LAWS 3908 Lecture Notes - Lecture 8: Equal Protection Clause
Document Summary
Laws 3908 lecture 8: equality and the canadian charter of rights and freedoms. Charter equality some groups have had success addressing group inequality through charter rights. Charter has had little impact on racial injustice in canada. Increased politicization of crime, popularity of tough on crime agendas. The benefits of using s. 15 to address racial inequality include that it is independent of public majority opinion. That being said, it does not matter what the majority thinks, because it is expressly a factor of the law. However, challenges of addressing racial inequality with s. 15 include: Nature of change via common law system. Here, the court considers s. 1 following finding of charter infringements. The government must prove (on a balance of probabilities) that the breach was justifiable. The infringement is justified: v. s (r. d) (1997, scc) Facts: a black youth was arrested for alleged assault of a police officer.
