Between 1969 and 1972, the Le Dain Commission of Inquiry into the Non-Medicinal Use of Drugs undertook a comprehensive study of Canadian drug laws, exposing their negative effects and recommending that Canada move away from criminalizing people who use drugs. Fifty years later, drug prohibition...

In 2002, the Supreme Court of Canada dismissed Louise Gosselin's Charter challenge to a Quebec welfare regulation that reduced benefits for those under-30 by two-thirds, forcing them to choose between hunger and homelessness. The article examines the legacy of Gosselin for the rights and...

In Re B.C. Motor Vehicle Act and other early Canadian Charter of Rights cases, the Supreme Court of Canada held that section 7’s guarantee of fundamental justice demands not only procedural fairness, but respect for international human rights norms, attention to other Charter rights, and the...

The right to life, liberty and security of the person under section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and the right to equality under section 15, provide a firm basis for addressing inadequacies and inequities in legislation affecting Canadians living in poverty. Yet few...

The repeal of the Canada Assistance Plan (CAP) under the 1995 federal Budget, and the establishment of a new “Canada Health and Social Transfer” (CHST) in its place, have been widely described as the most important social policy changes in Canada in almost thirty years. The paper assesses...

The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recommended, in its 1998 review of Canada's compliance with the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, that social and economic rights be recognized and enforceable under the Canadian Charter of Rights...

This report was submitted to the Standing Committee on Finance by the National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL). Given the large contribution women make to Canada's GDP in the workforce and in non-labour market work, NAWL submits that Canadian women must be full participants in...

La version française de cet article peut être consultée à: "http://ssrn.com/abstract=2304544" http://ssrn.com/abstract=2304544 This paper address three questions relating to section 7 of the Canadian Charter in the health care context: whether section 7 guarantees a right to refuse unwanted...

The author argues that the Supreme Court has not fulfilled the expectations of marginalized groups that government action and inaction would be subject to Canadian Charter scrutiny. Instead it has perpetuated exclusion, disadvantage and discrimination against the poor. By exploring the few...