Human Rights Tribunal not doing its job, says STU professor

Dr. Paul Groarke (Photo by Megan MacKay)

After 11 years as a member of the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, Dr. Paul Groarke believes that there is far more prejudice in our society than we are willing to acknowledge.

Groarke is currently the Endowed Chair in Criminology and Criminal Justice at STU. He will be giving a lecture on Monday November 16th entitled “Why Canadian Human Rights Law Fails: Repairing the Relationships Between Groups”, where he will be discussing his view on Canadian human rights based on his experience on the tribunal.

“What is not being recognized is how much racial intolerance is hidden in our society,” Groarke said. “There is an alarming amount of hate speech on the internet.”

As a full-time member of the tribunal for four years, he dealt with several cases regarding section 13 of the Criminal Code, Canada’s hate speech laws. Based on the cases he dealt with he feels that racial tensions are mounting and they’re not being talked about.

“My reading is that the situation is a lot worse. The system has failed.”

Groarke worked as a mediator for cases that were going to reach a settlement before going to trial. His frustration lies in that the outcome of the settlements is kept confidential, and can’t be discussed publicly. According to Groarke, the job of the Human Rights Tribunal is to draw the attention of the public to the prejudice that exists in our society so it can be eradicated.

“We’re supposed to be educating people,” he said. “The tendency is to shove [the issue] under the carpet.”

Issues involving discrimination in Canada are dealt with on a case by case basis, where a person who files a complaint might be awarded a sum of money for their suffering, but Groarke feels the victim isn’t just the person who filed the complaint- it’s an entire group of people. While the person or people who were the discriminators may have to pay a fine, they leave the hearing with the same views they walked in with.

“The issue is bigger than just one person and the system doesn’t deal with that. The victim isn’t just that one guy,” Groarke said. “We need to find a way to change people’s attitudes.”

Groarke feels that the press should be allowed to inform people about these issues. He suggested that by publicizing these problems the public can be educated and we as a society can work at mending the tensions that exist in our country.

“We live in a culture of denial,” he said. “We don’t want to face up to the issues that lie in our society.”

Groarke’s lecture takes place at 7pm in Ted Daigle Auditorium on November 16th.

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Posted by Megan Mackay on Nov 8, 2009. Filed under News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.