B.C. moving to ‘push intolerance back down again’
The NDP government is bringing back B.C.’s human rights commission, which was scuttled by the Liberals in 2002 in favour of a complaint-driven tribunal.
Premier John Horgan said B.C. is the only province without a commission that can take proactive steps to address systemic inequalities and prevent discrimination based on race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity.
“We have to ensure that, if we allow intolerance to rear its head, we together have to stand and push it back down again,” Horgan said Friday, speaking two days before the annual Pride parade.
“One critical element to make sure we do that is establishing again in British Columbia, like every other province in the country, a human rights commission.”
Asked whether he thought intolerance was on the rise in B.C., Horgan said incidents have been brought to his attention over the past two years of systemic hate and racism toward ethnic and religious groups. He declined to elaborate.
Attorney General David Eby said the human rights tribunal has done a good job of making sure there is a place where people can have their disputes heard and resolved.
“However, that model relies on people taking the initiative and having the ability to go file a claim and wait the long period of time it takes to have a decision rendered and then to enforce it,” he said.
“We need a commission with the power to do more — to educate about human rights, to prevent discrimination from taking place and to support people in addressing systemic discrimination.”
Eby said he has asked parliamentary secretary Ravi Kahlon to lead a public consultation process that will include both online and face-to-face meetings with B.C. residents, stakeholders and human rights experts.
The consultation process will start in September, with legislation for the creation of the commission expected next year.
Human rights commissions are typically arms-length agencies of the government that promote and enforce human rights and engage in education, policy development, public inquiries, litigation and research.
For example, the Ontario Human Rights Commission published a policy position last March on sexualized dress codes in the workplace that advises both employers and employees of their obligations and rights.
Morgane Oger, a transgender-rights advocate who ran for the provincial NDP in a Vancouver-area riding, said she’s involved in three human rights cases.
Oger said she advises people they’ll spend about $15,000 a day on lawyer’s fees and tribunal hearings can last three to five days. Preventing discrimination before it happens is far less expensive, she said.