Tag: Ministry of Education

PART 1 – Summer Series- Duty to Accommodate – Power of the Human Rights Code

Ok. Let’s get started.

To start off the series, we first need to truly understand just how powerful the Human Rights Code is and how it is actually the discrimination test that is our sword for advocacy. Ministries’ policies, IEPs, designations and criteria for EA support hours are actually not what determines who gets accommodations, who doesn’t and what those accommodations are.

This blog series is not my personal opinion. Everything that is written comes from some kind of written authority. For those who want to dive deeper, I have added a lot of links.

Here we go!

Section One – Written Authority

What is written authority? Written authority is law, policy or some kind of document. Something that is written and acts on behalf of other people, that has power, and people will use it as a decision-making tool. If school staff deny our requests, we always want to ask them something along the lines of: What is the written authority that supports your decision? Basically, says who? Where does it come from? People just can’t just make stuff up.

Section Two – Education as a Service connected to the Human Rights Code

To understand the power of the Human Rights Code in education, we need to start at the beginning. Follow the path of written authority.
👇👇👇👇

Moore v. British Columbia (Education), 2012 SCC 61 “The purpose of the School Act in British Columbia is to ensure that “all learners . . . develop their individual potential and . . . acquire the knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to contribute to a healthy, democratic and pluralistic society and a prosperous and sustainable economy”. 

                    The “service” to which J is entitled under s. 8 of the B.C. Human Rights Code is education generally.”  

From this human rights case decision, we know that kids with disabilities are entitled to a quality education, and this education is protected under Section 8, of the B.C Human Rights Code.

The Human Rights Code, Section 8 is about discrimination in accommodation. Basically a person cannot, without a reasonable justification, deny a person any accommodation, and they can’t discriminate.

This protection under the BC Human Rights Code is powerful. To be legally protected under The Code, you need a protected characteristic. For this blog we will be focusing on physical/mental disability as the protected characteristic.

Your child’s accommodations are the priority and will be more important than any other law, policy, administrative procedure, code of conduct, disciplinary process (including suspension), exclusion policy, school rules, or classroom rules in the school system, etc. etc.

Why are accommodations the priority above other laws and policies?

Section Three – Power of the Human Rights Code

In the BC Human Rights Code, section 4, it states:

Code prevails

4  If there is a conflict between this Code and any other enactment, this Code prevails.

What this means is that the BC Human Rights Code (duty to accommodate) is a law above all other laws, if conflict arises.

What does “when in conflict” mean? If there is something about the law or policy that is discriminatory, that is the conflict part. The Human Rights Code will squash that specific discriminatory part of the law or policy.

So if there is anything that is discriminatory in the School Act, Ministry Inclusion Policies or school board policies, the Human Rights Code will be the law that is followed and not the discriminatory part of the School Act or other policies.

Using a human rights lens to advocate for our kids is the highest form of advocacy we can use. When in conflict, the Code prevails. Discrimination is not allowed, no matter what policies are created by the Ministry or the school board. Your child’s accommodations are the priority.

Beautiful.

Section Four- Practical Application

What does this mean in real life?

This means, teacher classroom autonomy, which some teachers will cite as a reason that they can uphold the decisions they make in the classroom, will not be upheld if discrimination is occurring. The Code, supersedes teacher classroom autonomy.

So, if a teacher is denying a kid with ADHD breaks for regulation (denying an accommodation), then Section 8 of the Human Rights Code will step in. A child doesn’t need an IEP or a designation to be entitled to accommodations. More on this below.

A teacher not implementing a child’s IEP is a HUGE deal. An IEP is not a suggestion. It, too, is backed by written authority.

P (by KD) v. Board of Education of School District No. 61 (Greater Victoria) and another, 2025 BCHRT 62

[70] However, the Ministry disagrees that just because IEPs do not require a parent’s signature the School District is not required to adhere to them. The Ministry says IEPs do have a legal effect and function, as there is a valid legislative and policy framework that provides both authority and guidance for IEPs.

Here are some examples of what you may hear from schools and here is what the response is from the Human Rights Code.

School: Your child doesn’t qualify for an IEP as per Ministry Policy.
Human Rights Code: Doesn’t matter. The school is providing a service. You are still required by law to accommodate a child with a disability with or without an IEP. The criteria to see if they should receive these accommodations is not your policy; it is the discrimination test.

School: Your child doesn’t qualify for a designation.
Human Rights Code: Doesn’t matter. The School is providing a service. You are still required by law to accommodate a child with a disability with or without a designation. The test to see if they should receive these accommodations is not your designation criteria; it is the discrimination test.

School: Your child doesn’t qualify for EA support.
Human Rights Code: Doesn’t matter. The school is providing a service. You are still required by law to accommodate a child with a disability with or without an EA. It doesn’t matter what your internal criteria is that you use to determine EA support hours; it is the discrimination test.

You get the idea. Their policy IS NOT the legal test to determine if your child gets accommodations or not, or what their accommodations will be.

The legal test is the discrimination test. The discrimination test, comes from the Human Rights Code – human rights case law. The discrimination test will squash any Ministry or school policy.

