Ontario government announces Patricia DeGuire as New Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission

BY PAUL JUNOR

The announcement that Patricia DeGuire will be the new Chief Commissioner of the Ontario Human Rights Commission was welcome. Her outstanding academic, legal and professional experience, expertise and education make her the ideal candidate for this prestigious position.

She completed her Doctor of Law and JD in 1993 at Osgoode Hall Law School and subsequently her Masters of Law in 1999. She was called to the bar in 1993 and worked as a defence lawyer from 1993 to 1995. She served as Director of the Board from June 1993 to June 1995 and subsequently as Executive of Client Legal Services for Legal Aid Toronto from June 2004 to December 2006.

She was a co-founder of the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers (CABL) in 1995 and worked on its Professional Development Committee. She served as First Vice-President for JusticeNet from April 2008 to March 2020. JusticeNet is “A non-for-profit service helping people in need of legal expertise, whose income is too high for legal aid and too low to afford standard legal fees.”

In addition, she has served on the boards of the Ontario Board of Parole and the Immigration and Refugee Board. Her stint as vice-chair of the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario reflects her passion and dedication to equity, fairness and social justice issues. As a deputy judge of the Superior Court of Justice she has served the province of Ontario well. She was recognized in 2020 when she won the Canadian Bar Association’s Touchstone Award for “Promoting equality in the legal profession, the judiciary and the legal community.”

The Ontario Human Rights Commission released a press release on July 9^th, 2021 titled “OHRC welcomes nomination of new Chief Commissioner,” which can be seen at ohrc.on.ca. She is described as a “Woman-of-colour who pushes boundaries to ensure access to justice, equality and equity. She has a passion for the rule of law, and a commitment to public service, mentoring, coaching and legal education.”

In the government’s press release, Attorney General Doug Downey acknowledged the role of Interim Chief Commissioner Ena Chadha in building a team at the OHRC. Ena Chadha notes, “As my term as chief commissioner draws to a close, I thank the extraordinary OHRC team who stopped at nothing to deliver on the crucial human rights issues requiring urgent attention in all sectors in Ontario.Together we worked endlessly to safeguard and advance human rights for all and I congratulate you on our many successes.”  Doug Downey notes, “Patricia DeGuire’s demonstrated knowledge and experience will build on the incredible progress made over this past year and throughout the sixty yeas of the commission’s ground-breaking work to advance and protect human rights. I would like to offer warm congratulations on this nomination.”

Patricia DeGuire is cognizant of the importance of her nomination as a Black woman. She states, “I am deeply honoured, humbled and excited to carry the baton to lead the OHRC. I look forward to using education and other strategies to carry out the commission’s mandate and bring together our communities to address the unprecedented crisis flowing from the intersection of two global pandemics: COVID-19 and racism.”