Oct 10
30
Playing with justice or legitimate homosexual case?
The federal government is correct about the problem with reliable evidence as far back as this case’s origins. Unless they stalled and delayed, there should be no case. That’s why a Biblical principle of justice is a speedy trial, and one of the reasons why you see justice executed at a local level instead of a national level in the Bible.
The Thunder Bay Chronicle-Herald – October 30, 2010
Ex-bureaucrat fights to keep quarter-century-old gay-rights case alive
By Jim Bronskill, THE CANADIAN PRESS
OTTAWA – The fate of an ex-bureaucrat’s sexual discrimination complaint against the federal government hinges on Trudeau-era memories and good old-fashioned record-keeping. Paul Richard alleges that throughout his career as a public servant from 1978-85 he was treated unfairly because he’s gay.
Richard, 69, says he fell into a deep depression after leaving the government, unable to find meaningful work and at times pondering suicide. “They’ve taken away my life,” he said in an interview from his home in Montreal. “They’ve ruined my life.”
The latest round of Richard’s fight for redress is slated to be heard Monday in the Federal Court of Appeal. He first filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission in August 2005, claiming he had been a victim of systemic abuse by managers and colleagues. Richard says his mental state prevented him from doing so earlier. After winning an initial Federal Court skirmish, Richard refiled the complaint two years ago.
The commission told him in August last year it wouldn’t hear the case, saying the government had demonstrated that the lengthy delay would seriously hinder its ability to defend itself.