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Human Rights - International Treaties. Salim v. Singh
In Salim v. Singh (Div Court, 2024) the Divisional Court allowed an RTA s.210 appeal where the LTB "refused to apply the Ontario Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19 (“the Code”), to determine whether a landlord’s refusal to rent a townhome to a couple with three children was “arbitrary or unreasonable” under s. 95(5)" [Assignment, Subletting and Unauthorized Occupancy - Refusal or non-response].
Here the court reviews the role of several international treaties in HRC interpretation and foundation:[53] The Preamble to the Code refers to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, G.A. Res. 217 A (III), U.N. Doc. A/810 (“UDHR”), as the foundation for all human rights protections. Article 16(3) of the UDHR recognizes: “The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.” The family is also recognized and protected in human rights treaties to which Canada is a party. The Preamble to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1577 U.N.T.S. 3, Can. T.S. 1992 No. 3, affirms that states parties are: “Convinced that the family, as the fundamental group of society and natural environment for the growth and well-being of all its members and particularly children, should be afforded the necessary protection and assistance so that it can assume its responsibilities within the community.”
[54] Articles 23(1) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, 999 U.N.T.S. 171, Can T.S. 1976 No. 47, echoes the language in the UDHR, while Article 17 prohibits “arbitrary or unlawful interference” with one’s “family” and “home.” In General Comment No. 19: The Human Rights Committee, which monitors compliance with the ICCPR, noted that the concept of “family” will differ amongst states such that it is not possible to give the concept a “standard definition”: General Comment: The right to social security (Art. 9 of the Covenant), U.N. Doc. E/C.12/GC/19 (February 4, 2008), at para. 2. The question is “whether the group of persons is regarded as a family under the legislation and practice of the State”: para. 2. The Committee highlighted that it is possible that “diverse concepts of family” will exist within a single state, for example, capturing both “nuclear” and “extended” families. Implicit is the idea that family is both a legal and social status, and that the concept of family will necessarily evolve and change over time.
[55] Article 10(1) of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, 1966, 993 U.N.T.S. 3, Can T.S. 1976 No. 46 (“ICESCR”), states that “the widest possible protection and assistance should be accorded to the family…particularly…while it is responsible for the care and education of dependent children.” Notably, Article 11(1) which recognizes the right to adequate housing extends this right not only to the individual but to “himself and his family.” In my view, there is a clear link between protecting families from discrimination in housing, and progressive realization of the right to housing for all members of our community: see National Housing Strategy Act, S.C. 2019, c. 29, s. 313.
[56] The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (“UN CESCR”), which monitors compliance with the ICESCR, has noted that family forms have changed and will change, for example, expanding to include married and unmarried parents, stepparents, adoptive parents, and foster-parents: UN CESCR’s Concluding Observations at the Fourth Periodic Report of Germany, E/C.12/4/Add.3, 10 August 2000, para. 122. The UN CESCR states that, “One feature which all these long-term relationships have in common is the reliable relationship between children and their parents”: para. 122.
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