VICTORIA, BC: The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms announces the release of its latest report, Restoring freedom in British Columbia, outlining 10 priorities for the province’s new government. Its goal is to give legislators a practical roadmap for restoring constitutional freedoms and ensuring British Columbians have greater control over their lives.

The report’s recommendations cover five broad themes:

• Protect freedom of expression and professional independence. Repeal section 7 of the Human Rights Code, which permits complaints against publications, and enact legislation to prevent professional regulators from policing off-duty opinions beyond narrow exceptions. The report highlights former nurse Amy Hamm, whose licence was suspended and who was ordered to pay $93,639.80 in costs following proceedings over her public comments disagreeing with gender ideology.
• Strengthen protections for homes and private property. Repeal the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act and section 8.1 of the Interpretation Act to address uncertainty in the land title system. The report highlights the Cowichan Tribes decision involving approximately 800 acres in Richmond, which undermines the security of private property titles. It also calls for repealing unexplained wealth order provisions in the Civil Forfeiture Act and strengthening safeguards against compelled self-incrimination, noting that civil forfeiture allows government to confiscate property without criminal charges or a conviction.
• Give employees and parents a stronger voice. Allow unionized employees to retain their own lawyer and pursue a grievance at their own expense when irreconcilable differences leave them without meaningful union representation. Also, remove sexual orientation and gender identity content from the public school curriculum and respect parents’ responsibilities concerning their children’s upbringing.
• Expand patients’ choices and protect independent medical judgment. Permit additional private payment and insurance options for medically necessary care, while allowing doctors to work in both public and private systems. Repeal the Health Professions and Occupations Act to restore greater separation between government and professional regulation. The report highlights government-appointed regulatory boards and requirements to police “false or misleading information” about health as concerns for professional independence and open medical debate.
• Open government decisions to public scrutiny. Remove provisions that allow public bodies to disregard certain access-to-information requests. Also, establish an open process for decisions to remove public monuments or change historical place names that allows citizens to have their say.

Justice Centre President John Carpay said, “An election can change who exercises government power. Protecting freedom requires examining the power itself.”

“This report gives legislators practical proposals for placing individual rights and government accountability at the centre of their work,” he added.

The Justice Centre encourages all members of the Legislative Assembly and British Columbians to examine the report and press for reforms that protect freedom in BC.

The Justice Centre is Canada’s leading civil liberties organization defending Charter rights and freedoms in the courts of law and in the court of public opinion. Founded in 2010, the Justice Centre funds lawyers across Canada, relies entirely on voluntary donations to carry out its mission, and issues official tax receipts to donors.