Reflections on ‘Equality, Equity, and Algorithms: Learning from Justice Rosalie Abella’

Abstract

This article responds to Martha Minow’s article ‘Equality, Equity, and Algorithms: Learning from Justice Rosalie Abella,’ from the perspective of a Canadian labour lawyer, equality rights litigator, and quondam academic. The article considers Minow’s concerns about whether algorithmic decisions are justiciable against the backdrop of Abella J’s superb synthesis of Canadian constitutional equality law in Fraser v Canada. It also comments on the extent to which the Supreme Court of Canada’s subsequent decision in R v Sharma has undermined that synthesis.