Category: Uncategorised

How our Expectations can be Hurting us

The wider the gap between our expectations and reality, the more pain we will feel. The angrier we will feel. The more depressed we will feel.

Lower your expectations, and you will be happy for the rest of your life. End of blog. No. Just joking!

Although this blog is going to be about changing our expectations, or at least reflecting on our expectations. It is important. Are we setting ourselves up for nothing but frustration and crushing heaviness?

Sometimes we are.

I thought in my mind that people in education were knowledgeable, smart and caring people. People who loved children and wanted the best for them. I thought they would be more honest and have higher personal qualities than the average public citizen because they worked in education.

You can imagine the hard fall that I had. The confusion. The disbelief.

I must not be believing what I am seeing and hearing. Is it me? Am I misunderstanding things? This isn’t making sense to me.

The sting was more severe, given that I held them up on a pedestal in my mind. These are teachers. Counsellors. Wise ones.

When I remember way back when my kids started school, what I used to think about the education staff, it makes me laugh out loud. And feel absolutely ridiculous for even thinking that. But everyone thinks something along those lines. We hold teachers and, therefore, administrators, and those in education in such high regard. Surely they work in education because they love children. Why are they here?

When we find out they are lying to us, to the detriment of children, and for their own benefit, it breaks us. It almost broke me. Literally. When I found out about the colluding and mastermind strategizing to put kids in harm and not give a shit just to make the system work…. and these people are in education. Well, my heart and soul disappeared from society for some time. Forgiveness was a way to pull myself out. But that didn’t last very long when they went back to their old shenanigans. They say forgiveness isn’t a straight line. Yeah, no kidding. It’s a rollercoaster. Depends on the day.

I learned to accept my reality and align my expectations more in line with the reality I have come to know and accept.

When we are advocating for our kids, sometimes we are talking to Mary Poppins, and sometimes we are talking to a wolf in sheep’s clothing. And sometimes it’s hard to determine the difference.

There are very well-meaning, loving and giving people in the education system. And these wonderful people still have a fiduciary duty to their employers. But I can 100% tell you, and provide you with evidence, that there are some very serious wolves in sheep’s clothing. Children are NOT their priority. School isn’t a safe place for every child.

It is uncomfortable to feel that we need to protect our children from educators. To fight for their rights. For them not to be harmed. Like…. WTF!?! We need to protect them from people who choose to work in education????

Yup.

Yes, we do.

Accepting reality can lift a weight off your shoulders. This is the system. People get brainwashed in the system to feel that they are fighting for something. Something important. The stability of the status quo.

Wishing that things were different isn’t going to change anything. But we do have control over our own expectations. These are the cards that have been dealt. Now, what do we want to do with it?

Step one: Change your expectations.

Post-Secondary Human Rights Complaint Settlement Offer

This is a case that involves a nursing student at a post-secondary institution.

Student D v. Selkirk College, 2025 BCHRT 178

[2]               Student D was a student in the Bachelor of Nursing program at Selkirk College. She alleges the College discriminated against her in the area of services on the grounds of mental and physical disability contrary to s.8 of the Code. She says the College failed to reasonably accommodate her disabilities which negatively affected her academic performance, and she ultimately withdrew from the program.

******

This is a dismissal application, but it’s a specific type of dismissal application. The respondents offered her a settlement offer that can be disclosed to the tribunal. It is called a “with prejudice” offer.

If you offer a settlement offer to the respondents and you don’t want it to be disclosed to the tribunal, you need to write “without prejudice” at the top of your email/offer.

If you turn down a with prejudice offer, the respondents can file a dismissal application that ultimately forces you to accept the offer. The only way to not accept it is to convince the tribunal that your case is worthy of the time and resources of the tribunal for a hearing, as it will benefit the public interest and potentially make case law advancements. Or you can just not accept it and walk away with nothing.

This case can also give you ideas on what kinds of things you can ask for in a mediation meeting.

This is an important case to read for young adults in post-secondary.

********

[7]               Student D has achondroplasia, generalized anxiety disorder, and auditory processing disorder. In September 2017, she started a four-year Bachelor of Nursing program at the College. Student D says that between April 28, 2020, and July 14, 2020, during the practicum portion of her program, she made requests for accommodation to her instructors and school administrators who failed to provide her the requested accommodations. Student D withdrew from her program on September 21, 2020.

