Administrative Design and the Human Rights Process in Ontario:
Can We Do This Better?
Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
January 14, 2005
Alphabetical List of Participants, Contact Information and Brief Biographies
List of Participants & Contact Information
Raj Anand
WeirFoulds LLP
Barristers and Solicitors
The ExchangeTower, Suite 1600
P.O. Box 480
130 King Street West
Toronto, ONCanadaM5X 1J5
(tel) 416-947-5091 (direct line)
(fax) 416-365-1876
e-mail:
Constance Backhouse
Professor of Law & University Research Chair
University of Ottawa
Faculty of Law
57 Louis Pasteur
Ottawa, CanadaK1N 6N5
(613) 562-5800 x3307
Kim Bernhardt
Grant & Bernhardt, Barristers & Solicitors
#303 - 120 Carlton Street
Toronto, OntarioM5A 4K2
(W) 416-535-4391 ext. 25
fax: 905-338-0444
Ruth Carey
Executive Director / Barrister & Solicitor
HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic (Ontario)
65 Wellesley Street East, Suite 400
Toronto, ONM4Y 1G7
tel: (416) 340-7790 x 3407 / 1-888-705-8889
fax: (416) 340-7248
e-mail:
web site:
Marie E. L. Chen
African Canadian Legal Clinic
306-330 Bay St.
Toronto, ON, M5H 2S8
Phone: (416) 214-4747Ext:26
Fax: (416) 214-4748
Toll Free: (888) 377-0033
Email:
Sujit Choudhry
Associate Professor
Faculty of Law
University of Toronto
78 Queen's Park Cres.
Toronto, On. M5S 2C5
phone: 416-978-4901
fax: 416-978-7899
email:
Lisa Cirillo
Staff Lawyer
Downtown Legal Services
655 Spadina Avenue
Toronto, OntarioM5S 2H9
Tel: (416) 934-4534
Fax: (416) 934-4536
Email:
Geneviève Debané
Matthews Dinsdale Clark LLP
1 Queen Street East, Suite 2500
Toronto, OntarioM5C 2Z1
Ph: 416-869-8539
Email:
Reva Devins,
298 Heath Street East,
TO, M4T 1T4,
ph: 416 481 9792
fax 416 482 1928
email:
Adam M. Dodek
Director of Policy
Attorney General of Ontario
Minister Responsible for Native Affairs
Minister Responsible for Democratic Renewal
11th Fl. 720 Bay St.
Toronto, ON M5G 2K1
P: 416-326-2266
F: 416-326-4016
email:
Catherine Frazee
School of Disability Studies
RyersonUniversity
350 Victoria Street
Toronto, On. M5B 2K3
Nora Gillespie
Legal Counsel
Office of the Provost and
Office of the Vice President Human Resources and Equity
Simcoe Hall Rm 112C
27 King's College Circle
Toronto, ONM6G 2M8
P (416) 946-0938
F (416) 978-2592
Mark Hart
Sanson & Hart 303 - 120 Carlton Street
Toronto, ONM5A 4K2
phone: (416) 413 0600 x222
fax: (416) 413 1699
email:
