Latest news with #KasariGovender
CTV News
27-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
B.C. Human Rights Commissioner details government action, inaction on recommendations
B.C. Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender speaks during a press conference in Vancouver on March 7, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck British Columbia's Office of the Human Rights Commissioner says the provincial government has made 'progress' on more than half of its recommendations since 2019. Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender released her office's 'Where We Stand' report Tuesday, detailing her work in her first five-year term between 2019 and 2024. The commissioner's office was established in 2019, and the report notes how 'the world — and the human rights of people in B.C. — was thrown into chaos" by the COVID-19 pandemic, which hit seven months later. The Human Rights Commissioner's office has made 159 recommendations to public bodies in B.C. since 2019, in 18 letters to the government and three reports. It found the B.C. government had 'fully implemented' 18 of its recommendations and partially implemented 74, while 67 had not been acted upon. It said overall that there had been 'progress' on 58 per cent of the commissioner's recommendations. The provincial government fully implemented only one of 37 recommendations in the commissioner's report into hate incidents during the COVID-19 pandemic, released in 2023. That saw the Attorney General's Ministry implement a recommendation to reform Crown policy 'to emphasize the strong public interest in prosecuting hate crimes,' by pursuing 'a broader range of prosecutions of hate-related incidents.' But the ministry didn't implement a call for a high-level position to prevent and respond to hate incidents, or commit to producing a 'whole-of-government strategy and action plan on addressing hate.' Nor did the Ministry of Education act upon the commissioner's plea to 'significantly expand' school curriculums to empower students in kindergarten through grade 12 to identify 'combat hate and extremism.' The commissioner's 2021 report titled 'Equity is safer: Human rights considerations for policing reform in British Columbia' made 29 recommendations, of which the government fully implemented one, partially implemented 15 and didn't act upon 13. Among the policing report's unimplemented recommendations were empowering the Privacy Commissioner to investigate complaints about police data collection, and calls for an 'unbiased policing standard' focused on traffic stops to eliminate bias. The report also recommended an end to police school liaison programs, which was partially implemented. The policing reform report also urged the immediate expansion of the civilian-led Independent Investigations Office's mandate to include sexual assault investigations. This was not implemented. The Human Rights Commissioner's report said there were 'no statistically significant trends' around which recommendations were implemented and which were not. The report said 'simpler' requests involving single actions and 'fewer duty holders' had better uptake, while noting that 'unsurprisingly, recommendations on topics that align with ongoing government priorities seem to receive more attention.' The report said that the Human Rights Commissioner made 33 recommendations to the government that were covered by non-disclosure agreements, seven of which were fully implemented. This report by Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press, was first published May 27, 2025.
CTV News
27-05-2025
- General
- CTV News
B.C. Human Rights Commissioner details government action, inaction on recommendations
B.C. Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender speaks during a press conference in Vancouver on March 7, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck British Columbia's Office of the Human Rights Commissioner says the provincial government has made 'progress' on more than half of the recommendations it has made since 2019. Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender released her office's 'Where We Stand' report Tuesday, detailing her office's work in her first five-year term between 2019 and 2024. The report says the Human Rights Commissioner's office has made 159 recommendations to public bodies in B.C. since 2019, made in 18 letters to the government and in three reports released in 2020, 2021 and 2023. The report says the B.C. government has 'fully implemented' 18 of its recommendations, partially implemented 74, while 67 have not been acted upon, representing 'progress' on 58 per cent of the commissioner's recommendations. The report says the provincial government fully implemented only one of 37 recommendations in the commissioner's report into hate incidents during the COVID-19 pandemic, released in 2023. The commissioner says the government also fully implemented one out of 29 recommendations in a 2021 report into policing reform, and three out of 13 in a report that urged the province to collect a range of demographic data to be used for 'social change.' This report by Darryl Greer, The Canadian Press, was first published May 27, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
27-05-2025
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
B.C. Human Rights Commissioner details government action, inaction on recommendations
VANCOUVER – British Columbia's Office of the Human Rights Commissioner says the provincial government has made 'progress' on more than half of the recommendations it has made since 2019. Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender released her office's 'Where We Stand' report Tuesday, detailing her office's work in her first five-year term between 2019 and 2024. The report says the Human Rights Commissioner's office has made 159 recommendations to public bodies in B.C. since 2019, made in 18 letters to the government and in three reports released in 2020, 2021 and 2023. The report says the B.C. government has 'fully implemented' 18 of its recommendations, partially implemented 74, while 67 have not been acted upon, representing 'progress' on 58 per cent of the commissioner's recommendations. The report says the provincial government fully implemented only one of 37 recommendations in the commissioner's report into hate incidents during the COVID-19 pandemic, released in 2023. The commissioner says the government also fully implemented one out of 29 recommendations in a 2021 report into policing reform, and three out of 13 in a report that urged the province to collect a range of demographic data to be used for 'social change.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 27, 2025.
