As explained earlier in this report, the Commission focused its attention primarily on its protection role over the past year, and undertook a series of projects aimed at improving the way it handles complaints. To do this, the Commission had to reallocate its already limited resources, and reduce its efforts in other program areas.

Despite these constraints, however, the Commission carried out promotion work in three priority areas: delivering key messages to targeted audiences, conducting training sessions for federally regulated public- and private-sector employers, and maintaining human rights networks and partnerships. On the international scene, the Commission also continued to offer its experience and expertise, albeit in a limited way, to countries seeking to establish or improve their own human rights institutions.

Delivering Key Messages

Since its inception, the Commission has provided information and education programs on human rights, and made itself available to employers, service providers, and community groups wishing to learn more about the Canadian Human Rights Act. Every year the Commission receives numerous invitations to speak about issues related to discrimination and employment equity, and 1999 was no exception.

Chief Commissioner Michelle Falardeau-Ramsay keeps to a busy schedule of speaking engagements. In 1999, she delivered more than 25 speeches, and met with a number of community and advocacy groups. A few examples of her work follow.

Early in the year, the Chief Commissioner marked International Women's Day with a speech at the only remaining veterans' hospital in Canada, the Hôpital Sainte-Anne in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec. Since 1999 was the International Year of Older Persons, she spoke about the effects of an aging population on women of the "sandwich generation," increasingly faced with the dual responsibility of caring for their aging parents and raising their own children. She spoke further on women's issues in Calgary, where she commemorated the work of the Famous Five and the Persons Case in a speech touching on gender equality and the law.

In the summer, the Chief Commissioner was invited for the second time to address the graduating class of officers at the Canadian Forces College. In what has become a permanent part of the College's curriculum, she spoke about human rights issues in general and the integration of women into the Forces in particular. Later in the year, she was invited by the Forces to discuss a related issue, the prevention of harassment in the workplace.

In the fall, the Chief Commissioner spoke at the 1999 Industrial Relations Conference on human rights in the workplace. Her remarks focused on employment equity, pay equity, sexual harassment, and accommodation. Also in the fall, the Chief Commissioner received an award from the Canadian Association for Community Living, in recognition of her leadership in promoting and defending the rights of people with disabilities.

Maintaining close relations with human rights stakeholders across the country is a priority of the Chief Commissioner. Late in the year, she worked closely with her counterpart Mary-Woo Sims of British Columbia at meetings with Aboriginal, multicultural, and other organizations focused on human rights across that province.

The six members of the Commission were also busy, participating in a variety of events across the country. Selected examples of their work follow.

Commissioner Phyllis Gordon represented the Commission at events marking the twentieth anniversary of Black History Month in Ontario. She participated in the Spread the Seeds of Rights awareness walk in Toronto in the fall, and gave a speech to the North Halton Cultural Awareness Council commemorating the proclamation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Commissioner Yude Henteleff of Winnipeg is well known in Canada for his work on behalf of people with disabilities. In 1999 he helped establish the First Nations Disabilities Association of Manitoba, which is setting up a central organization to coordinate provincial and local services for Aboriginal people with disabilities.

Early in the year, Commissioner Henteleff worked for several weeks as a consultant to the human rights commission of Bolivia, which paved the way for the agreement between the Bolivian and Canadian commissions discussed later in this chapter. In the fall, he delivered a paper on "Special Needs Children and the Youth Justice System: Sliding Off the Scales of Justice" to a conference held in Ottawa on children at risk of coming into conflict with the law.

One of the highlights of the year for Commissioner Henteleff was receiving the Learning Disabilities Association of Canada's Lifetime Achievement Award, for more than 30 years of work on behalf of that community.

Commissioner Robinson Koilpillai has been involved for many years with the Canadian Multicultural Education Foundation and the Alberta Council for Global Cooperation. In 1998 he helped organize a major international human rights conference in Edmonton that featured Archbishop Desmond Tutu as a keynote speaker. Subsequently, Mr. Koilpillai helped set up the University of Alberta's Annual Lectureship in Human Rights to commemorate Archbishop Tutu's visit. He was also invited by the University of Calgary to help guide the work of its fledgling Diversity Institute, and accepted invitations to Kenya and Nepal to work with human rights organizations in those countries.

Commissioner Anne Adams delivered a speech to the Montreal West Rotary Club on human rights challenges in Canada, and a speech on the economic rights of women at the Congress on Violence against Women in Toronto, sponsored by UNESCO and the Réseau des femmes du sud de l'Ontario. She also represented the Commission at a meeting in the Philippines of the Asia-Pacific Forum of National Human Rights Institutions.

In addition to her role as a member of this Commission, Mary Mac Lennan chaired the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission for several years. Her term with the latter organization came to an end in 1999, leaving her more time for her new position as St. Francis Xavier University's Equity Coordinator, and her work on the human rights aspects of new reproductive and genetic technologies. Commissioner Mac Lennan also spoke frequently at events and panel discussions focusing on human rights.

Commissioner Kelly Russ addressed a conference in Vancouver sponsored by the Committee for Racial Justice on "Strengthening Accountability for Human Values and Rights." His other activities included delivering a speech to the Interfaith Association of British Columbia.