*********

This is what she was offered, which she turned down. She felt the amount was too low. And so now the tribunal has to make a decision about allowing it to continue to a hearing or not. Respondents cannot file this kind of dismissal if the hearing is within the next 4 months.

*******

[9]               On February 3, 2025, the College made a with prejudice offer to settle the complaint on the following terms:

a.    The amount of $20,000 for injury to dignity, feelings, and self-respect.

b.    The amount of $24,394.30 for lost wages, less statutory deductions, representing a delay to potential graduation from the Bachelor of Nursing program by one year, less her average annual earnings as a care aide and educational assistant, and less a 30% contingency to account for the potential non-graduation from the program.

c.     The College will provide Student D with a letter of regret acknowledging the distress she experienced in the program.

d.    The College will provide a revised transcript replacing any “fail”, “no credit granted” or “partial credit granted” notations with a “withdrawal” notation. The College will also provide a transfer letter endorsing Student D as a candidate for any nursing programs in other post-secondary institutions.

e.    The College will commit to reviewing its Accessibility Services for Students program and making any updates it deems necessary.

*********

The tribunal dismissed her human rights complaint and allowed her to accept the offer she originally rejected, if she wanted it. You can read more about how they analyzed the appropriate settlement amount in the case. I haven’t pulled any of that out for this blog. Fighting this type of dismissal is low risk because you can always accept the same offer, even if you lose the dismissal application. Sometimes these are posted publicly, and some dismissal applications are private. But this is also a great way to get a public record of your case.

*********

[10]           The offer remains open for acceptance notwithstanding the filing of the application to dismiss the complaint. The offer will expire two weeks following the Tribunal’s decision on the application to dismiss.

*********

And the decision from the tribunal is….

[47]           The Tribunal routinely hears and decides cases that concern disability accommodation in educational settings, and I am not persuaded that the circumstances of the present case engage broader public policy issues that warrant proceeding in the face of a reasonable settlement offer. Further, considerable resources of the parties and the Tribunal would be required for a hearing of this matter. The Tribunal encourages parties to resolve their disputes in good faith on a voluntary basis. The College’s settlement offer contains terms that the Tribunal cannot order at a hearing, such as issuing a letter of regret, providing a revised transcript, and the transfer letter. The College’s offer also includes terms to ensure the discrimination does not occur again by reviewing its accessibility policies and training its faculty. Under the circumstances, I find that allowing this complaint to proceed would not further the purposes of the Code.  

Is there Hope?

Yes. Life is intense right now with everything happening globally, nationally, and locally. Our hearts are hurting. Intensely. We are stretched, and our capacity is being tested even more. Just when you think you can’t possibly be stretched even more.

If you are breathing, there is hope. The fact that you are alive to question whether there is hope or not means there is hope.

The human spirit is incredible.

If a traumatized child soldier from a war-torn country can grow up to write a book called “My Life is Art” – Emmanuel Jal, then there is hope. History tells us there is hope. We aren’t living in medieval times anymore. In most parts of the world, we aren’t putting people on torture devices anymore. In most parts of the world, we aren’t burning people alive. If someone asked me if I wanted to teleport back to that time period, I’d be heading for the hills.

Our legal system isn’t perfect, but we aren’t cutting off people’s body parts anymore for crimes we feel they might have done. We aren’t drilling holes in the heads of people with mental illnesses, thinking we are letting the devil escape, and we are saving them.

We don’t want to go back in time. We want to move forward. We have come a long way.

Life is never fair, but here is the thing. Humans are wired for wanting fairness. Needing fairness. We are constantly in a state of discontent that propels us forward and forces us to never settle. Our brains are even wired to root for the underdog. It’s why we love those stories. They are so satisfying to the human spirit. And we have a lot of underdogs in history who have pivoted us in the right direction. We believe in underdogs. And they do exist. Everywhere.

Disability advocacy has come a long way. We also have a long way to go. And now….we are being even more stretched. But this certainly isn’t the worst point in history for people with disabilities.

