Universities Canada recently passed a non-discrimination bylaw that all member universities will be expected to meet by the year 2020. Universities Canada represents 97 public and private institutions across the country, including Carleton University.
The organization voted in favour of the non-discrimination bylaw on Oct. 26. The bylaw requires universities to ensure their policies and codes of conduct do not discriminate against anyone on the based on their race, religion, colour, gender, physical or mental disability, age, ancestry, place of origin, marital status, family status, sex, and sexual orientation, according to a press release.
The bylaw was approved by more than two-thirds of Universities Canada members who attended the board meeting in Ottawa, according to an article in University Affairs magazine.
Universities Canada communications coordinator Helen Murphy said the bylaw had been six years in the making.
However, how the criterion will be implemented at universities remains unclear.
Carleton media relations officer Steven Reid said it’s difficult to tell exactly what Universities Canada is asking of institutions in order to meet the new rules.
Natasha Bakht, a law professor at the University of Ottawa said she had “trouble understanding what this criterion means for Canadian universities,” and that it is “uncertain what this means concerning policy and legality within the institution.”
However, the change could affect certain institutions that have a code of conduct which is discriminatory against the LGBTQ+ community, according to the University Affairs article.
Willow Eardley, an English student at Carleton, said there are still issues of discrimination on campus that Carleton should address.
“I think we can’t deny the presence of discrimination in its various forms in our university,” Eardley said. “But this is not a concrete thing that will be easy to eliminate. This must be the product of well-constructed and well-thought-out policy changes, but also simply awareness.”