In Student (by Parent) v. School District 2023 BCHRT 237, the student had a diagnosis of Generalized Anxiety Disorder. At the time of the complaint, she did not have a designation or IEP. She was still protected under Section 8 of the Human Rights Code. The school had a duty to provide her with accommodations for her disability.

Lots of kids with ADHD don’t get designations or IEPs. They are still protected under The Code. There are lots of human rights cases (see Human Rights Desicsions (Cases) list) that involve kids with ADHD. This includes post-secondary too.

Mr. A v. The University, 2020 BCHRT 58 

[1]               Mr. A is a student at the University. He has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder [ADHD]. Because of his disability, the University’s Centre for Accessibility [Centre] has approved a number of accommodations for Mr. A in respect of his education. These include advance access to lecture notes and course materials where possible.

Students are legally entitled to academic accommodations, “a ramp”- due to the Moore case. The school has a responsibility to figure this out and come up with solutions to remove the barriers. (More on this later and case law later.)

Section Five – The Human Rights Code has Limitations

Now, there are many layers to the duty to accommodate.

  • This doesn’t mean that your child will get whatever supports you want for them. The Human Rights Code supports “reasonable accommodations,” not perfect or ideal accommodations. (more on this later)
  • It doesn’t mean that your child may never have a negative experience. Also supported in a human rights education case decision. Para 110 (more on this later)
  • It doesn’t mean harm may never occur. Human rights complaints are about harm that has already occurred and/or currently occurring, not about harm you anticipate might happen in the future. When your rights have been violated.
  • It doesn’t even mean that you need to even agree with the decisions that the school made, also supported by a human rights decision. Para 248 (More on this list and matching case law later)

The Human Rights Code is not limitless. BC HRT website: “Sometimes a person can justify their conduct and then there is no discrimination.” (More to come on this next week)

The Human Rights Code is a tool. We use this tool to advocate for “reasonable” accommodations that provide “a ramp” that removes the barriers so that our children can have an equitable education. Equal access and equitable access are different. (More on this later)

Section Six – Discrimination Test

The Moore case is what set out the discrimination test and defined accommodations as “a ramp” so that our children are legally entitled to an accessible education.

Just want to take a moment of pause to give a round of applause, throwing of flowers and and an absolute snot-filled sobbing thank you, to the Moore family for their advocacy and absolute sheer persistence in spending an incredible amount of years (15?) with uncertainty on how their case was going to land. It went all the way up to the Supreme Court of Canada.

The discrimination test is EVERYTHING. It is our sword. You have a legal leg to stand on connected to written authority because of the Moore family. We use the discrimination test as a sword to slice through the bullshit excuses, crappy policies, inequitable distribution of resources and sheer ableist oppression from school district staff. Any advancement that other families make in their own cases all start with the Moore case. Respect to the Moore family!

As you will notice, when you read the Duty to Accommodate, section 8 isn’t long. So, where do all of these “rules” and expectations come from?

Case law.

I will get to it later on how case law is GOLD.

Section Seven – Parents are Protected Too!

And something else really important to know. It’s not just your kids who are provided a service and protected under the Human Rights Code. You are also as their parent(s)/guardian protected under family status connected to education as a service. These two jewels of decisions mean you can file a human rights complaint on behalf of yourself, and the discrimination test will apply to you too! Thank goodness!! I mean, seriously… It’s about time!

Section Eight – Something to think about…

Using written authority or human rights language in our communication with the school does not mean we are being aggressive, overreactive or overly forceful. It does not mean we need to file a human rights complaint. It does not mean we are going to be battling it out with lawyers. We aren’t tar and feathering people. The use of human rights language is simply enacting rights our children are entitled to by law. Nothing more, nothing less. We are expecting schools to follow the law. That is it.

Using human rights language when we advocate may also be new information to teachers and administrators, not everyone is aware of human rights and what they are even responsible for ensuring they do, within their own jobs. Failure of the system? Totally! Utterly shameful and ridiculous. They are the professionals! The School Act gives them all the final decision-making power. They should at least be knowledgeable about human rights laws. If I worked in education today as an employee, I would be angry that this has not been part of my education and training, and that I am put into situations that leave me ineffective at doing my job, and harming kids. Teachers are at risk of being hauled into hearings. They aren’t fun. The staff who care look white as a ghost, ready to throw up, and some of them cry. Incredibly stressful. And trust me, there are no guarantees the district will come and save you. They would rather risk a hearing happening, hoping the parent will bow out, than make amends. It’s a game of chicken that they have no problem playing. As far as I am concerned, if you are a teacher who doesn’t understand human rights obligations within your job, you are a sitting duck. I highly recommend that organizations that invest in teachers start making this material part of post-secondary education and professional development opportunities.

From this week: Key Takeaways:

The Human Rights Code prevails.

Just know that for this week, the Human Rights Code is very powerful. Our most powerful form of advocacy. It is the law above all laws. It is definitely worth it to invest some time to learn about it, embrace it and most importantly, use it!

ANYTIME the schools give you a reason for denying your child an accommodation, or are not protecting them from bullying, or they use policy in a way that you think is harmful to your child…. in steps the discrimination test.

