Case information

Charter of Rights — Minority language educational rights — Judgments and orders — Summary judgments — Applicant alleging that he and other students had been mistreated by university — Claim against Ministry — Striking out of applicant’s action — Whether original source of s. 23 of Charter, which guarantees minority language educational rights, is substantive equivalence or proportionality — In inquiry based on s. 1 of Charter, whether it is fair and equitable to challenge very foundation of guaranteed right in order to minimize harm caused by infringement — Whether government policies and violations of privacy are immune with respect to damages under Charter — Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, s. 23 — Rules of Civil Procedure, R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 194, Rules 21.01 and 25.

Case summaries are prepared by the Office of the Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada (Law Branch). Please note that summaries are not provided to the Judges of the Court. They are placed on the Court file and website for information purposes only.

In a statement of claim against the respondent Ministry, the applicant, Mr. Amrane, alleged that he and other students had been mistreated by York University, where he had studied. The claim also alleged that York’s Glendon College had never offered the global geography course in French and had therefore violated s. 23 of the Charter. The Ministry moved to strike out the statement of claim and dismiss Mr. Amrane’s action. The judge found that it was plain and obvious that the statement of claim disclosed no reasonable claim. She explained that the claims regarding the lack of a degree of supervision of universities by the Ontario government could not form the basis of a valid cause of action. With regard to the arguments concerning language rights, she held that s. 23 of the Charter does not apply to post-secondary educational institutions. She therefore granted the motion and dismissed Mr. Amrane’s action. The Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal.