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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 November 2009
Insurance classifications that rely on demographic information are often accused of being discriminatory. There is a strong movement, based on human rights legislation as well as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, to abolish them. However, analysis shows that the common criticisms of these classifications are self-contradictory and also apply in large measure to the behavioural criteria most commonly proposed as substitutes. Whether current practices are “reasonable” in the sense of the Charter will be an important question for determining the scope of the “equality rights” of section 15 of the Charter.
On reproche souvent aux classifications d'assurance fondées sur des renseignements é caractère démographique d'être discriminatoires, et on assiste à l'amplification du mouvement en faveur de leur abolition, alors qu'on invoque la législation relative aux droits de la personne et la Charte canadienne des droits et libertés. Toutefois, à l'analyse, de telles critiques sont souvent contradictoires puisque'elles peuvent s'appliquer tout aussi bien, dans une large mesure, aux critères de comportement que l'on propose le plus fréquemment en remplacement. Un facteur important pour définir l'étendue des « droits à l'égalité » énoncés à l'article 15 sera de déterminer si la pratique courante est « raisonnable » selon la Charte.
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