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Income Security Consultation |
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Concluding observations
of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
D. Principal subjects
of concern 15. The Committee is deeply concerned at the information that provincial courts in Canada have routinely opted for an interpretation of the Charter which excludes protection of the right to an adequate standard of living and other Covenant rights. The Committee notes with concern that the courts have taken this position despite the fact that the Supreme Court of Canada has stated, as has the Government of Canada before this Committee, that the Charter can be interpreted so as to protect these rights. 16. The Committee is also concerned about the inadequate legal protection in Canada of women's rights which are guaranteed under the Covenant, such as the absence of laws requiring employers to pay equal remuneration for work of equal value in some provinces and territories, restricted access to civil legal aid, inadequate protection from gender discrimination afforded by human rights laws and the inadequate enforcement of those laws. 17. The Committee is greatly concerned at the gross disparity between Aboriginal people and the majority of Canadians with respect to the enjoyment of Covenant rights. There has been little or no progress in the alleviation of social and economic deprivation among Aboriginal people. In particular, the Committee is deeply concerned at the shortage of adequate housing, the endemic mass unemployment and the high rate of suicide, especially among youth, in the Aboriginal communities. Another concern is the failure to provide safe and adequate drinking water to Aboriginal communities on reserves. The delegation of the State Party conceded that almost a quarter of Aboriginal household dwellings required major repairs and lacked basic amenities. 18. The Committee views with concern the direct connection between Aboriginal economic marginalization and the ongoing dispossession of Aboriginal people from their lands, as recognized by RCAP, and endorses the recommendations of RCAP that policies which violate Aboriginal treaty obligations and the extinguishment, conversion or giving up of Aboriginal rights and title should on no account be pursued by the State Party. The Committee is greatly concerned that the recommendations of RCAP have not yet been implemented, in spite of the urgency of the situation. 19. The replacement of the Canada Assistance Plan (CAP) by the Canada Health and Social Transfer (CHST) entails a range of adverse consequences for the enjoyment of Covenant rights by disadvantaged groups in Canada. The Government informed the Committee in its 1993 report that CAP set national standards for social welfare, required that work by welfare recipients be freely chosen, guaranteed the right to an adequate standard of living and facilitated court challenges of federally-funded provincial social assistance programmes which did not meet the standards prescribed in the Act. In contrast, CHST has eliminated each of these features and significantly reduced the amount of cash transfer payments provided to the provinces to cover social assistance. It did, however, retain national standards in relation to health, thus denying provincial "flexibility" in one area, while insisting upon it in others. The delegation provided no explanation for this inconsistency. The Committee regrets that, by according virtually unfettered discretion to provincial governments in relation to social rights, the Government of Canada has created a situation in which Covenant standards can be undermined and effective accountability has been radically reduced. The Committee also recalls in this regard paragraph 9 of General Comment No. 3. 20. The Committee is concerned that newly-introduced successive restrictions on unemployment insurance benefits have resulted in a dramatic drop in the proportion of unemployed workers receiving benefits to approximately half of previous coverage, in the lowering of benefit rates, in reductions in the length of time for which benefits are paid and in increasingly restricted access to benefits for part-time workers. While the new programme is said to provide better benefits for low-income families with children, the fact is that fewer low-income families are eligible to receive any benefits at all. Part-time, young, marginal, temporary and seasonal workers face more restrictions and are frequently denied benefits, although they contribute significantly to the fund. 21. The Committee received information to the effect that cuts of about 10 per cent in social assistance rates for single people have been introduced in Manitoba; 35 per cent in those for single people in Nova Scotia; and 21.6 per cent in those for both families and single people in Ontario. These cuts appear to have had a significantly adverse impact on vulnerable groups, causing increases in already high levels of homelessness and hunger. 