Siadat v. College of Teachers (Ont.), (2007) 219 O.A.C. 283 (DC)

• Judge: Brockenshire, E. Macdonald and Cameron, JJ.
• Court: Superior Court of Justice of Ontario (Canada)
• Case Date: January 10, 2007
• Jurisdiction: Ontario
• Citations: (2007), 219 O.A.C. 283 (DC)

Siadat v. College of Teachers (2007), 219 O.A.C. 283 (DC)

MLB headnote and full text

Temp. Cite: [2007] O.A.C. TBEd. JA.048

Fatima Siadat (appellant) v. Ontario College of Teachers (respondent)

(561-04)

Indexed As: Siadat v. College of Teachers (Ont.)

Court of Ontario

Superior Court of Justice

Divisional Court

Brockenshire, E. Macdonald and Cameron, JJ.

January 10, 2007.

Summary:

Siadat, a teacher, fled from Iran because the Iranian Ministry of Education was persecuting her for teaching students about freedom of thought. She was accepted as a Convention refugee in Canada. Siadat requested that the Ontario College of Teachers, Registration Appeals Committee waive the requirement of producing official documentation for the purpose of determining her qualifications for certification as a teacher and devise an individualized method of determining her qualifications. Siadat asserted that the Iranian Ministry of Education held all of the records that the Ontario College of Education required and would not only not release them to her, but if inquiries were made, would likely seek out and harm her relatives in Iran. The Committee denied Siadat's request and upheld the Registrar's previous refusal to issue Siadat a certificate. Siadat appealed asserting, inter alia, that requiring official documentation constituted discrimination by reasons of place of origin and the failure to accommodate her contravened s. 6 of the Human Rights Code.

The Ontario Court of Appeal allowed the appeal and referred the matter back to the Committee for rehearing.

Administrative Law - Topic 549

The hearing and decision - Decisions of the tribunal - Reasons for decisions - Sufficiency of - A Convention refugee (Siadat) fled Iran because the Iranian Ministry of Education was persecuting her for teaching students about freedom of thought - Siadat requested that the Ontario College of Teachers, Registration Appeals Committee waive the requirement of producing official documentation for the purpose of determining her qualifications for certification as a teacher and devise an individualized method of assessing her - Siadat asserted that not only would Iran not release the official records, but any inquiries would likely result in her relatives in Iran being harmed - The Committee denied Siadat's request and upheld the Registrar's previous refusal to issue her a certificate - The Ontario Court of Appeal held that the Committee failed to provide adequate reasons for its decision - At issue was appropriate accommodation which was only briefly mentioned in the "background" section and on the last page of the decision - The Committee did not apply the proper analysis and did not appreciate that it had to provide accommodation unless it could establish undue hardship - See paragraphs 57 to 64.

Civil Rights - Topic 980.1

Discrimination - Duty to accommodate - General - A Convention refugee (Siadat) fled Iran because the Iranian Ministry of Education was persecuting her for teaching students about freedom of thought - Siadat requested that the Ontario College of Teachers, Registration Appeals Committee waive the requirement of producing official documentation for the purpose of determining her qualifications for certification as a teacher and devise an individualized method of assessing her - Siadat asserted that not only would Iran not release the official records, but any inquiries would likely result in her relatives in Iran being harmed - The Committee denied the request and upheld the Registrar's previous refusal to issue her a certificate - The Ontario Court of Appeal held that the Committee failed to properly interpret and apply the Human Rights Code - Requiring official records constituted prima facie discrimination - The Committee failed to consider Siadat's accommodation request in any meaningful way - The Committee acknowledged that the materials filed referenced difficulties of internationally trained individuals in providing acceptable evidence but then simply stated that the material presented as "social context" did not convince it that Siadat should be treated differently because other applicants with similar background and experiences had successfully met the requirements - Not only did that statement not provide particulars of how others had managed to satisfy the "uncompromisingly stringent" requirements, it reversed the onus which was on the Committee to establish that accommodation was not possible without undue hardship - See paragraphs 45 to 56.

Education - Topic 6043

Teachers (incl. principals and non-teaching professional employees) - Qualifications - Certification - [See Administrative Law - Topic 549 and Civil Rights - Topic 980.1 ].

Cases Noticed:

Canada (Secretary of State for External Affairs) et al. v. Menghani et al. (1993), 70 F.T.R. 81; 24 Imm. L.R.(2d) 250 (T.D.), refd to. [para. 29].

Public Service Employee Relations Commission (B.C.) v. British Columbia Government and Service Employee's Union, [1999] 3 S.C.R. 3; 244 N.R. 145; 127 B.C.A.C. 161; 207 W.A.C. 161; 176 D.L.R.(4th) 1, refd to. [para. 30].

Superintendent of Motor Vehicles (B.C.) et al. v. Council of Human Rights (B.C.), [1999] 3 S.C.R. 868; 249 N.R. 45; 131 B.C.A.C. 280; 214 W.A.C. 280, refd to. [para. 30].

Grismer - see Superintendent of Motor Vehicles (B.C.) et al. v. Council of Human Rights (B.C.).

Jamorski et al. v. Ontario (Attorney General) et al. (1988), 26 O.A.C. 321; 64 O.R.(2d) 161 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 34].

Pushpanathan v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [1998] 1 S.C.R. 982, addendum [1998] 1 S.C.R. 1222; 226 N.R. 201, refd to. [para. 45].

Dr. Q. v. College of Physicians and Surgeons (B.C.) - see Dr. Q., Re.

Dr. Q., Re, [2003] 1 S.C.R. 226; 302 N.R. 34; 179 B.C.A.C. 170; 295 W.A.C. 170; 2003 SCC 19, refd to. [para. 45].

Cardinal and Oswald v. Kent Institution (Director), [1985] 2 S.C.R. 643; 63 N.R. 353, refd to. [para. 58].

Baker v. Canada (Minister of Citizenship and Immigration), [1999] 2 S.C.R. 817; 243 N.R. 22, refd to. [para. 59].

Gray v. Disability Support Program (Ont.) (2002), 158 O.A.C. 244; 59 O.R.(3d) 364 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 60].

Lee v. College of Physicians and Surgeons (Ont.) (2003), 175 O.A.C. 227; 66 O.R.(3d) 592 (Div. Ct.), refd to. [para. 60].

London (City) v. Ayerswood Development Corp. et al. (2002), 167 O.A.C. 120 (C.A.), refd to. [para. 61].

Counsel:

Chantel Tie and Jean Lash, for the appellant;

Caroline R. Zayid and Keary Grace, for the respondent.

This appeal was heard on September 13 and 14, 2006, by Brockenshire, E. Macdonald and Cameron, JJ., of the Ontario Divisional Court. Brockenshire, J., delivered the following judgment for the court on January 10, 2007.