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Open letter of protest against discrimination

Dear Sir or Madam,

I am a Canadian citizen, having immigrated to Canada ten years ago with my wife and daughter. After living under Ceausescu's Communist Party dictatorship, we came here with great hopes of a better life and future for our daughter, but we have been very disappointed.

When Harris government came to power in 1995, I was a professional landed immigrant on welfare engaged in a volunteer placement designed to lead to full employment at the Min. of Environment. Although I received a successful assessment and I signed an agreement for one of four Systems Support Officer positions, the Ministry hired someone else and directed me to an immigration agency to find a job. I was by then 50, and that placement had been intended to help me get off welfare. Two months later, the Harris government abolished the "Employment Equity Act" and repealed the "Employment Equity Commission". Ironically, the same government later pretended that it had created the workfare (similar to my placement) to help people on welfare get jobs!

This is a clear case of discrimination in employment on the grounds of ethnic origin, place of origin, citizenship, age, and receipt of public assistance. Some of these grounds were invoked against me by some co-workers who harassed and treated me during the work like an intruder immigrant or Romanian virus into their workplace. Also, the Harris government came out at that time with the ideas of the "Common Sense Revolution" which conveyed a discriminatory policy towards immigrants and the poor. I have tried to resolve my case by complaining to the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) and the Ontario Ombudsman, but without success so far.

At present, following a flawed decision by the OHRC which covered up the Harris government's discriminatory policy, my file is at the Ombudsman's office; but despite my repeated appeals, this office is still refusing to investigate the Commission's decision. This is an obstruction of justice.

That discrimination ruined my professional career, our family life, and the prospects of my daughter. Because of our ongoing problems my daughter dropped out of high school more than three years ago. Now, she is isolated and struggling with depression. Moreover, instead of having my case resolved, our assistance had been cancelled and I was counted among those 600,000 or so welfare recipients reported by the government that found jobs through workfare.

I hope you will be touched by the pain and troubles our family has endured under the Harris government. Please support my case and ask the Ombudsman to investigate the Human Rights Commission's unjust decision by signing an attached petition or contacting the Ombudsman at:

Mr. Clare Lewis, Q.C., Ombudsman
125 Queen's Park
Toronto, Ontario M5S 2C7
Tel.: 416-586-3300 or 1-800-263-1830, Fax: 416-586-3485, E-mail: info@ombudsman.on.ca.

I am fighting for my rights because I strongly believe that such discrimination should not be tolerated in a country like Canada. For more information regarding my case, please see Human Rights Discrimination in Employment and my Canadian Experience under the Harris Government. I also speak up in the interest of Canadian public and many other people like me. It's just respect for human dignity and human rights.

Thank you so much,
Ioan Moraru, Toronto
E-mail: ionmoraru@ica.net

P.S. For the same reason, I held a hunger strike protest for twelve days. I stopped it on May 9, 2003 because a person from the Ombudsman office told me that the Ombudsman had read my letter of protest and "the office will take action". But it has been more than six months and no answer yet.

Note:
I handed out this letter of protest to passers-by who were interested in my case since I have started this protest (May 26, 2003) nearby the Ombudsman office. The petition attached to this letter of protest was signed by 800 persons so far, and it has been registered together with this letter of protest at the Ombudsman office (please see the stamp on top, right corner). Also, many other letters had been handed out to some people who were interested in, but could not sign the petition (drivers and hurried people).
I have been very pleased with the support, sympathy, and comments received from so many amiable Canadians citizens or immigrants of all ages, races and colours. Some of them even thanked me for being there, on my spot, and they understood very well that I was not fighting only for my rights. They convinced me that Canada is still a wonderful country, and I will never forget their help and support.

During my hunger strike protest, I handed out over 400 letters, and I have been overwhelmed by the public support. I did not expect to meet so many amiable Canadian people who expressed their sympathy about my case. Many of them expressed their commitment to contact the Ombudsman office by sending faxes or e-mails. Thank again to all of them.

Petition

We, undersigned, have been informed about Mr. Ioan Moraru's case of discrimination in employment by a letter of protest which is attached. We are supporting his case and sign this petition addressed to the Ontario Ombudsman asking to investigate the Human Rights Commission's unjust decision.