The respondent Ministry of Community and Social Services (MCSS) brought a motion, supported by the co-respondent Children at Risk, to bifurcate the human rights hearing.
MCSS proposed that the Board first determine whether Children at Risk infringed the Human Rights Code by failing to provide services in French, before determining whether MCSS infringed the Code by funding the program.
The Commission and the complainant opposed the motion, arguing it would cause delay.
The Board of Inquiry dismissed the motion, finding that the complex issues of liability, accommodation, and funding could result in overlapping evidence, and that bifurcating the hearing risked delaying the proceedings and losing scheduled hearing dates.
