“Abandon every hope, ye who enter”DANTEIn 2003, an artist named Jackie Sumell created a project that rebuilt an Angola inmate’s tiny 6x9 foot cell where he spent 41 years in solitary confinement. The cell toured the United States for the sole purpose of raising awareness about solitary … [Read more...]
Genetic Discrimination is Being Addressed in Canadian Law
With many recent advances in technology, testing can disclose information about people’s health that was not available even a few years ago. For example, genetic testing can reveal that a person has a gene mutation that causes or increases the risk of an inherited disorder. This information may be … [Read more...]
Gender Equality in Canadian Politics
There is a long-standing concern about the under-representation of women (and minorities) in our political system. There are several theories about why these groups are not reflected in politics in ways that represent their numbers in Canada. The issue has been recognized, and recently, a proposed … [Read more...]
Legal Remedies at Human Rights Commissions
Introduction Canada has one federal and separate provincial and territorial Human Rights Commissions established and governed by their respective enabling legislation. These human rights commissions exist to protect human rights, prevent discrimination, foster equality and resolve complaints. The … [Read more...]
Same-Sex Families in some Canadian Provinces still Face Discrimination Challenges
Across Canada we have seen many developments in GLBT rights in the past few years. With the legal recognition of same-sex marriage, we might have thought that true equality for same-sex families had been reached. However, some of our provincial family laws have not kept up to these legal changes. In … [Read more...]
Organizations Get Religion: Loyola High School v. Quebec
Introduction Do organizations and corporations have a constitutionally protected freedom of religion under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms?The Charter has existed for 34 years and we are still not clear whether non-human entities enjoy religious freedom as they do other freedoms, … [Read more...]
Why Do Some Human Rights Complaints Take So Long?
From time to time, concerns are expressed about the length of time human rights complaints take to resolve. There are some circumstances where resolution of these cases does seem to take too long. Unfortunately, those who criticize the existence of human rights commissions often take these … [Read more...]
Human Rights Protection Added for Transgender Identity
A trans-identified, transgender or transsexual person is someone who feels they were born in the wrong body (for example, someone born either with female anatomy who feels male, or with male anatomy who feels female, on a deep, psychological and emotional level) and therefore has a gender identity … [Read more...]
Human Rights Issues Behind the Niqab
The issue of whether the government can require a woman to remove her niqab before swearing her oath of citizenship in Canada has been the subject of a lot of media attention in the last while. While this issue directly affects a small number of people (about 100 per year), it brings to light a … [Read more...]
Interesting Result in Human Rights Supreme Court of Canada Case
A recent Supreme Court of Canada case, Quebec (Commission des droits de la personne et des droits de la jeunesse) v Bombardier Inc (Bombardier Aerospace Training Centre), 2015 SCC 39, provides guidance on the complainant’s burden of proving discrimination. The case law on discrimination provides … [Read more...]
