British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal
The British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal is a quasi-judicial human rights body in British Columbia, Canada. It was established under British Columbia's Human Rights Code. It is responsible for "accepting, screening, mediating and adjudicating human rights complaints." History Responsibility for the province's Human Rights Code was originally divided between the BC Human Rights Commission, which was responsible for investigation and compliance, and the Tribunal, which was solely an adjudicative body. In 2003, the government of Gordon Campbell abolished the Commission as well as the BC Human Rights Advisory Council as a cost-saving measure while expanding the responsibilities of the Tribunal. In 2018, however, changes to the Human Rights Code re-established British Columbia's Human Rights Commissioner, this time as an independent officer of the Legislature, to address issues of systemic discrimination, including by intervening in Tribunal proceedings. Notable cases Smith v. Knights of Columbus In 2005, the Tribunal ordered a Knights of Columbus council in Port Coquitlam, BC, to pay damages of $1,000 to a lesbian couple for discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The council's hall manager had signed a contract with the women for the use of their facilities, and then cancelled when he became aware that it