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Monday, July 21, 2025

Justice Denied by Design: When Winning Isn’t Enough

Justice Denied by Design: When Winning Isn’t Enough

By Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita

You do everything right.
You experience discrimination. You feel unsafe, disrespected, degraded — maybe even traumatized. You file a complaint through the proper human rights channels. You follow their rules. You wait. You hope.

And then — you win.
The Human Rights Tribunal agrees:
Yes, you were discriminated against. Yes, the harm was real. They issue a ruling in your favour. Maybe you’re granted compensation. Maybe a policy change. Maybe just an apology.

But then comes the gut punch:
Nobody makes them follow the order. Not in BC. Not federally. Not anywhere in Canada.

🧱 BC Human Rights System — Justice on Paper

In British Columbia, if you file a complaint through the BC Human Rights Tribunal, and you win — it’s still not over.

If the person, company, or government agency refuses to comply with the ruling, you have to go to the BC Supreme Court to get it enforced. You have to spend more time, more emotional energy, and possibly more money just to make your win real.

No enforcement support.
No public lawyer.
No government follow-up.

🏛️ Federal Human Rights System — Same Story, Bigger Scale

At the federal level, if your issue is with a national employer or agency — like Canada Post, the RCMP, Air Canada, or a telecom giant — you go through the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC). If they agree your case has merit, it gets referred to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal.

And again: if you win, you still might not get justice.

If the respondent ignores the Tribunal’s ruling, you’re forced to go to Federal Court to enforce it.

Another court. More stress. More delay. No help.
Meanwhile, the discrimination continues. The harm deepens. And you’re left to fight alone — again.

💸 Who Really Wins?

Here’s the bitter truth:

  • The Tribunal employees get paid.
  • The Commissioners get paid.
  • The system looks good in reports.

But the victim — the person who went through all the pain and the process — gets paper justice and a mountain of new barriers.

“It’s like winning the lottery — and then being told you have to build the bank yourself to get the money out.”

🧨 The Real Impact

This system:

  • Fails the poor
  • Punishes the disabled
  • Exhausts the already-traumatized
  • Rewards those with money and lawyers

It’s designed for show, not substance. For reports, not results.

“You were right — but we won’t help you.”

✊ What Needs to Change

If Canada and BC are serious about human rights, they must:

  • Give Tribunals direct enforcement power
  • Automatically register decisions with the courts
  • Provide legal aid or public assistance for enforcement
  • Penalize organizations that refuse to comply

Because otherwise, all of it — the hearings, the statements, the values on the websites — are just empty performance.

🧠 Reflection Questions

  • Have you or someone you know been through a human rights process that led nowhere?
  • Do you think most people can afford to go to court to enforce their rights?
  • Why do you think enforcement isn’t automatic in a country that claims to value justice?
  • What could a truly fair system look like for people without money or legal support?

📣 Take Action

Ask our leaders directly:

Ask them:

  • Why aren’t Human Rights Tribunal decisions automatically enforced?
  • What is being done to support low-income and vulnerable people who win cases?
  • Will they commit to reforming the system so that winning isn’t just symbolic?

Justice on paper means nothing if you can’t eat.
The system shouldn’t congratulate you while making you fight for survival.

#JusticeForThe99 #HumanRightsReform #StrugglingForDignity #Zipolita #DigitalHorizonZ

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