What is the difference between human rights legislation and the law of tort?
Alberta, Canada
The following excerpt is from Walsh v Mobil Oil Canada (Exxmobil Canada Ltd.), 2012 ABQB 527 (CanLII):
While it is true that human rights legislation is “said to be so basic as to be near-constitutional and no way an extension of the law of tort” Canada v. Morgan, [1991] 2 F.C. 401; 1991 CanLII 8221 (FCA), [1991] F.C.J. No. 1105 at para. 19, it is also true that “the goal is exactly the same: make the victim whole for the damage caused”. Thus, as noted in Morgan, the principles developed by the courts to achieve that goal for the assessment and award of compensatory damages in dealing with tort liability are necessarily helpful.
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