Justice committee  Overall, and through the period in which we have been asked to comment on our act, we have remained steadfast that we do not recommend that definitions be included in the Canadian Human Rights Act. One reason for this is that Canadian human rights legislation, like all human righ

Justice committee  We are not unfamiliar with legislation that has both criminal sanctions attached to it and similar protections under human rights law. For example, sexual harassment is an issue that can be complained about to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, but if the same incidents also m

Justice committee  Thank you. I can just add a bit more detail to that. Since genetic characteristics are not an enumerated ground in our legislation, individuals do not file complaints on that basis alone. Therefore, the complaints and inquiries that have come to us are almost always linked to an

Justice committee  Was there a follow-up question?

Justice committee  I could just add that human rights law in Canada is shared jurisdiction. Therefore, whatever change is made to our act cannot affect those elements that are regulated provincially. It cannot have that reach, whereas the other powers that are envisioned in the first part of this a