CLU3M UNIT 2:
DEVELOPMENT OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS
The Abolition of Slavery
19th Century
• For over 300 years, approximately
15 million people were captured in
Africa and traded as slaves in
Europe and North America
• Even after the revolutions of the
18th century slaves continued to be
legally defined as “property”
• During the 19th century most
western countries began to see the
injustice in this system and
abolished slavery
The Abolition of Slavery U.S.A.
19th Century
American Civil War (18611865)
• 600 000 people were killed
• Northern / Union forces
wanted to abolish slavery
• Southern / Confederate
forces wanted to keep it
• 1865, The Northern forces
won, and the 13th
amendment to the U.S.
Constitution abolished
slavery forever!
The Holocaust (1933-1945)
• Nazi government targeted specific
groups of people - Jews, the Roma
(gypsies), Gays and lesbians,
people with mental disabilities,
members of certain religious faiths
and political parties
•
•
•
•
Initially stripped of their civil rights
Striped of their human rights
Imprisoned
Executed
• Totaling nearly 10 million men,
women and children killed
The United Nations, 1945
• Established in the aftermath of
WWII and the Holocaust
• Purpose: “to save succeeding
generations from the scourge of
war.”
• 1st step – to try to guarantee all
people certain rights and freedom Human Rights
• More specific than natural rights
• Established the UN Human Rights
Commission
• To produce a list of human rights
and freedoms fro all people
throughout the world
Eleanor Roosevelt holding the
Universal Declaration of
Human Rights
Where Do Human Rights Begin?
“In small places, close to home, so close and so small that they
cannot be seen on any maps of the world. Yet they are the
world of the individual person, the neighborhood he lives in,
the factory, farm, or office where he worked. Such are the
places where every man, woman, and child seeks equal justice,
equal opportunity, equal dignity without discrimination. Unless
these rights have meaning there, they have little meaning
anywhere.”
•Eleanor Roosevelt, 1958
Universal Declaration of
Human Rights - 1948
• 1st time nations around the
world signed a formal
agreement of specific rights
and freedoms
Sudan
• It is however, only a vision!
Palestine
• Limitations of International
Law?
China
UDHR –
Influences on Canadian Laws
• The Declaration is a common standard of conduct for all people and nations to
ensure certain fundamental human rights.
• In summary, it recognizes that:
• “the inherent dignity and equal and inalienable rights of all members of the
human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world,”
• “everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this declaration,
without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion,
political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other
status.”
• The Declaration has influenced the development of human rights in Canada. It is
referred to in several of the provincial human rights acts (including that of Ontario)
that were passed.
• At the federal level, the government passed the principle of equality in the Bill of
Rights in 1964. This was followed by the enactment of the Canadian Human Rights
Act in 1976, and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982.
EVOLUTION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN CANADA
Human Rights in Canada after WW2
• Much Canadian law is based in British Common Law
(unwritten and based on custom and earlier court
decisions)
• Therefore, Canadians had many rights that were not
written down but simply understood to exist
• After the rights abuses of WW2 many Canadians believed
these rights needed to be written down
Human Rights in Canada after WW2
Canadian Bill of Rights
• PM Diefenbaker and his
government passed the
Canadian Bill of Rights – 1960
• Set down in legislation the
civil rights and freedoms that
Canadians had already
enjoyed under common law
Canadian Bill of Rights continued
Criticized:
1. As federal (statute) it
applied to only federal
matters
2. It was a Parliamentary
statute meaning it could
be changed by
parliament at any time
3. Did little to protect
equality rights
Canadian Politics 1960s
Pierre Elliott Trudeau
“Just Society” 1968
• “State has no place in the bedrooms of the
nation”
• Promised greater social justice and stronger
guarantees of individual rights
Prime Minister (15 yrs)
April 20, 1968 – June 4,1979
March 3, 1980 – June 30, 1984
• Bilingualism – Official Languages Act, 1969
• Law reforms: divorce, abortion,
homosexuality, and birth control
• Equality rights for Aboriginal Canadians
• October Crisis, 1970
Introduction - Revisited
What does Canada have that many countries don’t eh?