We have so many incredible people, disabled people, allies, who are speaking up. Who are blogging, who are talking to the media, who are writing books, doing TEdTalks, who are networking, who are working behind the scenes, who are advocating, who are living a resistance by just being who they are and not bending to the “normal” social story.

We can never give up.

We can rest. We can always rest.

And when we are ready. We get back into the ring.

As long as you have a goal to learn and stretch, you are creating your own hope. Because here is the truth.

No one is coming to save you.

But if you want it, there are a lot of people who are willing to help you, guide you, listen to you, and sit with you. But in the end, you are the one making decisions about how much you advocate and how. You are responsible for your own decision-making.

You can’t wait for the system to be fair before you decide to get in the ring. It will never be fair. You wait for that, and you’ll be waiting the rest of your life. History has never provided the ideal circumstances for anyone. It’s always been imperfect, mucky and an uphill battle against all odds. Humanity will always be a “work in progress”, shall we say. We have the potential for the most intense harm anyone can ever imagine, inflicted on another human being. We also have the potential for the most love, to survive the unimaginable. Love is the highest form of energy that has shown time and time again, it overcomes all.

So, yes. There is always hope.

And the hope is always going to be inside of you.

You are wired for survival and hope.

You just need to keep breathing. And some days. That is enough. Because there is always tomorrow. Hope.

Amending (Improving) a Complaint

I wrote my second human rights complaint at 4 am after very little sleep, was raging mad and didn’t look at it again until document disclosure time. Then I realized, opps! I need to amend my complaint. I don’t recommend you write your complaints at 4am. Lesson learned. Scream into a pillow and let it sit for a bit.

This is the second time I have amended my original complaint. After consulting with a lawyer at BC Human Rights Clinic, for the first human rights complaint I filed, I realized that details should be added, and so I amended my complaint to add “particulars” and not widen the scope (how big) the complaint was. It was easily accepted.

With my second human rights complaint, I was widening the scope, so it involved a formal application process, and the respondents could respond.

People are often afraid of missing something when they write their complaints, and I highly suggest you write a rough draft and make an appointment with the BC Human Rights Clinic or Disability Alliance. They are booking their appointments 2-3 weeks in advance. Well worth the wait. So if you are impulsive like me, sit on your hands and don’t push the send button quite yet until you get an appointment. But even if you do, it’s not the end; you can always apply to amend the complaint later.

If you do ever want to amend your complaint, another good-to-know is how the tribunal views self-represented people.

Many different types of vulnerable people file complaints, ranging from all sorts of situations. I think the public would be surprised to learn that many people are filing complaints and self-representing themselves against the government from prison, with no access to the internet and limited access to legal research tools.

This case isn’t an education case, but even non-education cases have jewels of information for us to learn from.

This case, by the way, is an incredibly important decision and has a lot of content on the impacts of colonialism. For parents filing complaints on behalf of their kids, this is the section that is good to know. You can use this case and quote these paragraphs in your amendment.

Ms. B v. Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General (Criminal Records Review Program), 2025 BCHRT 185

********

[116]       I acknowledge the Ministry’s argument that Ms. B gave limited information in her complaint about her Indigenous identity. Her complaint is one that could be described as arriving at the Tribunal’s gate “imperfectly brought,” as discussed by the BC Supreme Court in Lord:

“Within the human rights process, applicants are vulnerable when filing a complaint about a human rights violation which they believe has occurred. They may not know how to file their complaint in such a way that it will be heard, or in what form evidence is received, believed, or weighed by the Tribunal. Self-represented litigants … face significant barriers in bringing a claim of discrimination: para. 36.”

[117]       In Lord, the Court cautioned against winnowing out complaints that are imperfectly brought, and may require more work to comprehend, but likely contain allegations of merit:para. 38. I find that caution applicable here.

[118]       Ms. B filed her complaint as a self-represented party. The evidence before me points to her vulnerability as a person trying to reintegrate into society, while addressing the impacts of spending much of her life in prison, including long periods in solitary confinement. In her interview with the Criminal Records Review Program Investigator, Ms. B said: “I don’t even know how to hug after so many years in isolation”: Deroche Affidavit, Exhibit A, p. 20.

