Background
During the period of 1984 to 1989 under section 29(a) of the Social Aid Regulation (Règlement sur l’aide sociale), the Quebec government provided those who were single, unemployed, and under 30 years old with $170 per month in social assistance which amounted to only a third of the regular benefits. Full benefits were only available if the individuals would participate in employability programs. The objective behind it was to encourage youth to either find work or go to school.
Louise Gosselin was unemployed and under 30 during the period from 1984 to 1989. She was homeless periodically, lived in an unheated apartment for one winter, and when she rented a room at a boarding house it left her no money for food. She was reduced to selling herself to feed herself.
Gosselin brought a class action against the Quebec government for violation of 1) her section 15 equality rights and 2) her section 7 security rights. As well, she claimed that 3) her social rights in section 45 of the Quebec Charter of Rights and Freedoms were violated.
The Québec Court of Appeal, though divided, ruled that the regulation did not violate the Canadian or Quebec Charter. Two judges found a violation of section 15 of the Canadian Charter but only one found that it could not be saved by section 1. Another dissenting judge found a violation of section 45 of the Quebec Charter.
Read more about this topic: Gosselin V. Quebec (Attorney General)
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