Environmental Discrimination and the Charter’s Equality Guarantee: The Case of Drinking Water for First Nations Living on Reserves
Many First Nations communities living on reserves in Canada do not have consistent access to one of the most essential requirements for life—clean and safe drinking water. This article analyses the Charter’s equality guarantee to determine whether it offers a remedy. The analysis shows that the expe...
Published in: | Revue générale de droit |
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Consortium Erudit
2014
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Online Access: | http://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/rgd/2013-v43-rgd01063/1021214ar.pdf https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/rgd/2013-v43-rgd01063/1021214ar.pdf https://doi.org/10.7202/1021214ar http://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/rgd/2013-v43-rgd01063/1021214ar/ https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=4617337 https://academic.microsoft.com/#/detail/3121942589 https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1021214ar |
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fttriple:oai:gotriple.eu:50|dedup_wf_001::65b26696731c1ef9859abe463d48c32f 2023-05-15T16:15:19+02:00 Environmental Discrimination and the Charter’s Equality Guarantee: The Case of Drinking Water for First Nations Living on Reserves Nathalie J. Chalifour 2014-01-13 http://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/rgd/2013-v43-rgd01063/1021214ar.pdf https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/rgd/2013-v43-rgd01063/1021214ar.pdf https://doi.org/10.7202/1021214ar http://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/rgd/2013-v43-rgd01063/1021214ar/ https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=4617337 https://academic.microsoft.com/#/detail/3121942589 https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1021214ar undefined unknown Consortium Erudit http://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/rgd/2013-v43-rgd01063/1021214ar.pdf https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/rgd/2013-v43-rgd01063/1021214ar.pdf http://dx.doi.org/10.7202/1021214ar http://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/rgd/2013-v43-rgd01063/1021214ar/ https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=4617337 https://academic.microsoft.com/#/detail/3121942589 https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1021214ar undefined 1021214ar 10.7202/1021214ar 3121942589 oai:erudit.org:1021214ar 10|openaire____::081b82f96300b6a6e3d282bad31cb6e2 10|issn___print::b188a964fe48ebfd0f5c851b3ba47d00 10|openaire____::8ac8380272269217cb09a928c8caa993 10|openaire____::5f532a3fc4f1ea403f37070f59a7a53a 10|opendoar____::16e6a3326dd7d868cbc926602a61e4d0 Sciences Humaines et Sociales Social Sciences and Humanities First Nations drinking water equality Charter environmental discrimination s 15(1) Premières Nations eau potable égalité Charte discrimination environnementale art 15(1) droit scipo Journal Article https://vocabularies.coar-repositories.org/resource_types/c_6501/ 2014 fttriple https://doi.org/10.7202/1021214ar 2023-01-22T16:50:50Z Many First Nations communities living on reserves in Canada do not have consistent access to one of the most essential requirements for life—clean and safe drinking water. This article analyses the Charter’s equality guarantee to determine whether it offers a remedy. The analysis shows that the experience of First Nations communities living on reserve without access to clean water is discriminatory within the meaning of s 15 of the Charter, and that this discrimination would not be saved by s 1. The most significant hurdle to a s 15 claim is the fact that there is no single law which categorically excludes First Nations reserve communities from its protection. While the courts have not considered a case with similar facts, the article argues that the Charter’s equality protections extend to the full range of government action (and inaction) regardless of whether the action stems from one law, regulation or policy, or a set of laws that, acting together, creates discrimination. An interpretation that would limit s 15 protections based on a narrow, formalistic interpretation of the word “law” in section 15 would not only run counter to the interpretations of the section in recent decisions, but more importantly would run afoul of the Charter’s purpose of promoting substantive equality. Plusieurs Premières Nations qui habitant dans des réserves au Canada n’ont pas accès à l’une des ressources les plus importantes pour la vie : de l’eau potable propre et saine. Cet article analyse le droit à l’égalité garanti par la Charte en vue de déterminer si un recours pourrait être fondé sur ce droit. L’analyse démontre que l’expérience des Premières Nations qui habitent dans des réserves sans accès à de l’eau saine est discriminatoire selon l’article 15 de la Charte, et que cette discrimination ne serait pas légitimée par l’article premier. Le plus grand défi posé à une plainte fondée sur l’article 1 réside dans le fait qu’il n’existe pas une seule loi qui exclut catégoriquement de sa protection les communautés des ... Article in Journal/Newspaper First Nations Premières Nations Unknown Canada Revue générale de droit 43 183 222 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
