Social Science Evidence in Poverty-Related Charter Claims: An Example in Bedford v Canada

• Author: Sydney McIvor
• Position: A second-year JD student at Osgoode Hall Law School with an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Victoria
• Pages: 61-71

APPEAL VOLUME 25

n

61

ARTICLE

SOCIAL SCIENCE EVIDENCE IN

POVERTYRELATED CHARTER CLAIMS:

ANEXAMPLE IN BEDFORD V CANADA

Sydney McIvor *

CITED: (2020) 25 Appeal 61

ABSTRACT

Social science ca n be a useful tool for courts when decid ing upon issues relating to poverty,

as it can provide informat ion about the societal rea lities of the matter in question.  is

paper explores the use of socia l science evidence in povert y law-related Charter claims,

looking at the specic e xample of Bedford v Canada (Attorney General). Bedford was a

Charter application that ulti mately struck down three provisions in the Cr iminal Code as

unconstitutional bec ause they interfered with sex workers’ abilities to protect t hemselves

against v iolence. Social science evidence played a vital role in t he decision, demonstrating

its eectiveness in t hese types of cl aims. e Supreme Court of Ca nada also made t wo

important ruli ngs in Bedford that increased t he Court’s recognition of the leg itimacy of

social science fact s. is paper concludes that social scienc e evidence is an essential a spect

of many poverty-related Charte r claim s and that a solution should be found for ensuring

that there is fund ing available for impoverished persons bringing the se claims.

INTRODUCTION

Social science evidenc e can be highly valuable for trac king trends, gathering in formation,

and measuring t he impacts of public policy with respect to poverty. Whi le society views

courts as cons ervative institutions, there can b e little doubt that social science evidence is

a useful tool for cour ts to understand the i mplications of their decisions, par ticularly in

cases involving t he constitutionality of legislat ion. As social science develops sophistic ation

and public acceptance, it bec omes increasingly impor tant that the cour ts embrace this

form of evidence and develop consistent proce sses for its evaluat ion. For the purpose of

this paper, social science ev idence refers to evidence, regarding a pa rticular aspect of a ca se,

that is data-dr iven and seeks to understand some aspec t of society and social interactions.

is paper will e xplore the use of social science evidence in the ca se of Bedford v Canada

(Attorney General).1 Part I of this pa per addresses the soc ietal context that g ave rise to

the Bedford claim, including t he intersection of sex work and poverty in Canada . Part II

discusses t he factors that make poverty law cha llenges unique, and explains why Bedford

was selected for the di scussion in this paper. Part III discu sses the social science admitte d

* Sydney McIvor is a second-year JD s tudent at Osgoode Hall Law Schoo l with an undergraduate

degree in economics f rom the University of Victori a. Sydney conducted empirical resea rch

for her undergraduate thes is and is interested in the intersecti ons between statistics an d law.

Special thanks to Profess or Shelley Gavigan and Karen Andrews fo r their guidance in the writing

process and to Miscia Sullivan fo r her feedback on early draf ts.

1 2010 ONSC 4264 [Bedford SC ]; 2013 SCC 72 [Bedford SCC].