Bill Holder
Discipline Counsel
Osgoode Hall
130 Queen Street West
Toronto, OntarioM5H 2N6
tel 416-947-3467
fax 416-947-3927
Marie Irvine
Counsel, Policy Division
Ministry of the Attorney General
720 Bay St., 7th Floor
Toronto M5G 2K1
(tel) 416-326-4687
(fax) 416-326-2699
Julie McAlpine Jeffries
Employment Relations Legal Counsel
University of Toronto
27 King's College Circle
Simcoe Hall, Room 221
TorontoONM5S 1A1
phone: 416-978-4578
fax: 416-946-7795
Judith Keene
Clinic Resource Office
Legal Aid Ontario
425 Adelaide St W.
Toronto
M5V 3C1
direct line: 416-204-5409
e-mail:
Kathy Laird
Director of Legal Services
Advocacy Centre for Tenants Ontario
425 Adelaide Street West
TorontoM5V 3C1
416-597-5855 (5242)
Email:
HarrietLewis
University Secretary and General Counsel
YorkUniversity
4700 Keele Street
N945 RossBuilding
Toronto, OntarioM3J 1P3
Telephone: 416-736-5310
Fax: 416-736-5094
Email:
David Mullan
Faculty of Law, Queen's University,
Kingston, Ontario, K7L 3N6
Phone: 613-533-2220, Ext. 74264;
FAX: 533-6509
and
Office of the Integrity Commissioner,
City of Toronto, City Hall,
15th Floor, WestTower,
100 Queen Street West,
Toronto, Ontario, M5H 2N2
Phone: 416-397-7770
fax: 416-392-3840
email:
Bruce Porter
Social Rights Advocacy Centre
1038 Portage Flyer Lane
RR4 Huntsville, Ontario, P1H 2J6
Telephone: 705-789-1397
e-fax: 416-946-1841
e-mail
Denise Rèaume
Associate Professor
Faculty of Law
University of Toronto
84 Queen's Park Cres.
Toronto, On. M5S 2C5
phone: 416-978-6905
fax: 416-978-7899
email:
JulietS. Robin
Counsel
Policy Division
Ministry of the Attorney General
7th Floor, 720 Bay StreetToronto, ONM5G 2K1
ph. 416-326-7863
fax 416-326-2699
Geri Sanson
Sanson & Hart 303 - 120 Carlton Street
Toronto, ONM5A 4K2
phone: (416) 413 0600 x222
fax: (416) 413 1699
email:
Lorne Sossin
Associate Professor & Associate Dean
Faculty of Law
University of Toronto
84 Queen's Park Cres.
Toronto, On. M5S 2C5
phone: 416-946-8229
fax: 416-978-7899
email:
Joanne St. Lewis,
Common Law Section, Faculty of Law,
University of Ottawa, 57 Louis Pasteur,
Ottawa, OntarioK1N 6N5
Ph: 613.562.5800 x3311
fax: 613.562.5124
email:
Avvy Yao-Yao Go
Barrister & Solicitor
Clinic Director
Metro Toronto Chinese & Southeast Asian Legal Clinic
180 Dundas Street West, Suite 1701
Toronto, Ontario
M5G 1Z8
Phone: 416-971-9674
Fax: 416-971-6780
Email:
Cynthia Wilkey
Income Security Advocacy Centre
425 Adelaide Street West
TorontoM5V 3C1
email:
Brief Biographies
Raj Anand
Raj’s practice is focused on civil litigation, professional negligence and discipline, human rights, constitutional and administrative law, and labour relations. He is former Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission (1988-89), and presently acts for complainants and respondents before the Ontario and federal commissions.
Raj served as a panel member on the Board of Inquiry under the Ontario Human Rights Code and the Police Services Act (1989-94), and as counsel to a number of administrative tribunals. He headed the Task Force on the Law of Trespass to Publicly-used Property (1986-87). He was a commentator on labour law and human rights issues, on “Workweek" TVOntario and Newsworld (1990-92). Raj is the first recipient of the Advocates Society’s Award of Justice (1997). He chairs the Minority Advocacy and Rights Council and acts for a variety of non-governmental organizations in public interest litigation. He also represents professionals, including lawyers, in disciplinary and insurance litigation. Raj has appeared as counsel several times in the Supreme Court of Canada in both civil and constitutional cases. In May 2003, Raj was awarded the prestigious Law Society Medal.
Constance Backhouse
Connie Backhouse is a Full Professor at the University of Ottawa, Common Law Section, who teaches in the areas of criminal law, human rights, legal history and women and the law. She has served as a mediator and adjudicator of a wide range of human rights disputes.
