/EINPresswire.com/ -- OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- (Marketwired) -- 10/20/15 -- Canadian Human Rights Commission

Marie-Claude Landry, Chief Commissioner of the Canadian Human Rights Commission, congratulates Prime Minister designate Justin Trudeau along with all members of Canada's new Parliament, and issues the following statement:

"I call on our newly elected Parliament to begin repairing the erosion of human rights in Canada, and to move swiftly to repeal legislation and reverse policies that promote discrimination and prejudice. No one should live in fear because of who they are or because they have a belief that is not shared by the majority.

"Specifically, Parliament should:

--  rewrite and rename the Zero Tolerance for Barbaric Cultural Practices
    Act, to remove any insinuation that certain religions are a threat to
    Canadian society;

--  accelerate the process for bringing in refugees and asylum seekers
    fleeing war, persecution and environmental devastation, and ensure that
    the selection process is not discriminatory;

--  ensure that the arbitrary detention and imprisonment of thousands of
    undocumented people seeking asylum in Canada, many of whom are suffering
    from mental illness, is brought to an end;

--  immediately convene a national inquiry into missing and murdered
    Aboriginal women and girls, and develop a national action plan;

--  ensure that all people in Canada have access to safe drinking water and
    adequate housing;

--  end the inequitable funding of child welfare services and schools on
    First Nations reserves;

--  amend the Canadian Human Rights Act to explicitly protect transgender
    people from discrimination;

--  stop the overuse of prolonged periods of solitary confinement to manage
    offenders, a practice disproportionally applied to Black and Aboriginal
    inmates, and offenders with mental illness; and

--  protect the rights of all women to express their religion.

"Canadians have rejected the divisive rhetoric that became prominent in the latter days of the election campaign. Difficult as it was, the Canadian Human Rights Commission remained silent in deference to the electoral process. With the election now behind us, it's time for all Canadians to work together to restore the values of mutual respect and dignity that have for so long defined this country. My Canada includes everyone."

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613-943-9118
www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca

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