BC Conservatives to make complainants pay for Human Rights suits

Wilf Hanni is the leader of the upstart BC Conservative Party (no relation to the federal party).  The BC Tories have been in the press lately.  After some internal troubles last year, Hanni has revitalized the party and is aiming to take a seat, and possibly hold the balance of power in the next session.  The likelihood of that happening is open to debate - but what isn't, is the unprecedented public presence of the Conservative Party in this election and their potential to act as a spoiler for the BC Liberals. 

Hanni was interviewed by the Western Standard last week.  In an excerpt from that interview, he pledged to reform the BC Human Rights Tribunals, so that among other things, users would pay their own legal fees when the file a complaint:

"... That has helped us to formulate a position to reform the human rights commission when we form government. Our position is as follows:

A BC Conservative Government will reform the BC Human Rights Tribunal:

• So that any complainant will be responsible for the legal fees associated with his or her human rights complaint.
• To make complainants responsible for paying the defendant’s legal fees should the complainant lose their Human Rights Tribunal case.
• To disallow individuals and organizations from making Human Rights Tribunal complaints when Human Rights Tribunals in other Canadian jurisdictions are already investigating the same issue.
• To disallow cases dealing with freedom of speech under Section 2 of the Charter.
• To allow appeals, to a court of law, for any decision made by the Tribunal.
• So that the Tribunal cannot render penalties outside the boundaries of Canadian Laws.

We realize that it is neither fair nor equitable that complainants currently receive free legal representation no matter how frivolous the complaint, while defendants must pay their own legal fees."

Read the rest here . . .