Please find a position paper (and executive summary) on HIV criminalization prepared by Positive Living BC and sent to the Ministers of Justice and Health (and others) on June 25.
Because new Charge Assessment Guidelines are the only way we in BC can mitigate the damage otherwise done by the October 2012 decisions of the Supreme Court of Canada in the cases of Mabior and D.C., the position paper sets out the case for why such new Charge Assessment Guidelines are needed and what they ought to include.
We believe such new Charge Assessment Guidelines will be approved only if the provincial Government believes there is substantial and informed public support in their favour.
So we’re asking for your help.
If you and/or your organization are at all able to do so, please send an email to the Ministers of Justice (The Hon. Suzanne Anton at [email protected]) and Health (The Hon. Terry Lake at [email protected]) letting them know that you support the position paper and, particularly, its recommendations for new Charge Assessment Guidelines and related matters.
And please send us a note of your having done so to Ross Harvey, Executive Director, at [email protected].
For the purpose of notifying the Ministers of your support, feel free to use or adapt as you see fit (or ignore in favour of using your own words) the following brief message:
______________________________________________________________________________
Dear Minister,
Please be advised that [I / (name of organization)] [have/has] reviewed the position paper “The Need for New Charge Assessment Guidelines: HIV Non-Disclosure in British Columbia”, dated June 11, 2014 and previously sent to you by Positive Living BC.
[I / (name of organization)] strongly [support/s] the paper’s analysis as accurately reflecting the realities confronting people living with HIV in these regards in BC. More particularly, [I/we] urge you to accept the recommendations for new Charge Assessment Guidelines contained in the paper and to do what you can to ensure their adoption and implementation.
Thank you very much for your kind consideration of this communication.
[Your name / Your organization’s name]
______________________________________________________________________________
Thank you very, very much for considering this request and, if you’re able, for acting on it!