The Equality Provisions of the Charter and Educational Policy: Preparations for Implementation.

Section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, passed by the government in 1982, has been compared in its guarantees of equal rights to the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. These equality provisions were deferred for a 3-year period so that federal, provincial, and territorial governments could inspect their legislation, consider and consult about the effect of the provisions on their governmental policies and practices, and legislate necessary amendments. This paper identifies and discusses provincial considerations of educational policy and practice in the equality provisions in general and of section 15 in particular. Part 1 reviews the legislative history of section 15. Part 2 discusses various mechanisms employed by different governments for reviewing statutory enactments. Part 3 concludes with reports on what amendments were made and what measures were taken by the different governments and private interest organizations in revising, reformulating, and abrogating inequitable and offensive legislative provisions and policies. Evidence shows that the federal and provincial/territorial governments generally have adopted a narrow, limited, technical, and superficial approach to the task of harmonizing their legislation with the equality standards in section 15 of the Charter. Included are 35 footnotes and 1 table. (IW)