MANITOBA HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION FREEDOM FROM DISCRIMINATION • EQUALITY OF OPPORTUNITY ANNUAL REPORT 2006 ccover-eng.inddover-eng.indd 1 88/21/07/21/07 99:51:26:51:26 AAMM The Manitoba Bilingual Web-site Human Rights www.gov.mb.ca/hrc Commission Winnipeg 7th fl oor - 175 Hargrave Street Winnipeg, Manitoba R3C 3R8 Ph: (204) 945-3007 Toll Free: 1-888-884-8681 TTY: (204) 945-3442 Fax: (204) 945-1292 E-mail:
[email protected] Brandon Provincial Government Building 353-340 Ninth Street Brandon, Manitoba R7A 6C2 Ph: (204) 726-6261 Toll Free: 1-800-201-2551 TTY: (204) 726-6152 Fax: (204) 726-6035 The Pas 2nd fl oor - Otineka Mall P.O. Box 2550 The Pas, Manitoba R9A 1M4 Ph: (204) 627-8270 Toll Free: 1-800-676-7084 TTY: (204) 623-7892 Fax: (204) 623-5404 Collect calls accepted Cover Photo: “Assiniboine Art Action” Photographer Lily Rosenberg captured this chaos of colour on the parched mud banks of the Assiniboine River in Winnipeg. The colours on the surface represent the beauty found in our diversity and the importance of both recognizing our difference and appreciating it. The cracks caused by the receding waters reveal a sad truth that we can be overwhelmed, and divided by powerful forces, whether natural or made by us, in such forms as racism, sexism, ageism or homophobia. The underlying landscape of earth and mud, infl uenced by the rise and fall of a river, remind us that, at our core, we are all basically made of the same stuff and that there is a powerful strength and resilience to be found in our common human roots and in our mutual responsibilities to each other.