A decision was issued today by the Honourable Anne L. Mactavish of the Federal Court
in files T-578-11, T-630-11 and T-638-11:
IN THE MATTER OF THE CANADIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION v.
ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CANADA et al
FIRST NATIONS CHILD AND FAMILY CARING SOCIETY v. ATTORNEY
GENERAL OF CANADA et al
ASSEMBLY OF FIRST NATIONS v. ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CANADA et al
Summary:
Three applications for judicial review were filed with respect to a decision of
the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (the “Tribunal”) to dismiss a complaint by the First
Nations Child and Family Caring Society and the Assembly of First Nations. The
complaint alleged that the Government of Canada under-funds child welfare services for
on-reserve First Nations children and that this amounts to discrimination. Upon review,
the Court concluded that:
the process followed by the Tribunal was not fair as it considered a substantial
volume of extrinsic material in arriving at its decision;
the Tribunal erred in failing to provide any reasons as to why the complaint could
not proceed under subsection 5(a) of the
Canadian Human Rights Act;
the Tribunal erred in interpreting subsection 5(b) of the Act as requiring an
identifiable comparator group in every case in order to establish adverse differential
treatment in the provision of services;
in determining that no appropriate comparator group was available to assist in its
discrimination analysis, the Tribunal erred in failing to consider the significance of
the Government’s own adoption of provincial child welfare standards in its
programming manual and funding policies.
As a result, the three applications for judicial review are granted.
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Andrew Baumberg
Media Contact / Liaison avec les Médias
Federal Court / Cour fédérale
Tel. / Tél. : (613) 947-3177