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In Ontario, where I work, we have just entered stage 2 of re-opening the economy, which includes allowing people to return to workplaces that have thus far been closed. Even if a business was deemed essential, and employees continued to work remotely, now that things are “thawing” we anticipate that more employees will return to the physical workplace.
Last week, my colleague Dana Campbell discussed the difference between racism and racial discrimination, and the ways in which racial discrimination can manifest in the workplace. In the spirit of her article and her quote from Clarence B. Warren – “Everything can be improved” – we review here three human rights cases where anti-black racism occurred in the workplace, what the law told us then, and considerations for how the application of some of these legal principles may evolve going forward.
The rules around investigating incidents of workplace harassment and violence will shift once Bill C-65, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (harassment and violence) comes into force. The date that the Bill will take legal effect has not been confirmed, although it is supposed to be this year.
We are living in a time when racism and racial discrimination are at the fore globally. The world is being awakened to an issue that is by no means new but has not necessarily received sufficient attention. There is now a global call for radical institutional and systemic changes which acknowledge the equality of racialized persons. While the focus is in many cases on the justice system, it is imperative that the systemic changes, if they are to be effective, must permeate to the core of every society at all levels, including the workplace.
Recently the Ontario Court of Appeal released its decision in R. v. Sullivan, a case involving the automatism defence. For those who don’t know, this defence can potentially be raised when an individual enters a state of impaired consciousness in which they are capable of acting but have no voluntary control over those actions¹. Through amendments to the Criminal Code of Canada in the mid-90s, the defence of automatism cannot be used for violent offences when the automatism is brought on by self-induced intoxication.
Le projet de loi C-65 vise à renforcer les dispositions concernant le harcèlement et la violence dans les milieux de travail sous réglementation fédérale, la fonction publique fédérale et les milieux de travail parlementaires. Le projet de loi a reçu la sanction royale en octobre 2018, mais n’est pas encore en vigueur. En avril 2019, le gouvernement a également proposé un nouveau projet de règlement, qui, tout comme le projet de loi, n’est pas encore en vigueur.
I recently watched a video presentation by Kain Ramsay, teacher of applied psychology, on the topic of perceptual variances in the context of cognitive behavioural therapy. He started the presentation with a demonstration. He showed how the number “8” could be interpreted or perceived differently by multiple persons. He demonstrated that the image could be viewed by some as exactly what it is, the number 8. Others may interpret it as the infinity sign; to others it may just look like a pretzel; while to another person, it may be the symbol for DNA.
For federally-regulated employers, Bill C-65, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (harassment and violence) is supposed to come into force sometime this year, although the exact date has not been confirmed. Since the pandemic hit, the federal government has not provided any updates on this.
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