Where the Rubber Hits the Road

"A landmark Supreme of Canada ruling has significantly widened the reach of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, handing a broad range of administrative tribunals the right to find Charter violations and create legal remedies. In a 9-0 ruling on Friday, the court said that administrative tribunals – quasi-judicial bodies that hear cases involving everything from labour relations and school boards to human rights are perfectly capable of applying the Charter in their fields of expertise. “We do not have one Charter for the courts and another for administrative tribunals,” said Madam Justice Rosalie Abella, the architect of the transformation." Read the rest of the article here

David Little, a Canadian prolife activist has been refusing since 2000 to pay his income tax as a protest that his money could/would be used to provide for abortion services, something that he found morally unacceptable. In refusing to take up his case, the Canadian Supreme Court seems to be agreeing with lower courts that there is no connection between the payment of taxes and agreeing with particular policies of the government. Read the National Post account of this battle here.