The Privacy Commissioner of Canada and the Chief Commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission are welcoming the coming into force of the Genetic Non-Discrimination Act, as an important step for privacy and human rights in Canada.
Speaking Notes for Marie-Claude Landry, Chief Commissioner, Canadian Human Rights Commission
People with disabilities in Canada are facing overwhelming barriers and challenges within our schools, says Canada’s human rights watchdog in a new study released today. In a report, entitled “Left Out: The treatment of persons with disabilities in Canada’s education system,” the Canadian Human Rights Commission finds that persons with disabilities in Canada are not receiving the quality education they need to later thrive and succeed in the workforce.
“Ensuring that children are given equal opportunities to thrive, regardless of their individual challenges, is the best way of ensuring human rights for all,” says Chief Commissioner Landry in the report’s opening message. “How they are treated today, will determine, in large measure, how they will treat others tomorrow.”
The purpose of the guide is to help Canadians employers understand, first and foremost, that substance dependence is a form of disability protected by the Canadian Human Rights Act. This means that when an employee is dependent on drugs or alcohol, an employer has an obligation to accommodate and support their recovery.
“The Canadian Human Rights Commission commends today’s apology to members of the LGBTQ2 communities. This is long overdue for so many Canadians and for equality rights activists and advocates across our country.”
This weekend, the world will be celebrating the International Human Rights Day. In 1948, after bearing witness to some of the most inhumane tragedies of modern times, the nations of the world reacted in the only way they saw fit — to codify its promise to humanity the core values of equality, justice and human dignity. And so was written the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was not an apology, per se. But it was an acknowledgement of the horrors that had occurred, and a promise that they would never happen again.
In timing with the 40th anniversary of the Canadian Human Rights Act this past July, the Commission set out to create a conference that not only celebrates 40 years of human rights progress in Canada, but that looks ahead to the challenges and opportunities of the next 40 years.
In response to the federal government’s announcement in supporting Bill C-262 that ensures the full implementation of the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Marie-Claude Landry, Chief Commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission, issues the following statement
Forty years ago, on July 14, 1977, Parliament made it illegal for people in Canada to be discriminated against because of who they are, where they come from, and what they believe.