MRA Brings Human Rights Complaint Against CFL Team For Anti-DV Campaign

The CFL's Toronto Argonauts are supporters of the White Ribbon Campaign, a domestic-violence prevention initiative formed in response to the 1989 École Polytechnique Massacre, where 14 women at a Montreal university were murdered by a man who claimed that he was "fighting feminism." It is, not surprisingly, focused on getting men to speak out against violence toward women. One Argos fan thinks that's sexist and a violation of his human rights.

Robert Heath, a season-ticket holder, saw a poster adverising the team's support of the White Ribbon Campaign, and immediately felt victimized. So he filed a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal.

"The applicant claims that he was discriminated against on the basis of sex as a result of the Argonauts decision to visibly support the WRC at its games," the tribunal vice chair Keith Brennenstuhl wrote in a decision. "The applicant seems to allege that WRC engages in discrimination against men because the WRC does not advocate for male victims of domestic violence and because the WRC portrays men as villains. The applicant maintains that the Argonauts, in expressing support for this cause, has similarly discriminated against men and is perpetuating the message that men are villains. He asserts that as a male this constitutes discrimination against him."

Brennenstuhl threw out Heath's allegation that the White Ribbon Campaign discriminates against men, but allowed to proceed Heath's claim that the Argonauts threatened to cancel his season tickets over his complaint.

According to Heath, when he attempted to explain his grievance in a phone call, Argos president Chris Rudge hung up on him.

[ TSN]