Equality in Canada: A tale of non-normative groups struggling with grounds of discrimination

Authors

  • Nausica Palazzo University of Trento

Keywords:

Grounds, equality, discrimination, families, Canada, Motivos de discriminación, igualdad, discriminación, familias, Canadá

Abstract

This article intends to address the limits associated with a rigid grounds-based approach to equality, requiring claimants to categorize their identity within an enumerated ground to “deserve” the protection of the equality guarantee. To this end, I first shed light on the irreconcilability of rigid grounds with post-structuralist accounts of identity, and then lay claim to an approach to equality that extends its reach to fluid, intersectional groups. Thereafter, taking Canada as a case study, I parse out the Canadian equality jurisprudence, particularly the cases offering an analysis of the aforementioned grounds. I then move to sketch out two proposals to overcome the risks associated with the current equality jurisprudence, by focusing on marital status discrimination. I ultimately offer a cursory overview of the complex interplay between approaches to equality and the organization of interest groups, and illustrate the issues around the organization of “post-identity groups”.

Este artículo se propone abordar los límites relacionados con un enfoque de la igualdad rígido y basado en motivos de discriminación (grounds), exigiendo que los demandantes categoricen su identidad como un motivo enumerado para “merecer” la tutela de la garantía de igualdad. En primer lugar, arrojo luz sobre la irreconciliabilidad de los motivos rígidos con concepciones posestructuralistas de la identidad, y después propongo un enfoque de la igualdad extensivo a grupos fluidos e interseccionales. Analizo la jurisprudencia canadiense sobre igualdad, sobre todo los casos que ofrecen un análisis de motivos. En ese punto, esbozo dos propuestas para superar los riesgos asociados a la jurisprudencia actual sobre igualdad, centrándome en la discriminación por estado civil. Por último, ofrezco un somero repaso de la compleja interacción entre los abordajes de la igualdad y la organización de los grupos de interés, e ilustro los problemas que acechan a la organización de “grupos posidentitarios”.

Available from: https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-1066

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Author Biography

Nausica Palazzo, University of Trento

Ph.D. candidate at the University of Trento Faculty of Law (Trento), and Adjunct Lecturer in Constitutional Law at Bocconi University (Milan).

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Published

29-11-2018

How to Cite

Palazzo, N. (2018) “Equality in Canada: A tale of non-normative groups struggling with grounds of discrimination”, Oñati Socio-Legal Series, 10(1), pp. 88–122. Available at: https://opo.iisj.net/index.php/osls/article/view/1097 (Accessed: 19 March 2024).