Latest news with #HollandMarshall
CBC
14-07-2025
- Health
- CBC
Human Rights Tribunal dismisses complaint over public washroom access in Sudbury, Ont.
A Sudbury, Ont., man says he's disappointed that the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario won't hold a hearing on his complaint regarding the need for 24-hour public access to washrooms for people living on the street. Holland Marshall points out the signs and smells of human excrement as he walks downtown to a local café. Marshall says there are few options during the day for people with substance use disorders and mental health issues to use a toilet and wash their hands, and close to none at night. The onus, he argues, lies with the city to provide access at all times to everyone. "Proper toilet facilities and potable drinking water is a human right recognized by the United Nations," he said. "We may not be able to afford to put everybody into a proper apartment. We may not even be able to put them into transitional housing and all the rest of it; but we can at least give 24-hour washrooms and drinking water supplies. If we can't do that, we're not doing the basics." Many buildings and churches, most recently the historic downtown Ukrainian church, have erected fences to prevent people from urinating and defecating in alcoves, or even setting fires to keep warm. Downtown business owners have complained about having to clean their doorsteps of human waste every morning. According to the last count, the city says there are about 500 homeless people in Sudbury. About a year-and-a-half ago, Marshall met 21 people on the street and filed a human rights complaint on their behalf, claiming it's the city's obligation to provide them around the clock facilities and potable water. In a decision released June 27, the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario ruled Marshall's application doesn't fall under its jurisdiction, and has dismissed it. It says it can only enforce the legal code which prohibits discrimination on 17 grounds including disability, gender, race, age and others. "While there may be a correlation or connection between homelessness and disability, these concepts cannot be substituted for each other, " wrote Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario member Stephen Eaton in the decision. "In this case, not all of the 21 purported applicants have an identified disability." Marshall says he's disappointed although not terribly surprised. He says he did put a lot of effort into the application and gave an example in British Columbia. "The Human Rights Commission there accepted a case where people had to walk too far for public washrooms," he said. As well, he worries about the health issues surrounding handling human waste and wonders if there will be outbreaks of dysentery. He has tried to tackle the problem himself by putting together portable loo kits that consist of a bucket with liners and toilet paper. He has given some to outreach workers to distribute, although he's a little sceptical that they'll make a big difference. As for what the city currently does offer, a spokesperson says public washrooms in the Centre for Life located near the YMCA parking lot in downtown Sudbury are not open this spring after safety issues for members and employees of the Y arose while they were open last summer. The city is operating a cooling centre in Energy Court open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and people can access washrooms overnight at the city shelter. During the winter months, the city says the Energy Court warming Centre helped address the need for downtown washroom access on weekdays. Not to be deterred, Marshall plans to raise the issue for the city to provide 24-hour bathroom access during the next municipal election campaign.
CTV News
03-07-2025
- Health
- CTV News
Tribunal rules that lack of washroom access for Sudbury's homeless isn't a human rights case
A man who said the fact homeless people in Sudbury didn't have round-the-clock access to washrooms was a human rights violation has lost his appeal to a provincial tribunal. A man who said the fact homeless people in Sudbury didn't have round-the-clock access to washrooms was a human rights violation has lost his appeal to a provincial tribunal. The tribunal said it didn't have jurisdiction to hear the case because being homeless isn't, in itself, a violation of human rights under the Human Rights Code in Ontario. Holland Marshall launched a case with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario on behalf of 21 people, 'each of whom is a person without housing residing in the Sudbury area,' the tribunal said in its decision, dated June 27. 'Several of the applicants also suffer (from) mental or physical disabilities. The alleged basis of discrimination is the failure of the respondent to offer toilet and hand washing facilities that are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.' Missing key elements In a ruling April 4, the tribunal told Marshall that his case was missing key elements to qualify as a human rights complaint. 'A review of the application and the narrative setting out the incidents of alleged discrimination fails to identify any specific acts of discrimination within the meaning of the Code allegedly committed by the respondent,' the tribunal said. 'The tribunal does not have jurisdiction over general allegations of unfairness …' Marshall amended his application April 17, but the tribunal said it still lacked key elements. 'The alleged basis of discrimination is the failure of the respondent to offer toilet and hand washing facilities that are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.' — Ontario Human Rights Tribunal decision 'The tribunal's jurisdiction is limited to enforcement of the Code,' the decision said. 'The Code only prohibits actions that discriminate against people based on their enumerated ground(s) in a protected social area.' While Marshall argued the discrimination was based on disability, the tribunal said, 'it is clear from the submissions that the applicant's focus is on the applicant's status of homelessness.' 'This is acknowledged in their submissions wherein they state 'this application is not asking to address general allegations of unfairness, it is addressing … the respondent's different treatment of the city's population that has housing and the claimants who do not.'' While there may be a connection between someone having a disability and homelessness, the tribunal said they can't be substituted for each other. And 'in this case, not all of the 21 purported applicants have an identified disability.' Previous rulings have determined that homelessness is not a ground for a complaint to the tribunal under the Code. 'Given the above, no Code-based ground is engaged by the application, and the tribunal is without jurisdiction to hear this matter,' the decision said. 'The application is dismissed …' Read the full decision here.
