The Vancouver Civic Unity Association reported today it has submitted a brief to the Provincial Cabinet of British Columbia charging that the provincial Fair Employment Practices Act “is a virtually dormant piece of legislation. “
S. B. Gervin, chairman of the Association and chairman of the Joint Public Relations Committee of the Canadian Jewish Congress and B’nai B’rith Pacific Region, said the association proposed an amendment to permit such organizations as church, ethnic and trade union groups to make a complaint on behalf of an aggrieved person.
The association urged the formation of an Anti Discrimination Commission “to acquaint the public with the nature of the act itself, to direct specific educational material to employers and trade unions, to give leadership to community study of the nature of prejudice and discrimination. “
The brief emphasized that prejudice and discrimination based on race, color, creed or national original was not confined to the area of employment opportunities but exists in all areas of our community life. If the eradication of discrimination in employment is to have a lasting significance, it must be accompanied by a decrease in discrimination in other areas. “
A delegation of the association met with a group of Cabinet Ministers and proposed the passage of a Fair Accommodations Act. The delegation also urged that the Provincial Government “should maintain its position with regard to discriminatory legislation by taking an unequivocal stand on the matter of restrictive covenants. “
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