Constitutional Civil Liberties and Human Rights Law

Advocacy | October 28, 2025

Your OBA LegUp Policy and Legislative Update Week of October 20

Article | October 24, 2025

Over-Policing of Minorities & Charter Values: How the Charter Value of Equality Should Shape the Standard of Care

The question at the heart of this article is whether the appropriate standard of care in negligence related to the maintenance and use of police databases by law enforcement and other related agencies should be interpreted in light of the Charter value of equality. In the authors’ view, the standard of care in negligence cases against law enforcement has been a relatively low bar and has been informed by law enforcement policies. The authors take the position this is true of cases involving police databases as well. Recently, the Supreme Court of Canada and the Ontario Court of Appeal have recognized that the over-policing of minorities violates the equality guarantees in s. 15 of the Charter. In the authors’ view, the data stored in police databases reflects the reality of this discriminatory over-policing. Put differently, the authors take the position that over-policing results in the over-representation of racial minorities in police databases. Given the underlying constitutional violations associated with over-policing, it is the authors’ position that cases involving the negligent maintenance or use of such databases engage the Charter value of equality. Charter rights are conceptually distinct from Charter values, but Charter values nevertheless underpin each Charter right and give it meaning. Charter values can apply even where a Charter right is not engaged. Tort law has long been developed in light of Charter values. In the authors’ view, the tort of negligence should be similarly developed. Specifically, when formulating and applying the standard of care in relation to the maintenance and use of police databases, courts should appropriately scrutinize existing policies and procedures, including any discriminatory impact of seemingly neutral policies.

Article | October 24, 2025

The Expansion of Third Party Political Advertisements in Ontario

Every four years marks a new provincial election cycle in Ontario. Each cycle, registered political parties are forced to contend with how, and through what mediums, they will drive Ontarians to the polls and communicate their political messaging. These considerations are increasingly important as advertisement media shifts and Ontarians’ central concerns evolve from cycle to cycle. This is not a concern for registered political parties alone, however. Third parties are also engaged in political advertising, albeit the extent of that advertisement during the 12 months before a provincial election writ period differs than that for registered political parties. In Ontario (Attorney General) v. Working Families Coalition (Canada) Inc., 2025 SCC 5 (“Working Families”), the Supreme Court of Canada explored the constitutionality of this differentiation.

Legislative Update | October 14, 2025

Your OBA LegUp Policy and Legislative Update Week of October 6

Advocacy | October 03, 2025

Your OBA LegUp Policy and Legislative Update Week of September 29