Human Rights

We’re on the road – again! Co-op managers: join us for a human rights workshop

September 12th, 2017 by Iler Campbell

On Friday, October 13, 2017, we will host our first IC Education event in Peel Region.  This event for co‑op managers is co‑sponsored by our friends at Peel‑Halton Co‑operative Housing Federation.

If you are grappling with human rights issues at the co‑op you manage, this may be the event for you. We’re going to talk about  how to distinguish a human right from a personal preference and how far the housing provider’s duty to accommodate extends and what the Rouge Valley decision from the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario means for co‑ops.

And we’d love to see you there!  We have a few spaces left. To register, click here. 

B.C. is revamping its human rights system. How can it ensure justice is served?

September 7th, 2017 by Celia Chandler

This article was first published on rabble.ca

In August, the new B.C. government took an important step: it decided to reinstate the B.C. Human Rights Commission, dismantled by the long-governing Liberals 15 years ago. This was not the first time that B.C.’s governments have taken a run at the human rights system. This year’s NDP announcement mirrors its restoration of the Commission in the 1990s after it was previously abolished by the Liberals in the Social Credit Action of 1983.

And good on the NDP for their persistence! Human Rights Commissions across the country play an important public advocacy role. They keep a watchful eye on larger system-wide problems — the myriad ways in which groups of people who are protected under provincial human rights legislation can be discriminated against. In Ontario, the Commission has been responsible for engaging in public consultations and preparing policies that help guide our society towards a fairer, less discriminatory society for people who have faced marginalization historically and still do today.

Continue reading “B.C. is revamping its human rights system. How can it ensure justice is served?”

“Bill 114 – An Act to provide for Anti-Racism Measures” – A Starting Point to Address Systemic Racism in Ontario

May 16th, 2017 by Michael Hackl

Since 1962, the Ontario Human Rights Code has provided individuals who suffered discrimination or harassment because of a number of personal characteristics, including race or religion, with a way to assert their rights to equal treatment in certain sectors, such as housing and employment. Even prior to the passage of the Human Rights Code, there were laws such as the Fair Employment Practices Act, 1951 and the Fair Accommodation Practices Act, 1954, which provided some of the protections that were later incorporated into the Human Rights Code.

Continue reading ““Bill 114 – An Act to provide for Anti-Racism Measures” – A Starting Point to Address Systemic Racism in Ontario”

Proposed class action challenges wait times for support services for adults with developmental disabilities

April 27th, 2017 by Michael Hackl

This article was first published on rabble.ca

Many Ontarians with developmental disabilities face a significant problem when they reach their 18th birthday. Specifically, while they have received services and support from the government during their childhood, upon turning 18 they are treated as adults under the law in Ontario and those services and support are typically discontinued immediately, even though their disabilities still exist, and even though that support is often necessary to meet their most basic human needs.

Continue reading “Proposed class action challenges wait times for support services for adults with developmental disabilities”

Eight days and counting… Join us at our Human Rights for Co-ops event March 4th

February 24th, 2017 by Iler Campbell

On Saturday, March 4, 2017, we will host our first IC Education event in Durham Region.   And we’d love to see you there!    Our housing provider clients regularly inquire about human rights issues – how to distinguish a human right from a personal preference and how far the housing provider’s duty to accommodate extends.   If you’d like to join us for our Human Rights Refresher at Otter Creek Co‑op in Whitby on Saturday, March 4, 2017, please register.  We have a few spaces left.

Human Rights Refresher for Housing Co-ops, Saturday, March 4, 2017 10 a.m. to noon.

February 6th, 2017 by Celia Chandler

Are you on a housing co‑op board that is struggling about how to respond to complaints that second hand smoke is causing a child’s allergies to get worse? Are you a housing co‑op manager concerned that the capital budget is going to take a hit as more members need accessibility retrofits in their units? Are you a bit unclear about what things are covered by the Human Rights Code and what are not?

As a lawyer serving housing co‑ops, I’m asked these kinds of questions all the time. It also seems like there are a few co‑op members out there who want to use the language of human rights to justify the things they’d like to see at the co‑op.

If you’d like to learn a bit more about human rights in housing co‑ops, please join us at a human rights refresher as part of our IC Education series. We heard many of you who don’t like coming to our office in downtown Toronto, so we’re taking this one on the road! Otter Creek Co‑operative Homes has graciously offered to let us use its meeting room at 835 McQuay Boulevard, Unit 30 in Whitby. Sign up early because space is limited.

RSVP here