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

AuthorShaun O'Brien
Pages577-595

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

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