By Colin Perkel, THE CANADIAN PRESS
December 17, 2007

TORONTO - A coalition of advocates for minorities, women and the disabled is seeking to join a court challenge to the widely criticized federal Conservative government’s decision to cancel a decades-old program that provided money for equality-focused legal fights.

In an application to be filed Tuesday in Federal Court, the coalition argues the death of the court challenges program will damage efforts to ensure charter rights are respected.

“This case raises issues of critical legal, national importance and public interest concerning access to justice for historically disadvantaged groups,” Laurie Beachell, of the Council of Canadians with Disabilities, states in a supporting affidavit.

“The issue of access to justice is of particular significance to people with disabilities who face multiple barriers.”

In one of its first acts after coming to office, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s minority Tory government axed the court challenges program in September last year, saying it was not providing good value.

The government said it would save taxpayers almost $3 million a year.

“The court challenges program was the mechanism through which people without substantial means were able to exercise their charter rights,” David Baker, a Toronto lawyer acting for the coalition, said in an interview Monday.

“It gave a voice and it gave access to justice to a group of people who otherwise would not be able to bring forward their cases.”

The national non-profit program was initially established in 1978 with the aim of helping minority linguistic groups, but was expanded in 1982 and again in 1985 for others seeking equality under Section 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Over the years, those groups have won numerous landmark battles with the program’s help.

One example involved the council’s tortuous but ultimately victorious fight with Via Rail over the accessibility of its passenger trains, which upheld in March by the Supreme Court of Canada.

The program has also helped women win pay-equity cases and gays win equality protection.

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