Redressing the Harms of Government (In)Action: A Section 7 Versus Section 15 Charter Showdown
DOI :
https://doi.org/10.21991/C9D962Résumé
When considering the recent Charter claims of vulnerable individuals seeking to redress the harms of government action or inaction, there are two related trends in the appellate case law on sections 7 and 15 that merit attention.1 First, the Supreme Court has undertaken new approaches to equality rights under section 15(1) and 15(2) of the Charter, with a marked lack of success of claims in spite of (or perhaps because of) these approaches. The cases of Kapp,2 Withler,3 and Cunningham4 will be discussed in Part II as illustrations of this trend, along with cases where section 15 was given scant attention, such as Hutterian Brethren,5 AC v Manitoba,6 and Fraser.7 Second, there has been relative success of Charter claims under section 7 where there is strong evidence of harm to life, liberty or security of the person in circumstances where the government action was arbitrary, grossly disproportionate, or overbroad. In Part III, the cases of PHS Community Services,8 Adams,9 and Bedford10 will be shown to reflect this trend.11 These cases present an opportunity to discuss whether section 7 holds advantages over section 15 as a tool for disadvantaged persons challenging the harms of government (in)action, which will be addressed in Part IV. I conclude that while framing government harms as violations of life, liberty or security of the person may be a winning strategy for some Charter claimants, not all such harms can be presented in those terms, and the particular harms captured by section 15 must be given their due.Téléchargements
Publié-e
Numéro
Rubrique
Licence
Les auteurs qui publient avec le Forum constitutionnel accordent à la revue le droit de première publication et s'engagent à concéder une licence d'utilisation de l'œuvre dans le cadre d'un accord d'Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND) qui permet à d'autres de partager l'œuvre à des fins non commerciales, avec mention de la paternité et publication initiale dans cette revue, tant que l'œuvre originale ne subit pas de modifications. Veuillez utiliser ce format pour attribuer ce travail au Forum constitutionnel:
«Publié pour la première fois en tant que : Titre de l'article, collaborateur, collaborateur, volume/émission du Forum constitutionnel, Copyright ©[année], éditeur».