While it remains to be seen whether a new human rights system that takes effect in Ontario today will be an improvement over its predecessor, people with discrimination complaints probably won't have to worry about hiring a lawyer. (An improvement? Are you kidding? Was the UN’s Human Rights “Council’ and improvement over its Human Rights Commission? This kind of stuff never “improves.” It only gets more overweening, more intrusive, more ridiculous.)

Nearly two dozen lawyers and paralegals have been hired for a new human rights legal support centre that's been set up in Toronto to provide free legal advice to complainants as well as representation before a tribunal. (Two dozen, huh? How much is that going to set us back? I would point out that this merely reaffirms the unfairness of the process—offering “free” legal services to the complainant, but leaving the person being complained about to shoulder his own legal costs.)

Raj Anand, who heads the board of the new centre, believes it delivers a complete answer to critics who were afraid people complaining of human rights violations would be left on their own to battle employers or government agencies in discrimination cases. (It looks like the apparatchniks have too much time on their hands, Ontarians being insufficiently hateful/bigoted/discriminatory, and are trying to drum up some more business to justify their unnecessary existence.)

The new system revolves around the concept of giving complainants "direct access" to an adjudicator. Under the old system, the Ontario Human Rights Commission would first launch an investigation into a complaint before deciding whether it deserved a hearing. Cases were often stuck in the bureaucracy for years. (“Direct access”—wow, makes it sound so fair and “democratic.” I have a much better solution for unsticking those cases that get stuck for years on end—do away with the entire bureaucracy. )

If they did make it to a tribunal, commission lawyers would present the case.

But Anand said it's a myth commission lawyers were acting on behalf of complainants. In fact, their role was similar to that of a Crown attorney; they didn't answer to complainants and could proceed as they saw fit, he said. (Crown attorneys—that’s a laugh and a half. How can you act as a Crown attorney in a setting which abjures British Common Law and replaces it with a mixture of feel-good mush and Marxist gobbledygook?)

"I can tell you, some of the greatest battles I've had while representing complainants has been with the commission" lawyers, said Anand, who once headed the human rights commission and is now in private practice.

If complainants want to hire their own lawyer, they still can. But one notable feature of the new support centre is that it isn't restricted to serving only those with low incomes, which is generally the case with legal clinics funded by the province, as the new support centre is. There is no financial eligibility criteria, Anand said. (Why would complainants want to hire their own lawyer when they can get a freebie? Since the odds are already weighted so precipitously in their favour, they don’t exactly need a Clarence Darrow in this setting.)

But while the support centre may satisfy those who worried complainants would be left to represent themselves, it may not do much for those who say the deck is stacked against employers under the new system. (Stacked against them under the “old” system, too. Stacked against anyone on the receiving end of the complaint.)

Some law firms who represent employers began holding workshops more than a year ago, to prepare corporate managers for the new human rights regime. At one, Robb Macpherson, a lawyer at McCarthy, Tetrault, a big downtown Toronto law firm, predicted it will be "a field day" for complainants. In addition to state-funded legal counsel, they gain more bargaining power under the new system. (Do you get the feeling that the “human rights” apparatus has it in for business and capitalism? Why not call it what it is—stealth Marxism.)

One reason is that the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal plans to schedule hearings within about three months of receiving a complaint. That means employers will be under more pressure to work out a quick settlement with workers who've filed a human rights complaint – or they'll find themselves before a tribunal, facing the prospect of having a more severe penalty imposed. (Bad for businesses; good for “the worker” and the human rights wonks.)

Lawyers who act for respondents – those accused of human rights violations – expect to see an increase in complaints, not only because it's supposed to be easier for individual complaints to get before a tribunal, but because third parties such as unions and community groups will be able to launch complaints on their behalf. (Oh. My. Gawd. Get set for an inundation of complaints that will keep the apparatchniks busy for years—and, I predict, result in exactly the same kind of inertia as before,  necessitating the hiring of even more employees to service the ever-expanding behemoth.)

Courts will also gain new power to hear human rights complaints and will be able to order employers, in the context of these cases, to reinstate workers who were wrongfully dismissed from their jobs. (As I said, stealth Marxism, as the workers and their advocates get to boss around the bosses.)

The tribunal has only been hearing about 150 cases a year, but it will likely have to deal with several thousand more than that once complaints start getting sent there directly under the new system. (Arrrrgh!)

As a result, many cases are expected to be resolved through mediation... (To the advantage of the complainant, of course, and the disadvantage of the employer.)

Ontario Attorney-General Chris Bentley says the current backlog of 4,200 cases and delays of up to five years to get to a tribunal for a decision are unacceptable.

Today, the government is implementing some of the changes designed to eliminate the backlog and cut wait times at human rights tribunal to less than one year.

The long delays in the system are making it futile for anyone to file a complaint, Bentley said.

"Whatever damage is done is forgotten or, even worse, it has been ongoing," said Bentley, MPP for London West.

The overhaul will cost the government about $31.7 million, including $14 million for the immediate changes.

As of today, anyone with a human rights complaint will go directly to the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, instead of going through the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC). About 2,500 complaints are filed every year.

"This eliminates a big step and greatly speed things up," Bentley said.

Bentley said the human rights tribunal, which hears and makes decisions on human right complaints, became bogged down because there were only a few full-time adjudicators. The number of full-time adjudicators is gradually being boosted to 20, with another 25 part-time adjudicators.

The tribunal will also get better facilities with more meeting rooms in Toronto...