Eight faculty members are asking the Canadian Human Rights Commission to conduct a special inquiry into allegations the Canada Research Chairs program discriminates against academics who are members of the protected groups set out in the Canadian Human Rights Act.

The human rights request identifies the CRC program as a federal initiative of Industry Canada, and as such, "the program, the control and distribution of federal funding for this research initiative is subject to the Canadian Human Rights Act," the group said in their Feb. 13 submission.

"The distribution of federal funding through the CRC program therefore must comply with the obligations of the Act. The structure and results of this public service must comply with the Act."

The eight women researchers from universities across the country requested an inquiry instead of filing a formal complaint because of the time, cost and complexity of a systemic discrimination complaint investigation. If the commission refuses to act on their request, the group will file an official complaint under the Canadian Human Rights Act against Industry Canada.

The complainants are: Marjorie Griffin Cohen, Political Science/ Women's Studies, Simon Fraser University; Louise Forsyth, Women's and Gender Studies, University of Saskatchewan; Glenis Joyce, Women's Studies in Extension, University of Saskatchewan; Audrey Kobayashi, Geography/Women's Studies, Queen's University; Shree Mulay, director of McGill's Centre for Research and Teaching on Women; Michèle Ollivier, Sociology, University of Ottawa; Susan Prentice, Sociology, University of Manitoba; and, Wendy Robbins, English/ Women's Studies, University of New Brunswick.

In 2000, the federal government launched its $900 million five-year CRC program to create 2,000 research chairs in universities across Canada.

Concern over the program's adverse impact on the protected groups first surfaced when it was revealed that only 15 per cent of the chairs in 2001 went to women researchers. CAUT has since learned that, except for gender, the CRC does not retain statistics, nor require recipient universities to retain statistics, on the allotment of chairs to individuals in the groups designated by the Act.