'The Admittedly Unattainable Ideal': Adverse Impact and Race under Section 15

• Author: Sonia Lawrence
• Pages: 547-563



TheAdmiedlyUnaainableIdeal

ADVE R SEIM PAC T A NDRACE 

UND ERS ECTI ON

Sonia Lawrence*

Ista rtt his paperwith the proposition thatwe live in asocietyt hatis

deeplyshapedbyracismandthecolonia lprojectTheseproces seshave

notonlyleftFirstNationssovereigntyandterritoriesunrecognizedbut

haveracializedIndigenouspe oplesandrenderedthemsubjec ttoracial

formsofdiscrim inationFromthelegalenslavementofAfrica npeoples

totheChine seheadtaxandfar beyondtheseexamplesourhistoryre

vealsthatweareasocietybuiltonracistideologiesContemporaryracism

operatesonaeldmarkeddeeplybythelinesdrawnandburdensappor

tionedin the nottoo distant pastSchool streaming chi ldwelfaret he

criminal justice systemf rompolicing toi ncarcerationaccess tohealt h

careandhighereducationall bearthemarkofthepastdespitethelack

ofexplicit line drawing based on race In legislation atleast contem

poraryracism tendstoconceal itselfin neutrallanguagebehindbland

formulat ions

 Andrews v Law Society of Br itish ColumbiaSCRatAndrews

 AssociateProfes sorOsgoodeHallLawSchoolAllofmyt hinkinga boutsection

hasbeendevelopedint hecontextofasupportiveandge nerousgroupofscholars

whohavealsobeenmymentorsst udentsandcolleaguesIamg ratefultoallof

thembutIwillna meherefourinpart icularJenn iferKoshanandJonn eeWatson

Hamiltonwhoseworksar eextensivelycitedFayFaradayfordiscussionsvery

earlyinmycareeraboutlit igatingsectioncasesa ndDebraParkesforinter alia

sharingmyenthus iasmaboutSauvéIconsulte dnoneofthesepeopleaboutth is

paperallerrorsar emyresponsibility

SL

Thecamouage techniq uesofmodernracis marenothoweverout

sideofthepurv iewofconstitutional equalityprotectionsThesubstan

tiveratherth anformalc ommitments thathavebeena partofsection

doctrine since Andrews v Law Society of British Columbia inoered

therstSupremeCourtinterpretationoftheprovision

discrimi nationmaybedesc ribedasad istinctionwhe therintentional

ornotbutbasedong roundsrelating topersonalc haracteristicsof the

individualorgroupwhichhasth eeectofimposingburdensobliga

tionsordisadvantagesonsuchindividualorgroupnotimposedupon

othersor whichwith holdsorl imitsaccess toopport unitiesbe nets

andadvantagesavailabletoothermembersofsociet y

Thishas meantasmostreaderswi llknowthatlawscandis crimin

ateintheir purposewhereont heirfacetheyd rawdiscriminatory dis

tinctionsonanalogousorenumeratedgroundsortheycandiscrimi nate

intheir eectswherefori nstancethey applytoeveryoneequa llybut

haveanegativeimpactoncer tainana logousorenumeratedgroupsbe

cause ofpre existing disadvantageor whether they categorize on the

basisofapparentlyneutralcharacteristicsbuthavedisproportionatead

verseeectsoncertainanalogousorenumeratedgroups

This paper addresses the cur ious lack of racial discrimi nation

claimsundersectionoftheCharterInmyviewthesemissingc laims

aremost obviously frameda sadverse impactcla imsT his exploration

beginsby brieyraising somepossibilities astowhywehavenotsee n

theseclai msin thecourts beginningwithaccess tojusticei ssuesthen

turning to data In the nextsection Idescr ibei nsome detail the Su

premeCourtsdevelopmentofthedoctrineofadverseimpactinrelation

totheCourtstreatmentofraceclaimsatsect ionFinallyIoersome

briefdiscussionofthepotentiali mplicationsoftwoshiftsinthecontext

whichsuggestthisareaisonetowatch

 Andrewsabovenote

 Thereareotherr outestosectionraceclaimsa sscholarsincludi ngKentRoach

DavidTanovichandReemBahdihavedesc ribedIamfocus edontheadverse

impactissueSeeal soGraceEdwardGalabuziT heRacializat ionofPovertyin

CanadaImplication sforSectionCharterProtectionPaperdeliveredattheNa

tionalAntiRac ismCouncilofCa nadaNationalConferenc eOawaCanada

November

 InthispaperIfoc usalmostentir elyonSupremeCourtcasesa nadmiedlycon

testablemethod