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

AuthorSonia Lawrence
Pages547-563

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

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