A well-known Toronto lawyer who alleged that a librarian “racially profiled” him at a Brampton, Ont., courthouse has seen a ruling in his favour at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario thrown out.An understandable mistake given that Whist is not a real judge with real judicial credentials. He's merely someone who
Selwyn Pieters, and another lawyer, Brian Noble, were awarded $2,000 each in a 2010 tribunal decision that said they faced discrimination when they were asked for identification in a courthouse lounge reserved for lawyers and law students.
The May, 2008, incident quickly blew up into a heated confrontation with Melissa Firth, a librarian and administrator with the Peel Law Association, according to court documents. Mr. Pieters and Mr. Noble, who were accompanied by a black law student, alleged that Ms. Firth asked them for identification only because they were black.
But in a Divisional Court ruling issued Feb. 13, a three-judge panel led by Madam Justice Sandra Chapnik overturned the Human Rights Tribunal’s ruling and ordered Mr. Pieters and Mr. Noble to pay $20,000 in court costs.
It was wrong to conclude that there was clear evidence of discrimination in this case, the Divisional Court said about the decision by Eric Whist, vice-chair of the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario...
has extensive experience with the Ontario's human rights system. From 1979 to 1991, Mr. Whist worked with the Ontario Human Rights Commission and the Ontario Race Relations Directorate in a variety of capacities including Race Relations Officer and Regional Manager. He then joined the Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Housing as a Manager working on strategies to improve the quality of life in public housing communities. Mr. Whist was a member of the Immigration and Refugee Board, most recently serving as the acting Assistant Deputy Chair of the Board's Immigration Appeal Division.
Which is to say he's a career bureaucrat who has no business making judicial decisions of any kind.
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