February is Black History Month

Black History Month provides an opportunity for us to reflect on the many contributions and accomplishments of Black Canadians since the first reported presence of Mathieu de Costa, a crewman with Samuel de Champlain in the early 1600’s, to Black porters who were the leaders within the Canadian civil rights movement, to present day leaders in the arts, politics, education, sports, science, etc.

To learn more about Black history in the Yukon, join us for the opening of a Black History display at MacBride Museum on Tuesday, February 2 at 7 pm sponsored by Yukon Archives, Yukon Status of Women, Yukon Human Rights Commission and supporters of Hidden Histories projects. Share your stories of Black history in the Yukon and hear about upcoming activities. Appies and refreshments served.

Other Black history displays will be at the Whitehorse Public Library and Mac’s Bookstore on Main Street.

Friday, February 5, 7 pm at the Old Firehall, the Yukon Film society is showing “EMPz 4 LIFE” directed by Allan King, master of the documentary form and pioneer of cinéma-vérité. King turns his attention to the high-risk young men from Toronto’s suburbs, and to the forceful and committed men fighting to safeguard their futures.

For further information on Black history check out the following:
Citizenship and Immigration Canada website at
• www.cic.gc.ca/english/multiculturalism/black/index.asp.
• www.blackhistorycanada.ca – source of online resources.
• Yukon Archives for online Black History display tc.gov.yk.ca/archives/hiddenhistory/index.html

NEWS release

December 10th
International Human Rights Day – Cause for Celebration in Yukon

CHANGES TO YUKON HUMAN RIGHTS ACT AND REGULATIONS

TAKE NOTE (Disclaimer):
Any reference to  the “Unofficial Consolidation” of the Yukon Human Rights Act or Regulations  refers to a document  which incorporates the new 2009 amendments to the Act and Regulations.  When using the legislation for official purposes, individuals should refer to the official original documents of the Acts, Regulations and 2009 amendments.

The Yukon Legislature passed Bill 71 on May 14, 2009 making changes to the Yukon Human Rights Act.  Over the summer and fall, the Department of Justice worked on Regulations to harmonize with the changes in Bill 71 and consulted with the Commission on the draft Regulations. On December 10, 2009 the new Act and amended Regulations (includes French) were brought into effect.

• See the Unofficial Consolidation of the Yukon Human Rights Act | French Version
• See the Unofficial Consolidation of the Yukon Human Rights Regulations | French Version

MAJOR CHANGES INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:

• Time limit for making a human rights complaint has been increased from 6 months to 18 months, and the Commission may extend the time limit in certain cases.
• The person making the complaint must now have reasonable grounds for believing that he/she has experienced discrimination.
• Commission has the ability to refer some complaints directly to a hearing before a Board of Adjudication without an investigation in certain cases. Examples of cases where the Commission may do this are:
• where a speedy resolution is needed because of urgent circumstances; or
• where there is agreement on the facts but not on how the law applies to the facts; or 
• where there are no witnesses to the alleged discrimination other than the complainant and respondent who do not agree on what happened.
• Commission may decide not to investigate a complaint when the person who made the complaint:
• declines a settlement offer  that the Commission considers fair and reasonable; or
• has used or could  first use other processes such as internal grievance or review procedures, which are available within an organization; or
• abandons his/her complaint; or
•  fails to cooperate with the investigation.
• Updated definitions eliminating the term “mental retardation”, replacing “seeing eye dog” with “service animal” and eliminating a discriminatory definition of “sexual orientation”.  The Act will now protect people of all ages from discrimination based on their sexual orientation.

The Yukon Legislature established the Select Committee on Human Rights on April 9, 2008. The all-party Committee held public hearings to receive the views and opinions of Yukon citizens and interested groups on legislative options for amending the Yukon Human Rights Act. The Committee members were Chair Marian Horne (Minister of Justice), and MLA’s Don Inverarity and Steve Cardiff. The Committee presented their report to the Legislative Assembly on November 20th. See “Report of the Select Committee on Human Rights – November 2008” (1225Kb PDF).  This report led to Bill 71, which made changes to the Yukon Human Rights Act and to subsequent changes to the Regulations.

YHRC NEWS – DUTY TO ACCOMMODATE TRAINING

The Yukon Human Rights Commission’s Public Education Specialist, Lillian Nakamura Maguire co-facilitated a workshop on the duty to accommodate with Hilda Andresen, Regional Manager for the Canadian Human Rights Commission on November 17 and 18, 2009. Twenty-four members from various agencies, government, private sector and First Nations organizations attended the session. The workshop was funded through the Law Foundation of Yukon, and materials were developed in collaboration with the Canadian Human Rights Commission. A follow-up session for facilitators is being planned for early spring, and additional workshops will be offered to the public. Workshop materials will be posted on the website in the near future. Contact Lillian at YHRC if you are interested in future sessions.

Photos of participants engaged in discussions and exercises in the Duty to Accommodate Workshop held in Whitehorse in November 2009.