New on Clicklaw – Page 48

Clicklaw Year-End Update

We ran a pop-up survey from mid-October to mid-December on the main Clicklaw website to get feedback from website (and now mobile) users like you. The survey has now closed. Thank you to everyone who participated. The draw winner was randomly selected from all entries submitted and has been contacted — congratulations! We’ll share what we’ve learned from you in the new year.

Our Clicklaw contributors have been adding and updating great resources and services to Clicklaw throughout 2015.

Here is a small window* into the activity on the site, with a resource or service featured for each month, for the sake of brevity:

*We will do our best to provide bi-monthly updates in 2016 of all newly added or modified resources and services.

If You Have a No Contact Order Made Against You
by Legal Services Society

What is a no contact order? What are the different types?

Template Letters for Tenants
by Tenancy Resource & Advocacy Centre

Experiencing a problem in your tenancy? Consider putting your concerns in writing to your letter – templates for requesting repairs, returning of deposit, response to an illegal eviction notice, loss of quiet enjoyment, bed bugs and more.

The CanLII Primer
by The National Self-Represented Litigants Project (NSRLP)

A primer designed to help self-represented litigants (SRLs) navigate CanLII in order to prepare for the presentation of their cases – in court, in chambers, or as part of a negotiation or mediation. CanLII is a free online legal service.

Door-to-Door Sales, Time Shares, and Contracts You Can Cancel
by The Canadian Bar Association, BC Branch (CBABC)

Some types of contracts can be cancelled in certain circumstances. This script discusses door-to-door sales, fitness club memberships and other similar contracts, and how you can cancel them.

Sliding Scale Family Mediation
by Mediate BC Society

Families who are experiencing separation and divorce can get help finding a family mediator with fees set on a sliding scale. A family mediator can help you reach decisions about issues such as property division, child and spousal support, parenting time and guardianship without going to court.

Queer Directory @ QMUNITY
by QMUNITY

Talk to Information and Referral Volunteers who can help you find queer-competent services, including legal advice.

Jane Doe Legal Clinic
by West Coast LEAF

Free legal advice appointments in Vancouver for women survivors of violence with child welfare and family law issues. Some multilingual and accessibility support available.

First Contact Vancouver
by Canadian Red Cross

This program provides refugee claimants with one place to access assistance on arrival through a 24-hour phone line offering services for free in 60+ languages.

Provincial Court Resources for Everyone: Family Court

Find helpful info on Family Matters you can deal with in B.C. Provincial Court – guardianship, parenting arrangements, child/spousal support, protection orders and more – here.

Discovery – Sharing information with the other party
by Legal Services Society

Read about the court rules that govern the when, what and how of sharing information in a family law case.

Single Parent Employment Initiative
by BC Ministry of Social Development & Social Innovation

This new initiative is aimed at removing barriers to employment for single parents on income and disability assistance, providing them with the training and support they need to secure long-term and sustainable employment.

Renting, Buying and Selling Strata
by BC Ministry of Natural Gas Development & Responsible for Housing

Learn more about renting in stratas: some stratas may restrict your ability to rent out your property. What are the legal requirements for buying and selling strata property?

Stay informed:

Introducing Kinbrace – Refugee Housing & Support

December 1, 2015 Audrey Jun New on Clicklaw, The broader context

Kinbrace Community Society is one of our newest Clicklaw Core Contributor Organizations.

What does Kinbrace do?

Kinbrace, a Vancouver-based non-profit charity, assists people arriving in Canada seeking refugee protection.

They facilitate the often nerve-wracking transition by providing help with housing, integration, well-being, and access to refugee protection. The Kinbrace residence hosts 12-15 residents at a time, and residents receive the support of Kinbrace staff, interns and volunteers.

Resources for refugee claimants & service providers

Kinbrace has offered workshops to educate service providers and refugee claimants alike on Canada’s refugee protection system.

RHP-guide-animated — This guide has been recently updated and is available in 6 languages for BC.

Kinbrace also publishes the (recently updated) Refugee Hearing Preparation Guide for several regions, available in six languages for BC: English, Arabic, Simplified Chinese, Farsi/Persian, French, and Spanish.

The guide is clear, friendly and straightforward with: information on gathering and submitting evidence, legal issues to consider, checklists, explanations of terminology and answers to frequently asked questions. It directs readers through the refugee hearing process timeline. It is invaluable not only for refugee claimants but for support workers who can use the guide in their work.

They also offer the amazing READY Tours program.

What are READY Tours?

Refugee claimants are given the unique opportunity to see the inside of a refugee hearing room at the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada (IRB) in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal. A staff member of the Refugee Protection Division (IRB-RPD) provides information and answers questions.

What’s a READY Tour like?

Thanks to Fran Gallo, READY Coordinator at Kinbrace, I had the opportunity to observe a READY Tour in early October at the IRB, located right next to the VPL Central Branch in Downtown Vancouver.

what-is-READY

Refugee claimants, volunteer translators and Fran meet at the second-floor lounge of the building where Fran quickly makes sure everyone is equipped with the Guide, a pamphlet from the Red Cross, and a “test sheet” to see what attendees know about the process before, then what they’ve learned after the tour. Fran gathers information about the claimants’ hearing dates, whether they have a lawyer (maybe for the hearing only), and if the individual is applying alone or with others (family).

The tour proceeds upstairs with a staff person of the IRB-RPD–for our tour today, we get the Registrar. She tells us that she will answer questions only about the hearing, not the appeal. She speaks slowly so that the interpreters have time to translate: Check in at the glass window. Come 30 minutes before your hearing – witnesses and observers too. This is the hearing room. Someone will make sure all parties are present and direct you to the appropriate room. You can step out during breaks.

The room itself is about 15×15 feet. We’re full up as the tour has about 20 people in attendance. The Registrar explains that they are an independent administrative tribunal, separate from CIC and the CBSA. The Refugee Protection Division makes decisions on who needs protection – this is all in the Guide. She cannot give advice or specifics. There are requirements and limitation dates, people who may or may not be present at the hearing from heavily acronymed organizations: the CBSA or CIC, the UNHCR, legal issues that must be focused on (identity, credibility, state protection).

The process can appear daunting. However, most attendees report learning helpful information about what they should prepare and being more relaxed for their hearing. It’s easy to see why the READY tours are so valuable. The tours began in 2008 as a collaborative initiative between Kinbrace, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the IRB-RPD. Thousands of refugee claimants and service providers have since participated in the experience.

Find out more about the READY Tours here.

Category: New on Clicklaw