Human Rights Is Big Bucks #9

CBC: A payday loan company has been ordered to pay one of its former employees $30,000 for failing to take her complaints about sexual harassment seriously.

The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal issued the ruling last week, saying Money Mart refused to properly investigate complaints about a manager at one of its Toronto stores.

The claim was filed by Marjorie Harriott, a Toronto woman who worked as a customer service representative at a Toronto Money Mart store from April 2007 until she was fired in June 2008.

Harriott told the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal she was sexually harassed by her manager while she worked at a Money Mart store on Danforth Avenue, in the city’s east end.

Huh. Wearing Short Sleeve Shirts Isn’t a Human Right for Dudes

CP: The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal says men do not have the right to bare arms in a Kamloops, B.C., nightclub.

The tribunal has ruled in favour of Blue Grotto owners Teri, Kathy and Kevin Willey, in their battle to keep gang influences out of their club.

Chase, B.C., resident Dorian Payne complained after he was forced to pull a sleeved shirt over his tank top while visiting the Blue Grotto with his sister and father.

He argued he was the victim of sex discrimination because women at the club are permitted to wear sleeveless shirts.

Workers Comp Bigots to Face the Power of a Fully Operational Human Rights Tribunal

CP: The B.C. Court of Appeal has ruled the province’s Human Rights Tribunal has the power to hear complaints that the chronic pain policy of the Workers Compensation Board is discriminatory.

Three people who suffer from chronic pain as a result of work-related injuries had challenged the board’s policy that makes chronic pain awards a fixed percentage of total disability awards.

Keep the “Other Reasons” Coming

YourHome.ca: The B.C. Human Rights Code makes it illegal to deny accommodation to a person because of his or her physical disability (among other reasons) without “a bona fide and reasonable justification.” The Ontario code has a similar prohibition, stating that every person has a right to equal treatment with respect to the occupancy of accommodation without discrimination by reason of disability (and other reasons).

As with other provincial Human Rights Codes, the B.C. code prevails in the event of a conflict with any other legislation – including the B.C. Strata Property Act.

From The “How Many Police Forces Does It Take To Investigate One Blogging Weirdo?” File

National Post – Police are probing Salman Hossain’s recent postings on the Arizona-based Internet site…

Abbee Corb of the Hate Crimes Extremism Investigative Team, which is made up of representatives of 13 Ontario municipal police forces, confirmed yesterday that an investigation was underway.

“We are, as a team, collectively looking at this individual. As far as what investigations we have underway, of course that information I can’t release because that could compromise any investigations that are ongoing.

“However, you can rest assured that the hate crimes extremism investigative team – again 13 police services – is looking into him and investigating him as we speak.”

vs.

Vancouverite: Tyrell Duffus is the seventh Toronto murder victim of 2010…

There is no description of the suspect.

Human Rights Is Big Bucks #8

National Post – And indeed, why bother? The number of cases that end like Mr. Fulton’s, with the accused walking away free from conviction or having to pay out a sizable amount of money, are very few indeed. Many cases settle at the mediation stage, when the nature of the shakedown process is first revealed. Targets are told, in essence, “You can settle for $25,000 now or pay $200,000 in legal fees later. Take your pick.” Most pick settlement…

I phoned the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario to ask why they had not adopted rules on costs. The spokesperson told me that any changes to the rules would require public consultation, and they had no public consultation scheduled. Just one feeble excuse after another. Meanwhile, the shakedowns continue.

“You Want What? A Rent Cheque? Screw You, Bigot.”

CNW – The Ontario Human Rights Commission, the City of Toronto, the Federation of Rental-Housing Providers of Ontario, the Greater Toronto Apartment Association and the Human Rights Legal Support Centre have joined forces to promote housing as a human right. The partners are encouraging Toronto tenants and landlords to learn more about these rights by today launching a poster that will appear in 120 transit shelters across Toronto during the month of March.

Nothing Like Staying Focussed

Toronto Sun – The federal government must seize the opportunity presented by being in the global spotlight this year to tackle domestic human rights issues, says Amnesty International Canada.

In a document released Monday, the group lauded the government’s plan to focus on maternal and child health during the upcoming G8 summit in June but cautioned there are still pressing concerns, including First Nations and Canada’s relationship with the Middle East.

Human Rights Is Big Bucks #7

Ottawa Citizen – Jeremy Dias is only 26, but he’s long been the poster boy for anti-bullying in Canada. At 17, while attending high school in Sault Ste. Marie, he began a legal case against his school and the Algoma District School Board because of the discrimination he received after coming out and for trying to make his school “queer-friendly.”…

Prompted by friends and family, Dias filed a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission in 2002. The case was eventually settled by Dias, the school board and the Human Rights Commission with the school board paying him $5,000 and offering programming to address homophobia in the board….

In the last five years, Jer’s Vision has grown into an organization with more than 800 volunteers, forming one of the country’s largest anti-bullying organizations. His vision, now a national charity, includes more than 40 programs and youth committees. This year, they received more than $75,000 in donations from corporations and government grants.

Pulling Out The Big Guns

Toronto Star - Tad Klupsas is legally blind and doesn’t drive.

He likes to shop on the Internet.

But he was frustrated by a recent purchase at Future Shop’s website. His order wasn’t processed correctly and he was unable to use any refund options he was given…

“Your refusal to provide alternate contacts is a violation of the Canadian and Ontario human rights codes,” he said in an email, adding that he was a long-time customer of Future Shop and hoped to remain one.

Luckily, he has strong glasses that allow him to read the Toronto Star. He wrote to me a week later, since his problem was still not resolved.

