This report also provides detailed background information on tax expenditures, including descriptions, objectives, historical information and references to related federal spending programs. The increase is attributable to spending related to additional authorities received throughout the course of 2019–20 to implement three new mandates in support of the Pay Equity Act, the Accessible Canada Act and the National Housing Strategy Act as well as to modernize the Commission’s case management system. The legislation will ensure that these gaps are addressed so that work done by women is fairly compensated. In 2019–20, the Commission completed its first audit under the new horizontal audit approach that looks at systemic issues in specific employment sector. In March and April, Citizen Lab, a University of Toronto-based technical research group, published two reports alleging that Canadian-made web-filtering technology is being exported to several repressive governments around the world where it is used to censor political speech, news, and dissident websites, and to block searches for keywords related to LGBT identities. In advance of its appearance before the Committee, the Commission brought together a group of diverse disability advocates and groups to assist the Commission in developing its submissions to the UN Committee in the context of Canada’s upcoming review. A proposed law to incorporate the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (Declaration) into Canadian law, which had been passed by the House of Commons, was blocked in the Senate and was not adopted before the previous parliamentary session ended in June. Please allow 5-8 business days for processing. “Raison d’être, mandate and role: who we are and what we do” is available on the Commission’s website. Internal Services refers to the activities and resources of the 10 distinct service categories that support Program delivery in the organization, regardless of the Internal Services delivery model in a department. horizontal initiative (initiative horizontale)An initiative where two or more federal organizations are given funding to pursue a shared outcome, often linked to a government priority. The Commission did this by using its research and policy analysis to inform a number of public statements and speeches. Case Study One: Kfar Adumim – Khan al-Ahmar “Experience the tranquillity of the desert and get a taste of w arm Israeli hospitality.” Each employment equity audit done by the Commission, especially horizontal audits, includes a gender-based lens to capture and better understand the experiences of women across designated groups. Human rights in Canada once again featured prominently on the agenda and in the national conversation. If you require a paper version, please contact the Commission directly. Commissioner of Patents. As a result, the Commission processed priority files 42% faster than non-priority complaints. Here are the ones you need to watch in 2018 . While the overall representation of people with disabilities in the communication sector has improved from 1.7% in 2011 to 3.3% in 2017, it is still well below the availability rate of 9.1%. Finally, the right column (in pink) covers the last responsibility of the Commission which is to audit employers to ensure that they meet their employment equity obligations. Yecenia Armenta, 2015 Write for Rights Case. This first horizontal audit looked at Indigenous employment in the banking and financial sector. The Commission is still testing the feasibility of introducing scorecards to federally regulated employers across Canada on their workplace performance of ensuring equality across all four designated groups. In addition, the Commission participated in consultations, delivered presentations and provided policy advice on various accessibility issues or requirements, including presentations to the Commission’s staff and provincial human rights commissions. 4755/16, 28 February 2019 Judgment | Legal summary F Another impactful case this year was that of A.B … Her landlord viewed the disability as age-related. These are critical to our democracy and the rule of law. The Commission provided submissions in relation to four periodic reviews of Canada by United Nations mechanisms: the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: the Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women; the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; and, the Committee on the Rights of the Child. Human Rights and Extradition. 59 events including training sessions, round table discussions, radio interviews, panel discussions, and conferences. Provincial and territorial human rights agencies that can provide assistance when your rights have been violated. 32,000 people contacted the Commission to complain in 2019–20. Violations of economic, social and cultural rights in Canada are often linked to systemic discrimination. In 2019–20, the Commission implemented a new horizontal audit approach that will allow the Commission to focus on systemic issues in specific employment sector. In 2019–20, the Commission welcomed its official designation as the body responsible for monitoring the Government of Canada’s implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Employers foster a work environment that promotes equality of opportunity for members of the four designated groups, # of employment barriers identified as a result of an audit, Net cost of operations before government funding and transfers. 19,382 The decrease of $386 thousand is mainly attributable to the accrued liabilities and accounts payable impact discussed above. statutory expenditures (dépenses législatives)Expenditures that Parliament has approved through legislation other than appropriation acts. These plans will help employers identify pay gaps between work done by men and work done by women. 