Articles 2021

A short piece about LAO funding cuts, noting that budgetary policy may be being implemented in a discriminatory way.

A review of a recent HRTO decision, in which an applicant's forum choice resulted in her inability to proceed at both the Tribunal and in court. The decision underscores the importance of understanding the interplay between civil and administrative proceedings, and demonstrates the need to carefully evaluate the powers of administrative tribunals to limit or dismiss proceedings when developing a litigation strategy.

This article explores the desirability of mediation in human rights cases, the appropriate process and the crucial role of the mediator (including non-HRTO complaints).

Welcome back! The Constitutional, Civil Liberties and Human Rights Section Executive has already been hard at work on a number of initiatives for this year. We welcome our new executive members and look forward to an engaging year of outreach and programming.

Recently, the Court of Appeal for Ontario was asked to determine the constitutionality of mid-election changes to the City of Toronto's municipal ward structure (City of Toronto v Ontario (AG), 2019 ONCA 732, rev'g 2018 ONSC 5151). While the election that sparked the litigation has long passed, the Court of Appeal's decision nonetheless offers insight on constitutional issues of fundamental and continuing importance.

Tahir Khorasanee, section editor and associate at Wakelin & Associates, expresses in poetry what inspires him and so many others to battle injustice and oppression. Human rights and civil liberties are essential to the functioning of a democratic society. Without these, there is no democracy and there is no justice.

On May 29, 2019, the Administrative Law; Constitutional, Civil Liberties & Human Rights Law; and Labour & Employment Law sections joined together for The Annual Update on Human Rights. The first presentation developed into a heated debate regarding changes within the newly reformed Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO). The panelists were Linda Lamoureux, executive chair of Tribunals Ontario, and Jonathan Batty, Human Rights Tribunal.

In the fall of 2018, the Ontario Legislature tabled two bills proposing significant amendments to the Ontario Human Rights Code. If enacted, Bill 35 and Bill 40 would introduce new non-discrimination obligations for provincially regulated employers.

The Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario recently held that a school is not obligated to provide a therapy to a student if it is not necessary for meaningful access to education.

In June, the Supreme Court of Canada reinforced the importance of equitable access to legal education in its highly anticipated decisions Trinity Western University v Law Society of Upper Canada and Law Society of British Columbia v Trinity Western University. These decisions reaffirmed the Court’s role as a defender of LGBTQ+ rights.