Former Liberals in the Senate are offering up ready-made legal arguments to anyone willing to take the federal government to court in order to force a national inquiry into missing and murdered aboriginal women and girls. They say they are taking the legal route because Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s Conservative government refuses to heed the calls of aboriginal groups, civil-liberty organizations and opposition parties to hold an inquiry. “I think that there is no other choice than to go to court,” said Sen. Serge Joyal, who wrote the legal argument. “This is a way to press upon the government in a more efficient manner, so the government will have to defend its stance in court and be shamed by public opinion. That, I think, might compel the government to act, finally.” Joyal, a lawyer by training, cites sections of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, other legal cases and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to buttress his argument for an inquiry. He and his Senate colleague Lillian Dyck are in the early stages of finding someone who will take the case to Federal Court.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Nov 2014 20:24:00 +0000
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