Chow Down

Toronto Star – Tens of thousands of people on welfare who receive a special diet allowance to help them manage medical conditions may see more money from Queen’s Park as a result of a recent Ontario Human Rights Tribunal ruling…

As a result of the decision, the tribunal ordered the province to increase the allowance for the lead complainants retroactive to the date they first became eligible. And it gave the government three months to boost benefits for anyone receiving the special diet allowance with the same medical conditions…

“After my heart attack in 2003, I found out I wasn’t putting the right food in my diet. And then I discovered I didn’t have enough money to buy those foods,” she said.

From the “No Shit, Sherlock” File

Queen’s Journal – Queen’s English professor Scott-Morgan Straker said he thinks the term “Israeli apartheid” was deliberately designed to be contentious.

Great Show. Now Pony Up The Loot, Bigots.

The First Perspective – With a logo based on the Inukshuk, mascots inspired by indigenous myth, and an opening ceremony laden with aboriginal culture, Canada proudly showcased the heritage of First Nations in the winter Olympics to the world. What it didn’t showcase are the appalling social and economic conditions of reserve communities across the country…Hopefully, these initiatives will begin to hold the government to account for its discriminatory underfunding of First Nations.

Sounds Like a Blast

Montreal Gazette – Montreal Human Rights Film Festival. Of all our festivals, this keeps us most honest. The fifth edition is entitled Don’t Look Away, which is, of course, what we are tempted to do when faced with injustice and inhumanity in the world.

Not Done Yet

Barrie Examiner – March 8 is International Women’s Day, a day not only synonymous with women’s equality but one of recognition and celebration of women throughout the world.

What began in 1909 as a statement of protest about the working conditions of women in New York City has turned into a global campaign highlighting women’s achievements and the barriers that they continue to face.

Anthem Issue a Smokescreen To Hide the Big Bigotry

Letter to the Editor, Ottawa Citizen – Don’t be fooled by this gimmick by the prime minister and his MPs about making national anthem gender-neutral. It is nothing more than a distraction to take Canadians’ focus away from the lack of real measures in the budget to improve women’s rights, their protection and their well being.

Jonas: Freedom’s Panhandlers

George Jonas, National Post - In Saskatchewan, a human rights law, so called, makes it an offence for anyone to say, sing, dance, mime, write or draw anything that exposes, or tends to expose, other people to hatred or ridicule, or belittles or otherwise affronts their dignity, on the basis of certain prohibited grounds, including sexual orientation.

All right — I mean, it’s not all right, it’s anything but all right, but it’s the law.

Sun Writer Mansuir: Resist Temptation

Salim Mansuir – In several of my recent columns published in this paper, I have contended that Geert Wilders, the Dutch MP on trial for hate speech in Amsterdam’s Court of Appeal, has the right to express freely — irrespective of whether I, or Muslims in general, find his views offensive — what he thinks about Muslims, Islam and the Qur’an.

The trial of Wilders in Holland indicates how persistent the temptation is within a liberal society to resort to illiberal means in dealing with situations that might cause some public unease. Complaints against Ezra Levant, Mark Steyn and Maclean’s magazine before various human rights commissions in Canada are other examples.

UN To Fat Cat Canada: Be Nicer to Women, Bigots

Tri-City News – For the government of Canada, this year’s theme will have an unpleasant sting. Our federal government has received a humiliating reprimand by several UN human rights bodies for its handling of the issues of women’s poverty and endemic violence against Aboriginal women and girls. In his official 2006 report, National Council of Welfare chairperson John Murphy called Canada’s welfare rates for women “shameful and morally unsustainable in a rich country.”

Paging Nathaniel Hawthorne

Calgary Herald – If the Mohawk community of Kahnawake wanted a way to end up on the six o’clock news, attempts to evict 26 non-natives from their reserve was the perfect way to do it. As most readers now know, those not meeting the Kahnawake reserve’s community membership code — many are involved in romantic relationships with Mohawks and some are longtime caregivers for resident members — were given 10 days to leave last month.

As of today, only 12 of the 26 have responded. Now the band council says they will post the names of those who have not left if they fail to meet this deadline.

Thanks For The Marriage Stuff, Now Where’s The Ad Copy?

ChronicleHerald – The dominant mood among LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) activists in Canada right now is a complete and utter lack of surprise.

We’ve read the reports that Immigration Minister Jason Kenney edited out references to LGBT equality from Canada’s guide for new immigrants. Staff had argued that newcomers need to understand homosexuality is not a crime here and same-sex couples can marry. These features of the Canadian legal system are well understood by Canadians — even those who aren’t entirely comfortable with them. But they constitute a big difference between Canada and the country of origin for many immigrants. We’re leading the world in recognizing LGBT equality, and new Canadians need to know it if they’re going to understand their new home.

Corbella: The Good Old Days

Calgary Herald – Coincidentally, on Friday as I started to write this, copy editor Ray Djuff came into my office and handed me a little poster he keeps near his desk made up of a portion of the Canadian Bill of Rights, July 1, 1960, by former prime minister John Diefenbaker. This is what Dief The Chief wrote: “I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.”

Give Us Your Money – But Stay At Arm’s Length

Toronto Star – An international human rights group is blasting “political interference” in Montreal’s Rights and Democracy, saying the agency’s bitter battles are hurting Canada’s international credibility.

In a sharply worded letter, the International Federation for Human Rights points the finger at Stephen Harper’s Conservatives for fuelling a “crisis” it says is undermining the work and reputation of the arm’s-length, government-funded institution.