The discrimination test is our sword. Thank you Moore family and their legal team!

Coming Up Next Week:

Understanding the Discrimination Test.

This part is KEY! We apply the discrimination test to the situations that our children are experiencing to see if they are protected in this situation under the Human Rights Code.

There is still so much left to go!! See you all again next week for the next blog in the series!

Summer Series! Duty to Accommodate

Hello Everyone! I am back from vacation and ready to roll!

This summer I am going to be breaking down the Duty to Accommodate into a weekly blog series that will be posted every Sunday night and will continue during the summer.

Why?

What I am witnessing is this. 👉Parents who use human rights language in their advocacy are experiencing higher rates of success in getting their kids the accommodations they need.

I am going to be REALLY breaking down the duty to accommodate. Into weekly digestible accessible chunks. We will look at where the written authority comes from for all of this, as well as key language words. By the end, I am not going to just provide you fish, I will be teaching you HOW to fish. Because context and learning how to apply the duty to accommodate to your specific situation is what is going to make all the magic happen.

You don’t need to be a lawyer to understand this stuff. We can all learn about human rights and how to apply them. Human rights are constantly evolving and advancing. The schools want you to think that this stuff is more complicated than it actually is.

First blog coming July 13th. Let’s get rolling!

I also wanted to take the time to mention that this month is my 4-year anniversary of starting up Speaking Up BC. 😁😁😁

4 years ago I decided to launch a website. The goal was to share with other parent(s)/guardians all the information that I was learning along the way. Everything that I wish I knew earlier. So many things I found to be hidden in education, and it felt by chance I was stumbling along and learning all of this. So much unbelievable stuff was happening. I trusted way too many people who, as it turns out, absolutely did not have my children’s best interests at heart. I would have given anything to have someone warn me. I was so desperate for information, seeking, searching, for anything that would help my children.

So, I started up my own website, and I started posting information about the external complaint systems I was navigating and started blogging. Writing to me gives me peace. One thing is super clear to me over the years. We are very powerful when we network and share information. People need support. It’s really hard to do this on our own. And so I attempt to be a lighthouse. Take it or leave it. Up to you. But I am here. And I am never shutting up.

How do we Heal?

I have been asked questions by a few parents that all boil down to the same thing.

  1. How do we heal?
  2. How do we move through this?
  3. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel?

I am not quite sure I am the best person to be answering these questions because I will be transparent, I am struggling with these issues as we speak.

There are a few things I do know.

  1. How do we heal?

I have a degree in criminology. Victims report over and over again that when a sentence is given to a person by a judge who harmed them or their family members, it creates closure, but it never heals them. The healing part now rests in the hands of those who have been harmed. The victim needs to figure out how to heal without the involvement of their abuser.

The question is then, how do we heal from things no one is ever going to apologize for?

Schools never apologize. Ever. They have all clearly been given the same instructions. No matter how severe the harm, they will not apologize. They will never admit liability. They know we could be recording. They won’t do it. They enter the plea: not guilty. If we are waiting for an apology and our healing is dependent on that in order to move forward, we are in trouble.

Healing is also not linear. I am really not in a place to give tips on healing. It is a messy process. One I think, is a worthy goal to work on. I don’t want to be angry for the rest of my life. I want to let this shit go. I hope that we all heal, as individuals and as a community. It’s hard to heal when you are still in it.

Healing is so individualized, but worthy of the effort in figuring out what you need to do to move on with peace.

2. How do we move through this?

While you are in the school system, it can be a state of survival mode. After having two kids graduate from the public school setting. Here are my suggestions.

a. You absolutely need to find yourself some kind of support system. A support group, a friend, a Facebook group…. something. Someone who is experiencing something similar to you. We need our people like we need air. We can experience and tolerate and move through a lot of shit, as long as we KNOW we aren’t alone. It’s when we feel separated from the pack, alone and unprotected, that we aren’t going to make it. Community care is essential.

b. Self-care like nobody’s business. This is going to look different for every person. If you need a bath every night before bed to survive, take it. If you need to ask for help from a neighbour so you can go for a walk once a week, ask for help. I am one who writes and needs to get everything out of me on paper. I journal a lot. We need to regulate our bodies. If we don’t prioritize our own regulation, no one else is going to do that. Don’t put your sex life on the back burner. Our bodies and brains need it. Watch comedies. Laughing is so important. Find relaxing activities to do within the limitations and opportunities in your own life. Find healthy things to increase your dopamine levels, naturally.

c. For me, I run on anger. It’s gas in my gas tank. Take your emotions and make them work for you. Figuring out how to do this is worth the effort and how people do this, will be dependent on how you process things.

d. There are counselling programs that offer therapy that is either free or very low cost. These can be great!

3. Is there light at the end of the tunnel?

I don’t know. I can’t guarantee you that it will only get easier from here on out.

But what I can tell you is that I truly believe there is ALWAYS hope.

All we need is a little bit of hope. I have hope in people. There ARE really good people in this world. There is goodness in us. You never know what is around the corner.

One of the quotes that I love from Judith Heuman, a disability activist, is:

“Change never happens at the pace we think it should. It happens over the years of people joining together, strategizing, sharing, and pulling all the levers they possibly can. Gradually, excruciatingly slowly, things start to happen, and then suddenly, seemingly out of the blue, something will tip.”

