Former Alberta Human Rights Commission chief to sue province over dismissal

Alberta's former Human Rights Commission chief will be taking legal action for what his lawyer says was an "unjust" termination.

On Thursday, the province rescinded the appointment of Collin May as head of the commission through a cabinet order after pressure from the Muslim community over a book review he published that's been called Islamophobic.

A day later, May's lawyer, Kathryn Marsall, told CTV News Edmonton in a statement that he would sue the province after his "unexplained and outrageous termination."

"He will be pursuing justice for his firing," Marshall added.

Justice Minister Tyler Shandro has not commented since May was removed from the commission.

The order in council rescinding May's appointment gave no rationale for his removal.

On Monday, Shandro had asked for May's resignation after the National Council of Canadian Muslims (NCCM) published a letter signed by 28 community groups and mosques criticizing comments May made in a 2009 book that reinforced negative stereotypes about Islam.

May reviewed Israeli-British historian Efraim Karsh's book "Islamic Imperialism: A History," where he claimed Islam was "one of the most militaristic religions known to man."

Despite the Islamophobic comments, the NCCM said Muslim leaders remained committed to meeting with May so he could "reflect on his actions," but he declined some meetings.

According to the Muslim advocacy group, May also issued demand letters threatening to sue his critics.

"This series of actions, in our assessment, showed that Mr. May was not interested in good faith engagement," said Said Omar, NCCM's Alberta advocacy officer, in a statement Friday.

May had been appointed to the commission in 2019 and became chair in June.

According to Marshall, May "kept his promise" to meet with various community stakeholders.

"In fact, more meetings were planned, until the NCCM unilaterally cut the process short," Marshall said. "The government is aware of this, but fired him anyways.

"This is wrong, and should never have happened."

The NCCM thanked Shandro for May's removal, calling the move an affirmation showing the Human Rights Commission remained an institution committed to equality.

"We did not think that his conduct was befitting of someone picked to occupy a government leadership position in the realm of human rights and equity," Said said.

The commission website has since added University of Calgary law professor and associate dean Evaristus Oshionebo's name to its list of chiefs, including the notes "acting" and "September 2022 - current."