22. The Committee notes with concern that, in all but two provinces (New Brunswick and Newfoundland), the National Child Benefit (NCB) introduced by the Federal Government, which is meant to be given to all children of low-income families, is in fact only given to children of working poor parents since the provinces are allowed by the Federal Government to deduct the full amount of NCB from the amount of social assistance received by parents on welfare. 23. The Committee notes with grave concern that with the repeal of CAP and cuts in social assistance rates, social services and programmes have had a particularly harsh impact on women, in particular single mothers, who are the majority of the poor, the majority of adults receiving social assistance and the majority among the users of social programmes. 24. The Committee is gravely concerned that such a wealthy country as Canada has allowed the problem of homelessness and inadequate housing to grow to such proportions that the mayors of Canada's 10 largest cities have now declared homelessness a national disaster. 25. The Committee is concerned that provincial social assistance rates and other income assistance measures have clearly not been adequate to cover rental costs of the poor. In the past five years, the number of tenants paying more than 50 per cent of their income towards rent has increased by 43 per cent. 26. The Committee is concerned that in both Ontario and Quebec, governments have adopted legislation to redirect social assistance payments directly to landlords without the consent of recipients, despite the fact that the Quebec Human Rights Commission and an Ontario Human Rights Tribunal have found this treatment of social assistance recipients to be discriminatory. 27. The Committee expresses its grave concern at learning that the Government of Ontario proceeded with its announced 21.6 per cent cuts in social assistance in spite of claims that this would force large numbers of people from their homes. 28. The Committee is concerned that the significant reductions in provincial social assistance programmes, the unavailability of affordable and appropriate housing and widespread discrimination with respect to housing create obstacles to women escaping domestic violence. Many women are forced, as a result of those obstacles, to choose between returning to or staying in a violent situation, on the one hand, or homelessness and inadequate food and clothing for themselves and their children, on the other. 30. The Committee notes with concern that at least six provinces in Canada (including Quebec and Ontario) have adopted "workfare" programmes that either tie the right to social assistance to compulsory employment schemes or reduce the level of benefits when recipients, who are usually young, assert their right to choose freely what type of work they wish to do. In many cases, these programmes constitute work without the protection of fundamental labour rights and labour standards legislation. The Committee further notes that in the case of the Province of Quebec, those workfare schemes are implemented despite the opinion of the Human Rights Commission and the decisions of the Human Rights Tribunal that those programmes constitute discrimination based on social status or age. 31. The Committee notes that Bill 22, entitled "An act to prevent unionization", was adopted by the Ontario Legislative Assembly on 24 November 1998. The Act denies to workfare participants the rights to join a trade union, to bargain collectively and to strike. In response to a request from the Committee, the Government provided no information in relation to the compatibility of the Act with the Covenant. The Committee considers the Act to be a clear violation of article 8 of the Covenant and calls upon the State Party to take measures to repeal the offending provisions. 32. The Committee is concerned that the minimum wage is not sufficient to provide an adequate standard of living for a worker and his or her family. 33. The Committee is perturbed to hear that the number of food banks almost doubled between 1989 and 1997 in Canada and that they are able to meet only a fraction of the increased needs of the poor. 34. The Committee is concerned that the State Party did not take into account the Committee's 1993 major concerns and recommendations when it adopted policies at federal, provincial and territorial levels which exacerbated poverty and homelessness among vulnerable groups during a time of strong economic growth and increasing affluence. 35. The Committee
is concerned at the crisis level of homelessness among youth and young
families. According to information received from the National Council
of Welfare, over 90 per cent of single mothers under 25 live in poverty.
