A Saskatoon woman is campaigning to have size and physical appearance added to the Saskatchewan Human Rights Legislation as protected grounds against discrimination.
âI donât want other people to feel held back,â Hayley Roesler told CTV Saskatoon.
She wants to address stereotypes such as laziness and âgive people the opportunity to show that theyâre capable.â
In Canada, there are under the Canadian Human Rights Act, including age, race, gender, sexual orientation and disability. However, there are no laws in place against appearance-based discrimination.
Roesler petition is part of a campaign launched in Ontario called â,â which aims to amend laws across the country to ensure everybody has equal opportunity.
âIt doesnât matter what size you are on the spectrum, at the end of the day youâre a human being and every human being deserves human rights and deserves to be treated with dignity,â campaign founder Jill Andrew told CTV Saskatoon.
According to research from Rudd Centre for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University, 43 per cent of overweight people say theyâve experienced weight bias from employers and supervisors. More than 50 per cent of doctors felt overweight patients were âunlikely to comply with treatment.â
âWe know that sometimes people who fall into the category of ânot looking the way they're supposed toâ aren't given the promotions the same way that their thin, âconventionallyâ attractive counterparts are.â
Andrewâs petition has more than 8,000 supporters in Ontario and there are also petitions in Alberta, Manitoba and British Columbia.
The Saskatchewan petition has almost reached its 200 signature target.
It will be delivered to the Supreme Court of Canada, Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission and other provincial decision makers.
With a report from CTV Saskatoonâs Angelina Irinci