HUMAN RIGHTS TRIBUNAL OF ONTARIO
B E T W E E N:
Pierre Sandoz
Applicant
-and-
Amex Bank of Canada
Respondent
DECISION
Adjudicator: Mary Truemner
Date: March 14, 2012
Citation: 2012 HRTO 525
Indexed as: Sandoz v. Amex Bank of Canada
WRITTEN SUBMISSIONS
Pierre Sandoz, Applicant ) Self-represented
Amex Bank of Canada, Respondent ) David Mollica, Counsel
1This Application was filed on May 19, 2011 under s. 34 of the Human Rights Code, R.S.O. 1990, c. H.19, as amended, (the “Code”). The respondent has requested that this Application be dismissed because it is not within the jurisdiction of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario. The applicant’s allegation is that the respondent lowered his credit limit because of his age. The respondent states that it is a bank and the provincial Code does not apply to banking which is a federal matter.
2The applicant filed a complaint at the Canadian Human Rights Commission (“the federal Commission”), making the same allegations against the respondent as the allegation in the Application. The applicant believed that the federal Commission had communicated to him that he must take his allegations to the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal because the federal Commission had no jurisdiction to deal with his allegations.
3The Code only applies to matters that fall within provincial jurisdiction. The federal Commission has power to deal with various human rights matters that fall under federal jurisdiction. Under section 91(15) of the Constitution Act, 1867, the federal Parliament has jurisdiction over “Banking, Incorporation of Banks, and the Issue of Paper Money”. The Code therefore does not apply to banking.
4The applicant recently sent to the Tribunal new correspondence from staff at the federal Commission who recommend that the federal Commission deal with the complaint that the applicant filed there because the federal Commission does have jurisdiction to deal with it.
5The Tribunal has no jurisdiction over this Application and it is dismissed. The
applicant may pursue his allegations at the federal Commission.
Dated at Toronto, this 14^th^ day of March, 2012.
”signed by”__________________
Mary Truemner
Vice-chair