Sex

Toronto - The Ontario Human Rights Commission today released two revised policies. The Commission's Policy on Drug and Alcohol Testing has been updated to reflect the Ontario Court of Appeal's recent decision in Entrop v. Imperial Oil Ltd., a human rights complaint involving the introduction of a workplace policy requiring employees in safety-sensitive positions to disclose a past or current substance abuse problem. In this case, although the problem had occurred eight years earlier and there had been no further incident of substance abuse, the employee was immediately reassigned to another position. The employee subsequently filed a human rights complaint alleging discrimination because of a handicap.

Toronto - Chief Commissioner Keith Norton announced that a Board of Inquiry decision released yesterday on human rights complaints against the Barrie YMCA makes it clear that facilities such as the YMCA must provide equal services to men and women.

October 1999 - The objective of the Paper is twofold: to promote dialogue on protecting human rights in the insurance industry and to examine alternatives to current practices by obtaining input from experts, regulators and consumers. Access to insurance in our society raises significant issues about distributive justice and fairness in the public sphere, issues that have received scant attention in Canada and in Ontario where rate setting has traditionally been viewed as a private matter.

October 14, 1999 - Insurance practices routinely make distinctions based on, among other things, gender, age, marital status and disability. While many of these distinctions are based on valid business practices, others raise questions and concerns. These concerns relate to the existence of non-discriminatory alternatives to current practices and about respect for human rights.

1999 - FGM is prohibited in Canada. If you have been subjected to FGM or you come from an area or country where FGM is practised, you have the right to be free from discrimination and unfair treatment by your employer, your colleagues and your teachers.

June 1996 - Standards for height and weight are sometimes used to screen or evaluate job applicants. In the OHRC's experience, this tends to occur in recruitment for occupations that traditionally have been male dominated. These standards or selection criteria are based on the average physical stature of men in the majority population group. Women and members of racialized groups are, on the average, physically smaller than members of the majority population group. Consequently, these groups tend to be disadvantaged by height and weight criteria. The policy of the OHRC with regard to such recruitment practices is set out below. This policy applies to all height and weight criteria used in the context of employment.

November 2000 - The OHRC acknowledges that FGM is an internationally recognized violation against women and girls’ human rights. The OHRC has developed this policy to ensure the effective protection and promotion of human rights of women and girls. The purpose of this document is to outline the policy position of the OHRC with respect to the practice of FGM.