An Indigenous family has won their case following a discrimination complaint they filed with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) against public transit service North Bay Transit.
The Court ordered the City to pay $45,000 in damages for the incident, which occurred in April 2018.
A driver then prevented Paula Nakogee and her two adult sons from boarding a bus even though they had valid bus passes.
The Nakogee believed that the driver refused to allow them to board the bus simply because they were indigenous.
said Jamie McGinnis, who provided legal assistance to the applicants during the hearing.
More than a dozen other passengers were able to board without incident, except for them.
Feeling unfair, Paula Nakogee called the North Bay transit service directly to complain.
This only added to their disappointment, as the investigation itself was flawed and did not make the Nakogee feel that their complaints had been taken seriously and properly addressed.
explained Jamie McGinnis.
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Jamie McGinnis is the Legal Services Manager at the Human Rights Legal Support Centre.
-Photo: Submitted by Jamie McGinnis
Ms. Nakogee then contacted the Human Rights Legal Assistance Center, which provided her with legal assistance.
In addition to compensation, the TDPO ordered North Bay Transit to change its policy and provide training to its staff.
The City says it takes the matter seriously
Since the date of the incident, company policies, procedures and practices continue to evolve for best practices
said Gord Young, spokesperson for the City of North Bay.
This includes adding video cameras to our bus fleet to ensure better protection for everyone.
he explained.
Mr Young said the City could not confirm whether the bus driver had been disciplined or fired following the incident because The City does not comment on labor and employee relations matters as they relate to individuals
.
With information from CBC’s Kate Rutherford and Jonathan Migneault