This chapter introduces the book Advancing Social Rights in Canada. Canada's international commitments and self-image as a country that respects human rights are at odds with the reality of socio-economic inequality and exclusion many... more
This chapter introduces the book Advancing Social Rights in Canada. Canada's international commitments and self-image as a country that respects human rights are at odds with the reality of socio-economic inequality and exclusion many Canadians experience. This book sketches a blueprint for reconceiving and retrieving social rights in diverse spheres of human rights practice in Canada, both political and legal.
This appeal concerns whether new immigrants, including those with disabilities, have the right to equal access to publicly funded health insurance in Ontario under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Unlike other Ontario... more
This appeal concerns whether new immigrants, including those with disabilities, have the right to equal access to publicly funded health insurance in Ontario under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Unlike other Ontario residents, new immigrants' eligibility for OHIP is premised on their medical condition. They are the only group excluded from OHIP with no alternative public health insurance coverage. This exclusion directly discriminates against new immigrants on the ground of nationality, the analogous ground of citizenship, and the proposed analogous ground of new immigrant status. It also discriminates against persons with disabilities by disqualifying new immigrants from OHIP coverage indefinitely if they do not pass the federal medical examination. These section 15 rights violations cannot be justified under section 1. The government has failed to show that the exclusion of new immigrants from the OHIP system will achieve long-term cost savings and ensure the hea...
Research Interests:
French Abstract: La professeure Martha Jackman est specialiste en droit constitutionnel canadien et consacre une grande partie de sa recherche a etudier les problemes juridiques qui sont lies a la protection des femmes et d’autres groupes... more
French Abstract: La professeure Martha Jackman est specialiste en droit constitutionnel canadien et consacre une grande partie de sa recherche a etudier les problemes juridiques qui sont lies a la protection des femmes et d’autres groupes marginalises. Elle enseigne le droit constitutionnel au Programme de common law en francais a l’Universite d’Ottawa depuis 1988. De plus, la professeure Jackman est la co-presidente de l’Association nationale Femmes et Droit et une ancienne membre du Conseil de direction des Fonds d’action et d’education juridiques pour les femmes (FAEJ) ainsi que du Comite des droits a l’egalite du Programme de contestation judiciaire. En 2007, on lui a decerne la medaille du Barreau du Haut-Canada ; en 2015 elle a merite le prix « Les assises » de l’Association du Barreau canadien ; et en 2017 elle a ete elue membre de la Societe royale du Canada. Le 29 mai 2018, Taylor Wormington, redacteur en chef des articles en francais de la Revue de droit d’Ottawa, s’est en...
While the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms does not mention socio-economic rights explicitly, the language of the Charter – particularly sections 7 and 15 – offers a firm foundation for constitutional protection for economic,... more
While the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms does not mention socio-economic rights explicitly, the language of the Charter – particularly sections 7 and 15 – offers a firm foundation for constitutional protection for economic, social and cultural rights. The author argues that, considering the historical expectations of rights holders; the Charter's open-ended and expansive wording; its balancing of individual rights and collective values; the important interpretive role of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in determining the scope of rights and governments' responsibilities; and the broad range of remedies available for Charter violations, there is no reason why the Canadian courts should not play an active role in safeguarding socio-economic rights in Canada.
Research Interests:
This report by the National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL) sets out a list of recommendation to the Standing Committee on Human Resources Development on the reform of the federal social security system. NAWL takes the view that... more
This report by the National Association of Women and the Law (NAWL) sets out a list of recommendation to the Standing Committee on Human Resources Development on the reform of the federal social security system. NAWL takes the view that Canadian women must be full and equal participants in creating social welfare policy and that the federal reform process should consider a fundamental objective to be the promotion of women's substantive equality. NAWL has made 26 recommendations for social security reform. Among these: Canadian women must be recognized as equal participants in social welfare policy decision-making. Social spending should not be targeted as a deficit reduction measure without a reassessment of all federal tax and spending policies. Social security reform must recognize women's market and non-market roles as mothers and as household labourers. Federal training programs must be accessible and accountable to women facing diverse needs. Literacy and language trai...
Research Interests:
Despite the fact that equality and equal access to health care are core Canadian values, the reality is that Canadians' health is overwhelmingly dictated by the unequal living conditions they experience – the social determinants of... more
Despite the fact that equality and equal access to health care are core Canadian values, the reality is that Canadians' health is overwhelmingly dictated by the unequal living conditions they experience – the social determinants of health. This chapter examines law as a tool for translating our understanding of health inequities into government action to address social determinants of health. The chapter provides a brief review of the findings and recommendations of some of the major Canadian reports in this area, followed by a review of international and domestic human rights guarantees that can be invoked to challenge health inequity in Canada. The final section examines the obstacles facing determinant of health-related claims, in particular, the continued reliance by Canadian courts on the outmoded distinction between positive and negative rights. The author concludes by suggesting that, rather than focusing on biomedical and lifestyle initiatives, social injustices must be ...
