Charles C. Smith
32 Costain Ave ■ Toronto, ON ■ M4E 2G6 ■ Tel: (416) 686-3039
charlescsmith@sympatico.ca
Charles C. Smith is currently a Lecturer in cultural theory and cultural pluralism in the
arts, at the University of Toronto Scarborough. He is a member to the Canadian Court
Challenges Program Equality Rights Panel and a Research Associate with the Canadian
Centre for Policy Alternatives. He has also recently served as the Equity Advisor to the
Canadian Bar Association.
His book on racial profiling Conflict, Crisis and
Accountability: Law Enforcement and Racial Profiling in Canada was released in
October, 2007 by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
He has authored several papers for the Canadian Bar Association: Ten Years Into the
Future: Where Are We Now After Touchstones for Equality?; Concerns on Increasing
Tuition Fees at the University of Toronto; Response to the Provost Study of Accessibility
and Career Choice in the University of Toronto Faculty of Law; and Comments on
Methodologies To Study Accessibility to Law Schools. The latter piece has now been
published with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives in Missing Pieces V (2004).
He also guided the CBA in its production of Take Action on Equity and Diversity, a
resource guide and toolkit for law firms which is accompanied by an educational DVD on
preventing harassment and discrimination
He recently presented a paper for the Chief Justice of Ontario’s Fourth Colloquium on
Professionalism entitled Who is Afraid of the Social Constructionists? Or Shedding
Light on the Unpardonable Whiteness of the Canadian Legal Profession This paper
is soon to be published by the Alberta Law Review and was presented to the Alberta
Law Society’s 100 Anniversary Conference in 2007..
His paper Tuition Fee Increases and the History of Racial Exclusion in Canadian Legal
Education has appeared in the fall, 2004 Canadian Diversity (Vol. 3:3). He has a book
with Sumach Press entitled Feminism, Law, Inclusion: Intersectionality in Action
edited with Gayle MacDonald and Rachel Osborne. He has contributed a chapter
(Racial Profiling Then and Now) to a book on racial profiling compiled and authored by
Carol Tator and Frances Henry (Racial Profiling in Canada). He has also contributed a
chapter to a book Interrogating Race and Racism edited by Vijay Agnew for U. of T.
Press.
He was commissioned by the Ontario Hate Crimes Community Working Group to
prepare a report for its consideration in 2006. His report is entitled Hate Crime
Victimization and Links Between Hate Bias, Violence and Racism.
He has authored: Hamilton at the Crossroads: Anti-racism and the Future of the
City -- “Lessons Learned” from Community-Based Anti-racism Institutional
Change Initiatives (2003), and, Anti-Black Racism in Canada: A Report on the
Canadian Government’s Compliance with the International Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (with Erica Lawson, 2002). These
were commissioned respectively by the Strengthening Hamilton Community Initiatives,
and the African Canadian Legal Clinic with the latter recently cited in Her Majesty the
Queen v. Quinn Borde (Ontario Court of Appeal, Rosenberg J.A.).In 2003, Charles
completed Borders and Exclusions: Racial Profiling and the Anti-Terrorism Act
and, in 2004, Crisis, Conflict and Accountability: The Implications and Impact of
Police Racial Profiling respectively for the Canadian Court Challenges Program and
the African Canadian Community Coalition on Racial Profiling.
Charles has many years of dedication and commitment to equity and diversity as
demonstrated in his work experience within the public sector and within the legal
profession. Most recently, he served as the first Equity Advisor to the Law Society of
Upper Canada and, in that capacity, guided the development of numerous policies and
programs promoting equity and diversity in the legal profession, including:
 Authoring the Law Society’s response to the Canadian Bar Association’s Racial
Equality in the Canadian Legal Profession as well as Model Strategies on
the Recruitment and Selection of Students for Articling and Summer
Positions;
 Providing critical comment on equity and diversity for the revisions of the Rules
of Professional Conduct;
 Developing harassment policies and procedures for staff as well as benchers;
 Supporting the development of model policies for the legal profession on such
issues as flexible work arrangements, accommodations, harassment and the
development of equity policies;
 Developing the Equity and Diversity Mentorship Program and Public Education
Program;
 Developing and evaluating the Discrimination and Harassment Counsel program.
Charles also prepared the Law Society’s Equity and Diversity Action Plans and has
written on equity and diversity in legal education, presenting a paper entitled At the Foot
of the Walls of Jericho: Future Directions for Equity and Diversity in Legal
Education and commenting on the reform of the Bar Admission Course with Equity and
Diversity in Bar Admission Course Reform: A Review of the Literature.
Before joining the Law Society, Charles served as the Manager of the Access and Equity
Centre with the City of Toronto and the former Municipality of Metropolitan Toronto
where he also developed numerous policies and programs to enable successful
implementation of equity and diversity initiatives. Some of these policies addressed: the
provision of employment benefits to same sex partners; a response to the Federal
Government’s Right of Landing Fee; a critique of the Toronto Police employment equity
policy implementation; the inclusion of equity and diversity into the annual budget and
strategic planning process; guidelines on contract compliance; human rights
management; and equity and diversity organizational development and change.
Charles has provided advice to numerous organizations interested in developing and
implementing equity and diversity policies and programs, including the Ontario Science
Centre, the Metro Toronto Special Committee on Child Abuse, the Toronto Community
Housing Company, Eva’s Initiatives, the Toronto Theatre Alliance, the Caribbean
Cultural Committee, the African Canadian Legal Clinic, Ryerson University School of
Nutrition and the College of Dietitians of Ontario, McMillan Binch Mendlesohn, and the
Ontario Human Rights Commission.
Charles is also a published poet, playwright and essayist. He won second prize for his
play Last Days for the Desperate from Black Theatre Canada. He has edited three
collections of poetry, has one published book (Partial Lives) and his poetry has
appeared in numerous journals and magazines, including Poetry Canada Review, the
Quille and Quire, Descant, Dandelion, the Amethyst Review, Bywords, Canadian Ethnic
Studies and others. His essays have been included in such publications as the Stanford
Law and Policy Review (Racism and Community Planning: Building Equity or
Waiting for Explosions), the Centre for Excellence in Research in Immigrant
Settlement (Addressing Racism and Equity: The Challenge of Our Times) and the
Calgary Foundation (The Restructured Landscape: Politics and Social Change in
the New Millennium),