Lavoie v. Canada
Encyclopedia
Lavoie v. Canada, [2002] 1 S.C.R. 769, 2002 SCC 23 is a leading decision of the Supreme Court of Canada
on whether preference on basis of citizenship infringed equality guarantee under section 15(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
. The Court found that the federal Public Service Employment Act (PSEA), which gave preference to citizens when referring to departments, was discriminatory. The violation was saved under section 1 of the Charter as a reasonable limitation on equality rights
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the legislature was placing an additional burden on already disadvantaged group. He stated that it was well settled that foreign nationals are a group that do suffer from stereotypes, marginalization, and historical disadvantage, but the Act does not attempt to compensate for this.
Bastarache spent some time considering the element of "dignity" introduced in Law v. Canada. Dignity inquiry requires that the subjective view of the claimant be rationally grounded in circumstances that a reasonable would share that experience. He found that denial of professional development
impacted a significant element of the fundamental right of choice.
On the section 1 analysis Bastarache considered the positive goals of the provision. He saw merit in having a law that encouraged naturalization and increased the value of citizenship. He further observed that the negative impact of the exclusion was sufficiently small to warrant justification by the valuable objective.
Supreme Court of Canada
The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court of Canada and is the final court of appeals in the Canadian justice system. The court grants permission to between 40 and 75 litigants each year to appeal decisions rendered by provincial, territorial and federal appellate courts, and its decisions...
on whether preference on basis of citizenship infringed equality guarantee under section 15(1) of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a bill of rights entrenched in the Constitution of Canada. It forms the first part of the Constitution Act, 1982...
. The Court found that the federal Public Service Employment Act (PSEA), which gave preference to citizens when referring to departments, was discriminatory. The violation was saved under section 1 of the Charter as a reasonable limitation on equality rights
Social equality
Social equality is a social state of affairs in which all people within a specific society or isolated group have the same status in a certain respect. At the very least, social equality includes equal rights under the law, such as security, voting rights, freedom of speech and assembly, and the...
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Background
Several foreign nationals applied to the federal government for employment. Under section s. 16(4)(c) of the PSEA which gave preference to citizens when allocating applicants to different departments. The foreign nationals applied to the Federal Court to strike out the provision. The Federal Court held that the provision violated section 15 but was saved by section 1. The Federal Court of Appeal upheld the decision.Reasons of the court
Justice Bastarache wrote for the majority in upholding the provision. In his application of the Law test for section 15, he noted that by creating the distinction between citizen and foreign nationalForeign national
Foreign national is a term used to describe a person who is not a citizen of the host country in which he or she is residing or temporarily sojourning. In Canada, a foreign national is defined as someone who is not a Canadian citizen nor a permanent resident of Canada...
the legislature was placing an additional burden on already disadvantaged group. He stated that it was well settled that foreign nationals are a group that do suffer from stereotypes, marginalization, and historical disadvantage, but the Act does not attempt to compensate for this.
Bastarache spent some time considering the element of "dignity" introduced in Law v. Canada. Dignity inquiry requires that the subjective view of the claimant be rationally grounded in circumstances that a reasonable would share that experience. He found that denial of professional development
Professional development
Professional development refers to skills and knowledge attained for both personal development and career advancement. Professional development encompasses all types of facilitated learning opportunities, ranging from college degrees to formal coursework, conferences and informal learning...
impacted a significant element of the fundamental right of choice.
On the section 1 analysis Bastarache considered the positive goals of the provision. He saw merit in having a law that encouraged naturalization and increased the value of citizenship. He further observed that the negative impact of the exclusion was sufficiently small to warrant justification by the valuable objective.