In our annual report for 1998, we described the progress that had been made by the Canadian Forces in implementing a 1989 order of a human rights tribunal to achieve the full integration of women into the Forces within ten years. Although overall progress had been disappointing, we were encouraged by initiatives the Forces had taken to address the problem, including targeted recruitment plans and the establishment of a Defence Diversity Council. Early in 1999, the Secretary General, John Hucker, was invited to address senior Forces representatives from across the country at a conference entitled "Beyond Gender Integration: Building Diversity in the Canadian Forces." The Commission will continue to monitor progress in this area.

Human Rights Training

Information and training sessions on the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Employment Equity Act are an important part of the Commission's promotion work. Employers turn to the Commission to clarify their obligations, seek advice in developing policies and programs, and arrange training programs for their management staff and employees. Training is provided by staff from the Commission's headquarters in Ottawa and the six regional offices.

The information and training sessions delivered by the Commission over the year covered a wide range of subjects and reached a variety of audiences. They included a roundtable discussion entitled "Workplace Diversity: Good Business Sense" in the Atlantic Region; a session for harassment counsellors for the Canadian Forces in Quebec; a presentation to Ontario-based employee relations managers of the National Bank of Canada in the context of the bank's "Work on Track" employment training program for people with disabilities re-entering the workforce; training sessions in Winnipeg for off-reserve Aboriginal youth entering the workforce; seminars for students of the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology; presentations to employment counsellors and supervisors from Human Resources Development Canada offices in British Columbia; a training seminar for employers in the Yukon; and sessions on religious accommodation for managers from Citizenship and Immigration Canada across the country.

As reported in the chapter on Employment Equity, only a small number of the employers audited during 1999 were found to be in compliance with the Employment Equity Act. It was not surprising, then, that the demand for workshops on employment equity for public- and private-sector employers remained high throughout the year. The number of these presentations is expected to increase in the year to come.

International Activities

In 1995, the Commission began working with Indonesia's human rights commission, Komnas Ham, to help improve its research, investigation, protection, and promotion functions. Since 1997, the Commission has had a Canadian advisor working with Komnas Ham in Indonesia. A developmental plan for the organization is now in place, and a number of improvements have been made in the areas of staffing, investigation procedures, and automated systems.

Last year, the Chief Commissioner visited Bolivia and Peru. This led to the signing of joint cooperation agreements with both countries that envisage the provision of technical assistance. Subsequently, the president and staff from the Bolivian agency took part in human rights seminars hosted for them by the Commission in Ottawa.

In the spring, the Secretary General participated in a conference in Zimbabwe hosted by the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative. The purpose of the conference was to discuss how member nations might work together to advance human rights throughout the Commonwealth.

The Commission also hosted visitors from a number of countries. These included Members and senior staff of the National Assembly of Kenya; the Minister of Justice for Sri Lanka; representatives of the National Assembly of Viet Nam; a member of the South African Commission on Gender Equity; and representatives of the Constitutional Council of Cambodia.

Maintaining the Human Rights Network

Much of the Commission's promotion work is carried out in partnership with its provincial counterparts, as well as agencies and groups dedicated to one or many aspects of human rights.

One example is a joint workshop by the Commission's Prairie Regional Office and the Manitoba Human Rights Commission on "Keeping Current on the Legalities of Harassment in the Workplace" for the Manitoba Association for a Respectful Workplace. Another is a workshop on "Harassment and the Duty to Accommodate" hosted by the Commission's Ontario Regional Office in association with the Ontario Human Rights Commission. This workshop was presented at the Institute for International Research's conference on "Law and Ethics in a Fast-Changing Workplace."

The Commission is also a member of the Canadian Association of Statutory Human Rights Agencies, which links the federal, provincial and territorial organizations. CASHRA acts as a forum for the various commissions to discuss policy and program development, assess developments in jurisprudence, and share approaches to complaints management, promotional activities, and other areas of interest.

Ongoing Promotion Work

The Commission responds to about 50,000 inquiries a year. Though the vast majority are received by telephone, the Commission's Internet site has added to number of requests for information and publications. Staff endeavour to respond to telephone enquiries within 24 hours. Public information officers are knowledgeable about services provided by other federal, provincial and municipal agencies, since many calls do not deal with matters under the Commission's jurisdiction.

Each year the Commission responds to over 800 media enquiries and participates in approximately one hundred interviews. The Commission's Internet site now includes a "media room" for news releases and backgrounders. Whenever possible, the links to other organizations mentioned in news releases (such as the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal) are established directly within each release to serve journalists' needs better.

The Chief Commissioner makes a point of meeting with the editorial boards of newspapers on a regular basis. In the fall, she met with the editorial board of the Vancouver Sun, where the discussion focused on human rights issues surrounding the Nisga'a treaty.

In 1999, the media were particularly interested in pay equity, focusing on the many developments during the year. They also devoted attention to the integration of women into the Canadian Forces, issues of mental disability, and mandatory retirement as an aspect of age discrimination.

The Commission makes its publications available in alternative formats. Sound recordings, large print, braille, and computer diskettes are used to ensure accessibility. The Annual Report and Equality, the Commission's newsmagazine, report on Canadian human rights developments at home and abroad, and are sent out in alternative formats upon request.

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