The Northern Regional Health Appeal – An Opportunity to Clarify the “Essential Character” Test of Disputes involving Human Rights in Unionized Workplaces 21 février 2018 Sandra Gaballa The Northern Regional Health Authority has applied for leave to appeal the decision of the Manitoba Court of Appeal in Northern Regional Health Authority v. Manitoba Human Rights Commission et. al., 2017 MBCA 98 to the Supreme Court of Canada . The Manitoba Human Rights Commission is not opposing the application, instead favouring that the appeal be heard and clarification be sought in the matter of the jurisdiction of human rights tribunals vis-à-vis exclusive arbitral jurisdiction.
One Step Forward, Two Steps Backwards: How the Indian Act may restrict various marginalized groups from accessing justice 17 janvier 2018 Tavlin Kaur A recent case heard by the Supreme Court of Canada, Canadian Human Rights Commission v. Attorney General of Canada, may have significant implications for individuals who rely on federal government benefits. The case involves a challenge to the registration provision of the federal Indian Act.
16th Annual Charter Conference 17 janvier 2018 The 16th Annual Charter of Rights and Freedoms Conference took place on October 2, 2017 at the OBA’s offices in Toronto. This article summarizes the Conference’s four panels, as well as the Year in Review presentation.
Childcare, Summer Jobs, and Religious Discrimination in Canada* 17 janvier 2018 Derek Ross Disqualifying otherwise eligible recipients from a public benefit because of their religious beliefs is unacceptable in a liberal democracy. Yet that is the effect of two recent government initiatives in Canada.
What to Expect When You Are Expecting: Determining the Rights and Remedies Available for Pregnancy-Based Discrimination 13 décembre 2017 Richa Sandill Despite years of law reform, human rights advancements, and progression of women in the workplace, discrimination against pregnant employees and workers is still a reality for many women in Ontario, and Canada.
Gehl v Canada: Circumscribing the Role of Charter Values? 16 novembre 2017 John Wilson and Guy Régimbald In Gehl v Canada (2017), the concurring reasons of Justices Lauwers and Miller include a sustained criticism of the concept and application of Charter values in judicial reasoning. We reply to the concurring judgment’s critique of Charter values.
Naming Appropriate Respondents in Human Rights Applications 15 novembre 2017 Wade Poziomka Over the past few years, a troubling trend has emerged in the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario’s case law relating to the naming and removal of individual respondents. In an effort to counter the inappropriate naming of individual respondents, the Tribunal's jurisprudence now encroaches into the territory of appropriately named individual respondents.
Ontario’s Education Equity Action Plan: The New Requirement for Race-Based Data Collection 02 octobre 2017 Kate Shao On September 7, 2017, the Ministry of Education announced their three-year plan for education equity. The “Education Equity Action Plan” will serve as a roadmap in the province’s effort to identify and eliminate systemic barriers to student success.
Supreme Court of Canada Confirms Termination of Disabled Employee Not a Breach of Human Rights 21 juin 2017 Shivani Chopra and Kathryn Bird In Stewart v. Elk Valley Coal Corp., the Supreme Court of Canada has upheld a decision of the Alberta Human Rights Tribunal (Tribunal) which concluded that an employee who had a cocaine addiction was not dismissed because of that addiction; rather, he was dismissed for breaching his employer’s Alcohol, Illegal Drugs & Medical Policy (Policy). No prima facie discrimination was found and the decision of the Tribunal dismissing the employee’s complaint was therefore reasonable.
Racial Profiling: How Do You Fight a Deeply Ingrained Thought System? 26 mai 2017 Richa Sandill Despite the Ontario Court of Appeal’s guidance in its seminal ruling on racial profiling in R v. Brown fourteen years ago, this continues to be a pervasive and widespread issue. This was highlighted in a recent joint program held by the OBA Criminal Justice and Constitutional, Civil Liberties, and Human Rights Law Sections.