I did a post a few days ago referencing the bizarre situation in Montreal. The hockey 
Canadiens fired a Francophone coach, replaced him with an Anglophone coach, and then apologized for hiring an Anglophone, and promised to reconsider the job at the end of the year at which time being French-speaking would be considered an important job criteria.
This really is an outrageous example of public in-your-face discrimination on the basis of ethnicity and/or place of origin, isn’t it? Could you imagine an employer apologizing publicly for hiring an African-Canadian and promising to replace him later with a white person?
Anyhow, the story was back again this week after the Canadiens’ G.M. again apologized in a press conference for hiring an Anglophone. Unbelievable.
Since I am not well-versed in Quebec human rights law, I used the example of the Maple Leafs publicly announcing it would give preference to Anglophones in my earlier blog under Ontario law. However, I noticed that my fellow blogger Gabriel Granatstein with Norton Rose in Montreal did his own blog entry last year asking whether the Canadiens could give preference to Francophone hockey players. Take a look at his analysis.
So, would the Canadiens be in violation of the Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms if it now replaces the Anglophone coach (Cunneyworth) with a Francophone coach?
If you were Cunneyworth, would you bring that legal action? Why or why not?
