Supreme Court of Canada upholds Safe Third Country Agreement
CTV
A pact with the United States to control the flow of asylum seekers across the shared border is constitutional, Canada's highest court ruled in a unanimous decision Friday.
A pact with the United States to control the flow of asylum seekers across the shared border is constitutional, Canada's highest court ruled in a unanimous decision Friday.
The Safe Third Country Agreement, which came into effect in 2004, recognizes Canada and the U.S. as safe places for potential refugees to seek protection.
Under the agreement, refugees must seek asylum in the first of the two countries they land in. If their claim is rejected by one then they will not be successful if they try again on the other side of the border.
Opponents of the treaty had asked the top court to declare the legislation underpinning the pact violates Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the right to life, liberty and security of the person, saying the U.S. is not actually safe for many asylum seekers.
They also argued refugees' right to equality under Section 15 of the Charter is violated because of allegations of unequal treatment for women in the U.S. who are fleeing domestic and gender-based violence.
The Supreme Court found the legislative scheme underpinning the pact does not breach Section 7 of the Charter.
"A degree of difference as between the legal schemes applicable in the two countries can be tolerated, so long as the American system is not fundamentally unfair," the judgment read, which aligned with what the federal government had argued before the court.