[119]       She filed her complaint at a time when she was adhering to parole conditions, had little to no income, and was focused on securing employment to support herself. I take from these circumstances that Ms. B faced barriers in filing her complaint at a time when she was self-represented and especially vulnerable. She was vulnerable as a low-income parolee trying to find her footing in society after so many years in prison. As an Indigenous woman, she is a member of a group who experiences persistent patterns of inequality and discrimination. She is vulnerable in the sense that she is vulnerable to those larger forces.

[120]       Within this context, Ms. B’s complaint could be said to be imperfect. She took up only three pages answering the relevant questions in the complaint form in a succinct manner……

*********

Just some added info: You have 5 pages to add to your complaint in addition to the form.

If you are a parent who is self-representing, it may be helpful to add some social context to your application to amend the complaint and explain why at the time of writing the complaint, it came out in the form that it did. If you weren’t able to have a lawyer review it, you can explain why not.

Social context items can be your income, protected characteristics, employment, family status responsibilities, education level, and other issues that create barriers to your ability to write a well-written complaint without access to legal support.

** When you make applications, not all decisions become public. Only certain ones that advance The Code, or are important for the public to be aware of will be posted.

Here are some cases that involve amending a complaint.

Warford v. Board of Education of School District No. 41 (Burnaby), 2024 BCHRT 322

Pausch v. School District No. 34 and others, 2008 BCHRT 154

What are you Advocating for?

Schools are required by law to provide your child with accommodations. They are not required by law to remove the disability from your child.

There are parents that feel that if their child is still showing features that are natural to their disability or neurodiversity, it must indicate that the school is not providing appropriate accommodations.

No.

Your child is entering the school disabled at 9am and at 3pm they will leave disabled.

Your child is beautiful. There is nothing wrong with them. Disability and neurodiversity are a natural part of human variation. If we have a society with no disabled people, there is something seriously wrong going on.

Schools provide accommodations, “ramps”. Like a pair of glasses. They don’t “fix” kids and remove the disability from them. Their job is to provide an education, with skills to be able to function the best they can in society. The same as all kids.

For example, if your child stutters and the school doesn’t remove the stuttering and make them fluent, it doesn’t mean the school is failing them. If your kid doesn’t want to participate in “treatment,” it doesn’t mean the school is failing them. If your child is still showing features that are natural to their disability/neurodiversity, it doesn’t mean the school is failing them.

Way back in history it was believed people with disabilities were possessed by the devil. It was believed that if they tortured the body enough to make it unhabitable, the devil (the disability) would leave. People would perform exorcisms, trying to rid people of disability.

We aren’t asking the school to remove the disability or neurodiversity from a child. We want kids to have an equitable access to their education. To be provided with skills and an education so that they can reach their potential. Not to be someone else.

Are you advocating for accommodations, or are you advocating for an exorcism?

Knowing our Rights!! Woohoo!

Ok, so I did want to acknowledge the grief part of being forced into heavy advocacy with law and policy. For those needing that acknowledgement you can read my previous blog Knowing our Rights. The path usually starts off that way, but it doesn’t need to stay that way.

For this blog, we are jumping from grief to acceptance to celebration.

There are many people who have been positively impacted personally from being originally forced into advocacy. They then find out there is something about this that drives them, fills them, and they enjoy helping other people.

I am one of those lucky people.

Some people have become teachers, EAs, OTs, social justice advocates, non-profit professionals, become school Trustees, entered politics, etc, etc, and have gone back to school to start a new career because of their experience.

I consider myself to be one of those positively impacted people, as I have found a career I absolutely love. Out of something that started out very horrible. Like throwing up horrible, never sleeping again in my life, horrible.

I am a health care and human rights legal advocate for people who are extremely vulnerable in society. My clients are among the most marginalized, traumatized, and oppressed people in society. I navigate all of the external complaint systems and work on policy systemic work with teams of dedicated advocates and lawyers. I LOVE IT.

I never ever would have gone back to school and ended up in the profession I am in now if it wasn’t for the shit I had to wade through due to advocating for my kids in the education system. It unlocked something already deep inside me that never had a chance to come out. I love law and policy. I find it fascinating. The social justice and direct client support I do, I absolutely love.

