Canadian Heritage committee  Certainly, speaking on behalf of West Coast LEAF, which is an organization focused on gender equality and substantive equality—which means equal protection of the law and equal benefit of the law for all people—what's important for us is that this really is the case. In terms of cases that come before the CCP for consideration, what's important is that those be considered on the basis of the legal questions that are at issue.

Canadian Heritage committee  Absolutely. Certainly, I think it's very important that those who are marginalized and who face intersecting forms of discrimination in our society have access to justice. It's important that rule of law is premised on access to justice. Our charter rights and human rights depend on that access.

Canadian Heritage committee  It really depends on how a test case is defined. The CCP seems to define that in a broader way at the current moment to consider issues that courts have not necessarily addressed before. However, it is also important that the CCP deal with cases as they come forward. As an example, there could be a case that's brought to prevent the rollback of a benefit that is provided by the government, as well as cases that deal with novel issues that may not necessarily be novel legal issues, but address legal issues in a novel context.

Canadian Heritage committee  The key aspect here, and I stated this in my opening remarks, is that if we go back to the charter, it is a negative rights document. It prevents the infringement of people's rights by the government. Litigation related to the charter, as well as other human rights litigation, is necessarily adversarial, and the government is on the other side.

Canadian Heritage committee  It's essential. I would add that there are not only financial consequences of trying to bring these cases forward. Litigation that lasts years has an emotional consequence, a psychological consequence. Bringing these cases forward places an extremely high burden on groups, especially those who face discrimination in our society and who are otherwise marginalized.

Canadian Heritage committee  These cases, which take decades, also require many interim steps, all of which need to be negotiated and dealt with in the courts. They are [Inaudible—Editor] litigation.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you very much. I think what's important for the committee to keep in mind as it makes its deliberations is that accessing the judicial system, for those in equity-seeking groups—indigenous communities, people facing disabilities or otherwise marginalized groups—is never a first resort.

Canadian Heritage committee  Certainly, some of the other parts of the charter not currently included are covered by criminal legal aid. We are able to see development on the charter with respect to those areas. Our emphasis is on provincial and territorial jurisdiction cases because, as I shared in my remarks, although cases such as the Andrews decision and the CCD case may not involve federal laws, policies or practices, the outcomes of those cases have impacts across the nation for public interest litigants, for the development of constitutional law, and for how constitutional law is interpreted and applied not just for one group but also for everyone.

Canadian Heritage committee  Thank you very much for having West Coast LEAF here today. My name is Humera, and I use she/her pronouns. I am a staff lawyer working on the homelands of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh nations. West Coast LEAF supports Bill C-316, which would provide the Court Challenges Program with a legislative home.