GRANT’S DESI ACHIEVER
THE ENDLESS BATTLE TO RIGHT THE WRONGS
Raj Dhir is the Executive Director of Indigenous Justice Policy at the Ontario Ministry of Attorney General.
By SHAGORIKA EASWAR
Rajesh (Raj) Dhir received the prestigious Law Society Medal from Law Society of Ontario for outstanding contributions to the community and his body work as a social justice advocate.
As executive director of Indigenous Justice Policy at the Ontario Ministry of Attorney General (MAG), Indigenous Justice Division, and Ontario’s chair of the Collaborative Technical Table, Dhir is focused on addressing longstanding gaps and barriers in the enforcement and prosecution of First Nations laws.
He has dedicated his career to protecting and advancing human rights, serving vulnerable populations and leading transformational change to address systemic discrimination through various leadership roles with MAG, his work as a lawyer, and his work in the community.
He began his career at the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) where he articled and spent more than 11 years as counsel litigating cases at the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario (HRTO) and at every level of court up to and including the Supreme Court of Canada.
Highlights include serving as co-counsel on the first Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario to make a finding of racial profiling in policing.
Dhir was the lead counsel on the largest systemic racial employment discrimination case ever heard at the HRTO which culminated in a settlement requiring the Toronto District School Board to collect race-based data for all teachers.
He led the Commission-initiated settlement that resulted in a comprehensive review and amendments to “safe schools” provisions of the Education Act which had had a disproportionate impact on students with disabilities and Indigenous, Black, and racialized students.
He served as the lead counsel on the original settlement which challenged the use of solitary confinement in provincial correctional institutions and required Ontario to take steps to improve the conditions for individuals with mental illness; and represented the OHRC before the Supreme Court of Canada in the case which dealt with the rights of Khalsa Sikh students to wear their kirpans in public schools.
He served as co-counsel on the important systemic gender discrimination case that dealt with the pay levels of midwives in Ontario and as Ontario’s lead counsel during the negotiation of the political accord between Ontario and the Chiefs of Ontario, which was signed by the Premier and 133 First Nations Chiefs.
After taking on a variety of executive roles within the MAG, Dhir returned to the OHRC as executive director and chief legal counsel, working alongside then chief commissioner Renu Mandhane and more recently, current chief commissioner Patricia DeGuire. As executive director, he led major public interest inquiries and oversaw the development and launch of several influential OHRC policies such as human rights in COVID-19 recovery planning and policy on eliminating racial profiling in law enforcement.
The OHRC launched its Right to Read inquiry in 2019 because data showed that students from disadvantaged groups including those from Indigenous, Black, and other racialized communities, lower socio-economic communities, and students who are multilingual were more likely to fall below the provincial standard.
The inquiry included hearing from numerous experts, community organizations, more than 1,400 parents and students and nearly 1,800 educators. It heard that with direct and systematic instruction in foundational word-reading skills, most students can learn to read, and few will need more intensive instruction or intervention, but these approaches were not promoted in the Ontario curriculum or in faculties of teacher education and students were not being screened at an early stage for potential reading difficulties so that corrective steps could be taken.
Within an hour of the release of the inquiry’s final report, the Ministry of Education announced that it would be revising its Ontario language curriculum in both English and French; providing teacher training and making investments for evidence-based reading intervention programs and professional assessments. “We literally saved lives with our work on this inquiry!”, Dhir says proudly.
Dhir ascribes his passion for working in human rights to his experience as a child of immigrants and the sacrifices of his parents.
His parents are from New Delhi, India, and his father, a chemical engineer, immigrated to Montreal in 1965. His mother, a dentist in the Indian Army, immigrated to Canada to join him in 1970 after their marriage. Her education and experience were not formally recognized, and she was required to study for two more years at UofT’s Faculty of Dentistry to be able to practise dentistry in Canada. Thus, soon after Dhir was born in 1971, she had to leave him with his father to enrol at UofT. His father was living in a small apartment in Montreal with a newborn and his two brothers who had also recently immigrated to Canada. When his mother finished dental school, they decided to move to London, Ontario, for a fresh start.