My silver lining.

Some people find out that they actually do love all of this law and policy stuff. That’s right up their alley. That they are actually really good at advocating. Some people have started their own businesses in education advocacy or volunteer to help out others. Some people are really moving and shaking up the system.

Sometimes, we have new, wonderful people enter our lives because of our advocacy. Sometimes, we get to contribute to our communities in ways we never imagined. Sometimes, not all parts are bad. OR at least stay bad.

Knowing our rights is empowering.

Helping other people is a precious part of life. Something to be celebrated.

And thanks everyone for reading my blog series about the Duty to Accommodate. The number of people reading the blogs this summer was intense. Hope some of you enjoyed it!

Knowing our rights!! Woohoo!!

Knowing our Rights

I wrote a blog years ago about the non-death loss that parents of disabled children experience.

From that blog.

*******

“Do you find out about the reality of public education or do you live in blissful ignorance? If you have a child with a disability, you don’t get a choice. It’s made for you.

I was a secretary at a couple of schools and it was amazing to me, how many parents of non-disabled children didn’t even know the name of their child’s teacher. Seriously.

I on other hand, can recite school legislation, explain the difference between Ministry of Education policy and the Human Rights Code, and define the loopholes in a variety of external complaint processes.

This isn’t what I thought it was going to be like. 

This is a loss that needs to be validated. The loss of innocence.”

*******

Being ignorant to law and policy isn’t a choice. It’s not a topic that we can read about if we have the time or find it enjoyable to learn about. It’s a must. To be able to advocate for our kids and hold the school system accountable. To give our children what they are legally entitled to have, an equitable education, we need to educate ourselves, whether we like it or not. We need to learn how to advocate, research, and practice our skills. We need to be constantly learning. It’s another profession forced on us, not by choice, but survival.

There is grief to that.

We don’t have the privilege of being blissfully not aware of our rights. Assuming that society will just naturally take care of us. Marginalized communities need to be aware. Be aware of a whole host of things. Law, policy, and how to advocate are key parts. We need to know our rights.

So, have a good cry. Scream into your pillow.

And thanks everyone for reading my blog series about the Duty to Accommodate. The number of people reading the blogs this summer was intense.

I see you all.

Showing up.

Whether you like law or not.

Current Process of a Human Rights Complaint

There can be a variation in how your complaint proceeds depending on all sorts of factors. It won’t necessarily be the exact same for everyone.

Here are the RULES for any part of the complaint.

The tribunal has the power to change these rules.

Rule 2 – Tribunal Powers
(1) The tribunal may exercise any power under these rules at the request of a participant or on its own initiative.


(2) The tribunal may waive or vary these rules and may shorten or lengthen any time limits in these rules, as it considers appropriate in the circumstances.

Here are the steps in the process and some good-to-know info:

  1. Submit a complaint. (They will not inform the school that the complaint is being processed.)

You then WAIT – length depending if you filed an application for fast tracking. You can apply for fast-tracking if you have specific reasons at any point in your process.

Even after just submitting your complaint, some people send demand letters at this point. This of course, will be situation specific. When cases are clearly discriminatory or if you are not asking for money and just specific accommodations, those are accepted more easily.

Some people do not want to inform their school for their own reasons, and some like to inform their school. I suggest that there are a lot of strategic reasons to inform them that you have done this. More on this below. I feel it offers a certain level of protection for many reasons. One reason is that they aren’t allowed to retaliate against you or your child for filing a complaint. But, each person’s situation is different, and you need to do what is most comfortable for you and your family.

2. The complaint decision will arrive by email.

Accepted – both you and the respondents will be informed

Declined – only you will be informed

If the complaint is accepted, the respondents will now have a due date to submit a response to your complaint to you and the tribunal via email.

3. Settlement meeting. They are now automatically being set up and you will be informed of the date when you receive the complaint decision.

Settlement meetings can be requested at any time as you move through the process. This won’t be your own shot. Both parties need to agree. Also, at any time, you can submit to the respondents a settlement offer on paper. You just need to put “Without prejudice” at the top of your email. Here is one article of many on how to write without prejudice settlement offers.

