BC Human Rights Commissioner Kasari Govender participated in a round-table discussion on Jan. 22 at the House of Learning building in TRU. The event, hosted by the Thompson Rivers University Faculty Association, was organized in collaboration with the commissioner’s office and the All My Relations Indigenous Research Centre.
Beginning at 11:30 am, the event kicked off with a buffet and opening talks from TRU professors and community leaders. The floor was soon handed over to Govender, who introduced herself and the Office of the BC Human Rights Commissioner.
Since being elevated to the position in 2019, Govender has dedicated herself to promoting human rights—particularly those of the most marginalized in Canada. As a lawyer, she has worked to promote gender equality, Indigenous rights, children’s rights, and the rights of people with disabilities. Her work has investigated critical social issues ranging from gender-based violence to systemic racism and access to justice. She has even contributed to the establishment of the Rise Women’s Legal Centre, a non-profit legal clinic in British Columbia.
The Office of the BC Human Rights Commissioner, per Govender, is mandated to address the root causes of inequality, discrimination and injustice in British Columbia. With several tools, including (but not limited to) education and awareness campaigns, research and policy work, and inquiries and interventions, the office directly or indirectly shapes laws, policies and practices for the betterment of human rights across the province.
“We are very independent,” Govender said about the office. “My role as an officer of the legislature means that I report to the legislature as a whole and not the government. I wasn’t appointed by a political party, and we are not funded at the whim of one. We’re funded by the legislature.”
According to Govender, this independence allows them to take a more critical view of government activities and frees them from any of the pressures that an office built into the government would face.
Their mandate is entirely systemic, focusing on broader systems of inequalities.
“That means we don’t deal with individual complaints,” Govender said. “We work to change the various systems that create those human rights violations.”
Their most recent effort is a report called Rights in Focus, which provides a snapshot of the state of human rights in B.C. It details 10 systems that are essential to the fulfilment of human rights. “The systems that we selected are the primary systems impacting our social, economic and political lives,” Govender said. “They reflect what we’ve heard from community members about where human rights show up most often in their lives.”
Though she calls the issues addressed in the report unsurprising, Govender suggests that it may not be obvious to many what constitutes a human rights issue and how they may particularly impact marginalized people.
“Many of the systems in the review are relevant to the protection of our economic and social rights, our rights to the necessities of life,” Govender said. “This includes things like our high standard of living, housing, and rights to the highest achievable standard of health. International human rights law obligates governments to take appropriate steps towards the realization of these rights.”
Govender’s talk touched on the many areas of improvement for human rights, including employment, education, health and childcare, housing, the criminal justice system and much more. With a breadth of statistics in her arsenal, Govender painted a worrying picture of the inequities within major sectors of daily life. Though significant strides have been made, there is still a long way to go in achieving meaningful equality, she said.
“It’s a common misunderstanding that when we talk about equality, we mean sameness,” Govender said. “It very much does not. [Equality] means understanding that there is a disproportionate impact of certain policies and practices, and it sometimes requires treating people differently according to their needs and circumstances to ensure everybody has meaningful access.”
After her talk, questions were brought forward by the two other panel members, Manu Sharma and Rod McCormick, who discussed issues related to Indigenous and racialized people in Canada, as well as the status and policies affecting international students. Many of these questions were gathered by Sharma and McCormick, both professors of TRU, from students across the university who wanted their concerns addressed.
Further, the panel opened up to questions from the audience. One by one, audience members took the stand to express worry about and request elaboration on issues related to accessibility, international students’ rights, employment, housing, immigration, and so on. Govender answered every question, making assurances where possible, promises where applicable, and clarifications in cases beyond her jurisdiction.
The event came to a close at 1:30 p.m., and guests shuffled out of the hall. The work is not over for Govender and the Office of the Human Rights Commissioner, however. Govender made it clear that her office would continue promoting human rights in B.C., now with a fuller perspective after taking in the thoughts, opinions, and concerns from the TRU community.
To learn more about the BC Human Rights office, visit their website here.