Gary Melanson

The applicant filed a human rights application alleging discrimination by his neighbours, who are a police officer and a crown attorney, and by the regional police services board.

The Tribunal held a preliminary hearing to determine whether the allegations fell within the social area of services and whether they had a reasonable prospect of success.

The Tribunal dismissed the property and harassment allegations against the personal respondents as they did not involve the provision of a service.

The Tribunal also dismissed the allegations against the police services board and most remaining allegations against the personal respondents for having no reasonable prospect of success, as there was no evidence linking the alleged conduct to a protected Code ground.

Only the allegation that the respondent police officer improperly ran criminal and immigration checks on the applicant was permitted to proceed to a full hearing.

The Waterloo Regional Police Service brought a motion to dismiss the appellant's appeal of a penalty decision on the basis that the notice of appeal was filed outside the 30-day statutory time limit.

The appellant did not attend the motion hearing despite being notified.

The Commission found that the faxed notice of appeal was deemed received on the 31st day, and held that it has no jurisdiction to extend or waive the statutory time periods under the Police Services Act.

The motion was granted and the appeal dismissed.

The applicant filed a human rights application alleging discrimination and racial harassment by his neighbours, one of whom is a police officer, and by the Police Services Board in its investigation.

The respondents requested dismissal under section 45.1 of the Human Rights Code, arguing the substance of the application was appropriately dealt with in a Police Services Act complaint and a peace bond proceeding.

The Tribunal denied the request, finding that neither proceeding appropriately dealt with the human rights issues, as the PSA process lacked personal remedies and the peace bond proceeding focused on reasonable fear for safety rather than discrimination.

The applicant filed a human rights application alleging discrimination on the basis of race by the police and her employers.

The Tribunal directed a summary hearing by teleconference to determine if the application had a reasonable prospect of success.

The applicant failed to point to any evidence linking her alleged mistreatment to her race, relying instead on speculation.

The Tribunal dismissed the application as having no reasonable prospect of success.

The applicant requested to reactivate his human rights application following the completion of an appeal to the Ontario Civilian Police Commission and a peace bond application.

The respondents consented to the reactivation but requested a hearing to dismiss the application under section 45.1 of the Human Rights Code, arguing the substance had been dealt with in the other proceedings.

The Tribunal reactivated the application and ordered that a hearing on the section 45.1 dismissal request be scheduled once the transcript of the peace bond proceeding is available.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) sought access to and copies of exhibits from a preliminary inquiry involving four correctional officers charged in the death of Ashley Smith.

The charges were dropped, and the exhibits were transferred for a coroner's inquest.

The application judge granted CBC access but restricted copying to portions of the video played in open court and prohibited copying the footage of Smith's death.

The Court of Appeal allowed CBC's appeal, holding that the Dagenais/Mentuck test applies to media requests for exhibits and that the open court principle includes the right to copy exhibits in full, absent convincing evidence of a serious risk to the administration of justice or other protected interests.