Rights-based strategies to address homelessness and poverty in Ontario

In the proceedings leading up to the enactment of the Constitution Act, 1982, the Special Joint Committee of the Senate and of the House of Commons considered an amendment to what is now section 36, put forward by Svend Robinson on behalf of the New Democratic Party, to add a “commitment to fully implementing the ICESCR and the goals of a clean and 44 healthy environment and safe and healthy worki [...] Given the importance accorded to the provision by the Government of Canada in relation to the implementation of the ICESCR in Canada, the argument that section 36 provides no effective remedy would be inconsistent with the requirement of effective domestic remedies for violations of international rights. [...] D. Section 7 of the Charter: The Right to Life, Liberty and Security of the Person Section 7 of the Charter declares that “[e]veryone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.” Section 7 should be read in light of Canadian values and longstanding conceptions of individual wellb [...] The phrase ‘fundamental justice’ was also preferred over any reference to ‘due process of law’ in section 7, because of concerns around the use of the due process clause in the United States Bill of Rights during the Lochner era, as a means for propertied interests to challenge the regulation 80 of private enterprise and the promotion of social rights. [...] In response to a question from the CESCR in the context of Canada’s second periodic review before the UN CESCR, the federal government assured the Committee that “[w]hile the guarantee of security of the person under section 7 of the Charter might not lead to a right to a certain type of social assistance, it 87.