Month: January 2025

The Burnaby Now has recently posted articles about human rights complaints that are connected to Burnaby.

I am curious to know how the people who filed these complaints feel about that.

Do they like their story being shared? Do they feel that these articles are elevating their advocacy? Or do they wish Burnaby Now never wrote them?

Having courts and tribunal systems be open and transparent to the public is an important feature of our justice system. Court is always open. As a member of the public you can just walk in and watch everything unfold. In special circumstances, lawyers can argue to have a closed courtroom. Having an open court system is a way for us to learn about how our justice system works and how decisions are made. It boosts public confidence and supports the legitimacy of the system.

If you are a parent filing a complaint on behalf of your child, your name, your child’s name and the school district’s name will be anonymized. If you want to name yourself, or the school district you will need to make an application. One parent did just that and won. You can also apply to have just your school districts named. You can file an anonymization application as soon as your complaint is accepted.

However, if you are a parent filing a family status complaint they may anonymize your name if information about your child is disclosed, or they may not. There is a risk of this hitting the local newspaper. For some people, that would thrill them and the attention they have been wanting. Other people, may feel that their information being shared is a violation. One parent advocated for a consent resolution so that the details of what happened were posted publicly after a settlement. Bravo! That was a genius idea.

Dismissal decisions are not the only decisions being shared. Anything that would benefit the public to be aware of or that advances the Code gets posted. That is timeliness, complaint amendments, improper conduct applications, etc. Not all decisions get posted. Many of them do not. You will not know in advance if the decision is going to get posted or not until the day they tell you it will be posted the next day. You’ll get the decision in the morning and then shortly after it will be on their website.

If anonymization is important to you, this is a conversation I would suggest you have with your case manager. The sooner the better.

Also, know that having a closed hearing is also something you can apply for. Otherwise, your hearing will be posted on their public hearing list, and members of the public can sign up and listen in. This is how people learn about the process and prepare for their own cases.

Most parents I have talked to would love to broadcast their case to as many people as possible. They have reached the point where they want to scream from the tallest mountain. They want everyone to know what happened. But, if this isn’t the case for you, the public attention that could come from a human rights complaint may be something that you consider and discuss with your case manager as soon as your complaint gets accepted.