Women's Legal Education and Action Fund, referred to by the

acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...

LEAF, is "the only national organization in Canada that exists to ensure the equality

rights of women Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

and girls under the law.". Established on April 19, 1985, LEAF was formed in response to the enactment of

Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Section 15 of the '' Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' contains guaranteed equality rights. As part of the Constitution of Canada, the section prohibits certain forms of discrimination perpetrated by the governments of Canada with the e ...

to ensure that there was fair and unbiased interpretation of women's Charter rights by the courts. LEAF performs legal research and intervenes in

appellate In law, an appeal is the process in which cases are reviewed by a higher authority, where parties request a formal change to an official decision. Appeals function both as a process for error correction as well as a process of clarifying and ...

and

Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...

cases on women's issues . LEAF has been an intervener in many significant decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada, particularly cases involving section 15 Charter challenges. In addition to its legal work, LEAF also organizes speaking engagements and projects that allow lawyers interested in women's rights to educate one another, to educate the public, and to create collective responses to legal issues related to women's equality. LEAF was created by

Doris Anderson Doris Hilda Anderson, (November 10, 1921 – March 2, 2007) was a Canadian author, journalist and women's rights activist. She is best known as the editor of the women's magazine ''Chatelaine'', mixing traditional content (recipes, décor) w ...

and other women.

Purpose

:To ensure that the equality rights of women, girls, trans, and non-binary people in Canada, as guaranteed in the ''

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms The ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' (french: Charte canadienne des droits et libertés), often simply referred to as the ''Charter'' in Canada, is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada, forming the first part o ...

'', are upheld in courts, human rights commissions and government agencies; and to take actions to reveal how factors such as race, class, Aboriginal status, sexual orientation, ability, and religion compound discrimination against women.

Controversies

Some of the cases the Women's Legal Education and Action Fund have intervened in proved to be controversial. These include the acquittal of Bassam Al Rawi, and the case of Nicole Patricia Ryan, also known as Nicole Doucet Ryan, who was arrested after attempting to hire an undercover

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; french: Gendarmerie royale du Canada; french: GRC, label=none), commonly known in English as the Mounties (and colloquially in French as ) is the federal police, federal and national police service of ...

officer as a

hit man Contract killing is a form of murder or assassination in which one party hires another party to kill a targeted person or persons. It involves an illegal agreement which includes some form of payment, monetary or otherwise. Either party may ...

to kill her husband. The defense claimed she was under duress due to an abusive relationship in which the RCMP had ignored her requests for help. Neither the RCMP nor the husband was called to testify against her accusations, however both refuted her claims. LEAF's interventions may impact legal rules both directly and indirectly. Peter Manfredi concludes that the area where legal change made the most significant practical achievement was in the area of abortion rights. LEAF's defence of the elimination that only hospitals may perform abortions had far-reaching implications for women, with a significant increase in the number of legal abortions performed after 1988. Manfredi footnotes that since LEAF's confusing interventions in the obscenity debate, LEAF experienced two consecutive losses and ponders that it may be too early to tell whether these losses signal a change in the relationship between LEAF and the Supreme Court. LEAF has often suffered other significant losses at the Supreme Court, but it has proved resilient in attracting funding and intervening status at the Supreme Court of Canada. Mary Eberts controversially represented

Beth Symes Beth Symes, , Queen's University alumna is a Canadian lawyer who fought the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA, formerly known as Revenue Canada) all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada in an unsuccessful attempt to deduct childcare expenses she incurre ...

, another LEAF founder, in Symes v. Canada,

993 Year 993 ( CMXCIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Spring – The 12-year-old King Otto III gives the Sword of Saints Cosmas and Damian ...

4 S.C.R. 695 in which LEAF, while not on the docket, made its presence known through the works cited by the high court. While LEAF never formally represented Symes, its de facto intervention was not successful; Symes's attempt to claim her child care deductions as business expenses was disallowed.

Notable interventions

* '' R. v. Ryan'' * '' Little Sisters Book and Art Emporium v. Canada (Minister of Justice)'',

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2 S.C.R. 1120 * ''

British Columbia (PSERC) v. BCGSEU ''British Columbia (Public Service Employee Relations Commission) v British Columbia Government Service Employees' Union'' 9993 SCR 3, – called ''Meiorin'' for short – is a Supreme Court of Canada case that created a unified test to d ...

999 999 or triple nine most often refers to: * 999 (emergency telephone number), a telephone number for the emergency services in several countries * 999 (number), an integer * AD 999, a year * 999 BC, a year Books * ''999'' (anthology) or ''999: T ...

3 S.C.R. 3 * ''

M. v. H. ''M v H''

2 S.C.R. 3, is a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of Canada on the rights of same-sex couples to equal treatment under the Constitution of Canada. Background ''M v H'' was on the appeal of a case originally brought by a ...

'',

2 S.C.R. 3 * ''

Eldridge v. British Columbia (Attorney General) ''Eldridge v British Columbia (AG)'', 9973 SCR 624, is a leading decision by the Supreme Court of Canada that expanded the application of the ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' under section 32 of the ''Charter''. Each of the appellant ...

'',

997 Year 997 (Roman numerals, CMXCVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Japan * 1 February: Empress Teishi gives birth to Princess Shushi - she is the first ...

3 S.C.R. 624 * ''

Weatherall v. Canada (Attorney General) Weatherall or Weatherill is a surname, and may refer to: Weatherall * Andrew Weatherall (1963–2020), English musician, DJ, songwriter, producer and remixer * Ann Weatherall (born 1964), New Zealand psychologist * David Weatherall (1933–2018), ...

'',

2 S.C.R. 872 * ''

R. v. Butler ''R v Butler'', 9921 S.C.R. 452 is a leading Supreme Court of Canada decision on pornography and state censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such m ...

'',

992 Year 992 ( CMXCII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Worldwide * Winter – A superflare from the sun causes an Aurora Borealis, with visibility as fa ...

1 S.C.R. 452 * '' Canadian Council of Churches v. Canada (Minister of Employment and Immigration)'',

1 S.C.R. 236 * '' Norberg v. Wynrib'',

2 S.C.R. 224 * '' R. v. Sullivan'', 9911 S.C.R. 489 * '' Brooks v. Canada Safeway Ltd.'', 9891 S.C.R. 1219 * ''

Andrews v. Law Society of British Columbia ''Andrews v Law Society of British Columbia'', 9891 SCR 143 is the first Supreme Court of Canada case to deal with section 15 (equality rights) of the ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms''. The court outlined a test, sometimes called the "' ...

'', 9891 S.C.R. 143 * ''

R. v. J.A. ''R v JA'' is a criminal law decision of the Supreme Court of Canada regarding consent in cases of sexual assaults. The court found that a person can only consent to sexual activity if they are conscious throughout that activity. If a person ...

'', 2011 SCC 28

References

External links

LEAF website

From NAACP to LEAF: American Legal Exports to Canada
(article by Ian Brodie) {{Authority control Anti-pornography feminism Law of Canada Feminist organizations in Canada Women's organizations based in Canada Legal history of Canada Organizations established in 1985 1985 establishments in Canada Legal advocacy organizations based in Canada Legal organizations based in Ontario Organizations based in Toronto