Unemployment and under-employment rates are also significantly higher
among youth than among the general population. 37. The Committee views with concern the plight of thousands of "Convention refugees" in Canada, who cannot be given permanent resident status for a number of reasons, including the lack of identity documents, and who cannot be reunited with their families for a period of five years. E. Suggestions and
recommendations 41. The Committee urges the State Party to establish officially a poverty line and to establish social assistance at levels which ensure the realization of an adequate standard of living for all. 42. The Committee recommends that federal and provincial agreements should be adjusted so as to ensure, in whatever ways are appropriate, that services such as mental health care, home care, child care and attendant care, shelters for battered women and legal aid for non-criminal matters, are available at levels that ensure the right to an adequate standard of living. 43. The Committee
calls upon the State Party to act urgently with respect to the recommendations
of RCAP (Royal commission on . The Committee also calls upon the 44. The Committee recommends that the National Child Benefit Scheme be amended so as to prohibit provinces from deducting the benefit from social assistance entitlements. 45. The Committee recommends that Canada's Employment Insurance Programme be reformed so as to provide adequate coverage for all unemployed workers in an amount and for a duration which fully guarantees their right to social security. 46. The Committee recommends that the federal, provincial and territorial governments address homelessness and inadequate housing as a national emergency by reinstating or increasing, as the case may be, social housing programmes for those in need, improving and properly enforcing anti-discrimination legislation in the field of housing, increasing shelter allowances and social assistance rates to realistic levels, providing adequate support services for persons with disabilities, improving protection of security of tenure for tenants and improving protection of affordable rental housing stock from conversion to other uses. The Committee urges the State party to implement a national strategy for the reduction of homelessness and poverty. 48. The Committee recommends that the Government of Canada take additional steps to ensure the enjoyment of economic and social rights for people with disabilities, in accordance with the Committee's General Comment No. 5. 49. The Committee urges the Government to develop and expand adequate programmes to address the financial obstacles to post-secondary education for low-income students, without any discrimination on the basis of citizenship status. 50. The Committee urges the federal, provincial and territorial governments to adopt positions in litigation which are consistent with their obligation to uphold the rights recognized in the Covenant. 51. The Committee again urges federal, provincial and territorial governments to expand protection in human rights legislation to include social and economic rights and to protect poor people in all jurisdictions from discrimination because of social or economic status. Moreover, enforcement mechanisms provided in human rights legislation need to be reinforced to ensure that all human rights claims not settled through mediation are promptly determined before a competent human rights tribunal, with the provision of legal aid to vulnerable groups. 52. The Committee, as in its review of the previous report of Canada, reiterates that economic and social rights should not be downgraded to "principles and objectives" in the ongoing discussions between the Federal Government and the provinces and territories regarding social programmes. The Committee consequently urges the Federal Government to take concrete steps to ensure that the provinces and territories are made aware of their legal obligations under the Covenant and that the Covenant rights are enforceable within the provinces and territories through legislation or policy measures and the establishment of independent and appropriate monitoring and adjudication mechanisms. 53. The Committee encourages the State Party to adopt the necessary measures to ensure the realization of women's economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to equal remuneration for work of equal value. 54. The Committee also recommends that a greater proportion of federal, provincial and territorial budgets be directed specifically to measures to address women's poverty and the poverty of their children, affordable day care, and legal aid for family matters. Measures that will establish adequate support for shelters for battered women, care-giving services and women's non-governmental organizations should also be implemented. 55. The Committee urges the federal, provincial and territorial governments to review their respective "workfare" legislation in order to ensure that none of the provisions violate the right to work freely chosen and other labour standards, including the minimum wage, rights which are not only guaranteed by the Covenant but also by the relevant ILO conventions on fundamental labour rights and labour standards. 57. The Committee recommends that the State Party request the Canadian Judicial Council to provide all judges with copies of the Committee's concluding observations and encourage training for judges on Canada's obligations under the Covenant. 58. The Committee also recommends that since there is generally in Canada a lack of public awareness about human rights treaty obligations, the general public, public institutions and officers at all levels of Government should be made aware by the State Party of Canada's human rights obligations under the Covenant. In this regard, the Committee wishes to make specific reference to its General Comment No. 9 on the domestic application of the Covenant. 59. The Committee recommends that the Federal Government extend the Court Challenges Programme to include challenges to provincial legislation and policies which may violate the provisions of the Covenant. 60. Finally, the Committee
requests the State Party to ensure the wide dissemination in Canada of
the present concluding observations and to inform the Committee of steps
taken to implement these recommendations in its next periodic report.
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