Click here  for more information:  “Urine or You’re Out” – March 14 audioconference

This is a FREE event.  To register, call the Commission:  1-888-669-5575 (toll free) or 669-5575 (Yellowknife).

Topics include:

• The duty to accommodate employees with disabilities, family obligations, religious beliefs and other needs.
• Workplace harassment:  What it is and how to prevent it.

 This workshop is being offered in three locations:

• Fort Smith – February 28, 2012
• Inuvik – March 12, 2012
• Yellowknife – March 29, 2012

For more information, click here.

The Commission’s 2010-2011 Annual Report was tabled in the Legislative Assembly on December 8, 2011. The report outlines the Commission’s activities and provides statistics on the nature, number, and disposition of complaints during the 2010-2011 fiscal year.

Annual Report 2010-2011

Marking December 3^rd United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the Canadian Association of Statutory Human Rights Agencies (CASHRA) today launched its new brochure, Canada and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.

The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) was set up to “promote, protect and ensure the full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities, and to promote respect for their inherent dignity.” It is about the rights of persons with disabilities and what countries that have ratified the CRPD are expected to do.

The CRPD was developed and passed in record time by the UN with unprecedented involvement and support from persons with disabilities; their motto is “Nothing about us without us!” Canada signed the CRPD in 2007 and ratified it in March 2010.

“The CRPD strengthens legal rights for persons with disabilities in all jurisdictions in Canada”, commented Barbara Hall, Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission and current President of CASHRA. “This requires federal, provincial and territorial governments to develop and carry out policies, laws and measures that will better protect and advance the rights of people with disabilities.”

CRPD rights and obligations involve making sure persons with disabilities:

• Can access their environment, transportation, public facilities and services, information and communications and related technologies without barriers
• Have equal protection without discrimination under the law and have legal capacity to make important life decisions and control their own affairs, with supports if needed
• Are not deprived of their liberty and are free from cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, exploitation and abuse
• Are able to live independently in the community, with supports if necessary including for families with disabilities
• Have equal access to an adequate standard of living, education, health care, work and rehabilitation services
• Can vote, run for elections, hold office and otherwise be involved in political and public life
• Are able to participate in cultural life, recreation, leisure and sport

CASHRA is calling on federal, provincial and territorial governments to begin fulfilling their CRPD obligations by:

• Designating one or more focal points within government, such as an office for disability issues, with responsibilities for implementing the CRPD
• Identifying initiatives and developing priority plans that demonstrate how they will address CRPD rights and obligations
• Making sure independent mechanisms, such as human rights commissions, are in place and have adequate resources to promote, protect and monitor implementation of the CRPD
• Consulting and involving persons with disabilities and their representative organizations to monitor implementation of the CRPD including providing resources to support and accommodate their participation
• Collecting data and other research, promoting awareness and reporting on progress

Canada is required to submit its first CRPD progress report to the UN by April 2012.

Click here  to download the new CASHRA brochure, Canada and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Brochure

Visit CASHRA.ca to learn more about what human rights commissions across Canada are doing to help promote and protect the rights of persons with disabilities.

For more information:

Afroze Edwards
Sr. Communications Officer
Ontario Human Rights Commission
Communications and Issues Management
afroze.edwards@ohrc.on.ca
(416) 314-4528

The Commission invites you to a Lancaster House audio conference on November 2, 2011, from 10:30 am to 12 pm. The topic is “The Key Factors in Assessing Undue Hardship:  Which are important and how important are they?”.

Click here for more information.  Poster

This is a FREE event.  To register call 1-888-669-5575 (toll free) or 669-5575 (Yellowknife).

December 1, 2011

The Commission invites you to a Lancaster House audio conference on December 1, 2011, from 10:30 am to 12 pm. The topic is “Accommodating Learning and Cognitive Disabilities in the Workplace:  Innovative approaches, trailblazing decisions”.

Click here for more information.  Poster

This is a FREE event.  To register call 1-888-669-5575 (toll free) or 669-5575 (Yellowknife).

The NWT Human Rights Commission has been granted intervener status in the matter of Saskatchewan (Human Rights Commission) and Whatcott, which is currently before the Supreme Court of Canada.

The Whatcott case provides the Supreme Court of Canada with the opportunity to give guidance on where the line should be drawn between extreme speech and the right of citizens to express their beliefs freely.

In 2005, the Saskatchewan Human Rights Tribunal found that William Whatcott conveyed messages of hatred against gays and lesbians when he distributed flyers which, among other things, referred to homosexual men as “sodomites” and “pedophiles,” referred to same-sex relationships as “filthy,” and urged people to lobby government to prevent homosexual persons from working as teachers.

The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal overturned the Tribunal’s decision. The Court of Appeal decided that there should be no limits placed on comments about issues of public policy.

The matter is now before the Supreme Court of Canada.   It has been 20 years since the Court last ruled on the appropriate balance between freedom of expression and freedom from discrimination.

The decision of the Court will affect how the NWT Human Rights Act is interpreted.  The NWT Act and the Saskatchewan Human Rights Code have similar provisions which prohibit hate speech.

Commission’s position

The Commission has focused its written submission on the impact of the Court’s decision on Northern Aboriginal people.

The Commission is concerned that the outcome of Whatcott could result in hate speech targeting Aboriginal people receiving lesser protection under human rights legislation.  Almost all aspects of Aboriginal life in Canada could be considered “public policy” because of the deeply connected relationship between Canada’s First Nations and the Government of Canada.  This could result in hate speech targeting Aboriginal people receiving lesser protection under human rights legislation because that speech is deemed to be a “discussion on public policy.”

The Commission also shares the positions taken by other human rights commissions that are intervening in this appeal.

Click here for more information.

This is a FREE event.  To register call 1-888-669-5575 (toll free) or 669-5575 (Yellowknife).