2016-17 2019 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor . Canadian HR Law Jun 20, 2019. Merrifield v. Canada (Attorney General), 2019 ONCA 205 IIROC. He is a barrister at One Crown Office Row. They said it breached section 3 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms because it denied them their right to vote, and so was unconstitutional. India has witnessed some major cases of human rights violation which led to a lot of bloodshed due to violent clashes between religious groups, ethnic clans and social groups. Departmental Plans are usually tabled in Parliament each spring. government-wide priorities (priorités pangouvernementales)For the purpose of the 2019–20 Departmental Results Report, those high-level themes outlining the government’s agenda in the 2019 Speech from the Throne, namely: Fighting climate change; Strengthening the Middle Class; Walking the road of reconciliation; Keeping Canadians safe and healthy; and Positioning Canada for success in an uncertain world. The Commission is taking precautionary measures in response to the ongoing COVID-19 situation. Both Mr. Duong and Dr. Frank challenged the rule that prevented them from voting. The decrease of $375 thousand is mainly attributable to annual depreciation offset by the acquisition of additional informatics software for the Case Management Software. From the addition of these new mandates, to the onset of the COVID 19 pandemic, there were many challenges in 2019–20. The following supplementary information tables are available on the Commission’s website: The tax system can be used to achieve public policy objectives through the application of special measures such as low tax rates, exemptions, deductions, deferrals and credits. Organizations have a duty to accommodate sincerely held creed observances to the point of undue hardship, including by pro… 2,437 This consisted of a full evaluation of their employment equity program. Eweida & Chaplin v UK. Internal Services are those groups of related activities and resources that the federal government considers to be services in support of programs and/or required to meet corporate obligations of an organization. In February 2018, Foreign Minister Freeland announced that a government probe “found no conclusive evidence that Canadian-made vehicles were used in human-rights violations.” The government did not publicly release the report on this investigation but announced that, despite the findings, it would amend Canadian arms export legislation to legally require the foreign minister to refuse to issue export permits if there is a substantial risk that equipment could be used to commit human rights violations. By Stuart Rudner . More than 400,000 letters of support from around the world called for justice for Grassy Narrows and contributed to the successful signing of an agreement to build a mercury care home. We wanted to make sure we heard from and collaborated with as many human rights organizations, stakeholders and human rights advocates as we could, both in Canada and abroad. October 11: International Day of the Girl. When we think about employers discriminating against employees due to race, we often think of non-Caucasian employees facing discrimination. PSLREB. The Commission presented the main findings of the audit in a sector-wide report entitled, Horizontal Audit of Indigenous Employment in the Banking and Financial Sector. The United States continued to move backward on human rights at home and abroad in the second year of President Donald Trump’s administration. The appointment of a Federal Housing Advocate will provide communities with a much-needed mechanism to identify systemic housing barriers and seek remedies for responsive housing programs and policy innovation. In the spirit of the driving theme of the CRPD, “nothing about us without us,” the Commission worked to develop a framework for monitoring Canada’s implementation of the CRPD in partnership with disability stakeholders and people with disabilities. The Commission’s second priority issue — improving access to economic, social and cultural rights for vulnerable people in Canada — was also at the centre of much of its engagement and advocacy work in 2019–20. The government announced that it may withhold support, including financial support, from companies that are found to have committed violations. Members of the legal team also provided testimony before the House of Commons and Senate Committees, along with the Chief Commissioner and other senior officials, in order to assist lawmakers in their deliberations of human rights bills and studies, including those related to online hate and changes to solitary confinement. For example, using a new website to communicate with Canadians can be an innovation; systematically testing the new website against existing outreach tools or an old website to see which one leads to more engagement, is experimentation. The Commission’s financial statements (unaudited) for the year ended March 31, 2020, are available on the Commission’s website. Currently he is the head of the rule of law and human rights department at the OSCE Mission to Serbia. 19,235 These new responsibilities are in relation to the Accessible Canada Act, the Pay Equity Act and the National Housing Strategy Act. Each year, the Commission helps thousands of people find the most efficient way to address their human rights concerns or find information about their rights. We pick cases where global activism can make a huge difference, rights now. 2,777 % of recommendations implemented by employers within the negotiated timeframe. 