COVID-19
Updated: March 28, 2022
Vancouver B.C. – BC’s Office of the Human Rights Commissioner issued a letter to the Public Health Officer on the end of B.C.’s mask mandate on March 16, 2022.
In that letter, B.C.’s Human Rights Commissioner highlighted the inequitable impacts of ending the mask mandate and urged for the Public Health Officer to ensure that all actions respect the human rights of people with disabilities, including those who are immunocompromised.
B.C.’s Human Rights Commissioner, Kasari Govender, states, “Given the benefits of the mask mandate for thousands of marginalized people and the minimal impact on those being asked to wear one, the balance at this time favours continuing the mask mandate”.
“My Office has received media requests relating to the lifting of the mask mandate in the days since the mandate was lifted, and media were advised that a letter had been issued to the Public Health Officer and that we would be prepared to speak publicly about the contents of that letter in the week of March 28, 2022. I am making that letter public today.” – Kasari Govender, B.C.’s Human Rights Commissioner
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The Commissioner is available for comment as needed.
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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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