‘Huge victory for human rights’: Amnesty International on Supreme Court’s subsidized daycare ruling

Children's backpacks and shoes are seen at a daycare franchise, in Langley, B.C., on May 29, 2018. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)

Amnesty International is applauding the Supreme Court of Canada’s ruling on Friday that enshrined the right to access subsidized daycare in Quebec for asylum seekers.

Canada’s highest court said the province of Quebec discriminated against female refugee claimants with regulations that denied them access to subsidized daycare spaces for their children, and that the measures risked marginalizing them in society.

• READ MORE: Supreme Court says asylum seekers entitled to subsidized Quebec daycare

Marisa Berry Méndez, a campaigner with Amnesty International Canada, said it marks “a huge victory for human rights.”

“Really, we’re in a moment where refugee and migrant rights in particular have been under attack in Quebec and Canada and beyond,” she said in an interview.

“And this decision upholds the right for refugee claimants to access public services, in particular, child care services without discrimination.”

The Supreme Court case centred around Bijou Cibuabua Kanyinda, who was originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo and entered Quebec as a refugee in October 2018 at Roxham Road with her three young children.

While waiting for her claim to be processed, she obtained a work permit to work in Quebec and then contacted three daycare facilities for her children. She was, however, denied access because the childcare was reserved for those whose refugee status was granted by the federal government — a process that can take years.

Kanyinda challenged the regulations in court and won at the Superior Court and Court of Appeal of Quebec before the Supreme Court also ruled in her favour on Friday.

The court found that Quebec’s changes to its subsidized daycare program “disproportionately impacts women refugee claimants” who make efforts to enter the job market.

“It limits their ability to integrate in the country they seek to make their home. Being prevented from working for up to two years can have immense consequences on the lives of these women,” the decision stated.

“These include the loss of income, inability to pursue French classes and to attend work-related training, as well as social isolation which can lead to feelings of depression and despair. Refugee claimant women are a particularly vulnerable subgroup of women and the harms that this exclusion creates are both economic and social.”

Berry Méndez said giving refugee claimants the same right to subsidized daycare as everyone facilitates their integration into Quebec society.

“It’s a victory around the right to non-discrimination, to not being excluded for being a woman or for being a refugee claimant from this access to services,” she said.

Political reaction to the landmark ruling

The ruling landed in the middle of a CAQ leadership race to replace outgoing premier François Legault, and both candidates in that contest responded swiftly and critically.

Christine Fréchette and Bernard Drainville both said Friday they would consider using the Canadian constitution’s notwithstanding clause to ensure Quebecers have priority access to subsidized daycare.

Drainville called the Supreme Court’s decision “a slap in the face to thousands of Quebecers who have been waiting for a daycare spot for their children, often for years.”

“These same Quebecers who have always paid taxes and don’t even have priority access to services. This is unacceptable. There are 6,000 subsidized daycare spots occupied by the children of asylum seekers,” he wrote on social media.

Fréchette added she would take time to review the decision.

“This situation reminds us of the need to better distribute asylum seekers within Canada. To this end, as premier, I will demand that the federal government implement a mechanism for the equitable distribution of asylum seekers among the various provinces,” she said in a statement.

“It is not normal for Quebec to receive a disproportionate share of asylum seekers. Our capacity must be respected. Quebecers should not have to pay for the laxity of the former Trudeau government.”

Québec solidaire pushed by on the CAQ candidates, saying it is time for politicians to stop “targeting the most vulnerable in order to make petty savings.”

Andrés Fontecilla, the party’s immigration critic, said daycares are an ideal place for newcomers to learn French and integrate into Quebec society, and that they give mothers a chance to compete in the job market.

“Condemning these people who have fled their country to save their lives to poverty shows a cruel lack of humanity,” he said.

With files from CTV News’ Anastasia Dextrene