From: Annual Report 2010-2011: Looking back, moving forward
A high school student gets a failing grade on her essay because she refused her teacher’s sexual advances. A factory worker repeatedly turns down her foreman’s requests for a date, and suddenly sees her work hours reduced. A single mother gets evicted because she won’t have sex with her landlord.
From: Annual Report 2010-2011: Looking back, moving forward
Since disability was added to the Human Rights Code in 1981, it has become the ground most often cited in human rights complaints in Ontario. The OHRC has done much work in this area, but primarily on physical disability. In the past, there were few official complaints based on mental health, but we knew that they were out there. Now, as mental health issues emerge from the shadows and people feel more empowered to tell their stories, we’ve worked to better understand the discrimination that mental illness creates.
From: Annual Report 2010-2011: Looking back, moving forward
In March 2011, we made a submission on the Proposed Integrated Accessibility Regulation that expressed our serious reservations. This Regulation continues to focus on preventing new barriers going forward in the areas of information and communications, employment and public transportation. Our concern is that the proposed Regulation has no requirements for removing the many existing barriers across the province.
From: Annual Report 2010-2011: Looking back, moving forward
In our society we have different levels of rights – Charter rights, under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, Code rights, from Ontario’s Human Rights Code, statutory rights created by laws and other “perceived rights.” As people better understand their rights and wish to exercise them, some of those rights can come into conflict. For example, the right to be free from discrimination on the ground of religious creed, or sexual orientation or gender can sometimes appear to be at odds with other rights.
From: Annual Report 2010-2011: Looking back, moving forward
After the policy dialogue, we created a draft framework for dealing with competing rights in a respectful way that considered the rights of all involved. We presented this model to a diverse group of stakeholders in an intense two-day session. The framework is now being fine-tuned for the next step – creating a formal policy that offers practical steps for considering the possibility of solutions that will both respect and support everyone’s rights.
From: Annual Report 2010-2011: Looking back, moving forward
Tribunals and courts face a growing need to balance competing rights, in areas such as religion and sexual orientation. One example of this balancing act is Ontario Human Rights Commission v. Christian Horizons, a lengthy and complex case which was appealed to the Ontario Divisional Court.
From: Annual Report 2010-2011: Looking back, moving forward
One of the OHRC’s key roles is to educate people across Ontario about their rights and responsibilities under the Code. The challenge is to use limited resources to meet unlimited requests for education and information. The Internet is a big part of meeting this challenge, and is helping us reach a greater audience than ever before.
From: Annual Report 2010-2011: Looking back, moving forward
In May 2010, the Toronto Police Service, the Toronto Police Services Board and the Ontario Human Rights Commission celebrated a major milestone in their joint project to bring about institutional change to eliminate racism and discrimination – the completion of the three-year Human Rights Project Charter initiative.
From: Annual Report 2010-2011: Looking back, moving forward
Policing is a critical part of communities across Ontario – police officers are woven into our neighbourhoods and our daily lives, and are often the first people we see in times of crisis. A person’s experience with police – positive or negative – can affect them in a lasting, personal way. That’s why adding a human rights perspective to policing is so important.
From: Annual Report 2010-2011: Looking back, moving forward
The OHRC provides tools and approaches that individuals, organizations and sectors across Ontario can use in their own efforts to advance human rights. But the need to understand human rights extends beyond employers and the provincial government. Local governments make decisions on issues ranging from child care to public transit – in fact, they provide many of the direct services in our communities. The rules they set and the services they provide can have a major impact on human rights.
