Human rights backlog on P.E.I. goes back more than 4 years

The executive director of the P.E.I. Human Rights Commission says the organization is making headway on a case backlog that stretches back years.

But Brenda Picard says even if the government provides the extra funding she's requested, it will still take years more for the commission to finally catch up. Without a long-term increase in government funding, she said any gains would be short-lived.

"It's very frustrating for the complainants who file those complaints, and for the businesses [or] organizations that are responding," said Picard.

"But certainly for the complainants to have to wait that length of time, we recognize that's very disruptive in their lives. It's stressful for them to have to wait."

At the start of the current fiscal year, on April 1, 2021, the commission carried over 128 case files from previous years. Picard said most date back between two to four years, but some go back even further.

Previous chair also sought extra funding

She is not the first commissioner to seek more funding to get cases dealt with more quickly.

"Though government spending has its limits, it is ultimately a matter of priorities," former chair John Rogers wrote in the commission's 2019 annual report. "We must place a high priority on spending which will create a society characterized by mutual understanding, dignity, and respect for all."

Since then, the commission's annual grant from the province has increased from about $450,000 to the current $600,000.

Picard said that has allowed the commission to hire a second lawyer on contract, but she added that stable long-term funding is required to make that position permanent.

Pandemic inquiries also fuel backlog

Other factors feeding the backlog include a growing number of complaints requiring more complex investigations, and the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pandemic has required staff to work from home, while spurring a growing number of inquiries to the commission, Picard said.

According to its most recent annual report, 15 per cent of inquiries fielded by the commission in 2020-21 were regarding the pandemic.

"We get a lot of inquiries around people's right not to wear a mask but still get serviced and people not wanting to have to get a vaccination," said Picard.

Picard said unless there is some underlying grounds for a human rights complaint, such as a person having a disability,there's nothing the commission can do.

"We would tell them that if it's a matter of personal choice, then it's not a complaint that the Human Rights Commission can get involved in."

Oldest cases stuck in 'catch-22'

Picard said the commission has developed a technique to triage cases, and now tries to get as many as possible resolved within a year.

But the backlog has continued to grow, and she said it gets harder to work on the cases that have been in the queue the longest.

"When you're trying to deal with an old file, it takes much longer than when you're dealing with it fresh. It's like a catch-22 situation. It compounds itself," she said.

She worries that people might simply not come forward with a complaint "if they know that that's how long it's going to take to deal with it, and that's not what we want to see."

Picard said the commission has asked for more provincial funding as the King government works on its next operating budget.

She said the commission will have a better understanding of whether the backlog is shrinking or growing when it compiles numbers for its next annual report, for the fiscal year that ends March 31, 2022.