Catherine White Holman Wellness Centre

Transcription

1 Catherine White Holman Wellness Centre Submission to the Parliamentary Secretary for a British Columbia Human Rights Commission Catherine White Holman Wellness Centre Catherine White Holman Wellness Centre # Kingsway, Vancouver BC V5V 3C9 Unceded Coast Salish Territories

2 About us The Catherine White Holman Wellness Centre ( CWHWC ) is a volunteer run health and wellness clinic by and for trans people in Vancouver. At the CWHWC, we aim to provide low-barrier wellness services to transgender and gender nonconforming people in a way that is respectful and celebratory of clients identity and selfexpression. Our centre is volunteer run, and all of our practitioners are volunteering their time, so that we can offer free services to people who need them, regardless of factors like citizenship, health insurance, or residential address. Our services are organized and delivered entirely by a team of dedicated volunteers. We receive no government funding. Our Expertise The CWHWC has a deep and long-term connection with, and commitment to the transgender, two-spirit, non-binary and gender creative community in Vancouver, and across British Columbia. Our clinic runs twice a month and serves thousands of transgender people in the areas of health, wellness, and legal advocacy. In 2015 we partnered with Vancouver Coastal Health Authority on a Law Foundation-funded web tool called transrightsbc.ca, which sought to better educate our community about their legal rights. Our legal team hears routinely from transgender people about how the current human rights regime in British Columbia is letting them down. Mandate and Independence The Commission should be a permanent institution with the mandate of safeguarding the rights of British Columbians through education, advocacy, and representation. The head of the Commission should be an Independent Officer of the Legislature. The Commission should be fully funded to do its important work lest it be unduly constrained by an uncertain budget. Community Centered The Commission should have multiple commissioners who represent the diverse nature of British Columbians who face human rights violations, and who have experience working in human rights in our province. The Commission should have a representative Advisory Council draw from members of equityseeking groups, which should have broad consultative powers to ensure the voices of all groups who are at risk of human rights violations can have a role in crafting the Commission s educational, preventative and compliance roles. 2

3 Public Education and Prevention Without a Commission, public education about British Columbia s human rights regime has atrophied. Many members of our community are unaware of how the Human Rights Code protects them, and as a result their rights are at times meaningless. Similarly, well-meaning employers, landlords and service providers may be unaware of their legal obligations. A Commission would be able to provide necessary education at all levels of school and in the community across British Columbia. Education would include the development of: plain language materials; peer-led information sessions; support for classroom teachers; and opportunities for advanced study. Moreover, the Commission should act as a leading source of research and statistics about human rights in Canada. Such an agency could provide general legal information to employers, landlords, and service providers on their obligation to ensure that every British Columbian is respected by the law; and to individuals and groups about how they are protected by the Code. The Commission should be enabled to conduct mandatory training in industries, workplaces, sectors or agencies where violations are routine. Compliance A Commission should be able to audit employers, landlords and service providers for compliance with the Code and should have the power to investigate, both in response to complaints, but also on its own initiative. The Commission needs to be able to enforce awards, and ensure that they are paid out in a timely manner. Access The Commission should be well equipped to serve the needs of all British Columbians by making its services available in all parts of the province, and by ensuring that services can be accessed by people facing barriers to hearing, vision, mobility and literacy. We also recommend that materials be made available in multiple languages, including but not limited to Indigenous languages, Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, Punjabi, Hindi, Spanish, Korean, Vietnamese, Tagalog, German and Farsi, Urdu, and French. Potential complainants should not be fettered by the current six-month limit on filing complaints, because human rights violations are often traumatic and require healing before people are ready to access Tribunal services. To the fullest extent possible, the initial structures, procedures, mandate, offices, staffing, and independence should be entrenched in legislation. The Commission should control its own process. Lay complainants should be able to understand what steps are involved in the Commission and the Tribunal s process so they know what to expect. Timelines should be published and reliable. 3

4 Advocacy and Representation In order for the trans community to believe the promise of explicit recognition for gender identity and expression in the Human Rights Code, the adjudicative services of the Human Rights Tribunal need to be accessible to our community. Hundreds of transgender people seek legal advice from our clinic to clarify if what they are experiencing in the community counts as a human rights violation. The onus is on already marginalized individuals to navigate the system and to press for redress. English language literacy and computer access are barriers for many in our community. Our clinic, (and others like it) is limited by the capacity of our volunteers to take on human rights advocacy work, which means many potential complainants leave their rights undefended and violations of their rights are not addressed. A fully funded Commission could take on the important role of educating transgender people and the broader community about the scope and application of human rights in BC. A system similar to the Workers Adviser s office in the WCB system should be considered for human rights representation. Alternative Dispute Resolution should be available through the Commission outside of the formal complaint process. Duty counsel should be established to assist potential complainants to understand the law as it applies to their specific case, and should be available to assist in filing initial complaints. Complainants with files accepted by the Tribunal should be able to access ongoing representation for their files. The Commission should also have the capacity and mandate to participate in public interest litigation as an independent party with expertise in human rights law. Recommendations 1. The Commission should be a permanent institution. 2. The head of the Commission should be an Independent Officer of the Legislature. 3. The Commission should be fully funded. 4. The Commission should have multiple commissioners who represent the diverse nature British Columbians who face human rights violations. 5. The Commission should have a representative Advisory Council. 6. A Commission should be able to do education work at all levels of school and in the community. 7. The Commission should act as a leading source of research and statistics about human rights in Canada. 8. The Commission should be enabled to conduct mandatory training. 9. A Commission should be able to audit for compliance. 10. The Commission needs to be able to enforce awards, and ensure that they are paid out in a timely manner. 11. Commission services need to be accessible, and available, in all parts of the province. 12. Potential complainants should not be fettered by the current six-month limit on filing complaints. 13. The Commission s work should be entrenched in legislation. 4

5 14. The Commission should control its own mandate and procedures. 15. The Commission (and the Tribunal s) process should be intelligible. Timelines should be published and reliable. 16. Alternative Dispute Resolution should be available through the Commission outside of the formal complaint process. 17. Duty counsel should be established to assist potential complainants to understand the law as it applies to their specific case, and should be available to assist in filing initial complaints. 18. A Commission should provide ongoing representation for complainants at the Tribunal. 19. The Commission should also have the capacity and mandate to participate in public interest litigation as an independent party with expertise in human rights law. 5

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