The Canadian Human Rights Commission has applied for a judicial review of the Warman v. Lemire decision, the news release below landed in my inbox a short time ago.
What does it mean? Well the CHRC is willing to give up its ability to demand monetary penalties, this is something they had suggested in the past. They are not however ready to give up their ability to police the content of the Internet, which most watchers of the commission would have expected. It may mean the courts will have final say but as someone who covers the Federal and Supreme Courts, guessing which way this could go is a mugs game.
I've been speaking to government and opposition MPs on the issue of Section 13, I'll post those thoughts later today. UPDATE: Those thoughts now posted. Why Harper won't touch the HRC
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- The Tribunal erred in law when it found that the manner by which the applicant exercises its statutory mandate could render section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act unconstitutional; and
- The Tribunal’s findings of unconstitutionality also resulted from the adoption of subsections 54(1)(c) and (1.1) of the Canadian Human Rights Act, subsequent to the Supreme Court of Canada’s decision in Canada (Human Rights Commission) v. Taylor, [1990] 3 S.C.R. 892. The Tribunal erred in law when it refused to apply section 13 of the Act because a refusal to apply subsections 54(1)(c) and (1.1) would have provided a sufficient remedy in respect of this ground.
The Commission is a servant of Parliament and considers that Parliament's statutes must be applied unless they are found to be unconstitutional. In this case, it is the Commission’s view that the Tribunal went too far in refusing to apply section 13 in its entirety when the constitutional concern could be remedied by refusing to apply the penalty clause in 54(1)(c).
Brian Lilley is the Ottawa Bureau Chief for radio stations Newstalk 1010 CFRB Toronto and CJAD 800 Montreal. Follow Brian on Twitter to get the latest as it happens.
Read more coverage of Canadian Politics on Examiner.com
Comments
The Commission is a servant of Parliament and considers that Parliament's statutes must be applied unless they are found to be unconstitutional. Priceless. From a body that refuses to follow the basic tenets set out in the Constitution...
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