Supreme Court of Canada justice Rosalie Abella, one of Canada’s foremost experts on human rights law, will deliver the 2009 Koskie Minsky Lecture in Labour Law this week.
Her presentation, Reflections on the Abella Report: 25 Years Later, takes place Oct. 30 at 5:30 p.m. in Conron Hall, University College.
Abella was the sole commissioner on the 1984 federal Royal Commission on Equality in Employment. Her report coined the concept of employment equity, a then-new strategy for reducing barriers in employment faced by women, aboriginal peoples, visible minorities and persons with disabilities.
The report’s theories of equality and non-intentional discrimination were adopted by the Supreme Court of Canada through Charter litigation and influenced subsequent human rights jurisprudence.
The lecture, which is open to everyone, is being organized by Western Law and the Toronto law firm of Koskie Minsky as part of Western Law’s annual Labour Law Conference.
www.law.uwo.ca/conferences/labour/2009/index.html