The Rule of the Courts

M. Akram Faizer

granted special protections for Indigenous salmon fishing rights near the mouth of the Fraser River that were denied to commercial fishers. 151 The Court also concluded that Charter § 23, purporting to guarantee linguistic autonomy to French-speaking Canadians in English Canada, required the Province of Alberta to support the creation of a French language elementary school. 152 It then went further to require that the Government must treat French and English-speaking communities with linguistic equality in the provision of government services. 153 The Supreme Court of Canada also concluded that equality before the law mandated that provincial laws that provide funding for medically required services, also provide funding for sign language interpreters for deaf individuals seeking medical care. 154 It also that the Charter’s equal protection requirement protected gays and lesbians from employment discrimination even though the Charter textually afforded no constitutional protections for sexual minorities. 155 The Court expanded the protections of the Family Law Act to require the provision of spousal support to individuals whose same-sex relationships had ended when the law textually provided protection to unmarried couples in heterosexual relationships. 156 It also overturned rules applied by Canada Customs that disallowed the importation of sexually explicit material preferred by gays and lesbians on obscenity grounds. 157 This is because the Court found the regime violated the gay community’s freedom of expression and the equality rights by unfairly labeling materials intended for gays and lesbians as obscene. 158 This case helped pave the way for further recognition of sexual minority rights in Canada and confirmed that 151 R. v. Kapp, 2008 SCC 41 152 Mahe v. Alberta, [1990] 1 SCR 342 153 DesRochers v. Canada (Industry), 2009 SCC 8 154 Eldridge v. British Columbia (Attorney General), [1997] 3 SCR 624 155 Vriend v. Alberta, [1998] 1 SCR 493 156 M. v. H., [1999] 2 SCR 3 157 Little Sisters Book and Art Emporium v. Canada (Minister of Justice), [2000]2 SCR 1120 158 Id.

129