Third

Session, 45th General Assembly

Elizabeth II, 2006

BILL 25

AN ACT TO AMEND THE

HUMAN RIGHTS CODE

Received and Read the First Time ...................................................................................................

Second Reading .................................................................................................................................

Committee ............................................................................................................................................

Third Reading .....................................................................................................................................

Royal Assent ......................................................................................................................................

HONOURABLE

THOMAS W. MARSHALL ,

Minister

of Justice and Attorney General

Ordered

to be printed by the Honourable House of Assembly

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Clause 1 of the Bill would add the

definitions of the words "family status" and "source of

income" to

section 2 of the Human

Rights Code .

Clause 2 of the Bill would repeal

subsection 4(2) of the Act which provided exemptions from the application of the

Act to denominational schools.

Clause 3(1) of the Bill would amend

subsection 6(1) of the Act by adding "family status" and "age"

as prohibited grounds of discrimination.

Clause 3(2) would amend

section 6 by

adding a new subsection permitting denials or refusals of goods, services,

accommodations and facilities to persons under the age of majority where the

denial or refusal is contained in

an Act or a regulation.

Clause 4 of the Bill would repeal and

replace

section 7 of the Act by adding "family status", "age"

and "source of income" as prohibited grounds of discrimination with

respect to the occupancy of commercial and dwelling units. The proposed

section would preserve the right

of landlords to use credit history and related information in selecting occupants

and would exempt seniors' housing and similar residential rental units from the

prohibition against age discrimination in the occupancy of commercial units or

self-contained dwelling units.

Clause 5 of the Bill would repeal and

replace

section 8 of the Act by adding "family status" and "age"

as prohibited grounds of harassment.

Clause 6 of the Bill would amend

section 9 of the Act by eliminating the age restriction of 65 in employment and

by adding "family status" as a prohibited ground of discrimination in

employment.

Clause 7 of the Bill would amend

sections 12, 14, 18 and 19 of the Act by adding the terms "family

status" and "age".

Clause 8 of the Bill would amend

section 20 of the Act by extending the limitation period for filing a human

rights complaint under the Act from 6 months to 12 months.

Clause 9 of the Bill would make a

consequential amendment to the Workplace

Health, Safety and Compensation Act to permit age-based distinctions in

that Act to continue to apply notwithstanding the proposed prohibition against

age discrimination in employment.

Clause 10 of the Bill would provide

that the elimination of the age restriction of 65 years in employment would not

come into effect until the first anniversary of its enactment.

A BILL

AN ACT TO AMEND THE HUMAN RIGHTS CODE

Analysis

S.2 Amdt.

Definitions

S.4 Amdt.

Interpretation

S.6 Amdt.

Right of the public to services

S.7 Amdt.

Right to occupy commercial and dwelling units

S.8 R&S

Harassment of occupant prohibited

S.9 Amdt.

Discrimination in Employment

Ss.12, 14, 18 and 19 Amdt.

12. Harassment in establishment

prohibited

14. Discriminatory

publications

18. Functions of

commission

S.20 Amdt.

Complaints

RSNL1990 cW-11 Amdt.

Commencement

Be it enacted by the Lieutenant-Governor and

House of Assembly in Legislative Session convened, as follows:

RSNL1990 cH-14 as

amended

(1) Section 2 of the Human Rights Code is amended by adding immediately after paragraph

(

e) the following:

(e.1) "family status" means the status of

being in a parent and child relationship and, for the purpose of this

paragraph, "child" includes an adopted child and "parent"

includes an adoptive parent;

(2) Section 2 of the Act is amended by striking

out the word "and" at the end of paragraph (

m) and by adding immediately

after that paragraph the following:

(m.1) "source of income" means the receipt

of income or employment support under the Income

and Employment Support Act ; and

2. Subsection 4(2) of the Act is repealed.

3. (1) Subsection 6(1) of the Act is amended

by adding immediately after the words and comma "marital status," the

words and commas "family status, age, ".

