Discrimination
by Brian Cruikshank

Geraldine Letendre uses a wheelchair, is a member of the Royal Canadian Legion, and enjoys dancing when at the Legion, usually two or three times a week. She also belongs to a wheelchair square dance group.

In 1983 the Legion made a rule which said that people in wheelchairs could not dance at the Legion. They did this because of an incident in which a person in a wheelchair bumped into another person. Because of this policy Ms. Letendre is prevented from dancing at the Legion because she is in a wheelchair. People who do not use wheelchairs can still dance at the legion.

Ms. Letendre said that she was being treated differently because she was in a wheelchair. When a person who is in a wheelchair is treated differently, it may be discrimination.

Ms. Letendre complained that she was being discriminated against because she was not able to enjoy a service that the Legion offered to all its members. The reason for the discrimination was her disability.

British Columbia, like all other provinces, has a Human Rights act which makes it illegal to discriminate against a person with a physical disability. A person cannot be refused a service simply because they have a physical disability. It is discrimination to do so.

Ms. Letendre complained to the B.C. Human Rights Council. The Human Rights Council investigated the complaint. The Council decided that the Legion did discriminate against Ms. Letendre. The Council ordered the Legion stop discriminating and to let Ms. Letendre dance on their dance floor. The Council could also order the Legion to pay her $2,000.

Discrimination

We often hear people talk about being discriminated against, and probably we have thought that we were being discriminated against when someone does something to us that we don't like.

However, the highest court in the country, the Supreme Court of Canada, has recently told Canadians what discrimination means. The court said that whenever someone treats another person differently because of the colour of their skin, the country they come from, their age, their religion, their sex, or their disability, that treatment will be discrimination if the result is harm to that person.

Section 15 of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms applies to all Canadians and makes it illegal to discriminate on the grounds of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, sex, age, or mental or physical disability.

Every province in Canada also has a Human Rights Act that makes it illegal to discriminate. Why do we have two laws that make discrimination illegal? Because Canada has eleven governments, one federal government, and ten provincial governments, different laws will apply to different governments. If an organization or company only operates in one province, then the Human Rights Act of that province will apply to them. If an organization or company operates in more than one province or in all the provinces, then the Charter of Rights and Freedoms will apply to them. That is why it is necessary to have two laws against discrimination in Canada.