General
Updated: May 4, 2023
Vancouver, B.C. – What are the most pressing human rights issues facing people across B.C. and what can be done about them? B.C.’s Human Rights Commissioner is asking organizations working in community service and rights-related fields to identify their human rights priorities and concerns in a new survey. The survey is available at: https://bit.ly/baseline-survey-public
Answers will inform the Commissioner’s investigation into the current state of human rights in the province and help establish a baseline from which changes in the state of human rights in B.C. can be measured. Known as the Baseline Project, this multi-year effort will identify human rights priorities and solutions to improve human rights issues across the province, with a view to influencing public policy, raising awareness of rights and deepening relationships.
Commissioner Kasari Govender stated: “From 2002 to 2019, B.C. was the only province in Canada without a human rights commission. Now we are seeking to deepen our understanding of where we are at so we can best figure out how to get to where we need to be.”
“Over the last decades, many organizations, advocates and services providers have been doing critical human rights work. They have worked tirelessly to meet the needs of the people they serve and uphold their rights and dignity. We are now calling on them—as experts on the state of human rights in communities across B.C.—to share their insights to inform a human rights baseline for our province.”
The survey is open to the leadership, staff, board members and volunteers of community organizations, member-based organizations, and public sector institutions working in community service and human rights-related fields in British Columbia. It will be available online at https://bit.ly/baseline-survey-public from May 3 through Jun. 9, 2023.
Those with accessibility or financial barriers to completing the survey are encouraged to contact us at research@bchumanrights.ca or 1-844-922-6472 (toll free) for assistance.
Find this release in PDF format here.
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To request an interview with Commissioner Kasari Govender, please contact Charlotte Kingston, Director, Communications, at media@bchumanrights.ca or 1-250-216-4534.
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About BCOHRC
BC’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner exists to address the root causes of inequality, discrimination and injustice in B.C. by shifting laws, policies, practices and cultures. We do this work through education, research, advocacy, inquiry and monitoring. Learn more at: bchumanrights.ca
About the Commissioner
B.C.’s Human Rights Commissioner, Kasari Govender, started her five-year term on Sept. 3, 2019. Since then, our Office has been working swiftly to build a strong team, to listen deeply to the concerns of British Columbians, to deliver education materials on our rights and responsibilities, to issue policy guidance to protect marginalized communities and to lay a human rights-based foundation for our work. As an independent officer of the Legislature, the Commissioner is uniquely positioned to ensure human rights in B.C. are protected, respected and advanced on a systemic level throughout our society.
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