VZCZCXRO0791
PP RUEHAT RUEHGA RUEHHA RUEHMT RUEHQU RUEHSK RUEHSL RUEHVC
DE RUEHOT #0696/01 2512015
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 082015Z SEP 09 ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY OTTAWA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9820
INFO RUCNCAN/ALL CANADIAN POSTS COLLECTIVE
RUEHZJ/HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 OTTAWA 000696 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR DRL/AWH AND WHA/CAN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV CA
SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSIONS: A LOW PROFILE, AT LEAST 
UNTIL THE OLYMPICS 
 
REF: OTTAWA 695 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: Canada's federal and provincial human 
rights commissions (HRCs) have maintained a lower public 
profile this year than in 2008.  They could, however, face a 
sharp increase in complaints in 2010 due to new Vancouver 
city bylaws enacted for the upcoming Winter Olympic Games. 
The extension of the Canadian Human Rights Act to Canada's 
aboriginal population in June 2011 is also likely to generate 
more cases.  Ontario, British Colombia, and Alberta HRC 
current dockets include complaints against freedoms of speech 
and of religion and the right to privacy in criminal court 
cases.  The Canadian HRC (CHRC) is now accepting complaints 
against the federal government from aboriginals subject to 
the Indian Act.  Ontario and Alberta have established 
independent human rights tribunals as a means of appeal of 
provincial HRC rulings, creating judicial processes for 
plaintiffs and defendants.  End summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU) At the end of August U.S. Embassy Ottawa hosted 
Consulates General Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Halifax 
and WHA/CAN for the Mission Canada reporting officers digital 
video conference in preparation for the 2009 Human Rights 
Report. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
VANCOUVER - OLYMPIC-SIZED LIMITS ON FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION 
--------------------------------------------- ---- 
 
¶3. (SBU) The International Olympic Committee (IOC) requires 
regulations that have the effect of limiting freedom of 
expression at host venues during the Olympics.  These 
regulations are primarily directed at commercial speech to 
protect exclusive advertising rights of sponsors, but they 
also restrict general protests to specific zoned areas.  In 
response to IOC's edict, the Vancouver City Council passed 
bylaws, to be implemented in January 2010, restricting the 
distribution of leaflets and other public speech at the 
sporting venues and also for the first time along major 
routes to the venues and at principal hotels.  City officials 
have not yet announced the location and number of designated 
protest zones but have promised that they will be visible to 
cameras.  Public attention to the new regulations was scant 
until they were passed as the city did not allow significant 
public consultation.  An Olympics watchdog group, The Impact 
on Communities Coalition, has filed a protest with the United 
Nations asking that the UN send human rights observers to the 
Vancouver games to "ensure Canada's high standards aren't 
breached."  While the British Colombia HRC has not received 
any complaints related to the Olympics, the strong activist 
community in Vancouver makes it likely that numerous 
complaints will be filed once the new laws are enacted and 
following the conclusion of the games. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) officials and 
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in British Colombia 
differ widely in their estimates of the potential for an 
increase in trafficking in sex workers during the games (ref 
a).  NGOs claim they are already seeing signs of increased 
sex work based on the rise in ads for personal services.  The 
RCMP, using a far more restrictive definition of a 
"trafficked" person, says the problem is not significant. 
 
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TORONTO 
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¶5. (SBU) The Ontario HRC has taken an opposing stand against 
the Canadian Council of Muslim Women regarding the right of a 
woman to wear a full facial cover or "niqab" when testifying 
against a defendant in a criminal court.  In a pending 
decision, the judge in a sexual assault trial is weighing 
Qdecision, the judge in a sexual assault trial is weighing 
whether the defendant's right to confront his accuser is 
infringed when the accuser covers her face, or if the 
victim's right to religious freedom is abridged by being 
forced to remove the niqab.  The judge has signaled that the 
strength of the victim's beliefs about the niqab as it 
relates to her faith will be a central issue.  In May an 
Ontario Superior Court judge ruled Muslim women have no 
blanket right to wear a veil while testifying in court. 
However, the same judge concluded individual judges should 
decide on an ad hoc basis whether to permit Muslim women to 
testify under veil.  The Ontario HRC argued that the 
defendant's rights are being violated when they cannot 
confront their accusers.  The HRC further noted that the 
Canadian Council of Muslim Women has stated that the niqab is 
not necessary to Islam and that the woman can remove it for 
testimony. 
 
