The Canadian Human Rights Commission welcomes the appointment of Marie-Josée Houle as Canada’s First Federal Housing Advocate. This is an important step towards meaningful access to human rights justice for people facing housing need and homelessness in Canada.
Today on Human Rights Day, the Law Commission of Ontario, the Ontario Human Rights Commission and the Canadian Human Rights Commission announced a joint research and policy initiative to examine human rights issues in the development, use and governance of artificial intelligence and algorithms in Canada and specifically in Ontario.
Vaccination is the most important public health tool at our disposal to reduce the risk of COVID‑19. It is important that those who can get the vaccine do so – to protect themselves, their colleagues, families, friends and communities.
Today, the Commission was pleased to receive the Follow up Report to the Canadian Human Rights Commission on the Human Rights of the Innu of Labrador. This third report on the Human Rights of the Innu of Labrador builds on two previous reports on the rights of the Innu, issued in 1993 and 2002.
Today, the Chief Commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission and the federal Pay Equity Commissioner welcome the timeline for the coming into force of the Pay Equity Act, which will ensure equal pay for work of equal value. This new law is an important tool in promoting gender equality, closing the gender wage gap and contributing to greater equity and inclusion in Canada.
We stand together in solidarity, grief and pain with the Cowessess First Nation of Saskatchewan over this latest discovery of hundreds upon hundreds of unmarked children’s graves at the former Marieval residential school site. We stand with residential school survivors and their families, Indigenous leaders and the entire Cowessess First Nation.
Over the course of 2020, the global pandemic changed almost every aspect of life in Canada. It has separated us from family, friends and colleagues. But it has also united us in a common challenge and singular focus.
The human rights issues facing First Nations, the Métis Nation, and Inuit are among the most pressing in our country. Implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, including through the adoption of Bill C-15 by Parliament, would represent a vital step towards promoting and protecting Indigenous rights in Canada. It would signal a clear commitment to advancing reconciliation.
Today, on International Human Rights Day, we must reflect on the global pandemic that has impacted our everyday lives and the human rights of people in Canada.
In March of this year, the Commission hosted important roundtable discussions with stakeholders representing racialized communities from across Canada. Our objective was to listen, learn and take action. At the roundtable discussion, stakeholders shared important recommendations for how to improve the Commission's complaint processes and its operations more generally.