Final Effort to Address Mascots
I have taken my final shot to address problems I encountered in the Human Rights process. I did it with great reluctance.
I shared a draft demand letter with Hockey Canada and its provincial affiliates to change the outcome of the mascot hearings versus the City of Mississauga. If full disclosure of the events at a Meadowvale Hockey Game had occurred, then the outcome of the hearing would have been much different. I will try to report the tampering to the police unless Hockey Canada commits to the Charter of Rights and bans all Indigenous mascots from its member clubs.
Before the hearings vs. the City of Mississauga, I promised a parent not to share the story of abuse her son endured at a 2015 MHL game after the human rights complaint vs. Mississauga began. The parent said opposing players taunted her son with the Tomahawk Chop after he scored three goals. The family decided not to come forward to the tribunal. I understood the decision. Standing up in Canada is not welcome. Standing up to traditional racism is mocked as weakness, if not the target for hate. Participating in the HRTO is a lightning rod for retaliation.
The parent said she was working with the MHL, a former Indigenous hockey coach, the GTHL and Hockey Canada to address the complaint in late 2015. This was after the GTHL and MHL requested to intervene in the case vs. Mississauga on mascots.
When the time came to attend the hearing, the GTHL and MHL declined to participate. The Meadowvale Mohawk organization, rebranded as the Hawks, did not show up. I know it was this team that participated in the incident, as I spoke to the Indigenous young man’s coach at the gym. Lorne Park Hockey Association read a statement. Mississauga testified that there were no Indigenous racism incidents to its knowledge.
I put forward the evidence I had of the incident to the HRTO. The HRTO responded by telling me to resubmit proof of the City of Mississauga’s wrongdoing within the last six months. The HRTO registrar’s reaction to evidence of lying under oath was to attempt to sweep it under the rug.
It has been a pattern of behaviour by the HRTO to deny evidence that they do not like. There have been multiple instances of dubious behaviour by the departments of the Social Justice Tribunals of Ontario: the Ontario Human Rights Commission, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario, and the Human Rights Legal Support Centre of Ontario. The behaviour has been so surprising that I warn any person from ever interacting with the SJTO.
A Contravention of Settlement claim against the Social Justice Tribunals of Ontario has been filed. I believe the decision to minimize the information I sent them is consistent with their behaviour of downplaying or gaslighting abuses committed under their authority.
The information around the withheld evidence has been shared with many political figures. I appealed my frustrations to every appeal body I could. Do you know a lawyer who might be willing to help?
