Rights Covered - PCJ CCP

The Court Challenges Program provides financial support to bring test cases of national importance that aim to clarify and assert certain constitutional and quasi-constitutional official language rights and human rights before the courts. Here are the rights covered by the Program:

Official Language Rights Branch

Official language rights protected by:

sections 93 and 133 of the Constitution Act, 1867;
section 23 of the Manitoba Act, 1870;
sections 16 to 23 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the “Charter”);
the linguistic aspect of freedom of expression in section 2 of the Charter when invoked in an official language minority case; and
any parallel constitutional provisions.

Justiciable parts of the Official Languages Act, which include:

section 4 of Part I (Proceedings of Parliament);
sections 5 to 7 and 10 to 13 of Part II (Legislative and Other Instruments);
Part IV (Communications with and Services to the Public);
Part V (Language of Work);
Part VII (Advancement of Equality of Status and Use of English and French); and
section 91 (Staffing).

Human Rights Branch

Human rights protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms under:

section 2 (including freedom of religion, expression, assembly and association);
section 3 (democratic rights);
section 7 (life, liberty and security of the person);
section 15 (equality rights);
section 27 (multiculturalism) – in support of arguments based on equality rights; and
section 28 (gender equality).