Disability

The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) urgently calls on the government to clarify the status of the Adult Critical Care Clinical Emergency Standard of Care for Major Surge protocol (the Emergency Standard of Care) that was circulated to hospitals in January. The government must also confirm that the Health Care Consent Act prevails to protect the rights of patients and families at this time.

In an opinion editorial published online at National Newswatch on April 4, 2021, Chief Commissioner Ena Chadha discusses how Martin Luther King’s fight against poverty must guide our post-COVID vision.

The OHRC calls on the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) and Metrolinx, as the owner and operator of PRESTO, to make sure that they adopt a human rights-centred approach to their fare system planning and implementation.

On March 12, 2021, the OHRC wrote to Solicitor General Jones to make a submission to the ministry’s review of Regulations under the Police Record Checks Reform Act, 2015 to determine whether any of the prescribed temporary exemptions should continue, be narrowed or removed.

"COVID-19 fears are fanning the flames of racism in Kenora,” an op-ed by Chief Commissioner Ena Chadha, was published on March 1, 2021 on TVO.org.

Letter to the Minister of Health outlining ongoing human rights concerns and the need for public consultation, calling on the Government to publicly release and consult human rights stakeholders including the OHRC on the latest versions of its proposed COVID-19 triage framework and the Emergency Standard of Care.

As Wabaseemoong Independent Nations in Northwestern Ontario fights an outbreak of COVID-19, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) is aware of reports of businesses and organizations in Kenora refusing services to Indigenous people and of social media posts spreading racist comments and misinformation.

On December 10, 2020, Chief Commissioner Ena Chadha wrote to General (Retired) Rick Hillier and the Vaccine Distribution Task Force to stress the important role that human rights principles, considerations and obligations should play in vaccine distribution planning.

While the OHRC is committed to supporting your office’s efforts to decrease poverty in Ontario, we are concerned that the government’s Poverty Reduction Strategy does not take an explicit human rights-based approach to poverty reduction and does not recognize the right to an adequate standard of living.

Letter to Aboriginal Legal Services to support their call to add the fight against racism to the Canada Health Act. Although the Act is federal legislation, the OHRC recognizes the significant impact it has on the delivery of health services in provinces and territories and believes principles respecting human rights should be reflected in the Act, as well as all other federal and provincial legislation.