The following is a list of significant events in Ontario's history on the subject matter.
- March 29, 1961 Ontario Human Rights Commission(OHRC) established under Conservative government led by The Hon. Leslie M. Frost
- 1988-89 Chief Commissioner of the OHRC's, term of office comes to an end amidst allegations that African-Canadians unfairly being denied career opportunities at the OHRC
- 1993 - NDP government established Commission of Inquiry into Systemic Racism in Ontario's Criminal Justice System.
- November 1995 - The Commission's 400 page plus report is easily the most comprehensive and authoritative report on the subject matter in the province's history and perhaps anywhere in the world. However, the recommendations and findings of this important report which clearly outlines the significant and troubling inequities faced by African-Canadian(Blacks) in Ontario's criminal justice system have been shelved by subsequent governments.
- 2003 - Court of Appeal renders decision in R v. Brown 2003 Canli 52142 upholding the acquittal of an African-American motorist whose stop by police was fount to be tainted by a racial animus. The court went on to state: "A racial profiling claim could rarely be proven by direct evidence. This would involve an admission by a police officer that he or she was influenced by racial stereotypes in the exercise of his or her discretion to stop an motorist. Accordingly, if racial profiling is to be proven it must be done by inference drawn from circumstantial evidence".
- 2008 - (Liberal)Government of Ontario overhauls human rights complaint process in Ontario divesting the OHRC of its investigatory powers and prosecutorial carriage of complaints to a complainant driven system where the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario mediates and adjudicates complaints.
- March, 2012 - (Liberal)Government of Ontario appoints high profile human rights lawyer, Mr. Andrew Pinto to review the performance of the new human rights adjudicative process in Ontario.
African-Canadians and other impacted communities did not hold back in voicing their concerns regarding the flaws in the new system as is evidenced in the piece by this writer quoted below.
Excerpts from "African Canadians - Call for Overhaul of "Broken" Human Rights Adjudicative Process (March 17th, 2012 - E.J. Guiste on Law and Justice)
"Margaret Parsons, Executive Director of the African Canadian Legal Clinic, pointed out that race and disability complaints represent the clear majority of complaints to to the Tribunal yet a significant number of these complaints are being summarily dismissed without a hearing on their merits. Ms. Parson pointed to a number of reasons for this unfortunate reality which included the following;
1. Inadequate training and expertise of staff at the HRTO Support Centre with race and disability complaints which lead to "knee jerk" conclusions that complaints have no merit thereby leaving many complainants without legal representation;
2. The Government's decision to dispense with the investigative function formerly carried out by the Ontario Human Rights Commission has resulted in an inordinate number of complaints based on race lacking the evidentiary basis to establish a prima facie case; and
3. The lack of coverage from Legal Aid Ontario for complainants even though many of the complainants can not afford legal representation.
- April, 2015 - Government of Ontario removes African-Canadian Justice of the Peace Errol Massiah from office by Order-in-Council relying on a recommendation by a Hearing Panel of the Justices of the Peace Review Council who found that he "acted in a manner inconsistent with the Human Rights Code" even though management witnesses he called at the hearing testified that he was well-received by the staff and that if a poisoned work environment existed it was not caused by him.
- November 30th, 2017 OHRC launches public interest inquiry into racial profiling and racial discrimination by the Toronto Police Service".
Observations:
1. From 1993 to 2017 the OHRC remained silent on racial profiling and the pervasive and troubling problem of Anti-Black racism plaguing all facets of Ontario's public sectors.
The problem of anti-Black racism in Ontario is so evident and pervasive prompting this writer to write a piece on this blog entitled, "I Have Never Seen An African-Canadian Firefighter in Canada: Impediments to Equality in Recruitment" (March 11th, 2012) The point of the piece being that African-Canadians are shut out of employment and professional opportunities in Ontario on account of their race. The writer being one of two lawyers of African-Canadian descent in the whole history of Ontario to have represented a judicial officer in a judicial misconduct hearing.* The writer being the only lawyer in the entire British Commonwealth and likely beyond to have been reported for discipline for advocating against bias and procedural irregularities in the complaint and adjudication process.(see JPRC - Re A Complaint Against H.W. Massiah 2015 and Decision on Compensation and Addendum - June, 2015)
2. The OHRC inquiry comes 24 years after the ground-breaking comprehensive Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Systemic Racism in Ontario's Criminal Justice System and 14 years after the Court of Appeal for Ontario's ruling in R v. Brown Canli 52142 acknowledging racial profiling as a violation of a defendant's rights under section 9 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
3. Although racial profiling is not restricted to Toronto and the Toronto Police Service the OHRC has elected to restrict its inquiry to the Toronto Police Service.
Commentary:
Ontario can and must do much better. Enough said - action is required now.
*If anyone has information to refute this please bring it to my attention and I will correct this statement.
