B.C. civil rights group punches above its weight in national legal disputes
VANCOUVER — Arriving to the lockup for the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision on medically assisted suicide, members of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association found themselves relegated to a small, seatless table in the corner of an otherwise packed room.
“It was like a kids’ table. … We had to pull chairs over to it,” recalled Josh Paterson, the group’s executive director.
Thoughts of tables quickly faded as the judgment was released. The small, modestly resourced civil liberties operation based out of a two-storey building slated to be torn down in Vancouver had won a unanimous Supreme Court decision.
Despite its size and limited means, the association has had a major impact on the country’s laws since it was established in 1962. The group is headquartered in a 2,500-square-foot office, where volunteers are sometimes sent home in the summer because of the stifling heat and winter staff meetings are occasionally conducted wearing toques and scarves.