Mandarin’s free Canada Day buffet raises questions
Human rights lawyer says offer raises discrimination issues
TORONTO — Canadian citizens are invited to eat for free at an Ontario-based Chinese-Canadian restaurant chain this Canada Day, but legal experts say the offer may come with a side of discrimination.
Brampton-based Mandarin Restaurant is celebrating its 40th anniversary with a free meal for patrons who can prove their Canadian citizenship.
“It seems a case of putting dim sum before dignity,” said Ted Flett, an employment and human rights lawyer with Toronto-based Zubas + Associates. “And I think Mandarin is opening themselves up to quite a bit of liability with this sort of a move.”
Diners with a Canadian passport, birth certificate or citizenship card will receive their buffet meal free of charge on a first-come, first-served basis on July 1 between 12 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., the Mandarin Restaurant Franchise Corp. announced this week. The company operates 29 restaurants in Ontario.
This is the fifth year Mandarin has offered the free buffet linked to citizenship, wrote James Chiu, president and co-founder, in an email.
Chiu did not directly address a question about whether the company has any concerns that the promotion may discriminate against people who are not Canadian citizens, but sent a statement and details on the offer in response.
“This event is one of the ways for us to show our appreciation for Canada,” he said. “Canada welcomed us into the country 40 years ago and has supported us ever since.”
Flett said he’s surprised this promotion has been offered four previous times as it sounds like a benefit to an exclusive group of customers, which appears to violate Section 1 of the Ontario Human Rights Code.
That section protects people from discrimination based on ethnic origin, citizenship and other factors in receiving services.
If Flett or a hypothetical client of his were refused the promotion because they were unable to produce proof of Canadian citizenship, he said he’d seek damages for the value of the offer, as well as damages for injury, hurt feelings and loss of dignity. Flett is not convinced someone would have to be denied the freebie in order to pursue the matter as just communicating such a promotion may be discriminatory.