Saskatchewan may abolish Human Rights Tribunal

The Saskatchewan government may scrap its Human Rights Tribunal in favour of having rights cases heard by the courts, the province’s justice minister said yesterday.

Justice Minister Don Morgan said the province could dissolve the tribunal and turn its cases over to the Court of Queen’s Bench — something that has been suggested by David Arnot, chief commissioner of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission.

“This is a recommendation that’s come forward and is a recommendation that, in fact, may have some merit. There are criticisms that the Saskatchewan Human Rights Tribunal may be seen as too close to the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission,” Mr. Morgan said in the legislature.

The commission is the body that receives and investigates human rights complaints and, in some cases, refers a complaint to the tribunal, a separate body that conducts a hearing.

“I think from an optics point of view it would not be a bad idea to have a separation,” Mr. Morgan said.

In Regina yesterday, NDP MLA Frank Quennell questioned whether politics are at play in the Saskatchewan government’s consideration of scrapping its tribunal.

The Court of Queen’s Bench upheld the tribunal hearing on appeal. However, the Saskatchewan government is still asking the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal to rule on the constitutionality of a proposed law that would exempt marriage commissioners from performing same-sex marriages for religious reasons.

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Mr. Arnot said yesterday the commission has been in discussions with the province’s Ministry of Justice about transferring the role of the tribunal to the court as part of a “streamlining” process that he thinks would result in the faster handling of complaints.

He said the change would bring an “enhanced” respect for the system of resolving human-rights issues, although the general process for the parties involved would not change.

Human rights bodies across the country have been accused in recent years of attempting to limit free speech or overstep their authority. The latest controversy involves a case before the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, in which a lesbian claims she was discriminated against by a stand-up comedian.

Other notable cases have included free speech campaigner Ezra Levant, co-founder of the Western Standard magazine. Mr. Levant had a complaint registered against him with the Alberta Human Rights and Citizenship Commission after the Western Standard published cartoons depicting Muhammad. The complaint was withdrawn.

Also, the Canadian Human Rights Commission, British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal and Ontario Human Rights Commission heard complaints by the Canadian Islamic Congress about a column by Mark Steyn in Maclean’s magazine. None of the complaints obtained a ruling against Mr. Steyn or Maclean’s.