Who would have ever guessed that the Ombudsperson BC would do an exclusion investigation??? Didn’t see that one coming!

When I was in university in my early twenties, my most favourite teacher of all time ended her class with giving everyone a mustard seed in a bag. I didn’t realize that it’s connected to a religious verse. But the point of this message was, that as long as you have hope as small as a mustard seed, nothing will be impossible for you. Mustard seeds are very tiny. I can tell you that I still have that mustard seed over 25 years later in my wallet. I have always carried it with me.

She was a very special teacher. I almost dropped out, and she convinced me to stay. So, yeah. This mustard seed that she handed out to the class has stayed with me for 25 years. I just need a bit of hope. That’s it. It has served me well.

I have a couple favourite quotes.

“When you walk to the edge of all the light you have and take that first step into the darkness of the unknown, you must believe that one of two things will happen:

There will be something solid for you to stand upon, or, you will be taught to fly.”

― Patrick Overton, 

My other poem that I love, I found on a locker door of the EA I was replacing. I was an on-call EA when I was in university. The ride on the metro one morning to work was when I really started thinking about dropping out. I spoke to my teacher the next day.

The poem I found on the EA’s locker I was replacing that morning was this.

“Risks

To laugh is to risk appearing a fool,
To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.
To reach out to another is to risk involvement,
To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.
To place your ideas and dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss.
To love is to risk not being loved in return,
To live is to risk dying,
To hope is to risk despair,
To try is to risk failure.
But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.
― Leo F. Buscaglia

To me, in order to have hope, we have to weed through unknown territory. Never knowing how things are going to work out. We need hope. We need to risk moving forward without knowing the end results.

Never lose hope.

I find reading documentary books or reading about history to remind me to always hope. There have been some incredible people who have done incredible things, against all odds. Whatever you have to do to keep the hope alive, it’s worth it. Reading about disability history to me, feeds me. We stand on the shoulders of giants.

Oh Education Case Law…

I have something exciting to share. I will be picking up my degree this week from SFU. I decided not to go to the graduation ceremony. Not my jam. Picking up my degree will finalize my interactions with SFU. I am letting that sink in. It’s been quite a journey.

I am remembering when I first started school in fall of 2021. My first class was a law foundations class. I had a fabulous teacher.

I have a visual reminder of that first class. The lecture hall was huge. I would guess at least 250 students??? She asked the class to raise their hand for those who took grade 12 law. Everyone did but me. At that point, I had never taken a class about law in my life. I knew zilch. 95% of the students had laptops. I had a pen and paper notebook. They were all young adults. I was the only …. …cough…mature student in the room. As the room is buzzing with the sounds of 250 Gen Z overachieving students typing on their laptops, I felt like I was taking out my feather quill and dipping it in my inkwell.

For our first assignment, she wanted us to add a creative piece on our topic. How cool is that? So along with the written assignment, I wrote a poem on education case law.

Here it is.

Case Law

Schools are places of learning
They mold, inspire and teach
But much to my surprise
Educational law is out of reach

As parents you have ideas
How your child’s education will go
Case law doesn’t float through your head
Until you have school conflict woes

As I sat consulting with a lawyer
He told me my case wouldn’t stick
There is no case law to support it
I thought he was just being a dick

I searched through all the case law
And much to my surprise
He was right about my case
I was hoping it was a bunch of lies.

Without educational case law
The people in charge are free
To do whatever the fuck they want
Consequences, they never see

Oh, education case law
It was not meant to be
I guess I have nothing left to do
But get drunk on spiked herbal tea.

The End.

She liked my poem. And I do have to say…it is true, there wasn’t case law similar to what my child had experienced. So, I decided to take the district to a hearing and create my own.

Thanks SFU for being part of the journey and transformation!

New HR Decision… and it’s LOADED

ooohhhh gather around for this one!

Lots of interesting learnings in this decision.

Thank you, thank you, thank you to the parent who brought this decision forward.

It was a win for them personally and a win for us for this analysis.

Here we go. This is an exclusion case & Indigenous rights.

Parent obo Student v. BC Ministry of Education and another, 2025 BCHRT 112

There is a lot in here, so I am going to list the important parts that I see.

  1. Ministerial order analysis
  2. Section 11 appeal was dismissed, HR complaint continues
  3. Timeliness application
  4. Ministry of Education dismissed

Respondents Defence Strategy

[10] The School District says that in April 2019, it decided to place the Student on a partial day program pursuant to the Ministry’s Special Needs Students Order, M150/89 [ Ministerial Order ], which states:……

(This policy is used as the school district’s defence to the exclusion in this case.)

[12] In or around 2019, the Student was diagnosed with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder-Combined [ ADHD-C ], anxiety, and Oppositional Defiant Disorder [ ODD ].

