SikhSpectrum.com Quarterly Issue No.31, March 2008
Human rights commission awards $8,000 to victim of racial harassment
Danny Chan
A Filipino-Canadian senior in Saint-Hubert, Que., has been awarded $8,000 by the Quebec Human Rights Commission and Youth Rights Commission following a complaint of racial harassment filed against his neighbors. The commission ruled Cecilio Rous was the target of racial harassment at the hands of his neighbors and was awarded moral and punitive damages on Nov. 26, four years after the initial complaint was filed.
The Centre for Research-Action on Race Relations filed the complaint on behalf of Mr. Rous and his late wife Rustica Punzalan Rous in August 2003. The commission heard testimony from Mr. Rous before ruling in his favor.
Mr. Rous said he felt vindicated by the court’s decision but regretted his late wife was unable to see justice served.
“Although I am pleased with the decision, I am very disappointed that my wife did not get the protection to which she was entitled in virtue of the Quebec Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” Mr. Rous said in a statement. “She waited four years to see justice. I am ready to go all the way for I must protect our rights, even if my wife is no longer beside me.” The 70-year-old retired electrical engineer, who emigrated from the Philippines to Canada in 1977 and has resided in Saint-Hubert since 1986, is to receive $5,000 in moral damages and $3,000 in punitive damages from his neighbors.
The court’s only evidence regarding his wife came from a June 2003 report from Longueuil police. No verdict due to lack of evidence was therefore handed down concerning his wife, who passed away last June of lymphoma cancer at age 71.
Fo Nieme, CRARR’s executive director, said delays with the human-rights commission and with Longueuil Municipal Court can throw the justice system into disrepute.
“People are not going to go to the commission if they think it can take four or five years to investigate their complaint,” he said. “The government must ensure speedy access to justice for elderly persons, persons with physical challenges, and for racial minorities when their basic civil rights have been violated.”
Jean Blais, his wife Line Vachon and their sons Mathieu and Jonathan, the defendants named in the ruling, have until Dec. 21 to pay the damages; a non-payment by that date would send the case to the Quebec Human Rights Tribunal. The Blaises declined comment on the advice of their attorney.
CRARR initially filed a $40,000 complaint on behalf of the Rouses against the four neighbors who allegedly harassed the couple. Mr. Rous said tensions first surfaced in 1988 when he discovered his neighbors were illegally stealing electricity from his power connection following renovation work after a house fire at the neighbors’ house.
Mr. Rous added when he went to mow his lawn, Mr. Blais would make obscene gestures and on one occasion even showed his middle finger to his wife. He contacted police on numerous occasions only to be instructed to refrain from speaking to his neighbors.
In June 2003, the neighbors’ two teenage sons and a friend discarded their garbage onto his deck following a party. When Mr. Rous accosted the neighbors, they threatened to fight him and told him to return to his country, prompting him to contact the Quebec Human Rights Commission.