There are also different types of mediation options. I highly encourage you to read about those.

IF IT WAS NOT SETTLED, it continues.

4. Document Disclosure

This is when you make a list of all of the emails and documents of evidence you have. You send the tribunal and the respondents the list. You send your evidence to the respondents. They will send you their list and documents as well.

You can file applications to remove redactions and apply for documents they haven’t handed over that you feel are relevant to your case. Even if you have gone through OIPC, ask again. The HRT has more power to get you documents.

When you are filing applications or possibly facing a dismissal decision, every decision the tribunal responds to could possibly turn into a public decision, but there is no guarantee.

I have noticed that if the decision advances the human rights code, or is helpful for public knowledge and learning and transparency, they are more likely to post it. But there is no guarantee.

You may also want to consider if you should be amending your complaint at all.
You may want to add additional elements after going through all of your documents, or after consulting with the BC Human Rights Clinic or Disability Alliance. If you are adding smaller details, it’s called adding “particulars”. If you are changing the scope of the complaint (adding new allegations), then that will lead to a decision from the tribunal for them to be accepted or not.

5. Case path decision from the tribunal. Then the tribunal will decide if they will allow the respondents to submit a dismissal application or you will have hearing dates booked.

There are a lot of reasons why they can apply to dismiss your case. If you go on the dismissal form 7.2 you will see the list on page 2 of 6.

They can file a dismissal application by offering you a reasonable settlement. If there is nothing novel about your case, the tribunal may force you to accept their offer by dismissing your case if you don’t accept it.

*******

Pattinson v. University of Northern British Columbia (No. 4), 2025 BCHRT 57

[3]               The University made a with prejudice offer to Mr. Pattinson to resolve the complaint. Mr. Pattinson did not accept the offer. The University applies to dismiss the complaint on the basis that it would not further the purposes of the Code to proceed with a hearing in circumstances where it made a reasonable settlement offer.

[4]               Mr. Pattinson opposes the dismissal application and disputes that the University’s offer is reasonable.

[5]               For the following reasons, I grant the application and dismiss the complaint. I find the University’s settlement offer is reasonable and it would not further the purposes of the Code to proceed. To make this decision, I have considered all the information filed by the parties. In these reasons, I only refer to what is necessary to explain my decision.

Notable paragraphs in the case to understand this process more in-depth, I encourage you to read paragraphs 22-24, 27, 36, 38, 56, 59.

******

You will need to explain the tribunal and convince them that your case is novel and is in the public interest for the resources and time to be used up by the tribunal for your case to go to a hearing.

For people who actually want to take their case to a hearing, *** TIP: If they don’t think you will actually take your case to a hearing, they may think that you’ll fold before the hearing and not worry about you. If you actually do want to take your case to a hearing, you are going to want them to underestimate you. Don’t let them worry about you. This option will only be available to them 4 months before the hearing. Once you get past this deadline, you are in the clear. Lawyers ALWAYS underestimate parents. They may not do this if they think the tribunal won’t grant the dismissal. If there is something novel or hearing-worthy about your case, then they may not even try. However, you can still fight this and wait for a decision from the tribunal. You will still be able to accept their offer after you get a decision from the tribunal. So you never know, it may be worth it to reject their offer, fight it and see if you can get a public decision out of it, and you’ll still get the offer anyway.

7. Case Management Meeting between the tribunal member, the respondents and yourself about your hearing. Mediation will be offered again to see if you and the district can resolve it. These meetings happen about a month or so before your hearing.

If you don’t want a hearing, this is another opportunity to settle. Depends on how much hardball you want to play.

**Case management meetings can happen at other times, and you can also ask for a case management meeting too.

8. Hearing.

After the hearing is done, most often people submit closing arguments by written submission. You’ll be writing out your final argument on paper. I highly suggest as you move through the hearing that you take notes as you move along, of argument ideas that you are going to want to summarize in your argument. You will have weeks to complete this. 4 weeks is possible. It won’t be a panic rush or anything.

