Canadian Civil Liberties Association- Talk Rights

The Organization:

The Canadian Civil Liberties Associations is an independent, nongovernmental organization which works in the courts, before legislative committees, in the classroom and in the streets to protect the rights and freedoms of Canadians as entrenched in the Constitution. The CCLA fights for the civil liberties, human rights, and democratic freedoms of all people across Canada.

The Project:

Research and develop subject expertise in one or more timely civil liberties issue(s) in Canada and develop accessible information for the public. This project serves all persons in Canada with an emphasis on those individuals and organizations interested in civil liberties issues and/or seeking information on civil liberties issues which may affect them; society at large by keeping the spotlight on civil liberties abuses and providing accessible rights information to Canadians.

There are three distinct aspects of the Talk Rights project:

• Students’ primary responsibility will be to create accessible information on rights and liberties:
  1. Students will be provided with a topic assignment and asked to conduct preliminary background research and prepare an issue summary
• Students will work with CCLA staff to determine the kinds of rights materials that would be useful to the public on the topic and will work on drafting those materials, under CCLA supervision. We welcome creativity, and materials may include not just written text, but also graphics, video, podcasts, or other types of products that help to convey information about laws, policies and issues in a simple, engaging manner.
• Students will participate in up to four civil liberties “intensives” over the course of the academic year, in conjunction with CCLA Rights Watch students. During these online sessions students will have exclusive access to leading practitioners on different civil liberties topics. The sessions will be no more than one hour in length.  Students are required to attend at least three of the four sessions over the course of the year. Efforts will be made to accommodate students’ schedules.

The project is operated by the National Office in partnership with the chapters and CCLA. Students will work directly with CCLA staff.

The Volunteers:

1 student, preference given to upper years.