Immigration and Visible Minorities

In my last post, I ruled that the HRCs are here to stay. My argument is that as long as there are high levels of immigration mostly from non-Western countries, of immigrants who are unaccustomed or unable to participate in the traditional Canadian culture and society, more and more strong-arm techniques will be used to enforce equality. 

One of the ways this is achieved is through the HRCs. According to The Agenda's most recent panel "Ontario's human rights tribunals: adjudicating injustice ... or hurt feelings?" (now available on video), the Ontario Human Rights code, which is enforced by the Ontario Human Rights Commission, protects individuals from discrimination against:   

- Race
- Ancestry
- Place of origin 
- Color
- Ethnic origin
- Citizenship
- Creed
- Sex
- Sexual orientation
- Age
- Record of offence
- Marital status
- Family status
- Disability

A full half of these potentially involves the kind of immigrants that are predominantly being accepted into Canada. Here are some statistics from the 2006 census:
 
Percent of visible minorities in Toronto[1]:
Total - 46.9%

Highlights:
Arab - 0.9%
Black - 8.4%
Chinese - 11.4 %
Filipino - 4.1 %
Korean - 1.4%
Latin American: 2.6%
South Asian - 12%
West Asian - 1.7%

Percent change in visible minorities in Toronto between 2001 and 2006 (mostly due to immigration)[1]:
Total: + 11%
Latin American: + 19%
Filipino: + 19%
South Asian: + 18%
Chinese: + 9%
Black: + 2%
 
My point, therefore was, as long as such large numbers of immigrants are entering the country and are allowed to live, work and eventually hold citizenship here, then the Human Rights code will invariably be abused (or over-used), and there will be a perennial stream of complaints  and cases, in increasing numbers, made to the HRCs. 

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1. Release of the 2006 Census on Ethnic Origin and Visible Minorities, City of Toronto (pdf)