And then wait for the decision – maybe at least 6 months, depending on the complexity of the case

9. Decision arrives by email. You will be informed the day before to let you know that it is coming the next day.

Navigating the human rights tribunal is kind of like a choose-your-own-adventure. It totally depends on what your complaint is about, what YOU want to do with it and how far you want it to go, and the purpose behind you filing the complaint. It all depends.

For advice and help in writing up a complaint, please book a consultation appointment with BC Human Rights Clinic and Disability Alliance. Parents have found these consultation periods very helpful. Send them a draft of your complaint, and you can get great advice.

For some more tips that I can post publicly, see here.

Wait Time for External Complaint Systems

Filing external complaints can take a long time BUT there are a few options to help speed things up.

There are a lot of people filing complaints. Some of them are about being overcharged on bills from the government, to city bylaws, to very serious, immediate risks related to shelter. There are a large variety of types of complaints. For complaints that involve children who are currently experiencing harm, there are ways to speed up the process.

Ombudsperson BC

So how long does it take? According to their annual report 2023-2024 p. 99

53% of the files were closed within 30-90 days.

98% of the files were closed within one year.

What many people don’t know about is the early resolution option. They have an early resolution team. “Early Resolution team can quickly resolve
a complaint by doing an expedited investigation of the public body the complaint is about.” (p. 19) If you are currently dealing with issues, like the school is ignoring you, then this can be a quick intervention to get the conversation flowing again.

I highly encourage you to ask if this is an option. Especially if your issue is time-sensitive.

Teachers Regulation Branch

This process is currently at 10-12 months for everything to be completed. 3-5 days for your complaint to be accepted and sent out to the educator.

If you have an urgent physical or psychological safety concern about an education staff person, you will get a faster response from the Superintendent than you will through the TRB branch.

BC Human Rights Tribunal

Acceptance of complaints is currently at 12-18 months. On their automatic email response, they state:

“The tribunal is completing its review of complaints filed in 2023. We expect to begin reviewing cases filed in 2024 in the fall of 2025”

Now, before you fall off your seat, let me explain the fast-tracking option.

You can apply to fast-track your complaint if it’s urgent. An example listed on the BCHRT website fast-tracking page is this:

“The complaint is about a child’s education. The child will not graduate this year, without a fast solution.”

So it needs to be something that your child is experiencing harm with NOW. Like exclusion, or not getting their accommodations now. If you pulled your child and they are at a different school and you just filed about discrimination they experienced but are no longer experiencing, unfortunately, you will need to go through the long wait.

Fast-tracking is about speeding up the process at any time during your complaint. So you could file the fast-tracking application when you file your human rights complaint, or if you are in the process and needs become urgent, you can still file a fast-tracking application at any time.

When you file a fast-tracking application, and it gets accepted as that, they aren’t kidding. Things move fast. It’s days or a couple of weeks till you will find out.

Here is the page about fast-tracking. You will need to read this page to know how you will need to make your argument. You will be filing out a general application form. On the home page, they have the FORMS tab and you will be filing out the 7.1 general application form. Fast-tracking is on the list that you tick off.

I encourage people to consider the fast-tracking option. The worst thing will be you will be told no. But you may be surprised by how fast and willing they are to accept your application when it comes to children and education.

OIPC

It will be about 3-5 months before you are connected to an investigator. It can take about a month to find out if your complaint has been accepted. If your case goes to an adjudicator, it can take about a year from the time you are told it is moving onto the next step. Though for your file to reach an inquiry, it’s not too common.

There isn’t a fast-tracking option that I am aware of, but if you urgently need this information, always ask.

Section 11 Appeal

This is an internal complaint system, as you are appealing a decision made by the district to the Board of Education. But this process has a firm timeline attached to it.

From the School Act

11 (7)A board must

(a)make a decision under this section within 45 days of the date on which the board receives the appeal, and

(b)promptly report that decision to the person making the appeal.

** Always Ask

The external complaints systems are not always processing urgent complaints, or complaints for children or vulnerable people. One complaint I read about was about someone’s neighbour doing something they didn’t like.

Complaints that involve children in education, especially if the harm is continuing, require a faster reaction. Always ask. Always express the urgency of what you are dealing with. Ombudsperson and the BC Human Rights Tribunal both have processes to prioritize more urgent requests.

