More than Words on Paper: The Court Challenges Program and Actualizing Charter Rights for Marginalized Communities

• Author: Shaun O'Brien
• Pages: 577-595



MorethanWordsonPaper

TH EC OU RTCHALLENG ES PRO GR AM AN D

ACT UALIZI NGCH ARTERRIG HT SF OR

MARGINALIZEDCOMMUNITIES

Shaun O’Brien*

A. INTRODUCTION

In British Columbia (Minister of Forests) v Okanagan Indian Bandthe Su

premeCourtofCan adastateditisdesirableth atCharterlitigationnot

bebeyond thereachof thecitizen ofordinary means Un fo rt u na te ly 

theundesirablehashappenedandCharterlitigationis entirelybeyond

the reach of almost all citi zens In a brief to the Standi ngCom miee

onJusticeandHumanRightstheCanadianBarAssociationarguedfor

thereinstatement oftheCourtChallenges Programwhichhadfu nded

some Charterc hallengesbutwas cancelled instati ngThepro 

gramensures thatequalityandminorit ylanguagerightsexistnotonly

onpaperbut canresulti nsystemicchange forthosein societywhose

voic esar eoft enig noredTh isis thec ruxo fthe issue howt otra nslat e

theguaranteed rightsintheCharter of Rights and Freedomstoactua lized

rights and systemic change for our most margi nalized communities

 ShaunOBrienisapar tneratCavalluzzoShiltonMcInty reCornishLLPMany

thankstost udentsKaelanUnrauandKaleyDuforthe irassistance

 Re Lavigne and Ontario Public Ser vice Employees Union ORdHCJ

reproduced in British Columbia (Minister of Fore sts) v Okanagan Indian BandSCC

atparaOkanagan Indian Band

 TheCanadia nBarAssociationThe Canadian Bar Association Brief,StandingCom

mieeonJusticeandHuma nRightsstSessionndParlAprilat

onlinewwwcbaorgCMSPagesGetFileaspxguidebdbb

af

SOB

ThewordsoftheCharterareonlywordsonpaperforvul nerablegroups

inthefaceoflitigationthatcostshundredsofthousa ndsofdollars

Inthisclimatethefederalgovernmentsannouncementuponbeing

electedthat itwouldrestoreamodern versionof theCourtChallenges

Programh asbeenwar mlywelcomedby Charter andequality experts

Theprogramprovidesaf undingoptionforatleasts omeChartercases

whichotherwisea reenormouslyexpensivetopursueWithoutthepro

gramthere arelimitedfunding optionsavailabletoCharterapplicant s

Uncertain fundingmay have aparticular impacton themostmarg in

alized andvulnerable groupswhose casestend tobehighlycomplex

and challengingto pursue ona practical basisTherestored program

thereforewillbemosteectiveinactualizi ngCharterrightsf orthemost

vulnerable particularlyif itimplements recommendationsthat reect

theexperienceandcirc umstancesofthesegroups

Inth ischapterI rstdescribesome ofthec hallengesandcost sof

pursuing Charter caseswhich ofcou rseare exceedinglycomplex and

expensive I then discuss t he current options for obtaining fu nding

suchascost sandadvancecostswhich arelargelyunavailabletoChar-

terapplicants orinany eventareinsucient tocoverthe realcostsof

litigationInthenextsectionIdiscus ssomeadditionalfundingoptions

forCharterchallenges suchassupportfromau nionorpro bonolegalas

sistancebothofwhichhavebeenthemeansformanyimportantCharter

casesovertheyears HoweverIalsoexpressmyconcer nthattheseop

tionswillnotineverycircumsta ncecoverthemostmarginaliz edgroups

insocietyThese groupswillnotalwayshaveorganized representation

andit maybemore dicultforlawyers topursuetheir caseson apro

bonobasisgiventhepart icularcomplexityofthecasesoftenwithmul

tiple Charterrights andor groundsof discrimination atissuea ndthe

daytodaypracticaldicultiesfaci ngthesegroups

In thenext sectionI discuss thebenets ofthe CourtCha llenges

Programas onesolutiontopromotetheCharterrightsofourmostvul

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 udyof a case

fundedby theprogramSauvé v Canada ChiefElectoralOcerorSauvé

whichaddressedvotingrightsforprisonerscomparedtoacasefor

whichIrecentlyactedaslegalcounselonapro bonobasisFrank v Canada

AorneyGeneralwhichaddress esvotingrights forexpatCanadia ns

 SCCSauvé

 ONCAleavetoappealtoSCCallowedCanLIISCCFrank