Escherian Reflections on the Charter and Human Rights in Canada

This paper addresses how the body of Canadian human rights law has influenced and is influenced by Charter jurisprudence. It notes the Escherian dialectic between human rights and Charter discourse and some of the problems in developing a coherent Charter/human rights regime in relation to labour rights. It examines the problem of under-inclusion, especially of workers excluded from access to collective bargaining regimes, and notes the failure of the Charter/human rights regime to adequately respond to the claims of some of the most vulnerable workers to participate in schemes that might provide a potential for addressing significant inequalities that they face.