A
New Direction for the
Canadian Civil Liberties Association
INTRODUCTION
In 1995, an external
consultant published a report titled Building
a New Public Face for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. The report detailed several problems with the
CCLA, including the organization’s marginal voice in public affairs, lack of
input and oversight from the Board of Directors, and public perception that it
was a one-man organization with no coherent principles. Although it’s now over a decade since the report
was published, many of the same problems persist. A new direction is needed for the future of
the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.
OUR STRENGTHS
CCLA has an excellent
education program that visits hundreds of high school students across
OUR PROBLEMS
Stagnant Membership A CCLA affidavit filed in 1991 lists the organization
as having 7,000 members. A recent
affidavit in R. v. A.M. (the drug dogs case) lists us as having 6,500 members. Even if each sworn affidavit is only an
estimate, CCLA membership has declined or
remained stagnant in the last 15 years.
Limited Geographical Focus For an organization that is nominally national in focus,
we have no true affiliates. We have no
staff outside of
Limited Topical Focus CCLA rarely or never becomes involved in a host of
pressing civil liberties issues, such as physical disability, mental health,
gay and lesbian equality, corrections, and more.
·
CCLA has done
little work on eliminating discrimination on the basis of sexual
orientation. Our only involvement in the
entire same-sex marriage campaign, after furious internal staff lobbying, were
writing two short letters and a last-minute intervention in the Supreme Court
reference. Other non-profit groups, such
as EGALE, shouldered the entire burden of the case.
·
According to the
organization’s list of litigation and legislative lobbying, it has never become
involved in a case involving physical disability issues, despite recent
legislative proposals to mandate access to government institutions.
·
Since 1990, the
only action CCLA has taken in regards to mental health is a letter to a
legislative committee in 2004 regarding mental health reviews.
·
Our last brief or
litigation on a corrections issue was in 1977.
Poor Structure Despite its dozens of Board members, only a bare handful show
up at the twice-yearly Board meetings.
Board members (and regular members) have little influence on policy, and
there is no written set of CCLA principles.
As the report notes, “there is also a very real concern that ‘there is
no organization’—just Alan Borovoy and his interests, his point of view.”
WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE
·
The Board should
commission a new external report to examine CCLA’s public face and internal
operations.
·
Board members
should exercise increased oversight of the organization.
·
CCLA itself needs
to become more transparent, democratic, and responsive to emerging civil
liberties issues.
WHO I AM
My name is Jeremy
Patrick. I’m a law professor at the