Yukon ombudsman finds human rights commission responsible for 'unfairness'

The Yukon's ombudsman says despite trying to meet its mandate, the territory's Human Rights Commission has shown unfairness and bias, and created undue delays.

That's according to a report released by the ombudsman that investigated three separate but similar complaints.

One of the issues discussed in the report was the commission's over-reliance on settlement. 

Complainants alleged they were pressured or even harassed to settle, rather than the alternative of raising the issue to an investigation. 

"There's a feeling of bias that without any kind of investigation, that the Human Rights Commission considered the complainant's side as factual," said Jason Pedlar, the Yukon ombudsman.

Karen Moir, director of the Human Rights Commission, said the assessment regarding the settlement process was "factually incorrect."

"The Yukon Human Rights Act obliges the commission to seek and settle. That's a function of our act, as well as acts across the country. It's recognized by the human rights practice and by the jurisprudence that early settlement is generally in the public interest," she said.

Moir also opposed the report's claim that the commission acted in a biased manner at any point. While she acknowledged that the commission walks a "fine line" when working with clients unrepresented by legal counsel, she maintained that the commission is impartial by nature.

"The commission by its very mandate is neutral. There's a really, really, really strong culture of neutrality here."

The ombudsman said the commission's preference for settlement stems from its small capacity. Formal investigations take significantly more money, time and resources than the alternative of a settlement.

Moir agreed the commission struggles with a lack of funding. Its 2024 operating budget was $913,000.

"A very small envelope to work with, considering the volume of complaints, the complexity of work, the expenses of things like hearings and legal counsel, travel and the security measures that we have."

The ombudsman report provided five recommendations to the Human Rights Commission, all of which the commission accepted. 

"We uphold the values of fairness and transparency and justice like the ombudsman does, and we have no interest in resisting any effort to improve our practices and better serve the public," Moir said.