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op_collection_id |
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language |
unknown |
topic |
Sciences Humaines et Sociales Social Sciences and Humanities First Nations drinking water equality Charter environmental discrimination s 15(1) Premières Nations eau potable égalité Charte discrimination environnementale art 15(1) droit scipo |
spellingShingle |
Sciences Humaines et Sociales Social Sciences and Humanities First Nations drinking water equality Charter environmental discrimination s 15(1) Premières Nations eau potable égalité Charte discrimination environnementale art 15(1) droit scipo Nathalie J. Chalifour Environmental Discrimination and the Charter’s Equality Guarantee: The Case of Drinking Water for First Nations Living on Reserves |
topic_facet |
Sciences Humaines et Sociales Social Sciences and Humanities First Nations drinking water equality Charter environmental discrimination s 15(1) Premières Nations eau potable égalité Charte discrimination environnementale art 15(1) droit scipo |
description |
Many First Nations communities living on reserves in Canada do not have consistent access to one of the most essential requirements for life—clean and safe drinking water. This article analyses the Charter’s equality guarantee to determine whether it offers a remedy. The analysis shows that the experience of First Nations communities living on reserve without access to clean water is discriminatory within the meaning of s 15 of the Charter, and that this discrimination would not be saved by s 1. The most significant hurdle to a s 15 claim is the fact that there is no single law which categorically excludes First Nations reserve communities from its protection. While the courts have not considered a case with similar facts, the article argues that the Charter’s equality protections extend to the full range of government action (and inaction) regardless of whether the action stems from one law, regulation or policy, or a set of laws that, acting together, creates discrimination. An interpretation that would limit s 15 protections based on a narrow, formalistic interpretation of the word “law” in section 15 would not only run counter to the interpretations of the section in recent decisions, but more importantly would run afoul of the Charter’s purpose of promoting substantive equality. Plusieurs Premières Nations qui habitant dans des réserves au Canada n’ont pas accès à l’une des ressources les plus importantes pour la vie : de l’eau potable propre et saine. Cet article analyse le droit à l’égalité garanti par la Charte en vue de déterminer si un recours pourrait être fondé sur ce droit. L’analyse démontre que l’expérience des Premières Nations qui habitent dans des réserves sans accès à de l’eau saine est discriminatoire selon l’article 15 de la Charte, et que cette discrimination ne serait pas légitimée par l’article premier. Le plus grand défi posé à une plainte fondée sur l’article 1 réside dans le fait qu’il n’existe pas une seule loi qui exclut catégoriquement de sa protection les communautés des ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Nathalie J. Chalifour |
author_facet |
Nathalie J. Chalifour |
author_sort |
Nathalie J. Chalifour |
title |
Environmental Discrimination and the Charter’s Equality Guarantee: The Case of Drinking Water for First Nations Living on Reserves |
title_short |
Environmental Discrimination and the Charter’s Equality Guarantee: The Case of Drinking Water for First Nations Living on Reserves |
title_full |
Environmental Discrimination and the Charter’s Equality Guarantee: The Case of Drinking Water for First Nations Living on Reserves |
title_fullStr |
Environmental Discrimination and the Charter’s Equality Guarantee: The Case of Drinking Water for First Nations Living on Reserves |
title_full_unstemmed |
Environmental Discrimination and the Charter’s Equality Guarantee: The Case of Drinking Water for First Nations Living on Reserves |
title_sort |
environmental discrimination and the charter’s equality guarantee: the case of drinking water for first nations living on reserves |
publisher |
Consortium Erudit |
publishDate |
2014 |
url |
http://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/rgd/2013-v43-rgd01063/1021214ar.pdf https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/rgd/2013-v43-rgd01063/1021214ar.pdf https://doi.org/10.7202/1021214ar http://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/rgd/2013-v43-rgd01063/1021214ar/ https://dialnet.unirioja.es/servlet/articulo?codigo=4617337 https://academic.microsoft.com/#/detail/3121942589 https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1021214ar |
geographic |
Canada |
geographic_facet |
Canada |
genre |
First Nations Premières Nations |
genre_facet |
First Nations Premières Nations |
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