[homeles_ot-l] FW: Release: Historic Homeless Legal Case Struck Down by Court

[Lynne Browne]

Difficult and startling news!

 

LYNNE BROWNE

Executive Director

Alliance to End Homelessness Ottawa

lynnebrowne at endhomelessnessottawa.ca

171 George Street, Ottawa ON K1N 5W5

613-241-1573, ext. 314

 

Website:  <http://www.endhomelessnessottawa.ca/index.cfm> End Homelessness
Ottawa

Like us on Facebook <https://www.facebook.com/endhomelessnessottawa?fref=ts>


 

From: c400group at googlegroups.com [mailto:c400group at googlegroups.com] On
Behalf Of Yutaka Dirks (ACTO)
Sent: September-06-13 4:27 PM
To: c400group at googlegroups.com
Subject: Release: Historic Homeless Legal Case Struck Down by Court

 

 

Homeless Canadians Denied Their Day in Court

Judge Accepts Government Motion to Quash Historic Case

 

(Toronto, Sept. 6, 2013) Today, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice
<http://www.ontariocourts.ca/scj/en/about/judgments.htm>  ruled that
homeless and inadequately housed Ontarians should be denied a chance to have
their landmark legal challenge heard. 

"This case is about the fundamental principle of access to justice in our
society," said Tracy Heffernan, staff lawyer for the Advocacy Centre for
Tenants Ontario <http://www.acto.ca/> , who represents the applicants. "By
denying them the chance to present their evidence, the Court suggests that
poor people cannot rely on Charter protection."

Joined by housing advocates from the Centre for Equality Rights in
Accommodation <http://www.equalityrights.org/>  (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 Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms by creating and
maintaining conditions that lead to and sustain homelessness. 

In May of this year, the governments of Canada and Ontario argued that the
case should be struck down before any evidence was heard. Several
interveners
<http://www.acto.ca/en/cases/right-to-housing/motion-to-strike-material.html
> , 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. 

"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. 

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". 

"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."

To arrange interviews with spokespeople: 

                              Yutaka Dirks, Advocacy Centre for Tenants
Ontario

                              416-597-5855 x.5243 or 1-866-245-4182 x.5243

                              dirksy at lao.on.ca                    

                              www.acto.ca/en/cases/right-to-housing.html 

 

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