The government of British Columbia introduced legislation last month that will eliminate the B.C. Human Rights Commission, the body that investigates and mediates complaints of discrimination in the province.

"This means B.C. would be the only jurisdiction in Canada, and perhaps even North America, that does not have an independent human rights commission," said Jim Sinclair, president of the B.C. Federation of Labour.

"This continues the Liberal government's full frontal attack on the rights of the poor, the disabled, women, the disadvantaged and the under-represented in our society."

Under the proposed legislation, the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal will be retained, allowing members of the public to file complaints of discrimination, but the commission, which investigates and mediates complaints, intervenes in cases before the tribunal and performs advocacy work and education will be disbanded.

Critics say without the commission, valuable education programs will be lost and complainants will have no support in cases brought before the tribunal.

Aziz Khaki of the Committee for Racial Justice told the Vancouver Sun the elimination of the commission is a step backward for human rights in the province.

"Instead of going forward, instead of trying to safeguard the rights of individuals, what we are doing is we are taking away those rights," Khaki said.

Shelagh Day, editor of the Canadian Human Rights Reporter, warned that without the commission, a "huge power imbalance" will be created as complainants without legal representation will be pitted against corporate and government lawyers.

The elimination of the commission was recommended by the B.C. Business Council in a submission it made to the government earlier this year. In it, the council argued the commission should be eliminated because "it performs no useful function and is responsible for most of the undue delay and costs of the current structure."

Vancouver NDP MLA Jenny Kwan described the loss of the commission as an assault on basic human rights.

"As a last resort for people to file their complaints and have their complaints investigated through the commission, that will be gone," Kwan said.

"The Liberal government has taken away every tool virtually available to British Columbians to address issues of fundamental basic rights."

Just days before the proposed legislation was announced, the commission released its annual report, nothing that staff responded to more than 19,000 telephone and e-mail inquiries, an increase of 22 per cent over the previous year.