Syrian-Canadian and the Canadian Press

Paul Champ: The court-like human rights tribunal will determine whether the airline discriminated against the Syrian-Canadian man on grounds of race, national or ethnic origin, or his Muslim religion by denying him service, and whether its reliance on the American lists amounted to a discriminatory practice, according to Globe and Mail. Paul Champ, the man lawyer, provided The Canadian Press with evidence compiled in the case to date on condition his client identity not be revealed at this time. The investigation of Air Canada refusal to let him board a plane comes amid controversy about dozens of Canadian youngsters facing airport delays over security list mixups and high-level efforts by the federal government to resolve the problems in Washington. Having said this, the southwestern Ontario man name will become public once tribunal hearings begin. It all began in July 2011 when, after a lengthy wait at the Air Canada check-in counter at the London, Ont., airport, the man was told he would not be permitted to board his flight to Vancouver — with a connection in Toronto — because he was on the ‘U.S. No-fly list,’ says a February 2014 rights commission report based on a preliminary inquiry. The man took his case to the Canadian Human Rights Commission, the first, confidential step in registering a complaint under Canadian human rights law, which applies to airlines and other federally regulated businesses. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.