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Wednesday September 30, 1998


CANADIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION SLAMMED BY AUDITOR GENERAL

The Controversial Agency Stands By Its Extremist Agenda

OTTAWA, Sept 30 (LSN) – In a report tabled in parliament yesterday, Canada’s Auditor General Denis Desautels exposed abuses of power by the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) and recommended changes. The report notes that “Parliament established the CHRC and the Human Rights Tribunal Panel to resolve complaints about human rights quickly, impartially and expertly.” However, the report documents the miserable failure of the CHRC to uphold this mandate.

The auditors observed that “The Commission tries to expand the interpretation of the Act through court cases, sometimes in collaboration with complainants’ counsel”. An example given of this abuse was “equality seeking groups” such as “same sex couples.” To combat this and other abuses by the CHRC the Auditor General recommends, among other things, that the government should:

– provide for periodic reviews by Parliament of the relevance and impact of the grounds of discrimination; – clearly separate the Commission’s roles as promoter of human rights, investigator and conciliator of complaints, representative of the public interest and advocate for an expanded interpretation of the Canadian Human Rights Act – provide for greater transparency in appointments to the Commission and Tribunal; – establish statutory deadlines for the receipt and disclosure of information to and by the Commission; – ensure that specific standards are established and followed that safeguard the reliability, impartiality and transparency of the investigation, conciliation and decision-making processes; – require clear, complete and timely disclosure of reasons for decisions;

Most alarming in the report is the fact that, despite the serious charges against the CHRC’s attempts to “expand the interpretation of the Act,” the report says that “We did not examine the Commission’s human rights promotion program because our audit of its complaints management process required more time and resources than anticipated.” Thus the extent of CHRC abuses remains unknown.

The report includes the CHRC’s response to the Auditor General’s criticisms. The Commission claimed to agree with most of the recommendations of the Auditor General, yet it refused to give up its activism to advance its own agenda of expanded “human rights.” The CHRC said, “we should note that the audit does not examine the Commission’s promotion activities. These are an important element in the Commission’s statutory mandate.”

To see the full Auditor’s report on the CHRC go to:
https://www.oag-bvg.gc.ca/domino/reports.nsf/html/9810ce.html…


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