Public Assistance (Discrimination)

Dixon v. 930187 Ontario, 2010 HRTO 256 (CanLII)

[52] There is also a clear history of discrimination, largely involving differentiation based on stereotypes, against recipients of social assistance. Tribunal decisions recognising this include Garbett v. Fisher (1996), 1996 CanLII 20101 (ON HRT), 25 C.H.R.R. D/379 (Ont. Bd.Inq.), Kostanowicz v. Zarubian (1994), 1994 CanLII 18424 (ON HRT), 28 C.H.R.R. D/55 (Ont. Bd.Inq.), Iness v. Caroline Cooperative Housing Inc. 2006 HRTO 19, (CanLII), Kearney v. Bramalea, J.J. v. Shelter Corporation, (1998), 1998 CanLII 29852 (ON HRT), 34 C.HR.R. D/1 (Ont. Bd.Inq.) upheld, in part, on appeal (2001), 39 C.H.R.R. D111 (Ont. Sup. Ct.), Vander Schaaf v. M.R. Property Management Ltd. (2000) 38 C.R.H.R. D/251 (Ont. Bd. Inq.), Ontario Human Rights Commission v. Morris A. Hunter Investments Ltd., 2001 CanLII 26232 (ON H.R.T.). Receipt of social assistance has been recognised by the Ontario Court of Appeal as a personal characteristic qualifying for the protection of section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms: Falkiner v. Ontario (Minister of Community and Social Services), 2002 CanLII 44902 (ON C.A.), at para. 80.

[53] Both persons with disabilities and persons on social assistance tend to be subjected to harmful stereotyping as well as societal barriers that have an effect on their dignity. In making submissions, counsel for the applicant urged me to recognise that an individual's disadvantage and vulnerability can increase where his or her personal characteristics include more than one recognised by the Code as grounds of discrimination. The Ontario Human Rights Commission, in its discussion paper “An Intersectional Approach to Discrimination” notes that both the experience of discrimination and the likelihood of discrimination can be comparatively more severe where intersecting grounds of discrimination are at issue. The Tribunal has recognised the importance of an intersectional analysis in decisions such as Baylis-Flannery v. DeWilde (Tri Community Physiotherapy), 2003 HRTO 28 (CanLII) and Flamand v. DGN Investments, 2005 HRTO 10 (CanLII).