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Human Rights Commissions in Canada: Reform or Reinvention in a Time of Restraint?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2014

David Johnson  and
R. Brian Howe
David Johnson
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University College of Cape Breton
R. Brian Howe
Affiliation:
Department of Political Science, University College of Cape Breton
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Abstract

This paper addresses current tensions and initiatives respecting the manner by which provincial human rights commissions are confronting the pressures of financial restraint. It also focuses attention on theoretical debates respecting the reform or reinvention of governmental bodies. As such agencies are forced to do more with less, we can witness them engaging in an important process of institutional and administrative reconfiguration. This process is significant, touching on matters ranging from case prioritisation, through adjudication, to agency responsibilities regarding public education. The process of change, however, is to be understood more in light of the literature on the reform of government rather than its reinvention. And as all these agencies confront the need to engage in the reform of their services, questions arise regarding the degree to which such reform is subject to public awareness and scrutiny.

Résumé

Cet article traite des difficultés engendrées par les restrictions bugétaires avec lesquelles les commissions provinciales des droits de la personne doivent composer et les solutions qu'elles se proposent d'adopter pour y faire face. On y traite également des débats théoriques sur la réforme ou la réinvention des organismes gouvernementaux. En effet, ces organismes devant répondre à des besoins de plus en plus pressants, et disposant de moins en moins de ressources, on assiste à un processus de reconfiguration institutionnelle et administrative. Ce processus touche un grand nombre d'aspects, de l'établissement de priorité des causes et le traitement de celles-ci au devoir d'éducation du public. Toutefois, cette évolution participe davantage d'une réforme du gouvernement que d'une réinvention. Ces organismes devant faire face à la necessité de réaménager leurs services, la question demeure de savoir dans quelles limites le public doit participer à cette réforme.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Law and Society / La Revue Canadienne Droit et Société , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , Spring/printemps 1997 , pp. 1 - 34
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Law and Society Association 1997

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References

1. Nine provinces possess human rights commissions; British Columbia has a human rights council. Throughout this paper the general plural form that will be used in reference to all such bodies will be “commissions” or “agencies.”

2. See for example Cairns, Alan, “The Embedded State: State-Society Relations in Canada” in Banting, Keith, State and Society: Canada in Comparative Perspective (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1986)Google Scholar; Russell, Peter H., “The Political Purposes of the Charter: Have They Been Fulfilled? An Agnostic's Report Card” in Bryden, Philip, Davis, Steven & Russell, John, eds., Protecting Rights and Freedoms (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1994)Google Scholar; Mandel, Michael, The Charter of Rights and the Legalization of Politics in Canada (Toronto: Wall & Thompson, 1989)Google Scholar; Bogart, W. A., Courts and Country: The Limits of Litigation and the Social and Political Life of Canada (Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1994)Google Scholar.

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6. A significant amount of information for this article was obtained through personal interviews with various senior officials from each provincial human rights agency. All interviewees were guaranteed anonymity. That we focused on provincial commissions was based upon their similarity of mandate and organization, thus allowing for comparison and generalization. The schedule of interviews was as follows: Newfoundland Human Rights Commission, St. John's (1 September 1995); Prince Edward Island Human Rights Commission, Charlottetown (17 August 1995); Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, Halifax (4 August 1995); New Brunswick Human Rights Commission, Fredericton (14 August 1995); Quebec Human Rights Commission, Montreal 30 August 1995); Ontario Human Rights Commission, Toronto 12 June 1995); Manitoba Human Rights Commission, Winnipeg (15 May 1995); Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission, Saskatoon (17 May 1995); Alberta Human Rights Commission, Edmonton (19 May 1995); British Columbia Human Rights Council, Victoria (24 May 1995).

7. Osborne & Gaebler, supra note 4 at 25.

8. Ibid. at 16–20.

9. Borins, supra note 4 at 122–23.

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11. Ibid. at 46–54.

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18. Ibid.

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24. This table has been previously published and analyzed, Ibid. at 251.

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26. Interviews, Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, New Brunswick Human Rights Commission, Ontario Human Rights Commission, Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission, Alberta Human Rights Commission.

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63. Interviews, Newfoundland Human Rights Commission, Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission. See also Newfoundland Human Rights Commission, supra note 38 at 8–11; Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, supra note 47 at 30.

64. Interviews, New Brunswick Human Rights Commission, Ontario Human Rights Commission, Manitoba Human Rights Commission, British Columbia Human Rights Council. See also Ontario Human Rights Commission, supra note 28 at 31; New Brunswick Human Rights Commission, supra note 32 at 19–22; Manitoba Human Rights Commission, supra note 32 at 12–13.

65. Interviews, Alberta Human Rights Commission, Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission, Manitoba Human Rights Commission, New Brunswick Human Rights Commission, Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission.

66. Interview, New Brunswick Human Rights Commission. See also Human Rights in New Brunswick, supra note 47 at 119.

67. Interviews, Quebec Human Rights Commission, Ontario Human Rights Commission, Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission.

68. Interview, New Brunswick Human Rights Commission.

69. Interview, Quebec Human Rights Commission. See also Quebec Human Rights Commission, supra note 37 at 59–65.

70. Interviews, Newfoundland Human Rights Commission, Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, Quebec Human Rights Commission, Ontario Human Rights Commission, Manitoba Human Rights Commission, British Columbia Human Rights Council.

71. Interviews, Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, Quebec Human Rights Commission, Ontario Human Rights Commission, Alberta Human Rights Commission. See also Manitoba Human Rights Commission, supra note 32 at 12; Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, supra note 47 at 34, 41–42; Ontario Human Rights Commission, supra note 28 at 9–11.

72. Interviews, Prince Edward Island Human Rights Commission, New Brunswick Human Rights Commission.

73. Interview, Ontario Human Rights Commission. See also Ontario Human Rights Code Review Task Force, supra note 28 at 27, 47–49.

74. Interviews, British Columbia Human Rights Council, Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission, Manitoba Human Rights Commission, Quebec Human Rights Commission, New Brunswick Human Rights Commission, Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, Prince Edward Island Human Rights Commission. See also Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission, supra note 37 at 14; New Brunswick Human Rights Commission, supra note 32 at 22.

75. Interview, New Brunswick Human Rights Commission.

76. Interviews, Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, Prince Edward Island Human Rights Commission, Manitoba Human Rights Commission, Ontario Human Rights Commission.

77. Interviews, Newfoundland Human Rights Commission, Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, New Brunswick Human Rights Commission, Quebec Human Rights Commission, Ontario Human Rights Commission, Manitoba Human Rights Commission, Alberta Human Rights Commission, British Columbia Human Rights Council.