Letter to Stakeholders from the Attorney General
August 12, 2011
All Ontarians have a right to live free from discrimination, inequality and intolerance, and the protection of human rights is a fundamental principle in this province.
When the Legislature passed the Government's human rights reform bill, it included a commitment to review the new system's progress after three years. I have asked Andrew Pinto, a prominent human rights and employment lawyer, to conduct a review resulting from the amendments to the Human Rights Code that came into effect on June 30, 2008. Mr. Pinto, of Pinto Wray James LLP, is a past chair of the Administrative Law section of the Ontario Bar Association, and past chair of the Equity Advisory Group of the Law Society of Upper Canada. Mr. Pinto is also an Adjunct Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto, teaching the Administrative law course which deals with tribunals, agencies, boards and commissions.
The scope of the human rights review is set out in section 57 of the Human Rights Code. The review will begin later this summer, and is expected to be completed in the spring of 2012. The terms of reference for the review are available on the Ministry's website and are attached for your information.
Mr. Pinto will initially be developing a plan for the review and will be providing further details shortly. An important part of Mr. Pinto's review will be consultations. For updates on the status of the review please consult the following web link: www.ontariohumanrightsreview.org
Hon. Chris Bentley
Attorney General