OTTAWA 00000696  002 OF 003 
 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Ontario HRC is also considering complaints of 
violations to the right to privacy in two separate instances 
where prosecutors asked provincial police to do background 
checks on potential criminal trial jurors, which the 
complainants claimed was broader than the standard criminal 
records check.  The HRC is concerned about the possibility of 
discrimination against people with mental health issues as 
police record checks can reveal personal information about an 
individual's mental health record and non-criminal contact 
with police.  Judges have declared three mistrials due to 
improper juror selection based on the broad background checks. 
 
¶7. (SBU) In June 2008, the Ontario government created the 
Ontario Human Rights Tribunal.  The Tribunal now makes 
rulings on complaints while the Ontario HRC can only 
investigate cases.  There has been little public comment on 
the creation of the Tribunal, possibly due to the lack of 
high profile cases to date. 
 
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CALGARY 
------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) In January 2009, the Sheldon Chumir Foundation for 
Ethics in Leadership released a report on the Alberta HRC 
criticizing its lack of leadership and visibility on human 
rights issues.  As a result of the report and other public 
criticism, the Alberta HRC created a separate, publicly 
funded human rights tribunal which automatically hears all 
appeals from the HRC.  The Alberta minister for Culture and 
Community Spirit has taken the lead in reforming the Alberta 
HRC in direct response to the Chumir report.  The Chumir 
Foundation is a private, non-profit organization based in 
Calgary whose directors are influential members of the 
business community. 
 
¶9. (SBU) The Rev. Stephen Boissoin and the Concerned 
Christian Coalition have filed an appeal to the court ruling 
that they must publish an apology for disparaging comments 
about homosexuals.  The Alberta provincial court has set the 
hearing date in September.  At issue is the balance of 
conflicting rights of a protected group against hate speech 
and freedom of the press in the forced publication of an 
apology. 
 
¶10. (SBU) At a new trial in February, a provincial court 
judge acquitted a First Nations leader in Saskatchewan of 
hate speech ruling that he did not willfully intend to incite 
hatred in his remarks.  In July, a Saskatchewan provincial 
court upheld the November 2008 ruling of the Saskatchewan HRC 
sanctioning a provincial marriage commissioner for refusing 
to conduct same-sex marriages.  The commissioner had argued 
that the law violated his Charter right to freedom of 
religion, but the court determined that he was obliged to 
discharge his public responsibilities in accordance with the 
law. 
 
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OTTAWA 
------ 
 
¶11. (SBU) In June 2008, Parliament repealed Section 67 of the 
Canadian Human Rights Act, ending the exclusion of First 
Nations peoples from the protections of the Act.  Effective 
immediately, the CHRC can accept complaints against the 
federal government from aboriginals subject to the Indian Act 
that were previously exempted.  The bill provides for a 
three-year transition period before complaints can be 
received against First Nations authorities.  CHRC told 
poloffs that they do not know how large an increase in 
complaints to expect after June 2011 but that they are hoping 
their efforts to educate First Nations Bands during the 
transition will reduce discriminatory practices now in 
effect.  Sherry Helganson, Director of the National 
Aboriginal Initiative, the CHRC,s branch leading the 
QAboriginal Initiative, the CHRC,s branch leading the 
transition period's programs, said she expects the highest 
number of complaints to be focused on (1) eligibility for 
status as a First Nations person (mostly related to women who 
live off-reserve with non-aboriginal husbands); (2) access to 
educational services for children who live off-reserve, many 
of whom were forced to leave the reserve due to domestic 
violence; and (3) access to health services for those who 
live off-reserve.  As of December 2008, she said the CHRC had 
received approximately 20 complaints in those three areas. 
 
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HALIFAX 
 
OTTAWA 00000696  003 OF 003 
 
 
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¶12. (SBU) HRCs in the Atlantic provinces do not receive a 
high volume of complaints.  The majority of cases deal with 
discrimination in employment or disability issues. 
 
¶13. (SBU) Comment:  Following a spate of high profile cases 
in 2007 and 2008, the provincial HRCs have not been in the 
public or media eye in 2009 to the same extent.  While there 
is no indication of a drop in complaints submitted to the 
HRCs, the creation of separate human rights tribunals in 
Ontario and Alberta suggests that the HRCs and provincial 
governments are seeking to create a more streamlined and 
rigorous approach to rulings.  On the federal level, the CHRC 
is still tentatively feeling its way through the thickets of 
the repeal of Section 67, balancing the historical group 
independence of First Nations bands to monitor their own 
internal affairs with the federal duty to protect each 
individual Canadian's human rights.  End Comment. 
 
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