420 THE ADVOCATE
VOL. 76 PART 3 MAY 2018
“What should movement lawyering look like in B.C.?” she asked. Lawyers
play different roles within each model, she said, but “rebellious lawyering”
requires collaborating with allies and being more than just a good representative:
“It is helping to build a movement, not just getting your name on that
court of appeal decision.” This role can raise a number of ethical issues,
such as the question of how movement lawyers are accountable to the
groups they represent. “Using rights talk to package political demands both
narrows and tames these demands,” Ceric said. “Lawyers need to be cognizant
é
of this risk.” She advised young lawyers in the audience not to “parachute
in and be the hero for movements,” but to take direction from
movements, and offer support as needed.
BRITISH COLUMBIA’S MENTAL HEALTH ACT
Allard Law alumna Laura Johnston
(lawyer, Community Legal
Assistance Society) presented
findings from her recent report,
Operating in Darkness: BC’s Mental
Health Act Detention System. The
report calls for a system-wide
review of the detention system
due to its substantial rule of law
and accountability deficits. Several
deficits glaringly stood out:
lack of access to a lawyer, the use of restraints and seclusion as routine
admission procedures for mental health detainees, the concerning rise of
involuntary admissions through “deemed consent”, due process violations
such as no reasons for detention or automatic periodic reviews, and the
practice of treating clothing as a privilege that can be taken away as a punishment.
In Johnston’s view, these common law and Charter violations
require the entire Mental Health Act to be scrapped: “I have clients who tell
me that being in jail is much more preferable to being in mental health
detention.”
IMMIGRATION AND REFUGEES
The final panel, with Molly Joeck
(lawyer, Edelmann and Company
Law Offices), Amanda Aziz (lawyer,
Embarkation Law), Saleem Spindari
(advocate, Manager of Refugee