[13] The School District says the Ministerial Order clearly applied in the Student’s circumstances. It says that shortly after the Student started kindergarten, her teacher raised concerns regarding some of the Student’s behaviours related to self-regulation and ability to follow expectations in the classroom, which indicated a need for extra support. The School District says these behaviours escalated during the period of January to March 2019, and included task avoidance, touching others, eloping from the classroom, disrupting the class environment, being unable to follow simple adult directions, and running through the school. In response, the School District says it began implementing more interventions and support for the Student. However, despite these additional supports, the School District says the Student’s behaviour continued to escalate to the point that neither her educational needs, nor those of her classmates, were being met.

The parent made a section 11 appeal

18] The parties agree that the Parent went through the following steps of the appeal procedure:

a. Step 1: appeal to the school principal who upheld the decision to place the Student on a partial day program.

b. Step 2: appeal to the Assistant Superintendent, Learning Services for the School District, who upheld the school principal’s decision.

c. Step 3: appeal to the Superintendent of Schools, who upheld the Assistant Superintendent’s decision.

d. Step 4: appeal to the Board of Trustees for the School District. The Board issued its decision on November 28, 2019, stating that they did not deem it appropriate to require that the Student be immediately returned to full-time attendance at school.

This is SUPER important – take a look at the reason for the appeal not being upheld

[20] The Superintendent of Appeals summarily dismissed the appeal concerning s. 2(2)(f), and an adjudicator rendered a decision dismissing the appeal under s. 2(2)(b) finding that it did not have jurisdiction to hear the appeal because the Student had not been suspended from school [ Ministry Appeal Decision ].

Because the student hadn’t been suspended!!

They do this a lot!

This is VERY important learning for us.

Ministry of Education – Dismissed

So the parent filed against the Ministry of Education as well. They were dismissed from the case. No surprises here. We have seen this over and over.

[31] The Ministry says there has been a clear legislative choice, as set out in the School Act , to divide the roles and responsibilities for K-12 education in BC between the Ministry and the School District. The services the complaint claims the Ministry ought to have provided have not been delineated as within the scope of the Ministry’s jurisdiction and/or authority and would involve an inappropriate intrusion into the role and responsibilities of the School District.

[32] Further, the Ministry says there is no evidence that it had any involvement in the decisions or actions related to the Student’s educational program. The Ministry provides funding and oversight at a high level with respect to K-12 education.

Ministerial Order does not excuse them from human rights process

Now this is SUPER INTERESTING!

[38] The School District argues that the allegations in the complaint fall outside the jurisdiction of the Tribunal. Specifically, the School District says the complainant is improperly attempting to challenge the validity if the Ministerial Order through the Tribunal’s process. The School District notes that one of the remedies sought in the complaint is “changes made to the School Act to protect children who have special needs,” which is beyond the Tribunal’s authority. The School District says it has the legal authority to put students on a partial day program pursuant to the Ministerial Order, under section 75 and 168(2)(t) of the School Act . In this case, the School District says that the Student demonstrated behaviour which met the criteria for a partial day program as set out in the Ministerial Order.

[39] I agree with the School District that the Tribunal does not have the authority to overturn the Ministerial Order or to find the Ministerial Order itself invalid. Similarly, the Tribunal cannot order that changes be made to the School Act . However, I am not persuaded that the allegations in the current complaint are outside of the jurisdiction of the Tribunal.

See what I mean by the respondents will always have an argument.

The stuff they come up with is fascinating.

I gotta hand it to them, they are creative.

The tribunal’s response was this:

[40] Although reforms to the School Act are raised in the complaint as a potential remedy, I read the allegations as encompassing concerns about the manner in which the Ministerial Orders were applied in these circumstances, and the impact on the Student as an Indigenous child with disabilities, rather than the validity of the Ministerial Orders themselves. This is not a complaint challenging the non-discretionary application of legislative criteria, for example. The determination of the “educational needs” of a student with special needs or other students, as well as the appropriate alternative programming for a child with special needs, per the Ministerial Order, are discretionary decisions made by teachers or other School District personnel. These decisions, if influenced by the protected characteristics of an affected student, are within the Tribunal’s jurisdiction to review.

[43] I do not agree with the School District’s characterization of this issue as one of jurisdiction. Rather, it is part of the human rights analysis the Tribunal must undertake in any case and would more appropriately be raised under s.27(1)(b) or (c) of the Code . Nevertheless, I consider whether the allegations against the School District raise an arguable contravention of the Code under s. 27(1)(g) analysis below.

[44] Accordingly, I deny the School District’s application under s. 27(1)(a) of the Code .

Woohoo!

Now, another benefit of this decision is that the respondents know that this argument wont fly with the tribunal. So, this case helps to whittle down their arguments. That is very good.

AND if this wasn’t interesting enough, we even get a timeliness application.

Timeliness Application

[50] I am satisfied in the current circumstances that the allegations form a continuing contravention, and the most recent act of alleged discrimination occurred within one year of the filing of the complaint. I am further satisfied that the allegations pass the “arguable contravention test.”

What is a continuing convention of the code?

[47] A complaint is filed in time if the last allegation of discrimination happened within one year, and older allegations are part of a “continuing contravention”: Code , s. 22(2); School District v. Parent obo the Child , 2018 BCCA 136  at para. 68  . A continuing contravention is “a succession or repetition of separate acts of discrimination of the same character” that could be considered separate contraventions of the Code , and “not merely one act of discrimination which may have continuing effects or consequences”: Chen v. Surrey (City), 2015 BCCA 57 at para. 23  ; School District at para. 50  .