CBC
09-04-2025
- Health
- CBC
B.C. human rights commissioner finds guardianship detentions of vulnerable adults discriminatory
Social Sharing B.C.'s Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender says she has found "systemic discrimination" in how health authorities detain vulnerable adults who are at risk of harm. Vulnerable adults who appear to be abused, neglected, or facing self-neglect and are unable to give consent for care in hospitals or care facilities are sometimes detained under the Adult Guardianship Act (AGA). However, the 134-page report found that seniors, disabled people, and those living unhoused are being disproportionately detained. These detentions, Govender said, often lack transparency, oversight, and legal authority. "I have found that a significant number of vulnerable adults are being detained under this act through an opaque process with very little oversight," she said. "While adults are being held for their own safety, their rights to fair process, including knowing why they are being held against their will or what they can do about it, are often denied." The report found that between 2018 and September 2023, health authorities detained 300 people under the AGA. There were a total of 340 detentions — the shortest being six days, and the longest 212. Govender said 94 per cent of the people detained under the act during that period had disabilities, and 70 per cent were seniors. Changes to legislation expected in wake of report Govender makes 10 recommendations in the report for the B.C. Ministry of Attorney General, the Ministry of Health, and health authorities. They include: Providing those detained with written reasons for their detention and not holding them for longer than the emergency. Ensuring each detained person has legal representation. Creating an independent process for people to challenge their detentions. Amending the AGA to clarify legality of detention in emergency situations. The current legislation does not explicitly allow for people to be detained under normal circumstances, but Govender says health authorities have interpreted different parts of the Adult Guardianship Act to support their practice of detaining people in an emergency who are at risk of harm. She says she expects legislative changes to take place soon, something she signaled was overdue. "I reviewed documents that suggest government recognized the importance of taking timely and significant action and was aware of concerns about continuing risk of harm to vulnerable adults," said Govender. "Despite this, the government has not proposed any legislative changes or made any other significant policy changes to date to protect the rights of vulnerable adults." While B.C. Attorney General Niki Sharma said she intends to respond to all of the recommendations, she would not say what specific actions she intends to take in the legislature as a result of the report. "We need to make sure in the province that vulnerable people are protected, and that piece of legislation hasn't been updated in quite some time," said Sharma. "We've been looking at it since 2019, where we need to strengthen the protections for adults in that piece of legislation, and I'm grateful for the work that [Govender] did." Detentions take significant toll on individuals, report says A 2019 B.C. Supreme Court decision found that a woman who had been detained by Fraser Health for over 11 months under the AGA without being given reasons for her detention or legal representation violated her charter rights. The report also shares composites of the experiences people detained by the AGA and their loved ones went through, with anonymized quotes from those affected by the detentions. One woman, who the report calls Rose, fought to get her husband of 10 years out of detention after he had a fall when she was not home. Her husband, who had a history of seizures and dementia, was taken to a hospital by police following a wellness check. Although she was able to visit him daily, the report says he was moved one day to a long-term care facility based on his son's substitute consent — and no one would tell Rose where he had gone. After searching for three months, the report says Rose finally found the long-term care home where he has been moved. "He just looked up at me — he couldn't believe it was me — he just started to cry.... He said, 'I thought you'd never find me,'" the report says. Erika Cedillo, director of public policy at Inclusion BC, says that in trying to protect people from harm, this report shows further harm is being done — particularly to vulnerable people. She hopes to see these changes made in a way that puts an emphasis on making information about detentions accessible to people with disabilities and improving accountability. "It really shines a light where there has been little attention and where rife violations are happening," Cedillo said.
