People with disabilities—as well as other marginalized peoples—are well-aware that ideas presented under the guise of neutrality, rationality, and scientific thought are not necessarily any less likely to propagate hate due to their manner of expression, contrary to the analysis recently provided by the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) in Ward v Quebec (Commission des […]
In Disability Rights Coalition v Nova Scotia (Attorney General), 2021 NSCA 70 [DRC], the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal (“NSCA”) made a “ground-breaking” decision upholding the right of disabled Canadians not to be unnecessarily institutionalized. In this decision, the NSCA upheld a finding of discrimination against three individuals who were unnecessarily institutionalized due to a […]
Content warning: sexual violence, murder, bipolar disorder, policing Despite the ongoing pandemic, this fall has been a notable season for advancing the Section 15 substantive equality rights provision of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms [Charter] at the Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”). In October, the SCC found the Royal Mounted Canadian Police pension plan […]
The Supreme Court of Canada (“SCC”) addressed the issue of “Henson trusts” for the first time ever this January in S.A. v Metro Vancouver Housing Corp, 2019 SCC 4 [Metro Vancouver]. A Henson trust (named after the decision in Ontario (Director of Income Maintenance, Minister of Community & Social Services) v. Henson, 1987 CarswellOnt 654, [1987] O.J. No. […]
The Ontario Court of Appeal's judgment in PS v Ontario, 2014 ONCA 900, has determined that a detainee in a mental health institution suffered discrimination and a denial of procedural fairness, contrary to his Charter rights under Sections 15 and 7. The case arose from the 19-year-long involuntary detention of a man, identified only as PS, at a […]