Kim Bernhardt
Kim Bernhardt received her LL.B. and LL.M. from OsgoodeHallLawSchool. She is a lawyer who specializes in labour, employment, human rights, professional regulation, administrative, and constitutional law. From 1993-2001, she worked for the Ontario Nurses' Assn. (ONA), a union that represents 45,000 registered nurses and allied health professionals. She presented ONA’s policy position and represented ONA members before arbitration boards and tribunals including the Worker's Compensation Appeals Tribunal, Employment Equity Commission, and the Ont. Human Rights Commission (OHRC). She has also served on the Public Service Grievance Board and was a part-time appointee to the Human Rights Board of Inquiry. From 1989-92, she lived in the United Arab Emirates and taught business for the Higher Colleges of Technology. From 1978 to 1984 Kim was an Investigation Officer with the OHRC.
Ruth Carey
Ruth Carey graduated from the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Law in 1991, and was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1993 after completing her articles with Parkdale Community Legal Services. She has been the Executive Director of the HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic (Ontario) [“HALCO”] since 1996. HALCO is a unique charitable, community based poverty law clinic funded by Legal Aid Ontario and the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care that serves the legal needs of local income people living with HIV in the province of Ontario.
It has been recognised by the United Nations and the Government of Canada that people living with HIV face enormous barriers to equality because of stigma and discrimination. For example, a 2003 Health Canada study confirmed that almost half of Canadians believe that people living with HIV/AIDS should not be allowed to work in public positions. As a result, about 10% of all HALCO case files are human rights complaints to the Commission(s). The clinic also regularly participates in law reform and consultation activities (such as the Ontario Human Rights Commission's insurance consultation) in an effort to improve the lives of people living with HIV.
Sujit Choudhry
Sujit Choudhry is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto. He teaches and writes in the area of constitutional law and currently serves as Chair of the Advisory Board of the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario.
Lisa Cirillo
Lisa Cirillo is a staff lawyer at Downtown Legal Services, which is the University of Toronto Community Legal Clinic. DLS has a dual mandate: to provide innovative and excellent legal services to the low-income community and to provide law students with a sophisticated clinical legal education. Lisa’s role as civil review counsel, supervising all human rights files, as well as our work in housing law, education law, family law and Criminal Injuries Compensation Board claims.
Lisa has worked extensively in human rights throughout her legal career, from both inside and outside the system. She began my legal career in human rights as an articling student with the Legal Services Branch of the Ontario Human Rights Commission, and remained on as contract counsel for several years following her call to the Bar.
In 1999, she joined ARCH (A Legal Resource Centre for Persons with Disabilities) as litigation counsel. Although she had worked at the Commission for years, the shift to the role of complainant’s counsel was extraordinarily enlightening in terms of understanding the tremendous barriers that complainant’s face in trying to take their complaints forward, many of which are erected by the Commission itself.
She moved to DLS in September of 2001. Since this time, DLS has worked hard to expand its human right practice and to encourage our students to consider making human rights work a part of their legal practice. DLS represent complainants before both the Ontario and Canadian Human Rights Commissions.
Geneviève Debané
Geneviève Debané received her LL.B. from the University of Ottawa and joined Matthews Dinsdale Clark as an associate in 2002, where she practices in the area of labour and human rights law.
Reva Devins
Reva Devins is a private arbitrator and mediator. She is a part-time member of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal (first appointed in 1995) and has also served as a Commissioner on the Ontario Human Rights Commission (1987-1993)
Adam Dodek
Adam Dodek is the Director of Policy to the Hon. Michael Bryant, Attorney General of Ontario, Minister Responsible for Native Affairs and Minister Responsible for Democratic Renewal. In this capacity, he oversees the development of policy in each of the Minister's three portfolios: Attorney General, Native Affairs and Democratic Renewal. He has responsibility for the human rights policy file in the Attorney General's office. Adam is on a leave of absence from the Toronto office of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP, where since 2001 he has worked as a litigation lawyer in the Public Law Working Group.
Nora Gillespie
Nora Gillespie joined the University of Toronto as Legal Counsel to the Office of the Provost and Office of the Vice President Human Resources and Equity in November of 2004. Previously she practiced administrative, constitutional and employment law as a partner at Heenan Blaikie and as a founding partner of Genest Murray DesBrisay Lamek. Ms Gillespie was called to the Ontario Bar in 1981 and has completed post-graduate work in constitutional law.
