Published by Communications and Public Affairs (519) 824-4120, Ext. 56982 or 53338
News Release
March 14, 2003
U of G director appointed chair of Canadian Race Relations Foundation
Patrick Case, director of the University of Guelph's Human Rights and Equity Office, has been appointed chairperson of the Board of Directors for the Canadian Race Relations Foundation. The announcement was made by Minister of Canadian Heritage Sheila Copps and Secretary of State (Multiculturalism) (Status of Women) Jean Augustine.
Case will remain at the University of Guelph while he serves the Toronto-based Canadian Race Relations Foundation. "I'm ecstatic," said Case. "I'm also quite daunted by it as well. Our chancellor [Lincoln Alexander] is the current chair. It's going to be quite a task to follow in his footsteps."
President Mordechai Rozanski said: "The Canadian Race Relations Foundation has made an excellent choice. Patrick has helped the university become a leader in human rights. The foundation will greatly benefit from his experience and passion for advancing human rights and equity issues."
Case has been a leader in implementing human rights strategies with the university since 1999. A lawyer by trade, Case practised family, human rights and immigration law before becoming the Toronto District School Board's equity advisor in 1991. He is also currently the co-chair of the equality rights panel of the Court Challenges Program of Canada, serves as an advisor to several organizations on equal rights and employment equity, and is teaching a course, African Canadians: Racism and the Law, at Osgoode Hall Law School.
"My role at the university is perfectly complementary with my new role at the foundation — advancing and advocating the principles of human rights," he said. "The agenda is not particularly different either. There are some real synergies there."
In April 2002, Case helped implement the "Human Rights at the University of Guelph" document to manage human rights and equity concerns, complaints and education issues on campus — topics he said need to be addressed nationwide.
"I'm looking forward to building new alliances with people across the country who can advance the agenda," said Case. "When the federal government set up the foundation, that was a statement that all was not well, it was an acknowledgment that we need to address racial discrimination in this country. It gives the foundation an incredible role within Canadian society, a powerful role."
The Canadian Race Relations Foundation was established in 1996 to develop, share and apply knowledge and expertise in the effort to eliminate racism and all forms of racial discrimination in Canada. The foundation provides a knowledge base from which governments, academia, business, labour and community organizations can draw in developing effective race relations policies and practices. The foundation also disseminates information to increase public awareness of the importance of eliminating racism.
For more information on the foundation and its Board of Directors, visit its Web site at www.crr.ca.
For media questions, contact Communications and Public Affairs: Lori Bona Hunt (519) 824-4120, Ext. 53338, or Rachelle Cooper, (519) 824-4120, Ext. 56982.
