B.C.’s former commission was dismantled in 2002, leaving our province as the only one in Canada to not have such a body. The Act will re-establish a commission and will enable an all-party committee to select a commissioner, who will then be subject to approval by the Legislative Assembly. The commissioner will have the key functions of educating British Columbians on human rights as well as examining and addressing issues of discrimination, and will have the mandate to develop educational tools, policies and guidelines to promote human rights and combat widespread patterns of inequality and discrimination in society. The proposed legislation follows an eight-week public engagement conducted in fall 2017 that asked British Columbians what they want most from a human rights commission. Parliamentary Secretary of Sport and Multiculturalism Ravi Kahlon led the extensive consultation, culminating in the December 2017 report, “A Human Rights Commission for the 21st Century: British Columbians Talk About Human Rights.”
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