Mandatory retirement violates the Charter, concluded the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal in its recent decision … but that is not enough, the offensive provision in the Canadian Human Rights Act must be removed. This requires federal government action to bring the law in line with the Charter and the values of Canadians, including CARP members who overwhelmingly support the elimination of mandatory retirement at the federal level as it has been done at the provincial level. CARP had long advocated that the federal government remove section 15[1][c] of the Canadian Human Rights Act which now would purport to permit age discrimination contrary to law. In light of the recent ruling, CARP renewed its calls for the federal government to take action. Click here to view the press release we issued in response to the ruling.

Click here to read an accompanying article in the Toronto Star

Two politicians answered our calls: the Hon. Judy Sgro, National Liberal Critic for Veterans Affairs, Seniors and Pensions as well as the Hon. Raymonde Folco, Official Opposition Critic for La Francophonie.

In her letter to Susan Eng, CARP VP of Advocacy, the Hon. Judy Sgro expressed her support for the decisions and for government to take regulatory and legislative steps to amend the Canadian Human Rights Act so as to remove the offending provision.

The Hon. Raymonde Folco’s letter expressed support for the decisions and announced that she had sent a letter to the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Council asking that a Private Member’s Bill be drafted in her name to amend the Human Rights Act to delete Section 15[1][c], which has been found to be in violation of the Canadian Charter. Ms. Folco also announced she would be taking up the matter with her Caucus on September 16th 2009.

Keywords: mandatory retirement