Surrey is ground zero in petition drive to put new B.C. Human Rights Commission on election agenda

by Charlie Smith on July 1st, 2016 at 6:46 PM

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With less than a year before the next provincial election, pressure is building on the province to bring back the B.C. Human Rights Commisson.

On Saturday (July 2) in Surrey, Radical Desi magazine cofounder Gurpreet Singh, former acting B.C. Human Rights Commission chief commissioner Harinder Mahil, indigenous activist Kat Norris, and others will gather in Surrey to launch a petition drive.

Mahil will be the keynote speaker at the event, which will run from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Strawberry Hill library branch.

Norris, a residential-school survivor, will be the first signatory, according to Singh.

"B.C. is the only province in Canada that doesn't have a human rights commission," Singh told the Straight by phone. "And Canada claims to be a human rights leader in the world."

(Singh is also a contributor to this website.)

The B.C. Liberal government under then premier Gordon Campbell abolished the B.C. Human Rights Commission in 2002.

Mahil was fired and escorted out of the building at the time. He now works for the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada. According to Singh, Mahil is not using this petition drive to try to get his old job back.

Harinder Mahil will be the keynote speaker at the Strawberry Hill library branch in Surrey.

Their plan is to collect names, addresses, and signatures on hard copies and online through Facebook. Singh said that the group intends to distribute copies of the petition across the province.

Surrey-Newton NDP MLA Harry Bains has pledged to bring the petition before the legislature.

"Everything should be in before December 10, which is International Human Rights Day," Singh noted.

He pointed out that before the last provincial election, the NDP platform was silent on bringing back the human rights commission. Singh said that by launching the petition now, activists hope that this becomes a bigger issue in advance of the 2017 campaign.

The B.C. Human Rights Tribunal adjudicates human rights complaints. When the commission existed, it performed an educational role and assisted complainants in understanding their rights under the B.C. Human Rights Code. The commission also had authority to examine human rights issues affecting large numbers of people.

In 2014, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives and the Poverty and Human Rights Centre released a report calling for the restoration of the B.C. Human Rights Commission.