In response to what we would probably call lobbying today, the Government of Ontario passed the Fair Accommodation and Practices Act on April 6, 1954. It stated that "No one can deny to any person or class of persons the accommodation, services or facilities usually available to members of the public."
On October 29, 1954 Bromley Armstrong and Ruth Lor went with a journalist to Morley McKay's restaurant in Dresden, Ontario where they were refused service. The restaurant and its owners were eventually convicted of violating the Fair Accommodation and Practices Act and fined (the restaurant owners were forced to agree to serve anyone). For what was probably the first time in Canada, a law was enforced which supported the victims of racial discrimination.
2014 marks the 60th anniversary of both the passage of Ontario's Fair Accommodation and Practices Act and the visit to Morley McKay's restaurant by Armstrong and Lor.
http://teachingafricancanadianhistory.weebly.com/blog/category/Ruth%20Lor%20Mallory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bromley_Armstrong
http://sharenews.com/archives/20100804human-rights-pioneer-finally-honoured/
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152477075722686
http://teachingafricancanadianhistory.weebly.com/blog/category/Ruth%20Lor%20Mallory
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bromley_Armstrong
http://sharenews.com/archives/20100804human-rights-pioneer-finally-honoured/
https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152477075722686
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