Nathan VanderKlippe
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 25/02) - It's all or nothing, says a labour leader who's upset the proposed Human Rights Act "doesn't go far enough."

And CAW local 2304 president Steve Petersen says labour will campaign against Bill 1, introduced in the legislature Tuesday.

"There are people who feel if they aren't going to go the whole way then just shelf the whole damn thing," said Petersen.

The Act, first considered by the last assembly, will replace the Fair Practices Act. The new bill bans publication of hate materials and extends protection from discrimination to grounds of gender identity, social condition, political belief, political association and family affiliation.

The proposed Act omits pay equity, or the principle of "equal pay for work of equal value."

Instead, legislators opted for "equal pay for same substantially similar work."

Petersen accused legislators of deliberately watering down the legislation.

"We've got the benefit here of cherry-picking the best legislation around the world and putting it in, instead of going for the lowest common denominator and then putting that in," he said.

Government has committed to pay equity for its workforce, but will not force the private sector to comply.

Yellowknife South MLA Brendan Bell, the chair of the standing committee on social programs which drafted the bill, said forcing small businesses to hire consultants to determine equitable pay would be "a real onerous undertaking," he said.

Another option would be to copy from Ontario legislation, which create threshold levels so only businesses of a certain size need pay equity.

"If you look at the number of NWT businesses that would actually be captured by something like that, there are very few," he said.

The act will be far more expensive than the legislation it replaces. Bell estimated that the cost of the commission and an information campaign aimed at educating people about their rights will be in the millions.

Bill welcomed

Some groups met the Human Rights Act with celebration. The inclusion of "gender identity" as a prohibited ground is a Canadian first and Out North spokesperson Zoe Raemer said, "It would be an opportunity for us in the NWT to show some leadership on this front."

Gender identity describes one's own perceived gender, and Raemer predicted there will be "some debate" on the matter.

"From my perspective, the term gender identity or trans-gendered is linked to those people who are not comfortable with, or who reject either in whole or in part their birth-assigned gender identify," she said. "Somebody may feel that they were born a man in a woman's body."

She said the real impact of the wording, however, "gives us the opportunity to go about our lives in a manner that has both dignity and respect without the fear of discrimination. I think it's key and essential."

MLAs will debate the Act over the next few days. It's unclear whether the bill will be passed during this fall session, but Petersen said labour groups in the territory are seeking money to mount a public information campaign about their problems with the act.

Petersen is also concerned about the composition of the proposed complaints commission, which will require its members to have either five years experience as lawyers or five years experience on an administrative tribunal or court.

"It shouldn't be a patronage, pork-barrelling type of situation," said Petersen, who wants members from labour, NGOs and aboriginal groups represented.