Category: Human Rights Page 26 of 32

Case considered: Beaverbone v. Sacco, 2009 ABQB 529

PDF version: Human Rights, Police and Tenancy: A Troubling Mix?

A recent decision of Justice Joanne Veit of the Court of Queen’s Bench brings to light the potential interrelationship between landlord and tenant legislation, human rights legislation and the powers of the police-both generally and under the new Safer Communities and Neighbourhoods Act S.A., 2007, c. S-0.5 (“SCAN“). Before discussing the disturbing facts of the case, it is useful to discuss the legislation that could apply.

Alberta’s Hate Speech Law Under Challenge

By Jennifer Koshan

On September 21, 2009

In Constitutional, Human Rights

Case considered: Boissoin and the Concerned Christian Coalition Inc. v. Lund, currently before the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench

PDF version: Alberta’s Hate Speech Law Under Challenge

There has been much talk recently of whether hate speech laws are properly included in human rights legislation. When Alberta moved to amend its human rights legislation in 2009, some argued that section 3 of Alberta’s Human Rights, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Act, R.S.A. 2000, c. H-14 (HRCMA), our hate speech law, should be amended or repealed altogether. A 2008 report by Richard Moon recommended that the analogous provision in the Canadian Human Rights Act, R.S.C. 1985, c.H-6 (CHRA), section 13, should be repealed and that the hate speech provisions of the Criminal Code, R.S.C. 1985, c. C-46, should be used instead. Most recently, in Warman v. Lemire, 2009 CHRT 26, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal held that section 13 of the CHRA violated freedom of expression as guaranteed by section 2(b) of the Charter, and could not be justified as a reasonable limit under section 1 of the Charter. The tribunal thus refused to apply section 13 and declined to grant a remedy against the respondent, Lemire, even though his actions met the definition of hate speech. These developments will all be significant in the case of Boissoin and the Concerned Christian Coalition Inc. v. Lund, where the appellant, along with interveners the Canadian Civil Liberties Association and the Canadian Constitution Foundation, are challenging the constitutionality of section 3 of the HRCMA before the Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench.

Post-Kapp Decision May Indicate the Way Discrimination will be Determined in Human Rights Cases

By Linda McKay-Panos

On September 2, 2009

In Constitutional, Human Rights

Case Considered: Van Der Smit v. Alberta (Human Rights and Citizenship Commission), 2009 ABQB 121

PDF Version: Post-Kapp Decision May Indicate the Way Discrimination will be Determined in Human Rights Cases

In the past few years, the application to human rights legislation of precedents established under Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms s. 15(1), which set out how a court is to determine whether a claimant has experienced discrimination, was an issue in many Canadian jurisdictions, including Alberta. The issue became more important, when in R. v. Kapp, 2008 SCC 41, the Supreme Court of Canada appeared to re-state (and perhaps even re-formulate) the test from Law v. Canada, [1999] 1 S.C.R. 497, which had been the precedent courts relied on for several years. There are several posts written by ABlawg contributors about the Kapp decision and those which have followed. See, for example: Jonnette Watson Hamilton and Jennifer Koshan, The End of Law: A New Framework for Analyzing Section 15(1) Charter Challenges.

Age Discrimination in Employment: What will Make the Grade?

By Linda McKay-Panos

On July 24, 2009

In Human Rights

Cases Considered: Brawn v. Profile Seismic Ltd., (June 16, 2009, Diane Colley-Urquhart Panel Chair)

PDF Version: Age Discrimination in Employment: What will Make the Grade?

Diane Colley-Urquhart, sitting as a Panel for the Human Rights and Citizenship Commission (“Commission”), recently dealt with a complaint involving age discrimination in employment. This case illustrates how it can be quite difficult to prove discrimination when you have conflicting witness testimony, and how human rights law does not address unpleasant workplace cultures, when it is not clear that the offensive behaviour is based on a ground covered under human rights legislation.

To Employ or Not to Employ: Is That the Question?

By Linda McKay-Panos

On June 2, 2009

In Human Rights, Labour/Employment

Case considered: Lockerbie & Hole Industrial Inc. v. Alberta (Human Rights and Citizenship Commission), 2009 ABQB 241, overturning Donald Luka v. Lockerbie & Hole Industrial Inc. and Syncrude Canada, Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission, February 15, 2008 (Beth Bryant)

PDF version: To Employ or Not to Employ: Is That the Question?

An appeal of a Human Rights Panel (“Panel”) decision brings to the fore an issue that has arisen in many human rights cases. When there is a complaint of discrimination in the area of employment under s. 7 of the Human Rights, Citizenship and Multiculturalism Act, R.S.A 200, c. H-14 (“HRCMA“), who will be considered an “employer”? This is especially pertinent in the current marketplace in Alberta where workers are often contractors or sub-contractors.