Here are some important allegations that give us a peek into what the parent was dealing with. Always know with these decisions, we aren’t getting the full picture. Decisions are written up to only include the information that is needed for the decision. There is ALWAYS more to the story.

a. February 1, 2019: The Student was put on partial days of school and was not allowed to participate in school activities or be in attendance with her peers;

b. March 1, 2019: The previous vice principal said: “it just gets to a point in the day where we just don’t want to deal with [the Student] anymore”;

c. April 1, 2019: The Parent was called to the school to pick up the Student because “she was having trauma triggered behaviours and several school staff including the principal, vice principal, and EAs had her cornered in the classroom and she was scared, trapped, and in distress;

d. June 1, 2019: The principal said to the Parent: “have you thought about transferring her to a different school?”;

e. June 1, 2019: The Student was separated from her class and was not allowed to be in a classroom with other children;

f. August 1, 2019: The previous Assistant Superintendent said school staff do not want to work with the Student because she is a “dirty girl”;

g. September 1, 2019: “Step 1” meeting with the principal to appeal the decision not to allow the Student in school full time – denied;

h. September 1, 2019: “Step 2” meeting with the Assistant Superintendent to appeal the decision not to allow the Student in school full time – denied;

i. November 1, 2019: “Step 3” meeting with Superintendent of Schools to appeal the decision not to allow the Student in school full time – denied;

j. November 26, 2019: “Step 4” meeting with Board of Trustees to appeal the decision not to allow the Student in school full time – denied.

In conclusion – public interest too!

[66] For these reasons, I find that the complaint is timely. Had I reached a different conclusion, I would have still found that the public interest favours accepting this complaint. The education system has been identified as a common area of human rights concern for Indigenous children: BC Human Rights Tribunal, (2020) “Expanding Our Vision: Cultural Equality and Indigenous Peoples’ Human Rights” at p. 27; Ontario Human Rights Commission, (2018) “To dream together: Indigenous peoples and human rights dialogue report” at p. 40. Courts and Tribunals have taken notice that Indigenous women and girls have been, and continue to be, particularly subject to hurtful biases, stereotypes and assumptions, including that they are “unintelligent” or “people of low or bad character not deserving of the same respect, humanity and dignity as others”: R. v Zakuti , 2021 BCSC 2253 at para. 25; Lindsay v. Toronto District School Board , 2020 HRTO 496 at para. 23. Here, the Student as an Indigenous girl who has been denied full access to the public education system, requires that this complaint be situated in its full socio-historical context. The Code ’s purpose of identifying and eliminating persistent patterns of inequality associated with discrimination protected by the Code is served by this complaint being heard at a hearing on the merits: s. 3(d).

And here is this beautiful statement

Dismissal denied – Complaint Proceeding

[68] I deny the application to dismiss the complaint against the School District. These allegations will proceed to a hearing.

I really encourage you to read the case in full. There are a lot of interesting details in there.

Due to the parent’s persistence in bringing this case forward, we have some very interesting legal analysis that are advancing the human rights code. This decision is now an advocacy tool and we are learning about what we need to do.  The piece about appeals being denied around suspensions is very interesting to have this documented.

It would be interesting to see a section 11 appeal done if the school refuses to log it as a suspension. Topics to discuss amongst education advocates, the importance of exclusion being labelled a suspension.

A big thank you to this parent’s advocacy.

“If not you, then who?”

I was at a kids’ baseball game, they were around grade 8 & 9. The ball went soaring high up in the air, into right field. The kid just stood there and didn’t move. The ball landed a few feet away.

The coach yells out, “If not you… then who?”

I am not writing this to comment on the coaches comment. I do think about this a lot. I visually replay this event in my mind. I thought about this a lot, going through my child’s human rights complaint, determined as all hell, all the way to a hearing. If not me….than who? This is the ball of crap that has been hit hard straight into my zone. If not me, then who?

Who else is going to do this? My neighbour? Our dentist? What about my friend who lives across the street?

The answer may sound obvious, but there is a twist.

Of course, it has to be me. Or does it?

When you go through the human rights process, you can self-represent, or you can have a lawyer and there is a THIRD option.

You can have anyone be your advocate and be your representative. It could be your neighbour. It could be your friend who lives down the street. It could be anyone to support you and help you through the process.

Is there someone in your life who can work with you together on this project, and you all work together as a team? You can both be crafting emails. You can both be preparing for a mediation meeting. You don’t need to do this alone.

If not you, then you and a support person. That’s who.

Just something to think about and consider.

Here is information on the BC HRT website about this.

Rule 7 – Representation before the Tribunal – page 4 in the table of contents


How participants may be represented
(1) A participant may be represented by a lawyer or other person, or may be self-represented.

(2) The representative may be:

(a) lawyer or other person authorized to practice law in British Columbia under the Legal Profession Act, or

(b) a person who acts as a representative with no expectation of a fee, gain or reward, direct or indirect, from the participant they represent, except for persons identified in s. 15(3) of the Legal Profession Act.


