serving CAF members can submit human rights complaints!!

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CAF members are not required to submit memo's or submit a redress of grievance prior to submitting a human rights complaint.

Ethical Principles - 1. Respect the Dignity of All Persons:  

Everyone must be treated with respect and humanity at all times and in all places. Everyone deserves to serve in a safe, inclusive environment. As military professionals, we must respect the dignity of all persons at all times.

This first principle must anchor everyone’s conduct across the profession. We always need to perform our duty with humanity, treating people with respect, whether they are in the military or not.

 Are you a current or former member of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF)? Have you experienced workplace discrimination, sexual misconduct or any form of sexual harassment related to one or more of the grounds listed in the Canadian Human Rights Act? This also includes invisible medical issues such as mental health and addiction issues.

If you answered yes to both of these questions then you are in the right place. The Canadian Human Rights Commission is there to make sure that your complaint is handled in a fair, independent, trauma-informed, unbiased and confidential manner.

 Under the Canadian Human Rights Act, there are 11 grounds of discrimination:

• race;
• national or ethnic origin;
• colour;
• religion;
• age;
• sex;
• sexual orientation;
• marital status;
• family status;
• disability (medical visible or invisible); and
• a conviction for which a pardon has been granted or a record suspended.

If an individual feels that they have been the subject of discrimination based on one or more of the 11 grounds, he or she may file a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission.

With the implementation of Louise Arbour’s recommendations, you do not have to go through the internal redress process within your organization first!!!

Mental health and addiction disabilities

People with mental health and addictions disabilities experience impairment and barriers in different ways. Disabilities are often “invisible” and episodic, with periods of wellness and periods of disability. All people with disabilities have the same rights to equal opportunities under the Code, whether their disabilities are visible or not.

People with addictions have the same right to be free from discrimination as other people with disabilities. There is often a cross-over between addictions and mental health disabilities, and many people experience both. The Code also protects people from discrimination because of past and perceived disabilities.

Another resource from Government of Canada website proper.