Archive

In July 2009, the OHRC filed applications at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario against Hamilton, Sudbury and Thunder Bay transit providers, on behalf of transit riders with vision disabilities. We took this action because providers were not meeting their commitment to call out all stops for transit passengers. This meant that for people with visual disabilities, the simple act of taking a bus to work, to school or to meet friends instead became a barrier.

Over the past two years, hundreds of human rights complaints were made that the Special Diet Allowance for people on Ontario Works Assistance or the Ontario Disability Support Program was discriminatory because it excluded some disabilities and allowed not enough money for others. To deal with this large volume of cases, the Tribunal decided to hear three “lead” cases and to apply the lessons learned to the other cases.

The OHRC’s work on racism and racial profiling has been a driving force in its partnership with the Toronto Police Services Board on the Toronto Police Charter Project. The OHRC also intervened at the Tribunal in a complaint by Ron Phipps – a case which raised some tough issues. The Tribunal ruled Phipps had been subjected to racial profiling in 2005 by a Toronto police officer. The officer stopped Phipps when he was delivering mail in an affluent Toronto neighbourhood, checked with a homeowner Phipps spoke to, trailed him and checked his identity with a White letter carrier.

Groups that have experienced historical disadvantage and who are identified by Code grounds are more likely to experience low social and economic status.[75]

Education is essential to the life of an individual and to a community as a whole. The school is one of the first places where children learn to relate and interact, and begin to develop a perception of themselves and of the world outside their homes.

Last fall, students from kindergarten to grade 8 learned how “racism hurts” and what they could do to combat it, thanks to a unique initiative.

In August 2008, the Ontario Divisional Court upheld the finding of discrimination of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario in Lane v. ADGA Group Consultants Inc. After being hired as the most qualified candidate, Mr. Lane, a quality assurance analyst, was fired eight days into the job because he requested accommodation for his mental illness. The Court found that the employer had a dismissive attitude towards Mr. Lane and showed disregard for his bipolar condition. When he lost his job, Mr.

In April 2008, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario released its decision in the case of Connie Heintz v. Christian Horizons. The decision has a significant impact for faith-based and other organizations that provide services to the general public. Such organizations must make sure their hiring policies and practices do not unreasonably restrict or exclude the employment of persons based on grounds under the Ontario Human Rights Code.

Although it is rare for the Commission to intervene in a criminal case, it will do so when human rights issues arise that are of greater public interest. This is why the OHRC applied to intervene at the Superior Court of Ontario, which was hearing the judicial review application of a woman who was ordered to remove her niqab when testifying at a preliminary hearing in a sexual assault case. A niqab is a veil for covering the hair and face except for the eyes that is worn by some Muslim women.

In 2008, the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons created a human rights policy for its members. In doing so, the College applied some of the points raised by the Commission in earlier discussions on its guidelines for starting and ending doctor-patient relationships.

The Commission continues to work with the Toronto Police Service (TPS) and the Toronto Police Services Board (TPSB), to identify human rights issues and develop appropriate initiatives to prevent and eliminate racism and other forms of discrimination. This three-year project, now in its second year, affects both police employment policies and the way police services are delivered to the public. Activity highlights to date include:

The Commission made significant strides in its Ontario-wide campaign to have all transit stops announced. By October 2008, all 38 of Ontario’s public transit providers had made a commitment to announce all stops by the end of 2008. This request for action, which began in October 2007, reflected the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario decision in Lepofsky v. TTC, in which the transit provider was given 30 days to begin announcing all stops on all transit routes.

In April 2009, the OHRC released its final report on the Inquiry into Assaults on Asian Canadian Anglers, entitled Fishing without Fear: Follow-up report on the Inquiry into Assaults on Asian Canadian Anglers. This report highlighted the progress 22 organizations have made in response to reports of harassment and assaults against Asian Canadian anglers.

During the past year, there has been much media coverage of the OHRC’s statement about human rights complaints filed against Maclean’s magazine. Our statement made clear that, although we had no jurisdiction to hear a complaint based on the publication of certain views, we do have a broader role in helping the community assess and discuss the tension and conflict that such writing can cause.

In July 2008, the OHRC released Right at Home: Report on the consultation on human rights and rental housing in Ontario. This report followed a year of public sessions, meetings and submissions involving hundreds of individuals, organizations and landlords across the province. It focuses on housing as a human right, and sets out a framework for collective action to identify, remove and prevent discrimination in rental housing.

In April 2009, the OHRC published an updated Policy on Discrimination Because of Pregnancy and Breastfeeding. The revised Policy reflects recent changes to the human rights system. It includes new legal cases about pregnancy and breastfeeding, more examples of discrimination based on pregnancy and breastfeeding, and more information on preventing discrimination in housing, services, goods and facilities.

In recent settlements with two different Boards, the OHRC was pleased to see an emerging focus on human rights.

The OHRC continued its extensive efforts to educate the public about human rights issues. It based its selection of public events, presentations and speeches to focus on strategic priorities including the new human rights system, housing, law enforcement, mental health and other vulnerable sectors. The OHRC took part in 86 events, including:

To commemorate the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, the OHRC worked with CASHRA, TakingITGlobal and the John Humphrey Centre for Peace and Human Rights to create a new website: www.tigweb.org/themes/udhr60/. This site offers youth an interactive tool to learn about human rights and to talk about human rights issues affecting Canadians.

The OHRC was pleased to host the 2008 conference of the Canadian Association of Statutory Human Rights Agencies (CASHRA) at Niagara College. Under this year’s theme, Collective Strength: Commission to Communities and Back, over 200 people (including representatives from human rights commissions across Canada and community representatives) shared experiences and expertise on a number of key human rights issues ranging from national security and profiling, working with policing services and other public institutions for systemic change, to the accommodation debate.

Since June 30, 2008, the OHRC ended its role of accepting individual human rights complaints. All new human rights complaints – or applications – were filed directly with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. The following numbers chart the OHRC’s work on cases during this transition phase:

 

The international community has long recognized that housing is a fundamental and universal human right that must be protected in law.

Section 30 of the Code authorizes the OHRC to prepare, approve and publish human rights policies to provide guidance on interpreting provisions of the Code.[16] The OHRC’s policies and guidelines set standards for how individuals, employers, service providers and policy-makers should act to ensure compliance with the Code.

1. Status and purpose of the Code