February 2022 Newsletter: Check out these engaging new projects from the BCLI!
February 17, 2022
BY British Columbia Law Institute
The BC Law Institute is happy to announce the kickoff of two important projects this month: the Gender Diversity in Legal Writing Guide and the Public Hearings Project. Both are major undertakings that aim to enhance social justice, inclusivity, and public participation.
Read more about both of these projects by scrolling through this newsletter.
Congratulations to University of Victoria Professor Gillian Calder for winning BCLI’s trivia contest for January! She’ll be receiving a BCLI-inspired toque handmade by our Executive Director, Karen Campbell.
Gender Diversity in Legal Writing
Like the law, language and styles of writing evolve over time to meet the needs of new generations. One such shift is towards language that reflects a modern understanding of gender and gender identity.
Inclusivity can no longer be limited to masculine and feminine but must be extended to include people who identify as non-binary, agender, two spirited, or genderqueer. To meet these needs, the British Columbia Law Institute is creating a guide to ‘Gender Diversity in Legal Writing: Pronouns, Honorifics, and Gender-Inclusive Techniques’ (Guide).
The Gender Diversity in Legal Writing Guide is funded by the Law Foundation of British Columbia. To learn more about this project, visit our website.
Public Hearings Project
The Local Government Act enables a municipality or regional district to hold a public hearing as part of the process to adopt a planning or land-use bylaw. Except in narrowly defined circumstances, whenever a local government seeks to adopt an official community plan, a zoning bylaw, or a bylaw providing for the early termination of land-use contracts, it must hold “a public hearing on the bylaw for the purpose of allowing the public to make representations to the local government respecting matters contained in the proposed bylaw.”
This project involves the development of a study paper to address:
- The origins of this requirement in the Local Government Act and of the use of public hearings in land-use regulation,
- How this legislation has been interpreted and developed in the case law, and
- The goals and purposes of this legislation.
The Public Hearings Project is funded by the Law Foundation of British Columbia. To learn more about the project, check out this link.
Call for Health Care Key Informants
The CCEL is still looking for health care providers in BC who work with people living in dementia for their feedback on how to better support people living with dementia to participate in decision-making.
Your feedback will inform tool development for health care providers to support decision-making involvement for people living with dementia. Participants will be entered into a $200 cash draw.
If you are interested, please contact Jessica Fehrenbacher at [email protected] or call 778-548-9996.
FEBRUARY 25
ICOI: Consent Law, Disability Rights & Research Inclusion with Krista James
In this session, CCEL’s Krista James will discuss consent law in Canada and explore best practices in consent to participate in research on older adults. The session will discuss some of these legal, ethical and moral dilemmas in research on old adults and present some practical solutions that may help alleviate these issues.
To register for this online seminar, please click this link.
MARCH 1
Senior Women and the Pandemic – Economic Security and Safety
COVID-19 has highlighted the inequities faced by senior women. This event, organized by Woman Abuse Council of Toronto and the Canadian Network for the Prevention of Elder Abuse, will bring together expert speakers to discuss the safety and security of senior women during the pandemic.
CCEL’s Krista James is a speaker at this event.
To register, go to this link.
| Laura Johnston Why Independent Legal Advice Services Matter for People Detained under the Mental Health Act |
| Canadian Centre for Elder Law Alzheimer Society of B.C Webinar Recording – Dementia and Decision-making |
| Myrna Norman POEM: Freedom to Make Decisions |