In London, they were among the earliest Indian newcomers and lived in an apartment in a lower middle-class part of the city. “At that time, the Indian community was so small that they could open the phone book and make friends by calling the only other family with the same last name”. They gradually expanded their network over the years. His mother worked with the London Middlesex Health Unit, his father decided to start a business selling clothing and jewellery.
Growing up in London, Dhir was acutely aware of the fact that he was different based on how he looked, the way his parents dressed, the food they ate, and the languages and religion they practised.
“We don’t do human rights work for awards and recognition. We do it because we are driven to.” Raj Dhir with his family.
“I was also always one of the only Brown kids attending all-White schools,” he recalls. “In those days, in the school yard, it was not uncommon to hear racial slurs. Even at a young age, I understood the hateful intent behind those slurs and the words stung. As a kid, you try desperately to fit in, but I eventually realized that no matter how hard I tried, I would always be ‘different’ – even though I was born in Canada.”
He began reading about the United States’ Black civil rights movement and India’s struggle for independence and was inspired by leaders like Martin Luther King and Mahatma Gandhi.
“I now realize that my formative experiences shaped who I am today. I went to law school, knowing I wanted to become a human rights lawyer despite the fact that there were very few legal role models in our community – everyone was a doctor! You have to convince yourself being a lawyer is even possible. My parents would have loved for me to study medicine, too, and I even studied science in my undergraduate years. It was interesting, but I knew my passion lay elsewhere.
“When I was in law school, I heard about Russell Juriansz and Raj Anand, trailblazing South Asian lawyers who happened to work for human rights commissions.”
Justice Russell Juriansz, Raj Anand, and Renu Mandhane are all Grant’s Desi Achievers.
“After my call to the Bar, I moved to Mumbai, India, and worked at an HIV/AIDS legal clinic. When I returned to Toronto, I joined a group of lawyers that started the South Asian Legal Clinic Initiative which ultimately established the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario.”
There were challenges.
“There are barriers many of us have come up against. I’ve encountered discrimination in the workplace, and I’ve been involved in cases arguing against it. I know first-hand that systemic discrimination can be difficult to prove and address and I have seen the impact that it has on individuals and groups of people. For me, the only way I have been able to overcome these barriers is through my work ethic and resilience. And while I am fortunate that my circumstances have improved over time, this doesn’t always happen to everyone.
“Through my work, I have gained a deep appreciation and empathy for the experiences of marginalization and how I can use my leadership voice to effect change. In my roles, I now make it my mission to pay it forward by mentoring young, racialized lawyers, providing them with the validation and guidance I never had when I was growing up and which my life and work experiences have now given me.
“I try to give as much time as I can to meet with South Asian and other racialized lawyers as part of formal and informal mentorship relationships. It’s an amazing time to be a part of this community – we have so many people doing such wonderful work, I am proud to be a part of it. But I am also blown away by the talent and knowledge of the younger professionals I mentor. My generation, we were finding our way, we felt a bit of an imposter syndrome when we succeeded. This new generation is very clear-headed about its goals.”
He shares with them his belief that it takes a village to raise a human rights lawyer. “I have benefited from working in the public service with amazing colleagues, mentors, and leaders throughout my career. If there is one thing I have learned, it is that there is always a need for human rights champions and human rights advocacy and there are always opportunities to make a difference whether it is through the services you provide or in your workplace. As you increase the breadth of your experience, other opportunities come your way. My advice would be to pursue that call to action in your own sphere of influence and ‘be the change you want to see in the world’!”
His wife Nita has an MBA and experience in health administration and performance measurement.
“It’s probably a good thing we don’t have two lawyers in the family!” he says with a laugh. “But Nita is the foundation of my success.”
They have two sons. Janak, 17, is in his last year of high school and Rohan is in grade 9.
“Janak is considering his options and looking at health sciences. Our sons are proud of the work I do, though you won’t get them to admit it often – they are teenagers! But I also don’t look for that validation. We don’t do human rights work for awards and recognition. We do it because we are driven to do so. Speaking for myself, I find the potential I have to make a difference very rewarding. It takes a lot of hard work, and sometimes years to achieve ‘change’, but it is the pursuit of that ‘change’ that has driven me throughout my career.”
• Grant’s is proud to present this series about people who are making a difference in the community. Represented by PMA Canada (www.pmacanada.com).
