Quebec's Human Rights Commission is too white and too French: Fo Niemi

https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/quebecs-human-rights-commission-is-too-white-and-too-french-fo-niemi?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1539131765

The head of a rights advocacy centre on racial discrimination is sounding the alarm about what he calls a lack of diversity in Quebec’s Human Rights Commission.

Fo Niemi, the executive director of the Center for Research-Action on Race Relations, said Tuesday he was concerned about the resignation of the last commissioner whose mother tongue is English.

Niemi said he recently learned of the actions of Richard Janda, who sent a letter of resignation to the National Assembly several weeks ago. He was the third commissioner to resign so far this year, Niemi said. The letter has not been made public, and Janda has so far declined to comment on the reasons for his departure. However, that leaves the commission with three vacant seats, out of five, for matters relating to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, and the two remaining are both white francophones, according to Niemi.