Court Challenges Program

Government tips the scales of justice 


   So you thought the Court Challenges Program was dead, finished,
kaput? It was killed by the federal Conservatives last year, n'est-
ce pas? Well, not quite. EGALE is still administering four legal
research projects which continue lesbigay efforts to seek equality
through court action.
   The Court Challenges Program was originally created in 1978 to
address concerns about minority linguistic rights. It was expanded
in 1985 to develop the new equality rights guarantees of the
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Equality-seeking groups
successfully lobbied for funding to support test cases to clarify
these constitutional rights.
   The government agreed that constitutional rights aren't of much
value if people don't have access to them. Establishing these
rights in court is extremely expensive, far beyond the reach of
most ordinary Canadians.
   Over the years, the program supported a number of important
court actions affecting the rights of lesbian and gay Canadians.
These included the Veysey case, the Egan-Nesbit case currently
before the Supreme Court of Canada, the Mossop case, and the
landmark Haig-Birch case, where the court ruled that the Canadian
Human Rights Act "be interpreted, applied and administered as
though it contained sexual orientation as a prohibited ground of
discrimination."
   Despite these important precedent-setting cases -- or perhaps
because of them -- the federal government closed the doors to the
Court Challenges Program on September 30, 1992. The cancellation
came without warning, half-way through a five year extension of the
program.
   There was harsh and widespread criticism for the government's
decision, from numerous human rights groups, several provincial
governments, the Canadian Bar Association, a former Supreme Court
judge, and the House of Commons Standing Committee on Human Rights,
which unanimously recommended the reinstatement of the program.
   As Official Languages Commissioner Dr. Victor Goldbloom said, "A
noble, generous and democratic experiment has been cut short before
its time."
   The Conservatives said they cancelled the program as part of
their spending cutbacks, but they neglected to mention that they
have dramatically increased the amount of taxpayers' money they use
to fight against human rights cases in court. The Department of
Justice has routinely appealed sexual orientation cases, and spared
no expense to fight against the rights of lesbigay Canadians.
Without the Court Challenges Program, our community's ability to
fight back is severely restricted.






The EGALE questionnaire asked

Do you support the reinstatement of the Court Challenges Program?


Conservatives: No
Our decision to cancel the Court Challenges Program was based on
the need to cut spending and the deficit....it was never intended
to give perpetual resources to lobby groups."


Liberals: Yes
"A Liberal government would restore the Court Challenges Program to
help give all Canadians access to the courts."


New Democrats: Yes
"The NDP has consistently called for the reinstatement of the Court
Challenges Program."



"A noble, generous and democratic experiment has been cut short
before its time."


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