You will see it in cases. It will look like this.

Text:

Tribunal Member: Devyn Cousineau

Agent for the Complainant: Dr. Bob Uttl

Counsel for the Respondent: Jamie Hoopes, Alyssa Paex, and Ilan Burkes

“It doesn’t make a difference”

Yes, it does!

That sentence literally makes me want to rip my face off. My body actually physically responds first, when I hear that from people. It’s like a wave that just rushes over my body. And I have to sit still for just a minute, so I don’t lose my shit.

….okay I am actually going to sit in this and lose my shit for a bit.

Yes. It. Does. Make. A. Difference.

Many people have the expectation that one big thing needs to happen and then the education system is suddenly going to change overnight.

That is impossible.

I can tell you right now, it is never going to happen.

(When systems are forced to change overnight, it doesn’t tend to be by choice or for the better)

Social movements that change the hearts and minds of people are slow and painful, and laborious work. Anti-ableism work is slow and painful and laborious work.

It requires a bunch of little things, moderate things, quiet work, and loud work all mixed up together by multiple groups of people over and over again. Everything adds up. You won’t see it all. You won’t know all the players on all of the teams. You won’t understand it all. There will be many side conversations, many unknown emails, many people working in the shadows and many people working in the spotlight.

Saying, “what is the point, it’s not going to do anything anyways”

Sorry, but YOU have missed the point.

When I hear that, what you have taught me is that you don’t understand how systems work. What breaks me, is that by people making those comments, you are undermining other people’s efforts. Please, please, please, keep your comments to yourself.

We need to lift people up and cheer them on. Not the opposite. Change is never a simple, clear line from A to B. It’s two steps forward, one step back. It’s messy, it’s confusing, it’s uncomfortable, and it’s all over the place. Because we are always stepping into uncharted territory. When people push the line, they don’t know what is going to happen. How people are going to react, because in this space and time, it’s never been done before. People are inspired and moved, and it changes people’s thinking, watching other people step into advocacy. It shows people what is possible, or what won’t work, and where we need to go next. It’s all valuable.

Please stop telling people to give up, why bother and what’s the point.

Lots of people are not giving up. Lots of people want to be a bother. And lots of people have a lot of points.

So to all of the people out there who are doing the quiet work, the moderate work, and the loud work, I encourage you to take your points and be pointy.

Everything adds up. The stepping stones all become useful for different things at various times. You will never really know all the ways that impact the system. None of it is a waste.

Society thanks you.

Understanding Systemic Change

Rant over.

School District Lawyers

Here is the Code of Professional Conduct for Lawyers – from the Law Society.

I have pulled out some interesting pieces I think are good for us to know. If you feel the lawyer you are dealing with isn’t being ethical, you can file a complaint with the Law Society.

You can also file an improper conduct complaint with the BC HRT.

There are the top 3 school law firms that I know about who take on the majority of education law cases. They all operate in similar ways in how they interact with parents.

Here are some code of ethics pieces that are good to know.

Encouraging compromise or settlement

3.2-4 A lawyer must advise and encourage a client to compromise or settle a dispute whenever it is possible to do so on a reasonable basis and must discourage the client from commencing or continuing useless legal proceedings.

(School district lawyers tend to delay and want these processes to drag on. They think parents will get tired and give up. Part of me wonders if they are also taking advantage of the system and see us parents as cash cows for their law firm.)

7.2  Responsibility to lawyers and others

Courtesy and good faith

7.2-1  A lawyer must be courteous and civil and act in good faith with all persons with whom the lawyer has dealings in the course of their practice. 

(If they play dirty, not only can you file an improper conduct complaint with the HRT, but also a complaint with the law society.)

7.2-4  A lawyer must not, in the course of a professional practice, send correspondence or otherwise communicate to a client, another lawyer or any other person in a manner that is abusive, offensive, or otherwise inconsistent with the proper tone of a professional communication from a lawyer.

[heading amended 11/2024]

Communicating with an unrepresented person
7.2-9 When a lawyer deals on a client’s behalf with an unrepresented person, the lawyer must:

(a) urge the unrepresented person to obtain independent legal representation;

(b) take care to see that the unrepresented person is not proceeding under the impression that their interests will be protected by the lawyer; and

(c) make it clear to the unrepresented person that the lawyer is acting exclusively in the interests of the client.

[[heading added, rule amended 11/2024]

(NOTE: The school district lawyers will ALWAYS do whatever is best for their client. Not you. Not your child. If they are doing anything that benefits your child or you, it is because it benefits their client to be doing that. Period.)

2.2  Integrity

2.2-1  A lawyer has a duty to carry on the practice of law and discharge all responsibilities to clients, tribunals, the public and other members of the profession honourably and with integrity.

Commentary

[1]  Integrity is the fundamental quality of any person who seeks to practise as a member of the legal profession. If clients have any doubt about their lawyers’ trustworthiness, the essential element in the true lawyer-client relationship will be missing. If integrity is lacking, the lawyer’s usefulness to the client and reputation within the profession will be destroyed, regardless of how competent the lawyer may be.

