As I prepare to table the Annual Report each year, I pause to reflect on the Commission's progress during the year under review. I am pleased to note that 1999 saw successes that advanced the cause of human rights, such as the settlement of the pay equity case between the Treasury Board and the Public Service Alliance of Canada. The resolution of that case - the government's recognition that equal pay for work of equal value is a fundamental human right - crowned fifteen years of struggle. Furthermore, important court decisions acknowledged that people with disabilities have a right to fair access to the labour market.

The past year also saw significant progress made by the panel reviewing the Canadian Human Rights Act, whose efforts, we hope, will see to it that the legislation that enables our work reflects more accurately the values of Canadian society in the year 2000.

I am also proud of the renewal undertaken within the Commission itself in light of recommendations made by the Auditor General in a report published in September 1998. This renewal flows from our vision for the Commission, which encourages us to serve as a "dynamic and progressive leader, contributing to a society in which people respect human rights and diversity and treat each other with dignity."

When I am called to represent the Commission abroad, I am frequently reminded that our country is hailed as a leader in the field of human rights. We are the envy of many nations because of the human rights protection afforded by the Commission and its provincial and territorial counterparts. This makes me proud to be Canadian, and equally proud to work in an organization devoted to defending and promoting the rights of the least fortunate among us.

I must nonetheless confess to a certain feeling of unease. The gap between rich and poor continues to widen at the expense of those least able to afford it, and a country as wealthy as ours cannot be proud of poverty that continues to increase. Many single mothers have hardly anything to call their own, and worry about how to feed their children. Year after year, the needs of people with disabilities are overlooked - except if they find a way to touch our lives directly. The hurdles facing Aboriginal young people are evidenced by such factors as suicide rates eight times higher for young women and five times higher for young men than among their peers across the country. Racism, once thought to be on the decline, is now appearing in subtle new guises - more difficult to recognize, but as poisonous as ever.

This persistent unease strengthens my belief that our efforts to build a fairer society must continue - a society in which respect and dignity for each and every one of us are recognized as fundamental human rights. Then, and only then, will we truly have created a human rights culture in Canada.

Michelle Falardeau-Ramsay, Q.C.
Chief Commissioner

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