Human rights commissions are creatures of statute, meaning provincial governments can readily amend those statutes to combat abuse as well as improve fairness. When they were originally established in the 1960s and ’70s, governments intended commissions to operate outside the court structure. They were seen as a less expensive and more efficient means to redress discrimination in areas such as housing, employment and commercial services. Their mandates were generally rather limited and the grounds for making a complaint — racism, sexism, religion, etc. — were fairly circumscribed.