Alberta Human Rights Information Service November 8, 2004

In this issue:

Commission news

Notable court decisions from other jurisdictions

Alberta Community Development diversity news

Other human rights and diversity news:

News from other jurisdictions

Reports, publications, and statistics

Related organizations and Websites

Commission News

  1. Commission Annual Review: The Commission has released its 2003-2004 Annual Review. Included in the review are summaries of all human rights panel decisions made in 2003-2004 and related court decisions. The publication also includes Commission complaint statistics as well as descriptions of the results achieved through the Commission's education work and the Commission's complaint resolution and settlement process.

  2. Re-appointment of commissioners: Lori G. Andreachuk and Colonel (Ret'd.) Delano W. Tolley were recently reappointed as members of the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission. Read the biographies of all commissioners.

  3. Commission panel decisions: The Commission has recently updated its Web site with the panel decisions listed below. You can also read summaries of all these decisions.

    • Arlene Collins v. Elizabeth Métis Settlement (September 22, 2004; Delano W. Tolley, Panel Chair) Discrimination - Grounds - Mental and Physical Disability - Area - Employment
    • Sandra McLean v. Market Place Restaurant & Spock's Bar and William Yee (September 16, 2004; Diane Colley-Urquhart, Panel Chair) Discrimination - Grounds - Gender - Sexual harassment - Area - Employment
    • Mary Ann Pachla v. F & K Hotel and Holdings Ltd. (August 17, 2004; William P. Baergen, Panel Chair) Discrimination - Grounds - Physical Disability - Area - Employment
    • Herb Fuernkranz v. Smurfit-MBI (July 26, 2004; Delano W. Tolley, Panel Chair) Discrimination - Grounds - Mental Disability - Area - Employment
    • Jennifer Woo & Gwen Jahelka v. Fort McMurray Catholic Board of Education (July 16, 2004; W.P. Baergen, Panel Chair) Discrimination - Grounds - Gender - Pregnancy - Area - Employment - Damages
    • Margaret Dewart v. Calgary Board of Education (July 15, 2004; William P. Baergen, Panel Chair) Discrimination - Grounds - Mental Disability - Area - Goods and Services Customarily Available to the Public
    • Dennis Weller v. Alberta Human Resources and Employment and Citizen's Appeal Panel (June 9, 2004; Lori G. Andreachuk, Panel Chair) Discrimination - Grounds - Family Status - Area - Goods and Services Customarily Available to the Public
    • Gail Christopher v Chinook's Edge School Division (June 4, 2004; Diane Colley-Urquhart, Panel Chair) Discrimination - Grounds - Physical Disability - Mental Disability - Area - Employment
    • Rubin Bobb v. Alberta Solicitor General, (April 14, 2004; Lori G. Andreachuk, Panel Chair) Discrimination - Grounds - Race, colour, ancestry and place of origin - Area - Employment

PLEASE NOTE: In the following sections of the newsletter, we publish news and information provided by other organizations. We also cite other Web sites related to human rights and diversity. The Commission is not responsible for the content provided by other organizations on their Web sites or by other means. Please direct comments or inquiries regarding these organizations or their Web sites to the organization in question.

Notable court decisions from other jurisdictions

  1. Congrégation des témoins de Jéhovah de St-Jérôme-Lafontaine v. Lafontaine (Village) (Supreme Court of Canada; June 30, 2004)

    A Jehovah's Witnesses congregation sought a parcel of land upon which to construct a place of worship. The municipality refused three applications by the congregation to rezone residential and commercial land and allow construction of the place of worship. While the municipality gave a reason for its first refusal, it gave no reason for the second and third refusals.

    The congregation appealed to the Quebec Supreme Court and then the Court of Appeal. Both appeals were dismissed. On appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, the appeal was allowed. The Supreme Court, in a 5/4 decision, said that the municipality breached its duty of procedural fairness when it failed to provide reasons for its refusal to rezone.

    When a public body makes a discretionary administrative decision that affects individuals' rights, privileges or interests, it owes the applicant a duty to procedural fairness. The court sent the second and third refusals back to the municipality for reconsideration.

  2. Syndicat Northcrest v. Amselem (Supreme Court of Canada; June 30, 2004)

    The appellant condominium unit owners were Orthodox Jews who constructed "succahs," small temporary huts for the nine-day Jewish religious Succot festival, on the balconies of their units. Condominium bylaws prohibited decorations, alterations, and constructions on condominium balconies. The respondent syndicate of co-owners requested the huts be removed.

    The respondent syndicate successfully obtained an injunction from the Quebec Superior Court that prohibited the construction of succahs on the balconies and also permitted their demolition. The Quebec Court of Appeal affirmed the injunction. The Supreme Court of Canada denied the injunction and allowed the appeal in a 5/4 decision, holding that the bylaw breached the right to freedom of religion, as set out in the Quebec and Canadian Charters of Rights and Freedoms. The Court said "a claimant need not show some sort of objective religious obligation, requirement or precept to invoke freedom of religion. It is the religious or spiritual essence of an action, not any mandatory or perceived-as-mandatory nature of its observance, that attracts protection."

