Thank you for allowing me this opportunity to speak on behalf of the Ontario Federation of Labour and its affiliates as well as community organizations like the African Canadian Legal Clinic, the Metro Toronto Chinese and Southeast Asian Legal Clinic, and the Canadian Arab Federation, and the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Alliance (AODA).  I understand that the Alliance will make their own presentation to the Standing Committee.

Human rights are fundamental to any democratic society, and the struggle for these rights has been ongoing for generations.  After 1948 when the United Nations issued it’s Declaration of Human Rights, human rights statutes became more established in Canada within both federal and provincial governments.

As part of this process of change and with the ongoing persistent lobbying of community and union activists like Stan Grizzle, Bromley Armstrong, Dan Hill and Alan Borovoy, a series of statutes and policies were enacted to promote recognition of diverse groups and a more inclusive policy. Thus, the creation of the publically-funded Ontario human rights system in 1962 which included the Ontario Human Rights Commission and the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal.  Its mandate was to enforce the Ontario Human Rights Code.

On December 4, 2006, the Ontario Government passed Bill 107, an Act to Amend the Human Rights Code. It was received with mixed reactions by diverse human rights advocates and organizations.  All agreed that the Ontario human rights system required reform, but there was no consensus on the practical implications of the changes proposed under Bill 107.

Supporters of Bill 107 believed the changes would lead to a more efficient human rights system, where complainants would have “direct access” to a Human Rights Tribunal.  In their view, Bill 107 would strengthen and optimize the Human Rights Commission, and not weaken it.
Our group, however, questioned the assumption of “fair access” under the new system, and argued that the changes brought about by Bill 107 would weaken the Ontario human rights system.