'The Admittedly Unattainable Ideal': Adverse Impact and Race under Section 15
Author | Sonia Lawrence |
Pages | 547-563 |
TheAdmiedlyUnaainableIdeal
ADVE R SEIM PAC T A NDRACE
UND ERS ECTI ON
Sonia Lawrence*
Ista rtt his paperwith the proposition thatwe live in asocietyt hatis
deeplyshapedbyracismandthecolonia lprojectTheseproces seshave
notonlyleftFirstNationssovereigntyandterritoriesunrecognizedbut
haveracializedIndigenouspe oplesandrenderedthemsubjec ttoracial
formsofdiscrim inationFromthelegalenslavementofAfrica npeoples
totheChine seheadtaxandfar beyondtheseexamplesourhistoryre
vealsthatweareasocietybuiltonracistideologiesContemporaryracism
operatesonaeldmarkeddeeplybythelinesdrawnandburdensappor
tionedin the nottoo distant pastSchool streaming chi ldwelfaret he
criminal justice systemf rompolicing toi ncarcerationaccess tohealt h
careandhighereducationall bearthemarkofthepastdespitethelack
ofexplicit line drawing based on race In legislation atleast contem
poraryracism tendstoconceal itselfin neutrallanguagebehindbland
formulat ions
Andrews v Law Society of Br itish ColumbiaSCRatAndrews
AssociateProfes sorOsgoodeHallLawSchoolAllofmyt hinkinga boutsection
hasbeendevelopedint hecontextofasupportiveandge nerousgroupofscholars
whohavealsobeenmymentorsst udentsandcolleaguesIamg ratefultoallof
thembutIwillna meherefourinpart icularJenn iferKoshanandJonn eeWatson
Hamiltonwhoseworksar eextensivelycitedFayFaradayfordiscussionsvery
earlyinmycareeraboutlit igatingsectioncasesa ndDebraParkesforinter alia
sharingmyenthus iasmaboutSauvéIconsulte dnoneofthesepeopleaboutth is
paperallerrorsar emyresponsibility
SL
Thecamouage techniq uesofmodernracis marenothoweverout
sideofthepurv iewofconstitutional equalityprotectionsThesubstan
tiveratherth anformalc ommitments thathavebeena partofsection
doctrine since Andrews v Law Society of British Columbia inoered
therstSupremeCourtinterpretationoftheprovision
discrimi nationmaybedesc ribedasad istinctionwhe therintentional
ornotbutbasedong roundsrelating topersonalc haracteristicsof the
individualorgroupwhichhasth eeectofimposingburdensobliga
tionsordisadvantagesonsuchindividualorgroupnotimposedupon
othersor whichwith holdsorl imitsaccess toopport unitiesbe nets
andadvantagesavailabletoothermembersofsociet y
Thishas meantasmostreaderswi llknowthatlawscandis crimin
ateintheir purposewhereont heirfacetheyd rawdiscriminatory dis
tinctionsonanalogousorenumeratedgroundsortheycandiscrimi nate
intheir eectswherefori nstancethey applytoeveryoneequa llybut
haveanegativeimpactoncer tainana logousorenumeratedgroupsbe
cause ofpre existing disadvantageor whether they categorize on the
basisofapparentlyneutralcharacteristicsbuthavedisproportionatead
verseeectsoncertainanalogousorenumeratedgroups
This paper addresses the cur ious lack of racial discrimi nation
claimsundersectionoftheCharterInmyviewthesemissingc laims
aremost obviously frameda sadverse impactcla imsT his exploration
beginsby brieyraising somepossibilities astowhywehavenotsee n
theseclai msin thecourts beginningwithaccess tojusticei ssuesthen
turning to data In the nextsection Idescr ibei nsome detail the Su
premeCourtsdevelopmentofthedoctrineofadverseimpactinrelation
totheCourtstreatmentofraceclaimsatsect ionFinallyIoersome
briefdiscussionofthepotentiali mplicationsoftwoshiftsinthecontext
whichsuggestthisareaisonetowatch
Andrewsabovenote
Thereareotherr outestosectionraceclaimsa sscholarsincludi ngKentRoach
DavidTanovichandReemBahdihavedesc ribedIamfocus edontheadverse
impactissueSeeal soGraceEdwardGalabuziT heRacializat ionofPovertyin
CanadaImplication sforSectionCharterProtectionPaperdeliveredattheNa
tionalAntiRac ismCouncilofCa nadaNationalConferenc eOawaCanada
November
InthispaperIfoc usalmostentir elyonSupremeCourtcasesa nadmiedlycon
testablemethod
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