Political experts say Tory MP’s bill to prohibit discrimination based on political belief would not have protected anti-vaccine convoy protesters
A Conservative MP’s bill to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act to prohibit discrimination based on political belief and activity would not have protected anti-vaccine mandate protesters who broke the law, legal experts say.
Introduced in 1977, the Canadian Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination based on more than a dozen grounds, including race, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability and marital status. The act applies to the federal government as an employer and in some cases, as a service provider, First Nations and federally regulated companies such as banks and airlines.
University of Windsor law professor Richard Moon said the wording of Genuis’s bill differs from the language used in provincial human rights codes. “I don’t think the inclusion of this bill and the inclusion of this ground of discrimination is going to do the work that Mr. Genuis thinks it is,” said Moon. “And indeed, I don’t think it should do that work.”
Dalhousie University law professor Wayne MacKay said discrimination based on political affiliation is much less prevalent today and is likely less common than characteristics such as socioeconomic status in driving forms of discrimination.