Canada's First Human Rights Consulting Firm

On September 10, 1973, Daniel Hill resigned from his $34,000 a year job as chair of the Ontario Human Rights Commission and created Canada’s first human rights consulting firm. He named it Daniel G. Hill & Associates, and ran it out of his son Dan Hill IV’s bedroom, who left home in 1971, at the age of 17, to become a singer-songwriter and recording artist.

Daniel Hill advised various groups and institutions- the University of Toronto, the Nova Scotia Human Rights Commission, the Toronto Star, and the City of Toronto, to name a few. Eventually the Attorney General of Ontario hired his firm to write a major report on Mind Development Groups, Cults and Sects in Ontario.

During this time period (1973-1984), Daniel Hill also created the Ontario Black History Society, wrote and published his book The Freedom Seekers: Blacks in Early Canada, and organized a major exhibit about Black history in Ontario at the St. Lawrence Market.

I left the Ontario Human Rights Commission after 11 ½ faithful years (the last two as its chairman),’ Dr. Hill said.

It’s time to do something else. I stayed with it longer than I had expected to.

Ontario’s human rights laws are the best in the country. We were the first province to give its commission statutory powers.

It was very rewarding work but I needed a change. Change, change, change- human beings need change.

Excerpt from the Ottawa Citizen,

“Human rights expert own boss”,
February 1974
Daniel G. Hill fonds
Reference Code: F 2130-8-0-3
Archives of Ontario
Reprinted with the permission of
Sun Media Corporation

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The news release below was issued by the Ontario Ministry of Labour on September 10, 1973 to announce the resignation of Daniel Hill from the Ontario Human Rights Commission.

Ontario Ministry of Labour news release, “Daniel Hill, Chairman, Ontario Human Rights Commission to Resign to Return to Teaching”, September 10, 1973, Page 1

Click to see a larger image (136K)

Click to see a larger image (137K)

Ontario Ministry of Labour news release, “Daniel Hill, Chairman,
Ontario Human Rights Commission to Resign to
Return to Teaching”, September 10, 1973
Daniel G. Hill fonds
Reference Code: F 2130-8-0-3
Archives of Ontario

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His Own Boss

"Dr. Daniel G. Hill is Canada’s first freelance ‘human rights consultant.'

"The former head of the OHRC now charges for the advice Ontario used to pay him to dish out for free.

Dr. Hill retired from his $34,000 a year civil service post last year and started Daniel G. Hill & Associates last month.

The 50 year old sociologist doesn't think there’s anything odd about making human relations - traditionally a job for governments and volunteer groups of concerned citizens - a paying business.

'This is the age of specialization and consultants,' Dr. Hill said.

'When a government agency or private firm needs an expert to handle a specific task they hire a consultant. There are consultants in engineering, management, all sorts of fields. Why not human relations?'

'I'm the first in Canada, but there are several in the U.S. and they’re doing good work and good business.'"

Excerpt from the Ottawa Citizen,
“Human rights expert own boss”, February 1974
Daniel G. Hill fonds
Reference Code: F 2130-8-0-3
Archives of Ontario
Reprinted with the permission of
Sun Media Corporation

Click to see a larger image (316K)
Clipping from the Ottawa Citizen, “Human rights expert own boss”, February 1974
Daniel G. Hill fonds
Reference Code: F 2130-8-0-3
Archives of Ontario
Reprinted with the permission of Sun Media Corporation

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Cults, Sects and Mind Development Groups

In 1978, Daniel Hill was appointed by the Attorney General of Ontario to conduct a major study of the practices of religious cults, sects and mind development groups. His report was tabled in 1980, and attracted a considerable amount of public interest and media coverage. The Toronto Star clipping with the headline 'Cult Study Brings Dan Hill Senior Back to Centre Stage' is a playful reference to two facts: that Daniel Hill was once again a central part of a major public issue; and that his son Dan Hill was a popular singer-songwriter.

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Clipping from the Toronto Star,
"Cult study brings Dan Hill Senior back to centre-stage", October 28, 1978
Daniel G. Hill fonds
Reference Code: F 2130-8-0-3
Archives of Ontario
Used with the permission of the Toronto Star Archives

The full page from The Toronto Star with articles on the cult study offers a sense of the significance of the subject. Some Ontarians had been demanding that the Ontario government step in to prevent religious cults and sects from aggressively recruiting and indoctrinating young people. In his report, Daniel Hill concluded that cults and sects had the same rights as other religious institutions, but that the Attorney General should prosecute any groups that were violating Canadian laws."

Clipping from the Toronto Star, Infiltrators spied on us - cult prober, June 17, 1980 - Page 1

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Clipping from the Toronto Star, Infiltrators spied on us - cult prober, June 17, 1980 - Page 2

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Clipping from the Toronto Star,
"Infiltrators spied on us - cult prober", June 17, 1980
Daniel G. Hill fonds
Reference Code: F 2130-8-0-4
Archives of Ontario, I0028269
Used with the permission of the Toronto Star Archives

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Speech by Donna Hill on receiving the Canadian Labour Congress award for outstanding service to humanity, May 30, 1984

Donna and Daniel Hill both delivered speeches when they each received the “Outstanding Service to Humanity” award presented in May 1984 by the Canadian Labour Congress. Donna Hill’s acceptance speech is reproduced here.

Click here to read the entire speech. Speech by Donna Hill on receiving the Canadian Labour Congress award for
outstanding service to humanity,
May 30, 1984
Daniel G. Hill fonds
Reference Code: F 2130-8-0-8
Archives of Ontario

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