Chander P. Grover
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Chander P. Grover (born August 10, 1942) is an Indo-Canadian physicist and Canadian human rights activist. He was born in India, and received his D.Sc. (Doctor d'Etat ès Sciences) from Université de Paris VI in Optics in 1973.
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[edit] Biography
Dr. Grover came on Staff at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) in 1981, and was one of the founding members of the Canadian Institut d'Optique in Québec City. He is internationally known as a pioneer in optical engineering and was one of the foremost researchers in optics and photonics[1].
[edit] Racial discrimination
In 1992, the National Research Council was found guilty of racial discrimination against Dr. Grover by a Canadian Human Rights Tribunal. The 92-page report detailed an organized conspiracy by senior officials at the National Research Council to destroy the research career of Dr. Grover, one of the few non-white senior researchers at NRC. NRC was forced to apologize publicly to Dr. Grover and pay damages in respect of hurt feelings for their discriminatory actions. The decision also forwarded the names of senior NRC officials to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for consideration of charges under the Criminal Code of Canada, the first for a racial discrimination case in Canada [2].
The Tribunal issued a second decision in 1994 describing ongoing racial discrimination by NRC against Dr. Grover and non-adherence by NRC to its previous decision. The NRC has since suspended the employment of Dr. Grover in what many believe to be a further act of racial discrimination. As of 2004, court actions are still pending [3].
[edit] Impact and current status
The decisions are considered to be landmark precedents in Canadian human rights law, and the Grover case has been discussed in Parliamentary committees, during Question Period[4], and extensively in the Canadian news media. As of 2005, Sen. Donald Oliver, (Cons-Nova Scotia) has indicated that racial discrimination is still rampant in the Canadian public service [5] [6].
In 2006, the Canadian Race Relations Foundation, a Crown corporation of the Canadian government called on the NRC and four other federal government departments to end what is essentially a nineteen-year conspiracy against Dr. Grover [7].
[edit] See also
- National Research Council of Canada
- Racial discrimination
- Optics
- Photonics
- Charter of Rights and Freedoms
[edit] References
- ^ PubMed citations for CP Grover [1]
- ^ Grover v. NRC (1992) [2]
- ^ Discrimination victim says the NRC is trying to force him to quit - Suspended over refusal to see council's chosen physician, Ottawa Citizen, September 16, 2004 [3]
- ^ Statement by Victor Althouse, (NDP-Mackenzie) in Question Period, May 3, 1996 [4]
- ^ CRRF meeting 2005 [5]
- ^ Racism Rampant in Public Service: Senator, Ottawa Citizen, December 8, 2004
- ^ CRRF Press release, March 1, 2006 [6]
