The Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA; ) is a nonprofit organization in Canada devoted to the defence of

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties of ...

and

constitutional rights A constitutional right can be a prerogative or a duty, a power or a restraint of power, recognized and established by a sovereign state or union of states. Constitutional rights may be expressly stipulated in a national constitution, or they may ...

.Dominique Clement
Case Study: Canadian Civil Liberties Association
Page accessed Feb 13, 2016

History

The CCLA was founded in 1964 in Toronto, prompted by the Ontario government's proposal of a bill that would have granted special powers to the police in the face of a rise in

organized crime Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...

. Its predecessor was the Association for Civil Liberties (ACL), which at its foundation had been intended to address national issues, but had become focused primarily on issues in Ontario. The ACL was led by Irving Himel, and in response to the bill, he gathered human rights leaders in Toronto, including

Pierre Berton Pierre Francis de Marigny Berton, CC, O.Ont. (July 12, 1920 – November 30, 2004) was a Canadian historian, writer, journalist and broadcaster. Berton wrote 50 best-selling books, mainly about Canadiana, Canadian history and popular cultur ...

, June Callwood,

Bora Laskin Bora Laskin (October 5, 1912 – March 26, 1984) was a Canadians, Canadian jurist who served as the 14th Chief Justice of Canada, chief justice of Canada from 1973 to 1984 and as a List of justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, puisne just ...

Mark MacGuigan Mark Rudolph MacGuigan (17 February 1931 – 12 January 1998) was a Canadian academic and politician. Born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, the son of Mark Rudolph MacGuigan and Agnes Violet Trainor, he was educated at Saint Du ...

, Harry Arthurs, and John Keiller MacKay, and they formed the CCLA with Mackay as its honorary president. In 1968, the CCLA won a grant from the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

to study

due process Due process of law is application by the state of all legal rules and principles pertaining to a case so all legal rights that are owed to a person are respected. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual p ...

in Canadian lower courts and used the findings as a guide for its advocacy in the ensuing years. The CCLA was one of the few groups in Canada that protested the 1970 invocation of the '' War Measures Act'' by then

Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada () is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the Confidence and supply, confidence of a majority of the elected House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons ...

Pierre Trudeau Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau (October 18, 1919 – September 28, 2000) was a Canadian politician, statesman, and lawyer who served as the 15th prime minister of Canada from 1968 to 1979 and from 1980 to 1984. Between his no ...

in response to the

October Crisis The October Crisis () was a chain of political events in Canada that started in October 1970 when members of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) kidnapped the provincial Labour Minister Pierre Laporte and British diplomat James Cross f ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. In the opinion of Dominique Clément, its most enduring contribution in the 20th century was its influence on the drafting of the 1982 ''

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part of the '' Constitution Act, 1982''. The ''Char ...

''. The CCLA acted at the Rouleau Commission into the use of the

Emergencies Act The ''Emergencies Act'' () is a statute passed by the Parliament of Canada in 1988 which authorizes the Government of Canada to take extraordinary temporary measures to respond to public welfare emergencies, public order emergencies, internatio ...

to quell the Freedom Convoy which arose in the aftermath of the government-mandated vaccine for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

Leadership

Alan Borovoy served as

general counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

of the organization from 1968 to 2009 and under his leadership, he and the CCLA became famous throughout Canada as defenders of free speech and civil liberties. He continued as general counsel

emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

from 2009 until his death in 2015. Nathalie Des Rosiers was CCLA's general counsel from 2009 to 2013. Sukanya Pillay was executive director and general counsel from 2014 until 2017, and had been acting general counsel from 2013 to 2014. Former Attorney-General of Ontario Michael Bryant was appointed executive director and

in 2018 and served until January 1, 2022 when he left to become executive director of Legal Aid BC. Noa Mendelsohn-Aviv was appointed executive director and general counsel on February 9, 2022. She had previously been acting executive director and general counsel from 2017 to 2018.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Legal organizations based in Ontario Government watchdog groups in Canada Civil liberties advocacy groups Legal advocacy organizations based in Canada Organizations established in 1964 Political advocacy groups in Canada Human rights organizations based in Canada Civil rights organizations in Canada

History

Leadership

Further reading

Archival holdings

See also

References

External links