The Rights Restriction Review Committee

We are excited to share information about a new committee – The Rights Restriction Review Committee – which will assist service provider agencies in Manitoba in their efforts to promote & protect the rights of the people they serve.

All citizens may experience rights restrictions from time-to-time. However, for a variety of reasons, Manitobans labelled with an intellectual disability are more likely to experience rights restrictions than non-disabled citizens.

Sometimes rights restrictions are imposed to keep people safe from serious harm. At other times, people may be restricted without good reason; due to historical bias, misconceptions about competency, systemic prejudice, and/or fears regarding risk and liability.

The primary role of the RRRC will be:

To promote and protect the rights of people supported by service providers in Manitoba, guided by the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Canadian Human Rights Act, the Manitoba Human Rights Code, the Adults Living with an Intellectual Disability Act and the Accessibility for Manitobans Act.

• To provide independent, objective, due process review when an agency voluntarily refers a proposed or enduring rights restriction regarding someone they support.
• To provide feedback and recommendations to the agency regarding the proposed rights restrictions.

Protecting Human Rights

When service providers have restricted, or are contemplating restricting, a person’s rights, they have a responsibility to make sure that:

1. They have worked tirelessly to find other solutions to keep people safe and free from harm that does not impact their rights – all rights restrictions should be a last resort.
2. There is a valid reason for doing so - confirmed via objective due process review.
3. There is a clear plan for the reduction and eventual removal of the restriction – all rights restrictions should be considered temporary.

It is important that agencies providing support services work diligently to promote and protect the rights of the people they serve. One of the ways they can do this is by ensuring that any rights restriction they impose is validated through an objective, due process review.

Accessing the Rights Restriction Review Committee

To support service provider agencies in Manitoba with the independent, objective due-process review, Inclusion Winnipeg has agreed to host the Rights Restriction Review Committee (RRRC.) Service provider agencies are invited to voluntarily refer existing / proposed rights restrictions for review by this committee.

The full committee will meet on a bi-monthly basis with in-person and virtual participation options available.

Rights restriction review may be scheduled more frequently based on referral volume.

The Committee

The Committee will be comprised of at least 12 people from a variety of backgrounds, including:

• People that receive support services
• Family members of people that receive support services
• People with experience providing direct support services
• People with professional experience that would be helpful in these reviews (medical / clinical, legal, cultural / spiritual, regulatory, academic, etc)

Committee members will receive an orientation to relevant Federal & Provincial legislation, Human Rights law, guiding principles & values and the review procedures. In addition, they will sign a confidentiality pledge and receive training on the Inclusion Winnipeg policies related to the safeguarding of personal information (based on the Personal Health Information Act (PHIA) and Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act (FIPPA))

The full committee will meet on a bi-monthly basis (at least initially) with in-person and virtual participation options available.

Rights restriction review panels (comprised of only 3 or 5 committee members) may be scheduled more frequently based on referral volume.