Robin Kyle Blencoe (born November 12, 1947) was a politician in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada. He was elected to represent the riding of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

in the

Legislative Assembly of British Columbia The Legislative Assembly of British Columbia () is the deliberative assembly of the Legislature of British Columbia, in the province of British Columbia, Canada. The other component of the Legislature is the lieutenant governor of British Columbi ...

in 1983 and 1986, and

Victoria-Hillside Victoria-Hillside was a provinces and territories of Canada, provincial electoral district (Canada), electoral district for the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia, Canada from 1991 to 2009. Demographics Member of the Legislative Assemb ...

in 1991. He served in the Cabinet of

Mike Harcourt Michael Franklin Harcourt Officer of the Order of Canada, OC (born January 6, 1943) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 30th premier of British Columbia from 1991 to 1996, and before that as the 34th List of mayors of Vancouver ...

as Minister of Municipal Affairs, Minister of Government Services and the Minister Responsible for Sport and the Commonwealth Games. He was forced out of office due to a number of sexual harassment complaints, which resulted in Blencoe v. British Columbia (Human Rights Commission), a leading Supreme Court of Canada decision on the scope of

section 7 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Section 7 of the ''Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms'' is a constitutional provision that protects an individual's autonomy and personal legal rights from actions of the government in Canada. There are three types of protection within the se ...

, and on the administrative law principle of natural justice. Due to delays to the tribunal hearings the claims were not resolved for 30 months after the first filing in 1995. During this time Blencoe was subjected to vast media coverage that led to the end of his political career, and contributed to his and his family's social and psychological hardship. The Supreme Court of Canada rejected Blencoe's argument that the delay warranted a stay of the human rights complaint. Following this decision, the British Columbia Human Rights Tribunal issued its decision on the original sexual harassment complaint. The Tribunal found that Mr. Blencoe had engaged in conduct towards an employee which was sexual in nature and unwelcome, and that this conduct had a negative work-related impact on the employee. The Tribunal issued a declaration that Mr. Blencoe not engage in similar activity in the future and ordered that he pay $5000 to the former employee.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blencoe, Robin 1947 births British Columbia New Democratic Party MLAs Politicians from Victoria, British Columbia Living people Members of the Executive Council of British Columbia Sexual harassment in Canada 20th-century members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia