Justice committee  I argue in the paper, and I continue to believe, that you need a multi-faceted approach to access to justice, and legal aid is certainly part of that. Legal aid is a shrinking resource in this country. Ontario has probably the best legal aid in the country, and it's a system in w

Justice committee  I've argued in my published writing, in the article I've promised to share, that it very well may be that the court challenges program is integral to the rights of the charter itself. In other words, it may be that the court challenges program could be viewed as being constitutio

Justice committee  If you look at what our charter guarantees by way of equality and you look at the social facts in our society, there's a major gap. As long as that gap exists, I would argue that the government and public officials have positive duties to do something about it. The program is one

Justice committee  The court challenges program was unique and something to be celebrated. At the time that it existed, every time I travelled to other countries and compared notes on anti-discrimination protections in these countries, no place that I visited had anything like it. Scholars and poli

Justice committee  Can I speak to this point as well?

Justice committee  Then I'll just quickly say, I want to echo the concern around forcing mandatory mediation. I believe in ADR. I spent three years as a vice-chair of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario where I conducted over 200 meditations in human rights anti-discrimination cases. I believe tha

Justice committee  Thank you, and thanks for what sounds like your supportive comments on those recommendations. I understand from a political standpoint the reason for separating the jurisdictions, but I think if you take a purposive approach to the mandate of the program it simply doesn't make s

Justice committee  It is the reality, and whether we worry about the watering down of section 15, I don't think that should be a reason to create formal restrictions on the ability of funded parties to argue other sections.

Justice committee  I haven't spoken at Harvard in a number of years. I'm not sure which talk you're referring to, but I have—

Justice committee  I published an article in 2007 in which I discuss the court challenges program as a case study in access to justice. If you're looking for something in writing from me, I'd be happy to share it with the committee after I leave today.

Justice committee  Thank you to the committee for having me here. I want to make the best use of my time, so I'm going to try to stick to my notes. If you want to interrupt with questions, that's fine. If you want to let me know that I've gone over time, that's fine, too.

Justice committee  Okay. Thank you. Lawyers get used to being interrupted by judges when we appear before court, so this is a bit of a friendlier environment, I imagine.

Justice committee  In the early to mid-2000s, I was a lawyer practising in a small human rights firm where about 20% of my work was funded by the court challenges program. I speak today from a couple of perspectives, both as a lawyer who formerly worked for clients who benefited from the program,