Ewert v. Canada (Attorney General) et al., 2015 FC 1093
| Judge | Phelan, J. |
| Court | Federal Court (Canada) |
| Case Date | September 18, 2015 |
| Jurisdiction | Canada (Federal) |
| Citations | 2015 FC 1093;[2015] F.T.R. TBEd. SE.066 |
Ewert v. Can. (A.G.), [2015] F.T.R. TBEd. SE.066
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Currently being edited for F.T.R. - judgment temporarily in rough form.
Temp. Cite: [2015] F.T.R. TBEd. SE.066
Jeffrey G. Ewert (plaintiff) v. Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada (The Commissioner of the Correctional Service of Canada, The Warden of Kent Institution and The Warden of Mission Institution) (defendant)
(T-1350-05; 2015 FC 1093)
Indexed As: Ewert v. Canada (Attorney General) et al.
Federal Court
Phelan, J.
September 18, 2015.
Summary:
The plaintiff brought a claim for relief in respect of violations of ss. 7 and 15 of the Charter based on the actions of the Commissioner of Correctional Services Canada in using various psychological risk assessment tools (actuarial tests) during the plaintiff's incarceration. Those actuarial tests were alleged to be unreliable in regard to Aboriginal prisoners.
The Federal Court concluded that: a) that the use of these assessment tools was both inconsistent with the principles in s. 4(g) of the Corrections and Conditional Release Act by not being responsive to the special needs of Aboriginal people and further such use breached s. 24(1) of the Act; and b) use of these assessment tools violated the plaintiff's s. 7 Charter rights without s. 1 justification. The court intended to issue a final order enjoining the use of the assessment tools in respect of the plaintiff and other Aboriginal inmates until, at minimum, the defendant conducted a study that confirmed the reliability of those tools in respect to adult Aboriginal offenders. The court would issue a Remedies Hearing Order to address the best and fairest manner of implementing the intended final order. In the interim, the defendant would be enjoined from using the results of the assessment tools in regards to the plaintiff.
Civil Rights - Topic 646
Liberty - Limitations on - Prisoners and imprisonment - See paragraphs 87 to 113.
Civil Rights - Topic 1370.6
Security of the person - Inmates and prisoners - Assessment tools - See paragraphs 87 to 113.
Civil Rights - Topic 3107.2
Trials - Due process, fundamental justice and fair hearings - General principles and definitions - Overbreadth principle (incl. arbitrariness) - See paragraphs 97 to 105.
Civil Rights - Topic 8348
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms - Application - Exceptions - Reasonable limits prescribed by law (Charter, s. 1) - See paragraphs 110 to 112.
Indians, Inuit and Metis - Topic 3
General - Duty owed to Indians by Crown (incl. fiduciary duties, consultation duties and honour of the Crown) - See paragraph 86.
Prisons - Topic 1008
Administration - General - Rectifying prisoner's record (incl. inaccurate information) - See paragraphs 81 and 85.
Prisons - Topic 1027.1
Administration - Powers re prisoners - Risk assessment - See paragraphs 76 to 113.
Counsel:
Jason Gratl and Eric Purtzki, for the plaintiff;
Sean Stynes, Ainslie Harvey and Nicholas Claridge, for the defendant.
Solicitors of Record:
Gratl & Company, Vancouver, British Columbia, for the plaintiff;
William F. Pentney, Deputy Attorney General of Canada, Vancouver, British Columbia, for the defendant.
This action was heard on May 25, 26, 28 and 29, and June 1, 2, 4 and 5, 2015, at Vancouver, British Columbia, before Phelan, J., of the Federal Court, who delivered the following decision on September 18, 2015.
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Table of cases
...(2009), 249 CCC (3d) 178 (BCCA) .................................................................................... 305 Ewert v Canada, 2015 FC 1093 ...........................................................................288, 301 Frye v United States, 293 F 1013 (DC Cir 1923).................
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Table of Cases
...ABQB 580 ...................................................................................265–66 Ewert v. Canada (Correctional Service), 2015 FC 1093 ................................................. 705, 706 Frazer v. Haukioja, 2008 CanLII 42207 (Ont. S.C.J.), aff’d 2010 ONCA 249 .............
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Table of Cases
...183 Table of Cases 679 Ewert v Canada (Correctional Service), 2015 FC 1093, rev’d 2016 FCA 203, appeal heard and reserved 12 October 2017 (SCC), [2016] SCCA No 441 ..................................................................................... 558–59 Fales v Canada Permanent Trust C......
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'The Admittedly Unattainable Ideal': Adverse Impact and Race under Section 15
...that section 1 is not really a player in equality claims. They are won or lost at section 15. 47 Ewert v Canada (Correctional Service) , 2015 FC 1093 at para 109 “With great respect, I find it unnecessary to engage in a s 15 analysis. The facts in this case are not sufficiently developed to......
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R v Natomagan,
...also Ewert v Canada, 2018 SCC 30. A risk assessment score sticks with an offender “like a branding”: Ewert v Canada, 2015 FC 1093 at para 58. [116] In its 2016-2017 Annual Report, the Office of the Correctional Investigator incredulously noted that......
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R v Wolfleg, 2018 ABCA 222
...tests when applied to Aboriginal offenders. This validity question was brought to light in Ewert v Canada (Correctional Service), 2015 FC 1093 [Ewert (FC)]. In that case, Mr Ewert, an Aboriginal inmate, commenced a civil action alleging that actuarial assessment tools (the PCL-R, VRAG, SORA......
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Ewert v. Canada, 2018 SCC 30
..., 363 C.R.R. (2d) 120 , [2016] F.C.J. No. 853 (QL), 2016 CarswellNat 3417 (WL Can.), setting aside a decision of Phelan J., 2015 FC 1093, 343 C.R.R. (2d) 15 , [2016] 1 C.N.L.R. 50 , [2015] F.C.J. No. 1123 (QL), 2015 CarswellNat 4551 (WL Can.). Appeal allowed in part, C......
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Ewert v. Canada (Attorney General) et al., 2016 FCA 203
...7 and 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. At trial, he sought injunctive and declaratory relief. [2] For reasons cited as 2015 FC 1093, a judge of the Federal Court found that the use of the assessment tools in respect of Aboriginal inmates was contrary to subsections 4(g) an......
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Table of Cases
...ABQB 580 ...................................................................................265–66 Ewert v. Canada (Correctional Service), 2015 FC 1093 ................................................. 705, 706 Frazer v. Haukioja, 2008 CanLII 42207 (Ont. S.C.J.), aff’d 2010 ONCA 249 .............
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Table of cases
...(2009), 249 CCC (3d) 178 (BCCA) .................................................................................... 305 Ewert v Canada, 2015 FC 1093 ...........................................................................288, 301 Frye v United States, 293 F 1013 (DC Cir 1923).................
-
Table of Cases
...183 Table of Cases 679 Ewert v Canada (Correctional Service), 2015 FC 1093, rev’d 2016 FCA 203, appeal heard and reserved 12 October 2017 (SCC), [2016] SCCA No 441 ..................................................................................... 558–59 Fales v Canada Permanent Trust C......
-
'The Admittedly Unattainable Ideal': Adverse Impact and Race under Section 15
...that section 1 is not really a player in equality claims. They are won or lost at section 15. 47 Ewert v Canada (Correctional Service) , 2015 FC 1093 at para 109 “With great respect, I find it unnecessary to engage in a s 15 analysis. The facts in this case are not sufficiently developed to......