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The Hon. Arif Virani Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada Dear Minister, We are writing to highlight the recent Ontario Superior Court of Justice decision in CASWLR v. Attorney General of Canada, which found all the provisions of Canada’s prostitution laws to be constitutional. The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) acted as an intervener in this case in support of the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act (PCEPA). We argued that buying sex is

The EFC submitted a three-page brief on MAID for mental illness, to the Special Joint Parliamentary Commitee. This brief (aussi disponible en français) calls the government to halt or at least to a delay of the planned March 2024 expansion to allow legal euthanasia for reasons of mental illness alone without any additional safeguards. Download the bilingual EFC brief

The EFC calls attention to significant problems with the Canada Summer Jobs program in a six-page submission to the Standing Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of People with Disabilities.The submission concludes: Canada Summer Jobs is a vital program that benefits many Canadians – the youth who are employed, the organizations that hire them and the communities they serve. Many faith-based organizations participate in the CSJ program an

[ La version française suit ] The Hon. Arif Virani Minister of Justice The Hon. Mark Holland Minister of Health The Hon. Ya’ara Saks Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Dear Ministers, We offer our congratulations on your new portfolios. We appreciate that with these roles come additional responsibilities and commitments. We want to thank you for the work you do on behalf of all Canadians in these important areas. We are writing today out of our deep concern about Medica

For immediate release from The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada Only half of Canadians (51%) are aware that Canadians will be eligible for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD) on the basis of mental illness in March 2024, according to a new Angus Reid Forum poll undertaken for The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. “What we can clearly see is that many of our neighbours aren’t aware of some of the major changes happening in our country,” says EFC President David Guretzki. “This

Bill S-263 would require the federal government to maintain and update a national strategy to combat human trafficking. It specifies that the national strategy must include measures to empower and support survivors, increase prevention efforts, and increase the capacity of the justice system to identify and prosecute human trafficking cases. Senator Ataullahjan introduced Bill S-263 on May 9, 2023. Related resources Sample letter you can send to your MP (PDF, Docx)

Bill S-224 is a private members bill that was introduced in the Senate by Senator Salma Ataullahjan. It would have removed the requirement that a trafficking victim, or a person in those circumstances, must demonstrate they feared for their safety or the safety of a loved one. The bill would also have moved into the definition the additional considerations that exploitation includes coercion, the use or threatened use of force, deception, the abuse of a position of trust, pow

The Hon. Marco Mendicino Minister of Public Safety 269 Laurier Avenue West Ottawa, Ontario   K1A 0P8 Dear Minister Mendicino, We are writing to urge you to allow prostitution-related convictions incurred prior to enactment of the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act to be expunged from the criminal records of prostituted persons. This would be a step towards removing stigma and barriers for those who have been in situations of exploitation and towards ad

The EFC made a three-page submission to the Standing Committee on the Status of Women for its study on Human Trafficking of Women, Girls and Gender Diverse People. The EFC brief shared statistics on trafficking and discussed the connection between prostitution and sex trafficking. It recommended the government develop a permanent national strategy to combat trafficking, among other policy recommendations. Download it here.