July 6, 2014 – Reported by The Globe and Mail – It’s not often that a bad piece of policy dreamed up by Ottawa actually ends up endangering lives. But on Friday, the Federal Court found that cuts to refugee health care have accomplished exactly that, targeting vulnerable people in a way so harmful that Justice Anne Mactavish found it constitutes “cruel and unusual treatment.” The judge found that “lives are being put at risk.” The government now has exactly four months to restore refugee health care. It also has the option of appealing to a higher court. We’re not sure we can agree with the judge’s expansive interpretation of the court’s power to set government policy. But nobody can disagree that this government policy was a very bad idea.
via Cruel to take health care away from refugee claimants – The Globe and Mail.