental health and drug treatment systems that are regulated and accessible.

Read here: vancouversun.com/health/does-...

Toxic policies and toxic supply have claimed over 50 thousand lives in the last 9+ years.

On Aug 31, #IOAD25 join drug users and allies to demand evidence-based solutions, not fear-based drug policy!

www.facebook.com/share/17EfGe...

Episode 54: Get Sober or Get Dead — Crackdown Podcast Alberta is the involuntary treatment capital of Canada. Since 2006, the province has encouraged parents to waive their children's rights and force them into detox as part of the Protection of Children...

Alberta is the involuntary treatment capital of Canada. On episode 54, we meet Angie & her son Brandon. When Brandon got wired as a teen, Angie had a difficult choice to make: should she force him to sober up? If she did, what would happen to their relationship? www.crackdownpod.com/episodes/epi...

poster for international overdose awareness day - 12-3 oppenheimer for celebration of life for Elder Clint & 3p-6p block party 300 block hastings - logos for power, WAHRS, VANDU & CPDDW

August 31. 12pm-3pm at Oppenheimer Celebration of life for Elder Clint & 3pm-6pm block party 300 block hastings

Newsletter - The Point - Pivot Legal Society Check out Pivot's quarterly newsletter and sign up for updates today!

Delivering the POINT issue #5 to your feeds.
#LinkInBio #Newsletter

Pdf version: www.pivotlegal.org/newsletter

Sign up for updates: www.pivotlegal.org/get_updates

Also, tell your Twitter friends to find us here!

This wasn't as much a thing in Canada in the same way. We called our "ugly laws" anti-vagrancy laws. And to some extent we still do.

Thanks to this excellent interview with Gabrielle Peters and @pivotlegalsociety.bsky.social

www.pivotlegal.org/street_sweep...

Pivot Legal Society Annual Report 2024 Pivot continues to push forward in our shared fight for dignity and human rights. Throughout the year, Pivot paired strategic litigation with bold movement-building, while also working to strengthen P...

We're slowly making our way over to Bluesky, and what better way to announce than to share with you our work from last year!

With thanks to all our supporters, allies, & funders, we present Pivot's 2024 Annual Report!

Please check out the full annual report: www.pivotlegal.org/annual_repor...

In support of this global fight against the war on drugs, RECLAIM Collective will host an international online event in preparation for Support. Dont Punish on June 24th 💥

To register:

us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Our new resource – created in partnership with @pivotlegalsociety.bsky.social and @candrugpolicy.bsky.social lays out the legal implications of operating an Overdose Prevention Site in Ontario and protections for operators and patrons.

www.hivlegalnetwork.ca/site/it-is-n...

In response to the closure of safe consumption sites in Ontario, communities and volunteers are mobilizing to provide supports.

Find out the legal implications of operating an Overdose Prevention Site in Ontario and protections for operators and patrons.

www.hivlegalnetwork.ca/site/it-is-n...

How to Access Police Information about Yourself through a Freedom of Information (FOI) Request This guide is specific to municipal police departments in BC and does not apply to the RCMP. An FOI is a request submitted to a public body asking them to send you any information that they have recorded about a particular topic. You can ask specific police departments for any information they have ever collected about you, even if you haven’t been charged with a crime. What is a Freedom of Information (FOI) request? The police have to give you this information about yourself because: 1. The police are a public body and, 2. Public bodies are legally required to respond to requests from the public for their personal information. The Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA) entitles you to access and review BC government records, including records that have been collected about you.

How to Access Police Information about Yourself through a Freedom of Information (FOI) Request When can I make an FOI request ? You can request your information at any time. The information you receive through an FOI request from the police includes things like: Bodycam footage of you, photos and videos that the police took of you and your belongings, police officer’s written notes about you, which departments your information was shared with (e.g. hate crimes unit, graffiti unit, etc.)

How to Access Police Information about Yourself through a Freedom of Information (FOI) Request: In-Person (requires printed copy of FOI request form and your photo ID card) or electronically/Email (requires access to technology to fill out form online and ability to take picture of your ID card) *Note: If you have a limited ability to write in English or a physical disability that interferes with making a written request, you can submit an oral request. Filling an FOI Request and application options: Check out the full guide for templates and help with what to say when filing a request both for specific information requests and broad information requests

@pivotlegalsociety.bsky.social and BCCLA have developed a resources that explains how to access police information about yourself through a Freedom of Information (FOI) Request.

View the resource: bccla.org/resource/a-t...