Report of the Charter Rights and Legislative Review Committee

Last year, MARL Board member Michael Conner took over the Chair of the Committee from the capable leadership of our President, Ken Mandzuik. Ken remains active on the Committee which has now expanded to 10 members strong. The Committee continued its vital work scrutinizing proposed legislation, raising public awareness about important civil liberties issues, advocating change and researching problem areas. Recently, the Committee undertook to develop and update MARL's position statements on a variety of key civil liberties topics. We hope to share this with the Board in the near future and once finalized, MARL's positions will be more readily accessible to our members and the public.

The Committee had a busy year promoting and protecting rights and civil liberties in Manitoba. Sometimes this involved taking unpopular positions in order to ensure the rights of minorities or unpopular groups were not trammeled by government. Here are just a few highlights:

• Submissions on Bill 47 - changes to Legal Aid. MARL raised privacy concerns over the breadth of consent required for the disclosure of personal financial information. MARL also fought for the right to select a lawyer of choice. The government amended the Bill to limit the scope of disclosure required, in direct response to MARL's concerns.

• Submissions on Bill 41 which would take away profits earned from books published about notorious crimes. MARL argued the Bill was a serious infringement of free expression and could even have a chilling effect on journalism.

• MARL commented on proposed changes to Personal Investigations Act, insisting on the need for prior consent to gather personal information and divulge it to government agencies.

• Independent scrutiny of police action. MARL called for a full and independent investigation into the fatal shooting death of Matthew Dumas.

• Religion in schools. MARL confronted a school division whose policy favoured one religion over others in violation of equality rights and our tradition of a secular public school system.

• Freedom of association and presumption of innocence. MARL went to the media to criticize The Pas' proposed by-law banning suspected gang members from public places. The by-law was dropped.

• Due process. MARL continues to monitor a court challenge to domestic violence and anti-stalking legislation which deprives individuals of a fair hearing.

• Freedom of expression for the poor. MARL is monitoring and hopes to assist with a proposed court challenge to the new Winnipeg panhandling by-law.

• Privacy rights. MARL continues to monitor a proposal to make HIV/AIDS testing mandatory in some circumstances.

We look forward to continuing our efforts to secure rights and liberties for all Manitobans.