Globe and Mail: Human rights complaint filed over Manitoba election ad against landfill search
The complaint hinges on Section 18 of the province’s Human Rights Code, which prohibits publishing, broadcasting, circulating or publicly displaying discriminatory signs and statements.
Filing a complaint based on a party’s messaging, rather than a government service, adds a layer of “interesting complexity,” said human rights lawyer Allison Fenske.
“There are a lot of legal recognitions of the right to free expression and certain legal protections around political activity,” said Fenske, who is also clinical counsel at the University of Manitoba’s law faculty.
“That said, people still have the right to be free from discrimination so it’s not out of the realm of possibility that certain actions taken in the course of that political activity could garner attention with respect to the human rights code.”