Committee on Human Rights in the Workplace - Report to the Board of Directors

February 2008

The Committee will be holding its next meeting on February 23, 2008.

Key items to be discussed:

a) Employment Equity Plans

There will be further discussion to form an employment equity sub-committee. The sub-committee will be tasked with reviewing and examining departmental employment equity plans and reporting back to the Committee.

b) Revised Mandate

The Committee has been discussing revisions to its mandate and a final decision will be made at the meeting regarding a revised mandate.

c) Presentation to the Senate Standing Committee on Human Rights

We will be discussing the recent PIPSC presentation to the Senate Committee on Human Rights regarding employment equity in the federal public service.

d) Committee Members’ Presentations

Committee members will be presenting summaries on the recent testimony of various witnesses before the Senate Committee on Human Rights, and on recent human rights cases.

Future Training

Three Employment Equity training courses will be held in the upcoming months: one course in French in March, and two English courses (due to high demand) will be held in April and May. A representative from the Committee will be in attendance at each training session to act as a resource person and to provide information about the role and mandate of the CHRW to participants.

CASHRA

The Committee is once again planning to hold one of its meetings to coincide with the annual conference of the Canadian Association of Statutory Human Rights Agencies, and Committee members will be attending and participating in the conference. This year, the theme will be "Commissions to Communities and Back". As of yet, no details have been released regarding the conference program. The Committee will be following up with the organizers of the conference to propose that a PIPSC representative be included on one of the panels.

Respectfully Submitted By:

Al Ravjiani; CMA
Director, Ontario Region
PIPSC