Supporting the Court Challenges Program
The CBA continues to advocate for a program that advances constitutional rights and increases access to justice
In a nutshell
The CBA supports Bill C-316, which seeks to ensure the Court Challenges Program is run by an organization independent of government.
Previous support
In a letter to the Chair of the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage, the CBA’s Access to Justice Subcommittee expressed support for the bill.
The CBA has previously voiced its support for the Court Challenges Program, first established in 1978 but cancelled and revived several times since then. Its position is that ensuring the stability and independence of the program is crucial for all Canadians, as it clarifies constitutional rights and freedoms.
“The CBA is a longtime supporter of the Program’s objectives to advance constitutional rights and freedoms by funding test cases of national significance in the areas of equality and official language rights,” the letter reads.
Financial sustainability
In addition to its independence, the Program needs to protect the solicitor-client relationship of the litigants and have financial sustainability, the CBA Subcommittee writes. It recommends the federal, provincial and territorial governments create independent endowment funds to support each of the Program mandates.
Increasing access to justice
Finally, the CBA reiterates its 2016 recommendation that the Program’s mandate include increased access to justice, equality challenges, claims of discrimination by historically disadvantaged groups under the Canadian Human Rights Act and dedicated resources for Aboriginal and treaty rights as well as federal responsibilities to Indigenous peoples.
Read the submission.