I find the wait time for these processes are currently working at to be a barrier in itself. Access delayed is access denied. The wait times can be daunting for some people. The BC HRT is currently working on how to speed up their process, so hopefully, we will see some movement.

If your issue is time sensitive, when you file your complaint with any of these complaint systems, highlight that it is time sensitive and ask them if there are any ways to speed up the process.

Fairness at the BC Human Rights Tribunal

There are a lot of people self-representing themselves in many legal avenues. Small claims courts, family law, and residential tribunals are just to name a few. Most people navigating the human rights tribunal are self-represented as well.

What all these legal avenues have in common is that they are swamped with work, backed up, and everyone in these systems experiences way longer delays than anyone should ever have to experience. Navigating the human rights tribunal system has taught me patience and the art of waiting like no other experience has or would.

Fairness for a self-represented person is very important. We always want to make sure we are experiencing a fair process, especially when we are in an adversarial legal situation against lawyers. Already, it feels unfair. Because it is. So the process becomes extra important. The term you want to research is “procedural fairness”.

Tribunal members, adjudicators and judges are very used to dealing with the self-represented litigant vs. lawyer situations. This happens A LOT! To start out with, between 50-80% of the people are self-representing, depending on the area of law. That is already incredibly high. Then, of the self-representing litigants in this study “89.3% of respondents said that the other side in their case was represented by counsel, while 10.6% percent stated that the other side was also self-representing.” (p. 6) Wow, so most people are representing themselves in legal proceedings and most of the time they are up against lawyers.

There is a lot of case law already on trying to ensure a fair process.

There are cases that will point this out, and I encourage you to earmark these and use them just in case you feel you need them. There are lots on the procedural fairness page on the BC HRT below.

Here is one example of the HRT bending to ensure fairness:

Teacher v. School District and others, 2025 BCHRT 179

[3]               The Teacher provided further evidence and argument in her Form 5 – Time Limit Reply, which I decided to consider because she is self-represented and should be given some latitude in raising new allegations and arguments in reply. In fairness to the Respondents, I considered their further submissions responding to the Teacher’s reply. Finally, I considered the Teacher’s reply to the Respondent’s further submissions as a matter of fairness.

Here is another case regarding making submissions

Taylor v Mallany, 2019 NLCA 25

[24]      At paragraph 53 of the decision, Green J.A. notes that the Principles impose responsibility on judges, court officials, and members to the Bar to “ensure that self-represented persons are provided with fair access and equal treatment by the court” which includes “opportunities for all persons to understand and meaningfully present their case.” And further at paragraph 54, he suggests that the Principles should be treated as having some legal effect:

The Right to Make Submissions

[26]      A fundamental element of the right to be heard is the right of a party to present their case to the decision-maker.

Procedural Fairness at the HRT

Here is the page on procedural fairness for the BC Human Rights Tribunal. I encourage you to read this if you are going to be navigating the process.

Here are some things that I have learned:

  1. If you are having meetings, you can ask for an agenda to be created so that you know what to expect and can do some research beforehand to prepare for the meeting
  2. ALWAYS ask questions. If you think something is fishy, ask! You have a right to ask questions.
  3. Push the line. If you think something isn’t fair, say so. People can’t read your mind and you are the one with all of the information about your situation. These systems aren’t designed for anyone in particular, so if your situation doesn’t fit the mold, speak up. Always ask for something that you want. If they say no, then you at least got your answer. Don’t assume the answer will be no.
  4. Lawyers aren’t allowed to take advantage of you becuase you are self-representing, so if you they are messing with you, you can call them on it by filing an improper conduct complaint with the HRT or file a complaint with the law society.

Here are some of my tips for navigating the HRT.

The tribunal members have their hands tied in many ways, but I can tell you, I have noticed when they are still able to stay in their lane, uphold case law, they will be flexible to ensure fairness to both sides. Which I have appreciated.

The HRT is a legal process. It’s a legal test. Doesn’t mean your experience didn’t happen.

Like any self-representing person, reading case law is a great place to learn about law. Here are the instructions to navigate Canlii. There are lots of great YouTube videos for people self-representing.

And for those who are interested, here is a fascinating report on self-represented litigants in Canada.