Research Interests:
On the 20th anniversary of the Charter’s equality rights guarantees, Charter activist and expert Martha Jackman reviews the record of Charter litigation as a means to redress inequalities in Canada and concludes that it is mixed at best.... more
On the 20th anniversary of the Charter’s equality rights guarantees, Charter activist and expert Martha Jackman reviews the record of Charter litigation as a means to redress inequalities in Canada and concludes that it is mixed at best. Far from undermining Canadian democracy, she says, the Charter provides an important and legitimate avenue for challenging growing social inequities. Yet, low income litigants invoking the Charter have met with limited success due to a series of presumptions, including that social policy is beyond the legitimate purview of the courts, and that the state is neutral in its dealings with the poor. All in all, the relationship between rights and democracy is far more nuanced than the Charter critics argue, she says, and the real question, to her, is not whether the Charter and the so-called Court Party are destroying democracy, but rather how the Charter’s equality rights can inform and contribute to further strengthening the underlying values of our de...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Poverty, Stress, Liberty, Representation, Legal, and 4 moreState, Psychological, Emotional, and procedural
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Law, Poverty, Structural, Right, Political, and 4 moreLegal, Inequality, Democratic, and Legislature
THE REGULATION OF PRIVATE HEALTH CARE UNDER THE CANADA HEALTH ACT AND THE CANADIAN CHARTER
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
... Poverty Profile 1994 (Ottawa: Supply and Services Canada, .1996); National Action Committee on the Status of Women, Review of the Situation of Women in Canada (Ottawa: National Action Committee on the Status of Women, 1993); Economic... more
... Poverty Profile 1994 (Ottawa: Supply and Services Canada, .1996); National Action Committee on the Status of Women, Review of the Situation of Women in Canada (Ottawa: National Action Committee on the Status of Women, 1993); Economic Council of Canada, The New ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests: Law, Criminal Law, Jurisprudence, Civil Law, Individuality, and 9 moreCivil Rights, Personhood, Quebec, Canada, Humans, Rights, Common Law, Foetus, and Fetus
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
... Martha Jackman* Synopsis ... Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa. The author wishes to thank John Manwaring, Kent Roach and Jamie Benidickson for helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper, and Kevin Murphy... more
... Martha Jackman* Synopsis ... Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, University of Ottawa. The author wishes to thank John Manwaring, Kent Roach and Jamie Benidickson for helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper, and Kevin Murphy for his able research assistance. ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
... i`EaOuPbl]%$r1@8\]4 <7%VC:=EmhUsl[lK.Q8oS#Y2>g3RJs4rGbJn'eR%m3M789r.Utg8]=d?` b[.1Bc$RiL#'&... more
... i`EaOuPbl]%$r1@8\]4 <7%VC:=EmhUsl[lK.Q8oS#Y2>g3RJs4rGbJn'eR%m3M789r.Utg8]=d?` b[.1Bc$RiL#'& 'J3E6X/FpDI_pe5#"PIhU#!]Ph3Nq%[nb ... iks6uL#_K[`m'7To[ n$h3Jh<e:%bWDUh0<[ 6^K"q?SapoBBh1,BQ-4U"O/jKBZ#t;n^GPs2ks4>!5rO:Tu`TSQH rAo)os8VOE4'u280E ...
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
Research Interests:
... Health Insurance in Canada (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2005) 428; Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada, Strengthening the Foundations: Modernizing the Canada Health Act - Discussion Paper no.13 by Colleen M.... more
... Health Insurance in Canada (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2005) 428; Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada, Strengthening the Foundations: Modernizing the Canada Health Act - Discussion Paper no.13 by Colleen M. Flood & Sujit Choudhry (Sas-katoon ...
Research Interests:
... 1993) Canadian Forum 8-15; Campaign 2000, Child Poverty in Canada: Report Card 1993 (Ottawa ... the income, the longer and healthier the life, despite the fact that medical treatment is ... In the aggregate, low socioeconomic status,... more
... 1993) Canadian Forum 8-15; Campaign 2000, Child Poverty in Canada: Report Card 1993 (Ottawa ... the income, the longer and healthier the life, despite the fact that medical treatment is ... In the aggregate, low socioeconomic status, not lack of health care, is the greatest correlate ...
Research Interests:
... case.1 The defendant, Garland Coal, had leased Willie and Lucille Peevyhouse's farm in order to strip mine for coal. ... in Gosselin In contrast to the chief justice's approach, the dissenting Justices Michel... more
... case.1 The defendant, Garland Coal, had leased Willie and Lucille Peevyhouse's farm in order to strip mine for coal. ... in Gosselin In contrast to the chief justice's approach, the dissenting Justices Michel Bastarache, Louise Arbour, Louis LeBel, and Claire L'Heureux-Dubé relied ...