- March 29, 1961 Ontario Human Rights Commission(OHRC) established under Conservative government led by The Hon. Leslie M. Frost
- 1988-89 Chief Commissioner of the OHRC's, term of office comes to an end amidst allegations that African-Canadians unfairly being denied career opportunities at the OHRC
- 1993 - NDP government established Commission of Inquiry into Systemic Racism in Ontario's Criminal Justice System.
- November 1995 - The Commission's 400 page plus report is easily the most comprehensive and authoritative report on the subject matter in the province's history and perhaps anywhere in the world. However, the recommendations and findings of this important report which clearly outlines the significant and troubling inequities faced by African-Canadian(Blacks) in Ontario's criminal justice system have been shelved by subsequent governments.
- 2003 - Court of Appeal renders decision in R v. Brown 2003 Canli 52142 upholding the acquittal of an African-American motorist whose stop by police was fount to be tainted by a racial animus. The court went on to state: "A racial profiling claim could rarely be proven by direct evidence. This would involve an admission by a police officer that he or she was influenced by racial stereotypes in the exercise of his or her discretion to stop an motorist. Accordingly, if racial profiling is to be proven it must be done by inference drawn from circumstantial evidence".
- 2008 - (Liberal)Government of Ontario overhauls human rights complaint process in Ontario divesting the OHRC of its investigatory powers and prosecutorial carriage of complaints to a complainant driven system where the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario mediates and adjudicates complaints.
- March, 2012 - (Liberal)Government of Ontario appoints high profile human rights lawyer, Mr. Andrew Pinto to review the performance of the new human rights adjudicative process in Ontario.
African-Canadians and other impacted communities did not hold back in voicing their concerns regarding the flaws in the new system as is evidenced in the piece by this writer quoted below.
Excerpts from "African Canadians - Call for Overhaul of "Broken" Human Rights Adjudicative Process (March 17th, 2012 - E.J. Guiste on Law and Justice)
"Margaret Parsons, Executive Director of the African Canadian Legal Clinic, pointed out that race and disability complaints represent the clear majority of complaints to to the Tribunal yet a significant number of these complaints are being summarily dismissed without a hearing on their merits. Ms. Parson pointed to a number of reasons for this unfortunate reality which included the following;
1. Inadequate training and expertise of staff at the HRTO Support Centre with race and disability complaints which lead to "knee jerk" conclusions that complaints have no merit thereby leaving many complainants without legal representation;
2. The Government's decision to dispense with the investigative function formerly carried out by the Ontario Human Rights Commission has resulted in an inordinate number of complaints based on race lacking the evidentiary basis to establish a prima facie case; and
3. The lack of coverage from Legal Aid Ontario for complainants even though many of the complainants can not afford legal representation.
- April, 2015 - Government of Ontario removes African-Canadian Justice of the Peace Errol Massiah from office by Order-in-Council relying on a recommendation by a Hearing Panel of the Justices of the Peace Review Council who found that he "acted in a manner inconsistent with the Human Rights Code" even though management witnesses he called at the hearing testified that he was well-received by the staff and that if a poisoned work environment existed it was not caused by him.
- November 30th, 2017 OHRC launches public interest inquiry into racial profiling and racial discrimination by the Toronto Police Service".
Observations:
1. From 1993 to 2017 the OHRC remained silent on racial profiling and the pervasive and troubling problem of Anti-Black racism plaguing all facets of Ontario's public sectors.
The problem of anti-Black racism in Ontario is so evident and pervasive prompting this writer to write a piece on this blog entitled, "I Have Never Seen An African-Canadian Firefighter in Canada: Impediments to Equality in Recruitment" (March 11th, 2012) The point of the piece being that African-Canadians are shut out of employment and professional opportunities in Ontario on account of their race. The writer being one of two lawyers of African-Canadian descent in the whole history of Ontario to have represented a judicial officer in a judicial misconduct hearing.* The writer being the only lawyer in the entire British Commonwealth and likely beyond to have been reported for discipline for advocating against bias and procedural irregularities in the complaint and adjudication process.(see JPRC - Re A Complaint Against H.W. Massiah 2015 and Decision on Compensation and Addendum - June, 2015)
2. The OHRC inquiry comes 24 years after the ground-breaking comprehensive Report of the Commission of Inquiry into Systemic Racism in Ontario's Criminal Justice System and 14 years after the Court of Appeal for Ontario's ruling in R v. Brown Canli 52142 acknowledging racial profiling as a violation of a defendant's rights under section 9 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
3. Although racial profiling is not restricted to Toronto and the Toronto Police Service the OHRC has elected to restrict its inquiry to the Toronto Police Service.
Commentary:
Ontario can and must do much better. Enough said - action is required now.
*If anyone has information to refute this please bring it to my attention and I will correct this statement.
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