[72] I also find there was a lack of communication of information between the "ground
troops" - officials at the St. Basil's polling location - and the Toronto Centre RO; between
the RO and EC headquarters in Ottawa; and between various parts of headquarters
(Commissioner's office, EC's legal services branch, etc.). The most glaring example is
EC's inaccurate conclusion, after they "thoroughly" reviewed the matter, that all
entrances were open and two of the three were accessible. Moreover, EC's legal services
section only concluded that entrance #1 had been closed in November 2008, eight months
after Mr. Hughes raised the issue and a month after a repeat of the inaccessible election at
St. Basil's in the general election. Earlier, I made the finding and inferred that, given the
EC yellow sign pointing away from entrance #1, some EC official obviously knew that
entrance #1 was locked. But that information did not trickle up to the RO or Ottawa
headquarters. Unfortunately, unlike the CPA hearing in 1990, neither the RO nor any
other official at the polling location in question testified before me.
[73] The Complainant, supported by CCD, submitted a 5-page list of remedies sought.
EC's counsel responded verbally and in writing to them. Mr. Roussel also testified about
the various remedial measures that EC would be willing to accept or consider, including
co-operation and consultation with the other parties. I am impressed by the number of
remedies that were agreed to in whole or in part by EC. Some of course were not agreed
to and strongly opposed by EC. There is overlap among some of the remedies sought by
the Complainant and CCD and agreed to by EC.
[74] What follows is my award of the systemic or "future practices" remedies after
careful consideration of the submissions of all the parties. The implementation of this
Order will depend on the collaboration and co-operation of all the parties, and in
particular, EC given it's the Respondent organization that the Order is directed at. Given
the positive attitude of EC at the hearing and the non-adversarial, co-operative interaction
among the parties at the hearing, I am confident that the Order will be effective. Of
course, I will be available to speak with the parties and issue any Directions or further
Orders as required, dealing with implementation of the Order herein.
Monitoring, Consultation, etc.
[75] The Complainant and CCD asked that I appoint a monitor to deal with the
implementation of my Order, similar to my role as monitor in the Human Rights Tribunal
of Ontario cases of Lepofsky, supra (footnote 13). They also cite the decision in
McKinnon, supra (footnote 13) where the Ontario Human Rights Board of Inquiry
ordered the creation of a Compliance Committee and appointment of a third party to
develop and monitor training programs. They have also asked for the Commission and
2010 CHRT 4 (CanLII)
its source; and how does one redress it? As I indicated in the foregoing, the problem is
not so much the standards or policies on accessibility, or EC's training in regard to them.
They can be improved no doubt, updated, etc. To its credit, EC has indicated a
willingness to engage in this process and with the involvement of the other parties. The
problem is more in the nature of the policies and guidelines and training not being
followed or applied by EC officials. There was also a stark problem in EC's internal
mechanisms for handling complaints about access barriers to voting by persons with
disabilities.