Life, liberty, security of person and welfare benefits

Section 7 of the Charter says:

Life, liberty and security of person    

7. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.

At first blush one might think the section related solely to criminal and quasi criminal process. Canadian courts have long seen the section as broader than that and Wareham v. Ontario (Ministry of Community and Social Services), 2008 ONCA 771, released today, deals with s. 7 in the context of welfare benefits.

The Court found a delay in granting benefits could infringe s. 7. The Court explained the analysis thusly:

[15]          The motion judge, following well-established authority, approached the adequacy of the s. 7 claim in two stages.  First, he asked whether the appellants had pleaded a deprivation of security of the person caused by state action.  Second, he considered whether the appellants had pleaded that the deprivation was contrary to a recognized principle of fundamental justice. 
...
[17]          I agree with the motion judge that the appellants successfully cleared the first of the two s. 7 hurdles.  There is a potential argument to be made that delay in processing applications for welfare benefits, essential for day-to-day existence and to which the applicants are statutorily entitled, could engage the right to security of the person where that delay has caused serious physical or psychological harm. 

[18]          Next, the motion judge turned to the second stage of the s. 7 analysis.  Even where state action causes a deprivation of security of the person, it breaches s. 7 only if the deprivation is not in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.   The motion judge identified three features as essential components of a principle of fundamental justice.  First, it must be a legal principle.  Second, it must be widely accepted as an integral part of the due administration of justice.  Third, the principle must be capable of being identified with sufficient precision to yield a manageable standard against which to measure the state conduct in issue. 
James Morton
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Toronto, Ontario
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