On Monday April 7th 2014, the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights held a hearing to discuss the freedom of expression in Vietnam.  The Vietnamese human rights advocates visited Ottawa after attending Vietnam’s United Periodic Review (UPR) before the United Nations Human Rights Council during its session in Geneva from [...]

Zeenab Kassam (Photo courtesy: Kassam family) On March 20, 2014, Zeenab Kassam and Roshan Thomas, both Canadians volunteering in Afghanistan, were brutally gunned down by several Taliban. I will speak of Roshan Thomas at another time. That same day, Zeenab’s family in Calgary was informed about her murder. [...]

On March 3rd 2014 the Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights held a meeting on the topic of visible minority youth and the criminal justice system. Since that meeting, young people from across the country have contacted us to share their experiences living as a visible minorities, and I want [...]

When we look at young visible minorities in the criminal justice system, it is easy for the conversation to focus primarily on young males. This is not without reason: According to the Statistics Canada: “In 2008/2009, as in previous years, less than one quarter of completed court cases involved a [...]

One of the basic tenants of the Canadian justice system is the right to be represented by a lawyer. If an individual cannot afford a lawyer it falls upon the government to provide that service for its citizens. When an at risk visible minority youth comes into contact with the [...]

The Government's Response   Most Canadians regard the police as trusted personnel whose job it is to protect you. When my children were growing up I often told them that if they ever got lost they should go and find a police officer to help them. Unfortunately, many visible minority [...]