Poverty

Margot Young is an associate professor and Susan Boyd holds the Chair in Feminist Legal Studies in the Faculty of Law at the University of British Columbia. Gwen Brodsky and Shelagh Day are directors of the Poverty and Human Rights Centre in Vancouver.

Dry legal scholarship is rarely as infused with compassion as it is in this book. The 18 individually authored chapters are written by legal scholars and practitioners, social activists and professionals who are waging an ongoing struggle against Canadian poverty. …the chapters are thoughtful, insightful, and often compelling as well as Canadian-centric. - A. F. Johnson, Bishop's University (Choice, Vol. 45, No. 05) In this volume, editors Margot Young, Susan B. Boyd, Gwen Brodsky, and Shelagh Day bring together a collection of essays intended to stimulate continued social, political, and legal anti-poverty activism or social justice. […] In total, this volume is an indispensable resource for scholars endeavoring to widen their understanding of social citizenship, poverty, and rights in ways that intertwine social policy and law. As well, some or all of the chapters will make valuable additions to graduate course syllabi n poverty, social movements, social policy, and he welfare state. - Amber Gazso, York University (Canadian Journal of Sociology, Vol.33, No. 3, 2008) This collection transitions effortlessly between legal analysis, political commentary, and human rights advocacy. Featuring twenty different authors representing a range of interests and expertise, this collection provides a wide breadth of review on this topic ... This collaboration presents an important discussion on the range of barriers to equality which are found in Canadian society, particularly the Canadian judicial system. - Alison Forbes (Saskatchewan Law Review, Vol.71, 2008)

• PrefaceIntroductionPart 1: Poverty and Rights: Reading Gosselin1 Reality checks: Presuming Innocence and Proving Guilt in Charter Welfare Cases / Martha Jackman2 But It's for Your Own Good / Diane Pothier3 Social Rights and Judicial Competence / David SchneidermanPart 2: Social Citizenship and the State4 Claiming Adjudicative space: Social Rights and Citizenship / Bruce Porter5 Aboriginal Women Unmasked: Using Charter Equality Litigation to Advance Women's Rights / Sharon McIvor6 Welfare Reformed: The Re-making of the Model Citizen / Janet Mosher7 The "Made in Québec" Act to Combat Poverty and Social Exclusion / Lucie Lamarche8 Trade Regime Federalism: An Assessment of the Social Union Framework Agreement / Barbara CameronPart 3: Social Citizenship and International Contexts9 Collective Economic Rights and International Trade Agreements: In the Vacuum of post-National Capital Control / Marjorie Griffin Cohen10 Enforcing Social and Economic Rights at the Domestic Level: A Proposal / Gráinne McKeever and Fionnuala Ni Aoláin11 Minding the Gap: Treaty Commitments and Government Practice / Shelagh Day12 Litigating Socio-Economic Rights in South Africa: How Far Will the Courts Go? / Karrisha PillayPart 4: Beyond Gosselin: Legal Theory Emboldened13 Taking Competence Seriously / David Wiseman14 Dignity, Equality, and Second Generation Rights / Denise Réaume15 The Charter as an Impediment to Welfare Roll Backs: A Meditation on "Justice as Fairness" as a "Bedrock Value" of the Canadian Democratic Project / Ken NormanPart 5: Legal Activism Revived16 Why Rights Now? Law and Desperation / Margot Young17 The Challenge of Litigating the Rights of Poor People: The Right to Legal Aid as a Test Case / Melina Buckley18 Charter Rights and Government Choices / Gwen Brodsky