Alberta Community Development diversity news

  1. Alberta Community Development Annual Report: Alberta Community Development has released its 2003-2004 Annual Report. The Ministry's annual report includes information about Commission activities. The Commission is an independent agency of the Government of Alberta, which reports through the Ministry of Community Development.

Other human rights and diversity news

News from other jurisdictions

  1. Status of Women Ministers' Meeting 2004: Federal-Provincial-Territorial Ministers Responsible for the Status of Women concluded their 23rd annual meeting on October 1. At the meeting, ministers focused priority attention on violence prevention for aboriginal women. To improve the situation of aboriginal women, ministers agreed to take joint and/or individual government action on access to programs and services; public education and awareness; capacity-building; and policy enhancement, according to their respective priorities and needs. Read the news release.
  2. New Brunswick adds new grounds to Human Rights Act: In June, New Brunswick's 55th Legislature passed an amendment to the New Brunswick Human Rights Act. The proclamation date will be December 31, 2004. The amendment adds social condition and political belief or activity as two new grounds of discrimination under the province's Human Rights Act.

Reports, publications and statistics

  1. Amnesty International Stolen Sisters report: Amnesty International recently released the report Stolen Sisters: A Human Rights Response to Discrimination and Violence Against Indigenous Women in Canada. The report was released as part of a global campaign to stop violence against women. The report tells the stories of indigenous women and girls who have gone missing or been killed in Vancouver, Prince Albert, Saskatoon, Regina and Winnipeg, and draws on wider public information in concluding that this is a serious human rights concern. Read the news release.
  2. Immigration to Alberta statistics: Alberta Learning has published An Overview of Immigration to Alberta, 2003. The publication reports statistics about immigration to Alberta by: city of destination; top ten source countries; immigrant class; gender; age; native language; knowledge of English and French; top ten first languages other than English; and educational attainment.
  3. Integrating Skilled Immigrants into the Alberta Economy: "This report identifies the importance of skilled immigrants to Alberta's economy, provides a strategic framework for action, and reports on recent achievements and next steps to enabling skilled immigrants to contribute their prior learning skills and experience to benefit the Alberta economy."--from the Alberta Learning Web site
  4. Diversity Glossary: Ryerson University's School of Journalism has added the Diversity Glossary to its Diversity Watch Web site. The glossary offers "brief definitions of hundreds of specific terms, places, historical events, holidays, phrases and cultural beliefs unique to a wide range of communities across Canada."--from the Diversity Watch Website
  5. Reflecting Canadians: Best practices for cultural diversity in private television: "The Task Force for Cultural Diversity on Television is pleased to present the. . . Report and accompanying research study, representing the findings and outcome of nearly two years' work examining the reflection and portrayal of cultural diversity on Canadian private television."--from the report's Foreword. Read the report.
  6. Human Development Report 2004: Cultural liberty in today's diverse world: This year's report examines and rejects "claims that cultural differences necessarily lead to social, economic and political conflict or that inherent cultural rights should supersede political and economic ones. Instead, it provides a powerful argument for finding ways to 'delight in our differences,' as Archbishop Desmond Tutu has put it. It also offers some concrete ideas on what it means in practice to build and manage the politics of identity and culture in a manner consistent with the bedrock principles of human development."--from the report's Foreword. Read the report.
  7. Diversity Practices that Work: The American worker speaks: This report by the National Urban League found that while most employees believe that diversity is good for business, fewer than a third believe that their company has an effective diversity initiative. To provide guidance to employers as they seek to attract and retain a diverse mix of employees, the study also outlined some diversity practices the employees deemed most effective. Read the news release and the full report.

Related organizations and Websites

  1. Western and Northern Canadian Protocol (WNCP) Aboriginal Languages and Cultures Web site: This website includes a comprehensive range of aboriginal language resources from curriculum development and teaching guides to the history of how various languages developed. Visit the site at http://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/ab_languages/.
  2. Diversity Gateway: This site is an initiative of Canadian Policy Research Networks (CPRN). It provides accessible data, history, resources and a quick route to CPRN's policy-relevant research and learning on diversity issues. Visit the site at www.cprn.org/en/diversity.cfm.
  3. Diversity Toolkit: This University of Calgary-hosted site is "part of a funded project to assist teachers, students, scholars or any activists who wish to promote equity and the acceptance of differences within schools and communities."--from the Web site. Visit the site at http://www.ucalgary.ca/~dtoolkit/.
  4. Global Business and Economic Roundtable on Addictions and Mental Health: The Roundtable was inspired by the findings of the Harvard School of Public Health in its1996 landmark study Global Burden of Disease in which the growth of psychiatric illness as the leading source of human disability was vividly chronicled. Disability is a huge business issue and once recognized as such, the impact of mental health issues on business performance becomes readily apparent."--from the Web site. Visit this Canadian organization's site at http://www.mentalhealthroundtable.ca/.

 

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