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The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC)
and the City of London invite you to join us at:
Taking it local: An update on human rights
London
Thursday, May 11, 2017
8:30 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
London Convention Centre
300 York St, London, ON N6B 1P8
This FREE one-day event features plenary and concurrent sessions
on a variety of human rights topics.
Featured speakers include guests from
the Ontario Human Rights Commission and the City of London.
Breakfast, lunch and light refreshments will be provided.
RSVP
Registration is now closed.
Program
Opening remarks
Morning plenary
Presentation: Identifying and overcoming racism and racial discrimination
Learn about the many ways racial discrimination and racial harassment can harm individuals and communities. This session will also equip you with some critical tools to identify and overcome this type of discrimination.
Morning concurrent sessions: (choose one when you register)
C1: Human rights essentials
This introductory session offers a primer on human rights, including an overview of Ontario’s Human Rights Code, the grounds and social areas the Code covers, forms of discrimination, the duty to accommodate, and how Ontario’s human rights system works.
C2: Updates on disability and the duty to accommodate
Learn about new developments in the law regarding disability accommodation in employment, housing and services (including education). Understand your rights and obligations under the Ontario Human Rights Code; how to design your facilities, policies and procedures inclusively; how to respond appropriately to accommodation requests and how to address complaints related to disability. This session will draw on the OHRC’s newly updated Policy on ableism and discrimination based on disability.
C3: Preventing sexual and gender-based harassment
What is sexual and gender-based harassment? Who is affected? How can employers, housing providers, service providers and others address it when it happens? This session is based on the OHRC’s Policy on preventing sexual and gender-based harassment. It will help you identify sexual and gender-based harassment and provide information on how organizations can prevent and respond to it.
C4: Systemic discrimination
Organizations often have rules or procedures that may not appear to discriminate or intend to discriminate, but that negatively affect or cause barriers for groups who identify with Human Rights Code grounds. Learn about ways to identify and rework these rules including the importance of collecting human rights-based data. Participants should already have a basic knowledge of the Ontario Human Rights Code.
Afternoon concurrent sessions (choose one when you register)
C5: Human rights, gender identity and gender expression
This session features an overview of the OHRC’s Policy on preventing discrimination because of gender identity and gender expression. Learn about the two newest grounds of the Human Rights Code, and what the law requires you to do to accommodate people with diverse gender identities and expressions.
C6: Competing human rights and how to address them
When one right appears to conflict with another, what do we do? In this session, you will learn how to identify when rights are competing, and how to analyze and resolve this conflict. You’ll learn about the OHRC’s Policy on competing human rights, and how to apply its framework to your own scenario. Participants should already have a basic knowledge of the Ontario Human Rights Code.
C7: Preventing discrimination based on creed
Learn about the OHRC’s Policy on preventing discrimination based on creed. Explore examples of creed-based discrimination as well as how to accommodate creed beliefs and practices in employment, housing and service contexts.
C8: Human rights, mental health disabilities and addictions
Learn about the OHRC’s Policy on preventing discrimination based on mental health disabilities and addictions and new report on mental health data. The session will provide information about the human rights of people with mental health disabilities and addictions, and the responsibilities of employers, housing and service providers to protect and promote these rights.
Afternoon plenary
Presentation: Treaty rights are human rights
Learn how treaty rights are human rights and how the relationship between Indigenous peoples and Settler Canadians has implications for all socio-economic indicators. Also hear about actions the OHRC is taking to support Indigenous human rights and reconciliation.