Nabila Qureshi and Anu Bakshi, ISAC Staff Lawyers, and Anna Rosenbluth from the Clinic Resource Office have published an article in the Canadian Journal of Administrative Law and Practice entitled “Yatar v. TD Insurance Meloche Monnex: Access to Justice Implications for Low Income Litigants in Ontario”.
This paper discusses the implications of the Supreme Court’s decision in Yatar v. TD Insurance Meloche Monnex for access to justice for social assistance recipients in Ontario. It asserts that the decision furthers access to justice by providing more predictable access to judicial review and by clarifying that judicial economy considerations are not a sufficient basis for a court to decline relief. However, the decision creates new challenges for courts in devising processes to facilitate concurrent judicial review and appeal.
ISAC intervened in Yatar at both the Ontario Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada on the implications that restricting review of non-appealable issues would have for social assistance recipients in Ontario. ISAC argued in part that restricting judicial review in statutory schemes that contain limited rights of appeal will create additional barriers for social assistance recipients, perpetuate their disadvantage, and threaten their dignity and access to the basic necessities they need to survive. More about this decision can be found here.
The Canadian Journal of Administrative Law and Practice is published by Carswell, under the auspices of the Council of Canadian Administrative Tribunals.