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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-CA link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:#0F243E'>Difficult and startling news!<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:#0F243E'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:8.0pt;color:#0F243E'>LYNNE BROWNE<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:8.0pt;color:#0F243E'>Executive Director<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:8.0pt;color:red'>Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:8.0pt;color:#0F243E'>lynnebrowne@endhomelessnessottawa.ca<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:8.0pt;color:#0F243E'>171 George Street, </span></i><i><span style='font-size:8.0pt;color:#0F243E'>Ottawa ON K1N 5W5<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-size:8.0pt;color:#0F243E'>613-241-1573, ext. 314<o:p></o:p></span></i></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:8.0pt;color:#0F243E'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:8.0pt;color:#0F243E'>Website: </span><span style='font-size:8.0pt;color:red'><a href="http://www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca/index.cfm"><span style='color:red'>End Homelessness Ottawa</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:8.0pt;color:#0070C0'>Like us on <span style='letter-spacing:.6pt'><a href="https://www.facebook.com/endhomelessnessottawa?fref=ts">Facebook</a></span></span></b><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:8.0pt;color:#0070C0'><o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:8.0pt;color:#0F243E'> </span></i><i><span style='font-size:8.0pt;color:#0F243E'><o:p></o:p></span></i></p></div><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:#0F243E'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><div><div style='border:none;border-top:solid #B5C4DF 1.0pt;padding:3.0pt 0cm 0cm 0cm'><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:36.0pt'><b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'>From:</span></b><span lang=EN-US style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:"Tahoma","sans-serif"'> c400group@googlegroups.com [mailto:c400group@googlegroups.com] <b>On Behalf Of </b>Yutaka Dirks (ACTO)<br><b>Sent:</b> September-06-13 4:27 PM<br><b>To:</b> c400group@googlegroups.com<br><b>Subject:</b> Release: Historic Homeless Legal Case Struck Down by Court<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></div><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:36.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:36.0pt'><span lang=EN-US><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='mso-margin-top-alt:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;margin-left:90.0pt;text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt'>Homeless Canadians Denied Their Day in Court<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='mso-margin-top-alt:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;margin-left:90.0pt;text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:16.0pt'>Judge Accepts Government Motion to Quash Historic Case<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='mso-margin-top-alt:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:6.0pt;margin-left:90.0pt;text-align:center'><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:90.0pt'><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>(Toronto, Sept. 6, 2013) Today, the <span style='color:navy'><a href="http://www.ontariocourts.ca/scj/en/about/judgments.htm">Ontario Superior Court of Justice</a></span> ruled that homeless and inadequately housed Ontarians should be denied a chance to have their landmark legal challenge heard. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:90.0pt'><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>“This case is about the fundamental principle of access to justice in our society,” said Tracy Heffernan, staff lawyer for the <span style='color:navy'><a href="http://www.acto.ca/">Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario</a></span>, who represents the applicants. “By denying them the chance to present their evidence, the Court suggests that poor people cannot rely on Charter protection.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:90.0pt'><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>Joined by housing advocates from the <span style='color:navy'><a href="http://www.equalityrights.org/">Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation</a></span> (CERA), the individuals filed the case in 2010, seeking a Court order requiring Federal and Provincial governments to implement a national housing strategy. They argued that Canada and Ontario have violated their rights under section 7 and section 15 of the <i>Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms </i>by creating and maintaining conditions that lead to and sustain homelessness. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:90.0pt'><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>In May of this year, the governments of Canada and Ontario argued that the case should be struck down before any evidence was heard. <span style='color:navy'><a href="http://www.acto.ca/en/cases/right-to-housing/motion-to-strike-material.html">Several interveners</a></span>, including Amnesty International, underscored the importance of allowing the challenge to move forward. Today’s decision accepted government arguments that “it is plain and obvious that the Application cannot succeed” and dismissed the case. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:90.0pt'><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>“The decision reflects a narrow view of the Charter that seems to be applied when the poor seek judicial relief,” said Peter Rosenthal, lawyer for the applicants. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:90.0pt'><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>In his decision, Justice Lederer said that courts in Canada have no role in reviewing critical human rights issues such as “the basis on which people may be evicted from where they live and the treatment of those with psycho-social and intellectual disabilities”. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:12.0pt;margin-left:90.0pt'><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>“This will come as a shock to those in Canada and the international community who have been assured that Canada recognizes access to adequate housing as a fundamental human right and that the most marginalized are protected under the Charter,” said Leilani Farha of CERA. “This decision, if allowed to stand, denies any protection under the Charter to the most vulnerable groups in Canada – those devastated by homelessness and inadequate housing. We welcome the opportunity to have these critical issues considered on appeal.”<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:90.0pt'><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>To arrange interviews with spokespeople: <o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:90.0pt'><span style='font-size:11.0pt'> Yutaka Dirks, Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:90.0pt'><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt'> </span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>416-597-5855 x.5243 or 1-866-245-4182 x.5243<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:90.0pt'><span style='font-size:11.0pt'> <a href="mailto:dirksy@lao.on.ca">dirksy@lao.on.ca</a> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:0cm;margin-right:0cm;margin-bottom:18.0pt;margin-left:90.0pt'><span style='font-size:11.0pt'> <a href="http://www.acto.ca/en/cases/right-to-housing.html">www.acto.ca/en/cases/right-to-housing.html</a> <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:36.0pt'><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:36.0pt'><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'>-- <br>You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "C 400 Group" group.<br>To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to <a href="mailto:c400group+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com">c400group+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com</a>.<br>For more options, visit <a href="https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out">https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></p></div></body></html>