(2) Section 6 of the Act is amended by adding

immediately after subsection (4) the following:

(4.1) Nothing in subsection (1) shall prevent the

denial or refusal of accommodation, services, facilities or goods to a person

who has not attained the age of majority if the denial or refusal is required

or authorized by another Act.

Section 7 of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

Right to occupy

commercial and dwelling units

(1) A

person, directly or indirectly, alone or with another, by himself or herself or

by the interposition of another, shall not

(

a) deny to a person or

class of persons occupancy of a commercial unit or a self-contained dwelling

unit; or

(

b) discriminate against

a person or class of persons with respect to a term or condition of occupancy

of a commercial unit or a self-contained dwelling unit

by reason only of the race, religion,

religious creed, political opinion, colour or ethnic, national or social

origin, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family status, age, source of

income, physical disability or mental disability of that person or class of persons.

(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), a limitation,

specification, exclusion, denial or preference because of physical or mental

disability shall be permitted if that limitation, specification, exclusion,

denial or preference is based upon a good faith qualification as determined by

the commission.

(3) Nothing in subsection (1) prevents a landlord

from using income information, credit checks, credit references, rental

history, guarantees or other similar business practices in selecting

prospective occupants.

(4) The provisions of subsection (1), as

subsection (1) relates to age and family status, shall not apply to the renting

or leasing, the offering for rent or lease, or the advertising for rent or

lease of a commercial unit or self-contained dwelling unit, where the unit is a

rental unit in premises in which every rental unit is reserved for rental to a

person who has reached the age or 55 years, or to 2 or more persons, at least

one of whom has reached the age of

Section 8 of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

Harassment of

occupant prohibited

8. A

person, directly or indirectly, alone or with another, by himself or herself

only or by the interposition of another, shall not harass a person or class of

persons who is an occupant of a commercial unit or a self-contained dwelling

unit because of the race, religion, religious creed, political opinion, colour

or ethnic, national or social origin, sex, sexual orientation, marital status, family

status, age, source of income, physical disability or mental disability of that

person or class of persons.

(1) Paragraphs 9(1 )( a),

9(3)(

a) and 9(4)(

a) of the Act are amended by adding immediately after the

words and comma "marital status,", wherever they occur, the words and

comma "family status, ".

(2) Paragraphs 9(1 )( b),

9(3)(

b) and 9(4)(

b) of the Act are amended by striking out the words and number

"and has not reached the age of 65 years" wherever they occur.

(3) Subsection 9(2) of the Act is repealed and the

following substituted:

(2) An employer, or a person acting on behalf of

an employer, shall not use, in the hiring or recruitment of persons for

employment, an employment agency that discriminates against a person seeking employment

because of his or her race, religion, religious creed, political opinion,

colour or ethnic, national or social origin, sex, sexual orientation, marital

status, family status, physical disability or mental disability, or age, where

the person has reached the age of 19 years.

7. Sections 12, 14 and 18 and subsection 19(1) of

the Act are amended by adding immediately after the words and comma "marital

status", wherever they occur, the words and commas "family status,

age,".

8. Subsection 20(2) of the Act is amended by

striking out the number "6" where it twice occurs and substituting

the number "12".

RSNL1990 cW-11 Amdt.

9. The Workplace Health, Safety and Compensation

Act is amended by adding immediately after

section 2 the following:

Human Rights Code

2.01

(1) A

provision of this Act or the regulations, or a decision or policy made under

this Act or the regulations, that requires or authorizes a distinction because

of age shall apply notwithstanding sections 5, 6 and 9 of the Human Rights Code .

(2) Subsection (1) applies, with the necessary changes,

to a predecessor to this Act or the regulations or a decision or policy made

under that Act or regulation.

(3) Subsections (1) and (2) apply notwithstanding

that the facts in respect of which the requirement or distinction is made

occurred before the day on which this

section comes into force.

Commencement

10. Subsection 6(2) of this Act shall come into

force on the first anniversary of the date on which this Act receives the Royal

Assent.

Earl G. Tucker, Queen's Printer