Rights tribunal in gridlock, lawyer charges

Recent staff departures and internal turmoil at the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal are delaying critical rulings on grievances against government departments and federally regulated industries, lawyers charge.

"It's a complete mess right now," human rights lawyer Paul Champ told the Ottawa Citizen. "The entire human rights system is in gridlock -it's in crisis."

"Things don't seem to be moving very well," said another lawyer, who asked to not be identified. "Cases are not being advanced very quickly. I don't know if the delays are because of staff turmoil, delays in appointments or the quality of appointments -or all of the above."

The tribunal acts as a court to rule on human rights cases referred to it by the Canadian Human Rights Commission. As first reported by the Citizen in January, more than half the tribunal's staff has left for other public service jobs or has been sidelined by stress since the appointment of Shirish Chotalia, a Calgary lawyer named to the post by the Harper government in late 2009. According to the Public Service Alliance of Canada, five employees -roughly a quarter of the staff -have filed harassment-related complaints against Chotalia.

Now, more details are emerging. The key position of executive director, vacated by the previous incumbent's retirement last April, still hasn't been filled by a permanent replacement, despite two completed competitions.

According to a written statement sent to the Citizen from the tribunal, the first hire was rejected by Chotalia because of a faulty job description that "could not be reconciled with the Chair's vision."

A second person, hired competitively after the job description had been re-jigged, failed a language test, so the position has been filled by a succession of contractors and staff. The job is currently occupied by Frederick Gloade, who is scheduled to leave following a transition period when a permanent replacement is found. After initially agreeing to an interview with the Citizen for this article, Chotalia cancelled three hours before the scheduled time, saying through a note from Gloade that "other matters have arisen."

Aside from her internal staffing issues, Chotalia surprised and irritated human rights lawyers inside and outside government for changing -without prior consultation -wellestablished key rules and procedures, a move she says will make the tribunal more efficient. She later held several retroactive cross-Canada "stakeholder consultations" in which she expressed an apparent willingness to rethink her new measures.

Key among her changes is "evaluative mediation," a front-end effort to deal with complaints before they go to a hearing. The process involves a judge or quasi-judge assessing the evidence and telling both sides what their chances are in front of a tribunal hearing.


(2011-2-17/The Calgary Herald)