Over the past week, many cities in the United States have taken to mass protests over systemic racism and discrimination. Sparked by the death of George Floyd, cities outside the US have also engaged in protests, including Toronto. The current events serve as another constant reminder that Ontario and Canada also have issues regarding systemic racial prejudices. Even Prime Minister Trudeau took 21 seconds to answer a question regarding Trump’s response to the protests, stating that it was “time for us Canadians to recognize that we too have our challenges, that Black Canadians, Racialized Canadians, face discrimination as a lived reality every single day, there is systemic discrimination in Canada.”
Ontario Human Rights Tribunal Not Enough
While Ontario has the Human Rights Code that prohibits discrimination in employment, housing, services, unions and vocational associations, and contracts, the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal that enforces the Code has failed to deliver.
There are several problems, including insufficient appointments of adjudicators to mediate and hear disputes at the Tribunal. Because of insufficient resources, parties before the Tribunal are waiting longer and longer for a mediation or hearing date. Prolonged delays in resolving disputes are not conducive to justice.
The Tribunal can also only do so much. While the Tribunal may be equipped to deal with overt acts of discrimination, systemic discrimination is much harder to tackle. In November 2018, the Ontario Human Rights Commission released A Collective Impact: Interim report on the inquiry into racial profiling and racial discrimination of Black persons by the Toronto Police Service. This investigation found that between 2013 and 2017, a Black person in Toronto was nearly 20 times more likely than a White person to be involved in a fatal shooting by the Toronto Police Service (TPS) even though Black people made up only 8.8% of Toronto’s population. It is clear that the protests against police in the US are also relevant to Toronto and Canada at large.
Systemic discrimination in police services are only just one small piece of the larger system. It is likely that similar patterns of discrimination occur in other areas of Canadian life, including employment, housing, services, contracts, education, and more.
While there may not be an easy answer to resolve systemic discrimination, it is important to constantly recognize these issues and seek solutions.
As an employment lawyer who works with employees and employers, I encourage all parties to promote inclusive workplaces.
Jason Wong is a Toronto Employment Lawyer practicing exclusively employment, labour, and human rights law. Jason supports the peaceful protests against systemic discrimination.