More than Words on Paper: The Court Challenges Program and Actualizing Charter Rights for Marginalized Communities
Author | Shaun O'Brien |
Pages | 577-595 |
MorethanWordsonPaper
TH EC OU RTCHALLENG ES PRO GR AM AN D
ACT UALIZI NGCH ARTERRIG HT SF OR
MARGINALIZEDCOMMUNITIES
Shaun O’Brien*
A. INTRODUCTION
In British Columbia (Minister of Forests) v Okanagan Indian Bandthe Su
premeCourtofCan adastateditisdesirableth atCharterlitigationnot
bebeyond thereachof thecitizen ofordinary means Un fo rt u na te ly
theundesirablehashappenedandCharterlitigationis entirelybeyond
the reach of almost all citi zens In a brief to the Standi ngCom miee
onJusticeandHumanRightstheCanadianBarAssociationarguedfor
thereinstatement oftheCourtChallenges Programwhichhadfu nded
some Charterc hallengesbutwas cancelled instati ngThepro
gramensures thatequalityandminorit ylanguagerightsexistnotonly
onpaperbut canresulti nsystemicchange forthosein societywhose
voic esar eoft enig noredTh isis thec ruxo fthe issue howt otra nslat e
theguaranteed rightsintheCharter of Rights and Freedomstoactua lized
rights and systemic change for our most margi nalized communities
ShaunOBrienisapar tneratCavalluzzoShiltonMcInty reCornishLLPMany
thankstost udentsKaelanUnrauandKaleyDuforthe irassistance
Re Lavigne and Ontario Public Ser vice Employees Union ORdHCJ
reproduced in British Columbia (Minister of Fore sts) v Okanagan Indian BandSCC
atparaOkanagan Indian Band
TheCanadia nBarAssociationThe Canadian Bar Association Brief,StandingCom
mieeonJusticeandHuma nRightsstSessionndParlAprilat
onlinewwwcbaorgCMSPagesGetFileaspxguidebdbb
af
SOB
ThewordsoftheCharterareonlywordsonpaperforvul nerablegroups
inthefaceoflitigationthatcostshundredsofthousa ndsofdollars
Inthisclimatethefederalgovernmentsannouncementuponbeing
electedthat itwouldrestoreamodern versionof theCourtChallenges
Programh asbeenwar mlywelcomedby Charter andequality experts
Theprogramprovidesaf undingoptionforatleasts omeChartercases
whichotherwisea reenormouslyexpensivetopursueWithoutthepro
gramthere arelimitedfunding optionsavailabletoCharterapplicant s
Uncertain fundingmay have aparticular impacton themostmarg in
alized andvulnerable groupswhose casestend tobehighlycomplex
and challengingto pursue ona practical basisTherestored program
thereforewillbemosteectiveinactualizi ngCharterrightsf orthemost
vulnerable particularlyif itimplements recommendationsthat reect
theexperienceandcirc umstancesofthesegroups
Inth ischapterI rstdescribesome ofthec hallengesandcost sof
pursuing Charter caseswhich ofcou rseare exceedinglycomplex and
expensive I then discuss t he current options for obtaining fu nding
suchascost sandadvancecostswhich arelargelyunavailabletoChar-
terapplicants orinany eventareinsucient tocoverthe realcostsof
litigationInthenextsectionIdiscus ssomeadditionalfundingoptions
forCharterchallenges suchassupportfromau nionorpro bonolegalas
sistancebothofwhichhavebeenthemeansformanyimportantCharter
casesovertheyears HoweverIalsoexpressmyconcer nthattheseop
tionswillnotineverycircumsta ncecoverthemostmarginaliz edgroups
insocietyThese groupswillnotalwayshaveorganized representation
andit maybemore dicultforlawyers topursuetheir caseson apro
bonobasisgiventhepart icularcomplexityofthecasesoftenwithmul
tiple Charterrights andor groundsof discrimination atissuea ndthe
daytodaypracticaldicultiesfaci ngthesegroups
In thenext sectionI discuss thebenets ofthe CourtCha llenges
Programas onesolutiontopromotetheCharterrightsofourmostvul
nerable and marginalized com munities I describe how the program
funded many important cases i n its initial iteration including cases
on behalf of vulnerable groups I then provide a case st udyof a case
fundedby theprogramSauvé v Canada ChiefElectoralOcerorSauvé
whichaddressedvotingrightsforprisonerscomparedtoacasefor
whichIrecentlyactedaslegalcounselonapro bonobasisFrank v Canada
AorneyGeneralwhichaddress esvotingrights forexpatCanadia ns
SCCSauvé
ONCAleavetoappealtoSCCallowedCanLIISCCFrank
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