The Complainant submitted a complaint to the Yukon Human Rights Commission (“the Commission”). In the complaint, he stated that while at the Whitehorse Correctional Centre, he requested “cultural programming”. This included asking for permission to smudge and to do beading, which along with sweat lodges, he stated are First Nations spiritual preferences that are about being connected to the Creator. These requests were denied. In the complaint the was received by the Yukon Human Rights Board of Adjudication (“the Board”), the Complainant alleged that he was discriminated against on the prohibited ground of ancestry, including colour and race. At a case management conference, the Commission applied to amend the text of the complaint to include discrimination on the prohibited ground of religion or creed, or religious belief, religious association, or religious activity.
The Chief Adjudicator of the Board of Adjudication concluded that amending the text of the complaint to include the additional ground of discrimination of creed did not change the nature of the complaint. The Board of Adjudication has a duty to make sure that the entirety of the Complainant’s allegations is canvassed in the complaint. Therefore, the Board agreed to amend the text of the original complaint.