CCLA has filed arguments in Wright v Yukon, a case that challenges the constitutionality of the power of the state to instigate evictions under the Yukon’s Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act (SCAN Act). Under section 3(2) of the SCAN Act, anonymous complaints can trigger broad law enforcement powers, including state enabled evictions of residents from their homes.
In Wright v Yukon, the Wright family, their eight children, and extended family members were evicted from their home, under the SCAN Act, in the middle of the Yukon winter, during the Covid-19 pandemic just weeks prior to the holidays.
The CCLA, an intervenor in the case, argues that SCAN Act evictions are a deprivation of liberty and disproportionately impact vulnerable and marginalized communities, such as Indigenous people.
“SCAN Act evictions are a gross deprivation of liberty interests that are unconstitutional and contrary to Canada’s international legal obligations” says Harini Sivalingam, Director of the Equality Program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association. “State-sponsored evictions of tenants also risk exposing vulnerable and marginalized families to homelessness.”
The hearing at the Supreme Court of Yukon is scheduled to be heard from November 6-10, 2023.
CCLA is grateful to pro bono legal counsel Brent Olthuis, K.C. and Fraser Harland of Olthuis van Ert, for their representation in this case.
The CCLA is an independent, non-profit organization with supporters from across the country. Founded in 1964, the CCLA is a national human rights organization committed to defending the rights, dignity, safety, and freedoms of all people in Canada.
About the Canadian Civil Liberties Association
The CCLA is an independent, non-profit organization with supporters from across the country. Founded in 1964, the CCLA is a national human rights organization committed to defending the rights, dignity, safety, and freedoms of all people in Canada.
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