povertyandhumanrights.org » Articles & Reports

Human Rights Denied: Single Mothers on Social Assistance

phrc — Mon, 25 Apr 2005 22:51:23 +0000

Human Rights Denied documents the very difficult conditions in which single mothers
are raising their children in British Columbia today. It is a call for the Government of British Columbia to abandon its current policies – because they are a cruel failure.

Human Rights Denied: Single Mothers on Social Assistance

Gosselin v. Attorney General (Quebec): Autonomy with a Vengeance (2004)

phrc — Sun, 01 Aug 2004 16:22:41 +0000

In Gosselin v. Quebec (Attorney General), the first poverty case under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms to reach the Supreme Court of Canada, the Court ruled against the applicant, Louise Gosselin and the class of social assistance recipients she represented. The decision is deeply divided, and the majority decision turns on a finding that the evidence was insufficient. Therefore, as precedent, the outcome of the Gosselin case may not be particularly significant. However, the majority’s assessment of the evidence is unpersuasive. The challenged social assistance regulation embodied a negative stereotype of young men and women who are reliant on social assistance, which, sadly, the majority of the Court embraced.

The majority decision contrasts sharply with powerful dissents of other judges who found that reducing social assistance for young adults in need to a below subsistence level violated ss. 7 and 15 of the Canadian Charter as well as s. 45 of the Quebec Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Gosselin v. Attorney General (Quebec): Autonomy with a Vengeance (2004)

Beyond the Social and Economic Rights Debate: Substantive Equality Speaks to Poverty (2002)

phrc — Thu, 01 Aug 2002 15:54:33 +0000

An emerging issue in Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms1 jurisprudence is the defeat of poverty-related challenges based on their characterization as ‘social and economic’ rights claims. In a variety of cases, governments have argued, with some success in lower courts, that the Charter is a negative rights instrument—a document of civil and political rights rather than of social and economic rights— which does not impose positive obligations on governments to assume a redistributive role. Tension about this issue is increasing as governments in Canada pursue cost-cutting agendas that diminish protections from poverty, and people are turning to the courts because they have no place else to go.

Beyond the Social and Economic Rights Debate: Substantive Equality Speaks to Poverty (2002)

Rolling Back Human Rights in B.C.: An Analysis of Bill 53 (September 2002)

phrc — Mon, 01 Jul 2002 16:02:25 +0000

On May 30, 2002, the Government of British Columbia tabled Bill 53, which, if passed will amend the current Human Rights Code. The implications of this bill are extremely serious for the administration and protection of human rights in the province, and for all residents who may need protection from discrimination in the future.

The Government proposes to abolish the B. C. Human Rights Commission, and to institute a “direct access” model, which will, it claims, provide better access to hearings before the B. C. Human Rights Tribunal, and a faster and more efficient complaint handling process. How should the B. C. community react to these proposals?

Rolling Back Human Rights in B.C.: An Analysis of Bill 53 (September 2002)

What Do Rights Have To Do With It? (May 2002)

phrc — Tue, 21 May 2002 15:59:31 +0000

What is the point of talking about human rights in relation to cuts to social programs?

This is a moment in Canadian political history when government commitment to social programs is at a low ebb. Frequently, governments defend their decision-making in the area of social programs on the basis of cost saving. Among progressives, one common mode of social policy critique is to demonstrate that the economic goals that government says it is interested in will not, in fact, be served by its legislative agenda. It can be and has been shown that some cuts to social programs do not result in cost saving at all, while others amount to cost shifting to individuals. It can be very powerful. Being able to effectively engage one’s opposition on its own terms can be important in a debate.

What Do Rights Have To Do With It? (May 2002)

Poverty is a Human Rights Violation (December 2001)

phrc — Sat, 01 Dec 2001 15:54:19 +0000

This paper is about obstacles to an understanding that poverty is a human rights violation.

Poverty is a Human Rights Violation (December 2001)