(Ottawa) The Supreme Court of Canada will hear the case of the Quebec government, which wants to prevent the children of asylum seekers from having access to subsidized daycares.
The country’s highest court announced its decision Thursday.
The Attorney General of Quebec announced the Quebec government’s intention to address the Supreme Court in a motion filed last February before the Quebec Court of Appeal.
He asked the court to suspend the execution of its judgment which ruled in favor of the asylum seekers and gave them access to subsidized daycare.
The Court of Appeal concluded that the exclusion of asylum seekers from the program of access to subsidized childcare services contravened the Canadian Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.
More specifically, the court saw it as a discriminatory measure against women, violating the constitutional right to equality.
The Quebec Minister of Families, Suzanne Roy, disagreed with this reading.
“We deeply disagree with the judges’ interpretation that this was discrimination based on sex,” she said.
The case dates back to 2018, when Quebec reinterpreted an article according to which a person is eligible for subsidized daycare if they “stay in Quebec mainly to work there”.
The Superior Court rendered a first judgment on May 25, 2022, ruling in favor of the plaintiff, Bijou Kanyinda.
This decision was immediately appealed by the government. The Court of Appeal then ruled, on February 7, in favor of Ms.me Kanyinda.
With Hugo Pilon-Larose and Suzanne Colpron, The Press