22,159 New human rights protections in Canada - In 2019–20, the Commission welcomed the adoption of several pieces of legislation that have the potential to expand protections in areas of economic and social rights, including pay equity, accessibility and the right to adequate housing. Despite efforts to improve the complaints process noted hereafter, the Commission was only able to achieve an “in/out ratio” of 1 to 0.81. Seventy years on from the UDHR, the futures of trade and human rights are closely intertwined. The decrease of $199 thousand is mainly attributable to a decrease in accrued liabilities and accounts payable as a result of COVID-19's impact on government deadlines and payment policies. For example, the Commission appeared before the House of Commons Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights in the context of its study on online hate to advocate for a comprehensive strategy to address it. The mitigation strategy of clear communication with employers and clear public messaging about the value of the Commission’s new audit model likely contributed to eliminating the risk. 2), no. The COVID 19 pandemic has amplified fundamental inequality issues, particularly in relation to the intersections of the rights to health, housing and life. Loielo v Giles [2020] VSC 722. This included an entire reconstruction of the Commission’s external website to include the three new mandates, along with the development of other various communication products and strategies to support the new programs. The priority was to ensure that the implementation of this legislation includes the participation of people with disabilities and that it places their needs at the forefront. conducted a stakeholder meeting with various experts and groups representing racialized people on what the Commission can do to ensure that human rights complaints filed by racialized complainants remain a viable tool to advance racial equality in Canada. Provide people in Canada with a mechanism to file human rights complaints and remedies to victims of discrimination; reduce instances of systemic discrimination; and represent the public interest in legal cases to advance human rights in Canada. Condensed Statement of Financial Position (unaudited) as of March 31, 2020 (dollars). Just click the link to tweet the text! The committee asked the government to review national legislation to ensure that irregular migrants have access to basic health care. Arthur Graham is a Canadian lawyer who has been delivering governance assistance in the areas of rule of law and human rights, with the UN, OSCE and bilateral agencies, since 1999. Federal Commission of Inquiry. 25 meetings with representatives at different levels of government to discuss pieces of legislation and highlight the most pressing human rights issues. The facts in this case are fairly similar to other harassment cases we see... 2. The Court has jurisdiction over all cases and disputes submitted to it concerning the interpretation and application of the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, (the Charter), the Protocol and any other relevant human rights instrument ratified by the States concerned. Those services, that fall under the protection program of the Commission can facilitate access to justice for people facing discrimination. leveraging stakeholder input to identify changes needed to the Commission’s Complaint Rules and to generate ideas on how to enhance the complaint process; developing operational policies to make the complaint process more inclusive, more accessible, more accommodating, and more respectful for the people the Commission serves; improving the clarity and transparency of communicating Commission decisions by implementing a ‘Record of Decision’ for all complaint decisions, which identifies the name(s) of the decision makers who considered the complaint; and. We enthusiastically welcomed three new progressive federal laws that will contribute to the advancement of human rights in Canada. Under the leadership of the Commission, this council aims to put people first to ensure that every complaint is sent quickly and easily to the appropriate organization. However, a recent British Columbia human rights case shows that discrimination based on race can also happen to Caucasian employees. The report also called on Global Affairs Canada to work with industry and civil society to establish a monitoring mechanism to help prevent Canadian-made goods and services from ending up in the hands of human rights abusers. Canada International complaints. Canadian International Trade Tribunal. One case alleged rape of a minor. 1 The Canadian Transportation Agency; the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission; the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal; the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board; and the Canadian Human Rights Commission. CACT. The tax measures presented in this report are the responsibility of the Minister of Finance. These are critical to our democracy and the rule of law. In May, parliament passed a private member’s bill aimed at ensuring that Canada’s laws are in harmony with the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Recently, extradition has been front and centre in our news cycle (see: CBC, January 22, 2019 “China accuses U.S., Canada of abusing extradition in Huawei case”). Work and service schedules in Ontario have traditionally been structured around a Christian calendar. The International Day of the Girl recognizes girls’ rights and the unique challenges they face around the world such as violence, poverty and sexual harassment. Since assuming office in 2015, the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has made notable efforts to advance E.Ministerial portfolio: JusticeEnabling instrument: Canadian Human Rights Act, Employment Equity Act, Accessible Canada Act and Pay Equity ActYear of incorporation / commencement: 1977. 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