[2]  Public confidence in the administration of justice and in the legal profession may be eroded by a lawyer’s irresponsible conduct. Accordingly, a lawyer’s conduct should reflect favourably on the legal profession, inspire the confidence, respect and trust of clients and of the community, and avoid even the appearance of impropriety.

[3]  Dishonourable or questionable conduct on the part of a lawyer in either private life or professional practice will reflect adversely upon the integrity of the profession and the administration of justice. Whether within or outside the professional sphere, if the conduct is such that knowledge of it would be likely to impair a client’s trust in the lawyer, the Society may be justified in taking disciplinary action.

[4]  Generally, however, the Society will not be concerned with the purely private or extra-professional activities of a lawyer that do not bring into question the lawyer’s professional integrity.

[[1] amended 10/2021]

Just be aware….

Keep your eyes open.

Everything they do or do not do is for the benefit of their client. If you want a settlement, it’s going to need to be a win-win for both parties, or they won’t take it. It’s a cost-risk analysis for them. If you want a hearing, then who cares, just keep going.

If they think you aren’t paying attention, they may think they can slip a needle in a haystack.

Be ready to file a complaint. It has the potential to benefit you, and it exposes the reality to the tribunal. Also, something VERY important. If we don’t speak up, it’s like our experience didn’t happen because “the system” no one else will know about it.

Participating in the Duty to Accommodate

If you are someone who is asking for accommodations for yourself at work or your child in school, we also have obligations under the Code to follow. If we do not follow this, than our human rights complaints can be dismissed.

Rennie v. BC Ambulance Service, 2025 BCHRT 104

[29] Further, Mr. Rennie obtained a medical letter dated April 13, 2015, from a psychologist. There is no evidence that this letter was provided to BC Ambulance prior to the present complaint proceeding.

[30] In these circumstances, I am persuaded that BC Ambulance is reasonably certain to prove at a hearing that Mr. Rennie failed to participate in his accommodation process by not communicating with BC Ambulance, and its obligation to accommodate came to an end. Therefore, Mr. Rennie’s complaint has no reasonable prospect of succeeding.

This complaint was dismissed.

We have to participate. This falls under the “Duty to co-operate in good faith”

Both parties are expected to do this. Both sides need to communicate.

If the school is ignoring you, keep all those emails that you didn’t get a response to. Those will also be important.

And…

If the school is communicating with you. You can’t ignore them either.

To read about the expectations and responsibilities of the duty to accommodate process read here

Some parents feel that the communication they receive from the school is meant to poke them or bait them. I highly suggest you read 5 Rules on How to be Untouchable. Also keep in mind the communication between the parties needs to be in good faith, so if you feel there is anything sneaky going on, always keep the emails.

The point of the communication and co-operation needs to be focused about figuring out which accommodations work and which ones don’t. Accommodations don’t need to be ideal or perfect, just “reasonable” enough to provide the person with “a ramp”.

So, provide documentation. Communicate in good faith. And one more extension from this topic for parents in education is the Duty to Facilitate. Very similar to this case, but for parents. Failure to facilitate a school decision can lead to your human rights complaint being dismissed.

Knowledge is power.

Know your rights and responsibilities under the Duty to Accommodate.

It’s a two-way street.

National Accessibility Week

May 25th – 31st

This week is National Accessibility Week, which makes me want to highlight the Accessible Canada Act.

Let’s break this down by asking

What?

So what?

Now what?

Let’s begin.

What is this? Well, it is law that is made by the Canadian Government. This is the federal law. There are other Accessible Acts that are provincial. But since this week is National Accessible Week, I am going to start off with the federal Accessible Canada Act.

The goal is to help people with disabilities expereince more equity when accessing services from the government.

The federal act applies to federal government services and larger big private companies like Air Canada, or banks. Smaller businesses or provincial government businesses are under the Provincial Assessibilty Acts, like schools or community centers.

So what? You can file a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commissioner (which is federal). This is different from a Human Rights Complaint.

In December of 2024, The CHRC wrote an Accessibility Plan Progress Report

Accessibility Legislation was only assented in 2019. So we are still in the infancy of all of this. I mean, really….. this only came to be in 2019. I guess better late than never.

Now what? We need to use this!! Providing feedback to companies about their services and what barriers we are experiencing is an important way to advocate for changes which will help other people in the future. This is another way to use law to help us in our advocacy efforts and make our country more accessible.

Accessibility reports are expected to be published for the public to reach and feedback on accessibility should part of websites.

Most of us though will probably be providing feedback on a provincial level.

That is the Accessible BC Act.

Here is the plain language summary of the Accessible BC Act. LOTS of great information in here that is easy to digest. It talks about fines, and what will happen if organizations or services don’t do anything. How it will be regulated, etc. This info is also available in ASL.

So, woohoo!

Cheers, to another avenue, so we can be annoying to other people who don’t want to change! And maybe some who do…

Society is starting to be bend a little.

Every step matters. It all builds. Little by little. We need all of it.

AND

Each School District has an accessibility committee who reports to the Board of Education. They should all have a plan on how to address accessibility issues.

The more visible we are and the more we become part of the education, inclusion becomes more real.

#NationalAccessibilityWeek