Ms. Gillespie has appeared before all levels of Courts in Ontario and the Supreme Court of Canada as well as before various tribunals and boards. She has acted as tribunal counsel to administrative and regulatory tribunals as well as domestic tribunals. Ms. Gillespie has provided advice and representation to institutions and tribunals in connection with employment matters, the development and training of internal tribunals and appearances before them, constitutional, human rights and equality issues, and other policy and regulatory issues.
Ms. Gillespie is past president of the Canadian Association of University Solicitors. She is a past counsel member of the Society of Ontario Adjudicators and Regulators. She is a past executive member of the National Civil Litigation Section of the Canadian Bar Association. She has published and presented in the areas of constitutional law, sexual harassment and University legal and policy issues; including presentations to the Canadian Olympic Association Annual Congress, the Canadian Association of Student Judicial Officers and the Council of Ontario Universities.
Mark Hart
Mark Hart is a partner of Sanson & Hart and practises in the areas of human rights, employment and labour law. Mr. Hart also acts as an external neutral for employers and other organizations, conducting internal investigations and mediations and workplace facilitations on discrimination and harassment issues. Mr. Hart formerly was counsel to the Ontario Human Rights Commission and to the Employment Equity Commission. Mr. Hart has acted as counsel on many leading human rights cases before tribunals and all levels of the Courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada. Mr. Hart has spoken extensively on human rights and employment equity issues, has been an adjunct faculty member at OsgoodeHallLawSchool where he co-taught Discrimination and the Law, has been a Public Law instructor in the Law Society's Bar Admission Course, and has co-taught Racism and the Law at RyersonPolytechnicUniversity. Mr. Hart is a founding member of the Association of Human Rights Lawyers, and has been directly involved in preparing briefs for the LaForest Task Force, the Agency Reform Project, and the Ministry of Citizenship consultations.
Bill Holder
Bill Holder worked in the human rights field for 10 years, as complainant'scounsel, litigation counsel to the CHRC, litigation counsel to the OHRC,investigations consultant to the OHRC, and as a staff lawyer with ARCH: ALegal Resource Centre for Persons with Disabilities.
Marie Irvine
Marie Irvine is Counsel with the Policy Division, Ministry of the Attorney General.Her government experience includes work in the field of human rights, administrative justice, legal aid and family law.Prior to joining government, she practised at a Bay Street firm.
She was called to the Bar in 2000.
Judith Keene
Judith Keene was called to the Bar of Ontario in 1981. She practised in government for 8 years, mainly within provincial Commissions and administrative tribunals, (the office of the Police Complaints Commissioner and the Information and Privacy Commissioner) and has acted as a consultant to the Chair of Boards of Inquiry under the Ontario Human Rights Code. She has volunteered as an advisor on equity issues with the Law Society of Upper Canada and regularly publishes law journal articles (on s.15 of the Charter of Rights, human rights and other areas of administrative law); has published two editions of the legal text Human Rights in Ontario, (Toronto: Carswell, 1992).
Since 1990, she has practised at the Clinic Resource Office of Legal Aid Ontario, providing legal advice and litigation support to Ontario Community Legal Clinics and Student Legal Aid Societies. In the last seven years, practice has concentrated heavily on Charter litigation involving cutbacks and restrictions to government social programs (eg: Falkiner v. Ontario (Ministry of Community and Social Services, Income Maintenance Branch), [2000] O.J. No. 2433 (QL) (Div. Ct.) (Lane, Haley and Belleghem JJ.), Irshad v. Ontario (Ministry of Health), 55. O.R. (3d) 481 (C.A.), leave to appeal to S.C.C. refused (2001), 55 O.R. (3d) i, Rogers v. Ontario (Works, Administrator for the City of Greater Sudbury), [2001] O.J. No. 3346 (QL), Broomer v. Ontario (Attorney General), [2002] O.J. No. 2196 (QL), Court File No. 02-CV-229203CM3 (S.C.J.) (Nordheimer J.)).
