B.C. human rights commissioner seeks clarity on case involving former Chilliwack trustee
CHILLIWACK — B.C.’s human rights commissioner says she is seeking clarity around a human rights tribunal case involving former Chilliwack trustee Barry Neufeld.
According to a news release dated Thursday, July 4, B.C.’s human rights commissioner, Kasari Govender, says her office intervened in a case before the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal (BCHRT) involving allegations of hate speech and discriminatory speech published on the internet. The commissioner is arguing that the BCHRT has jurisdiction over hate and discriminatory speech published online.
The case, British Columbia Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) on behalf of Chilliwack Teachers’ Association v. Neufeld, involves the issue of whether allegations of online hate speech can be adjudicated by the BCHRT, or whether they must be addressed in a federal setting, like a court of law.
The commissioner’s office says she will add to this intervention to offer guidance to the tribunal on the legal test for hate speech, to help distinguish between speech that discriminates against gender-diverse people and speech that, while offensive, does not breach B.C.’s Human Rights Code. This amounts to the commissioner’s first intervention at the BCHRT, adding to the list of cases she has intervened in before the courts.