On February 28, 2020, in Smith v. Mohan (No. 2), 2020 BCHRT 52, the BC Human Rights Tribunal issued its reasons for deciding that a landlord contravened the BC Human Rights Code by making discriminatory statements to his Indigenous tenant and attempting to evict her after learning that she smudged in her apartment.
The tribunal member who made the decision found that complainant Crystal Smith, a member of the Tsimshian and Haisla Nations, was a credible witness, and the Respondent Parminder Mohan was not.
In making her arguments, Ms. Smith relied on the evidence of an expert who wrote a report and testified about the impacts of smudging on air quality and human health. Social context evidence that she relied on included the Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Volume One and Social Determinants of Health: Aboriginal Experiences with Racism and its Impacts. Ultimately, the tribunal member did not rely on this evidence.
Ms. Smith’s description of smudging is set out as follows:
[50] To smudge, Ms. Smith testified she lights the sage in the abalone shell and fans it with the eagle feather to create smoke. She testified the smoke cleanses negative energy from a person or space. She explained different methods for smudging a person, where you use the smoke to wash over yourself – your head, your eyes, your heart, your whole body; whereas for
a house, you start from the left and smudge the whole house. Ms. Smith testified that a typical smudge lasts for around 10 minutes and there is no ash, except what is left in the shell. She testified that in her experience, the sage creates a white smoke that has a smell that lasts for a few hours, and that after burning the sage she would put what remained in a jar to return to the land.
The tribunal stated the following about a landlord’s ability to prevent a tenant from smudging:
[245] In my view, a policy that prohibits an Indigenous tenant from smudging entirely due to concerns about “nuisance” or “property damage” unless they can persuade their landlord the smudging would not create a risk of nuisance or property damage would adversely impact Ms. Smith and persons with her protected characteristics in and of itself.
Mr. Mohan was ordered to cease contravening the BC Human Rights Code and pay Ms. Smith the following damages:
i. $1,500 for compensation for wages lost as a result of the contravention;
ii. $1,800 as compensation for expenses incurred as a result of the
contravention;
c. $20,000 as compensation for injury to her dignity, feelings, and self‐respect;
for a total of $23,300 plus post-judgement interest.