Kathy Laird
Kathy Laird was a vice-chair at the Ontario Human Rights Board of Inquiry (now the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario) and the Pay Equity Hearings Tribunal from 1994 to 2001. She also served as interim chair of the Employment Equity Tribunal during its start-up phase. Prior to her appointment to the adjudicative panel, she served as counsel to the Chair of the Human Rights Board of Inquiry. From 1990 to 2001, Kathy was a leading trainer in the Ontario adjudicator training program, teaching educational workshops on ethical, cultural/racial and disability issues in adjudication, mediation skills, evidentiary issues, conduct of a hearing and decision-writing.
Harriet Lewis
Harrier Lewis is the University Secretary and General Counsel for YorkUniversity. She received a BA and MA from York and her LL.B. from the University of Toronto. She worked in various private practice settings until joining York in 1988. She has responded to over 60 human rights complaints since that time on behalf of York.
David Mullan
David Mullan recently has retired as Professor of Law, Queen's University, where his major academic interest was Public Law. In addition to his publications on human rights issues, he is a part-time member of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, and was a one-time consultant to the federal Human Rights Commission.
Bruce Porter
Bruce Porter organized low income lobby for improvement in Ontario's Human Rights Code in 1986 in Equality Rights Statute Law Amendment Act, particularly addressing housing issues faced by low income families;He was Executive Director of Centre for Equality Rights in Accommodation from 1987 to 2002, representing claimants before OHRC and tribunals on a variety of systemic issues in housing and has been the Co-ordinator of the Charter Committee on Poverty Issues from 1994 to present as well as the
Director of Social Rights Advocacy Centre from 2002 to present. He is Co-Director, with Martha Jackman at U of O, of SSHRC-funded five year collaborative research project in "Social Rights Accountability". He formerly served on the Advisory Committee of Cornish Task Force and researched the gatekeeper issue for Canadian Human Rights Act Review Panel.
Bruce is active in international human rights in advocacy, training, judicial education and writing in the area of economic, social and cultural rights.He has worked with NGOs and governments in many other countries, such as South Africa, focusing on constitutional reform and advocacy to provide effective remedies to violations of social rights.
Denise Rèaume
Denise Rèaume is a Full Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of Toronto who teaches in the area of discrimination law language rights and feminist approaches to tort law.
Juliet Robin
Juliet Robin is currently Counsel with the Policy Division, Ministry of Attorney General.Her government experience also includesthree yearsat Cabinet Office as an advisor with respect to strategic planning, health and social policy. Prior to joining government, she worked for several years in the non-profit sectoras legal advisor/writer/researcher primarily in the areas of administrative, human rights, labour and employment law. She also practised in small general practice firm and was called to Bar in 1991.
Geri Sanson
Geri Sanson is a partner of Sanson & Hart, and practises in the areas of human rights, employment and labour law. Ms. Sanson also acts as an external neutral, conducting adjudications, mediations, investigations and workplace facilitations on discrimination and harassment issues. Ms. Sanson was formerly counsel to the Ontario Human Rights Commission and has assisted the Advocacy Clinic for Persons with Disabilities in her private practice by heading its litigation department during a transitional period. Ms. Sanson has acted as counsel or co-counsel on several significant human rights cases before tribunals and the courts, including cases before the Supreme Court of Canada. Ms. Sanson has been an Adjunct Professor at Osgoode Hall, co-teaching a course in Discrimination and the Law and has co-chaired a recurring symposium on Human Rights with Osgoode Hall’s Professional Development Program. Ms. Sanson has spoken at conferences provincially, nationally and internationally on topical issues of human rights, employment and administrative law. Ms. Sanson is the recipient of the Law Society medal, awarded for outstanding service in the area of equality rights and has also been recognized by the Canadian Bar Association as one of Canada’s “local heroes” for her work in human rights. Ms. Sanson is a member of the Canadian Bar Association and the Association of Human Rights Lawyers, and has served as counsel in a variety of forums over the past decade to promote legislative reform of the human rights process.