Group calls for independent inquiry into discrimination in Halifax after transit decision

By Mark Hodgins

A local group is calling for an independent inquiry into discrimination in the Halifax Regional Municipality. 

Equity Watch, an organization advocating for employment equality in Nova Scotia, says a long list of incidents over the past 20 years show HRM is no longer capable of handling these matters in house.

The call comes after the Human Rights Commission found a bus mechanic married to an African Nova Scotian woman was subjected to a poisonous work environment riddled with unchecked racial discrimination and harassment during his time at Halifax Transit. 

In a release, Equity Watch says decision reveals a “long racist reign of terror in the Halifax Transit Service that has left a trail of broken victims”.

The group, co-founded by former firefighter Liane Tessier, points to a number of incidents including Tessier's own battle with discrimination. The rights commission found Tessier had suffered years of harassment during her time with Halifax Fire. 

It also references a rally held on May 8 by a number of African Nova Scotian HRM employees. One of the protestors alleged racism in Halifax is the same as it was in the 1950's. 

Meantime, the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission says the long delays in coming to a decision on complaint are a thing of the past.

It took the commission 12 years to come to a recent decision about a discrimination case against the city, something senior legal council Kymberly Franklin says can be blamed on a large backlog of cases.

“It was taking a long time to push things through,” said Franklin. “That backlog was cleared up probably by 2013-14.”

Franklin says new processes and safeguards have been put into place to ensure that cases do not get left to the wayside.

She says it's very important that people have good access to justice and that complaints do not take a decade to make their way through the process.

But Equity Watch spokesperson Judy Haiven says she would like to see an inquiry done outside of even the rights commission, which she says has lost the confidence of Nova Scotians due to it's bureaucratic, uncaring approach. 

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