Earing to determine if French high school athletes’ human rights complaint will proceed

OTTAWA — A group of francophone students who were planning to attend a special sports high school in Ottawa are alleging that a new bylaw unfairly discriminates against them, and they’ve asked the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal to hear their case.

The tribunal has received 19 complaints since December filed by parents of grade 7 and 8 students who excel in various sports and have enrolled at École Louis-Riel, a francophone school in Blackburn Hamlet that is part of the Conseil des écoles publiques de l’Est de l’Ontario.

The complaint argues that a new bylaw adopted in November by the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Association would prevent students who live outside the school’s designated boundary from playing their self-declared, or “best,” sport in certain OFSAA competitions. They say the change targets them while leaving anglophone students who live closer to the school free to play.

“Since there are so few of us, compared to students in English language schools, we have a very limited choice of secondary schools that we can attend if we want to continue our education in French while also maintaining our involvement in competitive sports,” says the application filed by a lawyer who is representing all the families. “Since the francophone population in Ontario is widely dispersed, it is difficult to automatically access a program of our choice at the French language public school closest to our residence.”

Doug Gellatly, executive director of Toronto-based OFSAA, told the Citizen in November that the bylaw was sparked by concern from some members about competitive balance.

“It really isn’t matching what school sports are all about and what would be considered normal competitive balance,” Gellatly said.

Still, the applicants, who all live outside of École Louis-Riel’s boundaries or who live closer to another non-sports focused school, asked the provincial human rights body to halt the bylaw while it studies the issue.

However, in a written decision released late last month, vice-chair Mary Truemner denied their request for an interim decision.

Instead, she is sending the matter to a summary hearing where a trial adjudicator and the lawyers for both parties will discuss the case to find out if there is grounds to move forward.

“The Tribunal does not have the general power to deal with allegations of unfairness. It can only deal with alleged discrimination or harassment on the grounds set out in the (Ontario Human Rights) Code,” she said.

Truemner said she is not convinced the applicants could prove that OFSAA’s new bylaw violates their human rights.

The date for a summary hearing has not been set.

(2013-03-15/ottawacitizen)