Human rights training is coming to Thunder Bay in the fall.
Starting Sept. 23, the city will host Taking it Local – Northwest, a two-day session that will tackle a variety of hot-button topics, including Aboriginal issues, housing, disability and accommodation and gender identity.
Coun. Rebecca Johnson said the Thunder Bay first, sponsored and paid for by the Ontario Human Rights Commission, couldn’t have come at a better time.
“We recognize that we have issues related to the Aboriginal community, which is unfortunate. But we do. How do we treat individuals with regards to human rights?” Johnson said.
“For example, you can be on the phone and you get an apartment building and you have it all in place and you walk to the door and all of a sudden you’re an Aboriginal and unfortunately they do not want you in that apartment building. Those are major issues.”
The sessions, which are open to the public and the business community, are being offered up at no charge. Johnson said she expects they’ll attract about 150 people per day.
She’s thinks it will be a hot ticket.
“There’s no question in talking to organizations as well as human relations (departments), they’re very interested in this training, Johnson said.
“Recognizing too that it’s free, which is very important to those who want to come and learn more about human rights. Otherwise they’re going out of the city to get this training. This is a way to bring the training here, for people not only in Thunder Bay, but in Northwestern Ontario, so they don’t have to go to Toronto to find out what are the human rights issue.”
Johnson, a longtime advocate of human rights and multicultural issues in Thunder Bay, said she believes most people simply don’t stop to think about human rights until it’s too late.
Often people aren’t sure of their rights.
“This is a way to find those out. That’s why it’s important for the general public to come and learn what their actual rights are,” Johnson said.
Barbara Hall, the former mayor of Toronto who heads the Ontario Human Rights Commission, said she’s pleased to be able to bring the seminars to Thunder Bay.
“These connections are a vital part of advancing human rights for all Ontarians,” she said in a release.
The Sept. 24 session will focus on effectively dealing with competing human rights and include presentations, case studies and discussion.
