Feb 27

Written by: admin
27/02/2008 3:24 AM

February 8, 2008

The Ontario Human Rights Commission is pleased to release its Draft Policy on Mental Health Discrimination and Police Records Checks for public consultation. We invite you to make submissions on the Draft Policy by Monday, March 24, 2008.

The Commission has found that requirements, policies and practices relating to police records checks can have a discriminatory impact on persons with mental health-related disabilities, and possibly other individuals identified by Human Rights Code grounds. (See the Commission's "Backgrounder," for more information.)

This public consultation is meant to ensure that the final policy provides individuals and organizations with the information they need to know about:
* the disability-related concerns that arise in the context of police records checks,
* how Ontario's Human Rights Code applies, and
* the responsibilities of parties involved to ensure that their policies and practices are not discriminatory.

The Commission has posted the Draft Policy on its website, and is directly contacting a range of stakeholders across Ontario for input, including police services, the mental health sector, providers of services to vulnerable persons, volunteer sector organizations, Government ministries, and others.

Submissions will be received over a six-week period, from Friday, February 8, to Monday, March 24, 2008, by mail, fax or e-mail, as listed below. Please provide contact details, including your name, organization (if applicable), address, phone number, and e-mail address. Personal information will be used for the purposes of this project only, and will remain confidential. Anonymous submissions will not be considered. Please feel free to forward this email to the members of your organization.

To view the complete News Release, Backgrounder and Policy, please visit the Commission's website at www.ohrc.on.ca.

Input may be submitted to the Commission via the Web site or in the following ways:
E-mail: consultations@ohrc.on.ca
Mail:
Ontario Human Rights Commission
Draft Policy Consultation: Mental Health Discrimination
and Police Records Checks
180 Dundas Street West, 7th Floor
Toronto, ON M7A 2R9

Fax: (416) 314-4533

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