Human Rights Challenge to Federal Social Assistance Policies Restored

The Federal Court in Canadian Human Rights Commission v. Canada (Attorney General) has revived proceedings before the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal challenging the federal policies informing social assistance funding policies for programs delivered to aboriginal people.  The decision is  primarily focused on the flawed approach adopted by the original panel in dismissing the challenge at a preliminary stage.  Despite this principally procedural analysis underlying these findings is an acceptance that these policies are in fact open to challenge on the basis of existing human rights legislation and the Charter. Now we will have to see if the Harper government abolishes this process to end any possibility that it may get its way.