Barrier Free Manitoba

The Manitoba Human Rights Commission has recently released its annual report for the last year in early October. As creatures of habit, we start watching for it starting in late September. So we were surprised that the 2017 Annual Report was released this year on July 24, 2018.

Disturbingly, but not shockingly, disability discrimination remained the No. 1 reason for complaint to the commission again last year. In 2017, complaints based on disability discrimination made up 44.5% of all complaints. That figure is the same as it was in 2016 and slightly higher than the 17 year average of 41.5%.

The next most frequent reason for complaint in 2017 were the combined grounds of ancestry, nationality and ethnic background at 20.2%

That makes it 17 years in a row that disability discrimination has ranked as the most frequent reason for human rights complaints lodged in Manitoba.

These results once again highlight the promise of the landmark 2013 Accessibility for Manitobans Act. The results also highlight both the need for and the importance of the Province's recent commitment to substantially speed up the implementation of the Act.

The barriers faced by Manitobans with disabilities remain pervasive. Committed and sustained leadership by governent is needed to remove these barriers and prevent the creation of new ones.

Click here to view a PDF version of the MHRC 2018 Annual Report.