• Civil Rights (and freedoms) - limit the power that a government has over
its citizens
• Human Rights – protect people from being unfairly discriminated against
by other individuals
• Canadians can feel secure in almost all areas of their lives
• Canadians are free because laws are passed and enforced to protect their
rights and freedoms
• Wealth, gender, race, age, belief, family status … are not supposed to
determine how you are treated in Canada – equal under the law
“Just Watch Me” clip Contradictions? Explain? Justify?
http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/TV+Shows/The+National/Politics/ID/215
3212561/?page=27
Trudeau – The Constitution Act, 1982
Entrenched the Charter of Rights and Freedoms
• Constitution Act, 1982,
including the Canadian
Charter of Rights and
Freedoms
• Constitutional Law, not Statute law
• Changes must be in accordance to
the amendment formula
• Lists civil rights and freedoms for all
Canadians at all levels of government
• Section 24 of the Charter details the
“enforcement of guaranteed rights
and freedoms”
All human rights legislation must follow the Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms, passed in 1982.
• Section 15(1) of the Charter states: “Every individual is
equal before and under the law and has the right to
equal protection and equal benefit of the law without
discrimination...”
• An individual can only use the Charter to challenge a
governmental decision, action or law (such as the
Ontario Code) on the grounds that it does not offer
the protection to individuals provided by the Charter.
Section 24: “Enforcement of guaranteed rights and
freedoms”
• Anyone whose Charter rights have been infringed (violated),
may “apply to a court… to obtain such remedy as the court
considers appropriate and just”
• Any evidence presented to a court must be gathered in a
manner that respects Charter rights and freedoms. Otherwise
it will be excluded
Section 1 : Reasonable limits clause
• Laws can set limits on your rights and freedoms as long as
these “can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic
society
Example
• You have freedom of speech yet you do not have the right to spread lies or
make malicious statements that might injure another person
• Violation of libel laws
Section 52
“The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law of Canada, and any law
that is inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution is, to the extent
of the inconsistency, of no force or effect”
• Gives Canadian courts much greater power
• Purpose of the Charter: to limit the power of government
• By defining the protection of rights and freedoms only in general terms
• This allows the courts to determine how these ‘protections’ are to be
adapted and used
• Therefore, the Supreme Court of Canada (highest court) plays an important
role in interpreting Canadian values and beliefs
• Supreme Court Judges must balance individual rights with the needs of the
community
• Judges appointed, not elected
Section 32:
Which matters are governed by the Charter
• Must determine which matters are ultra vire (outside the
authority of the government to legislate) and which matters
are intra vire (within the authority…)
• Charter does protect individual rights from being trespassed
upon by the federal, provincial, and territorial governments
• Is a law in violation of an individuals rights?
• Charter does not cover private legal matters
• Would be addressed by human rights legislation
Section 33: Notwithstanding Clause
• Last minute addition – to ease provincial government apprehensions
• The notwithstanding clause allows Parliament or a provincial legislature to
pass a law violating any of these rights (section 2, 7-15)
• Rarely used
• Legislation that used the Notwithstanding Clause can stay in effect for up to
5 years after which it must be reinacted
• Notwithstanding clause cannot overrule:
• Right to vote
• Minority language education rights
• Mobility rights
Ontario Human Rights
• In the 1940s and 1950s, it was not uncommon for people to be
discriminated against in housing, employment and education.
For example, one could often find restrictive agreements on
property deeds such as “Land not to be sold to Jews or persons
of objectionable nationality.”
Cases that Challenged Discrimination:
• It prohibited the publication or displaying of symbols which
expressed racial or religious discrimination. A number of individual
laws were passed in the 1950s as racial and ethnic groups began to
challenge restrictive social practices.
• These specific laws were clearly defined and reasonably attainable.
Developments included:
• (1951) – Fair Employment Practices Act which prohibited discrimination
based on race and religion in employment;
• (1954) – Fair Accommodation Practices Act which prohibited discrimination
in public places on racial, religious or ethnic grounds;
• (1958) – Ontario Anti-Discrimination Commission Act which created a
commission to administer the above acts and develop educational programs;
and
• (1961) – amendment to the Fair Accommodation Practices Act which
prohibited discrimination in rental accommodation.
Ontario Human Rights Code:
• Both the development of these laws and increasing social pressure
led politicians to realize that comprehensive human rights legislation
needed to be put into place to protect the rights of individuals.
• The Ontario Human Rights Code was proclaimed in 1962. The Code
ensured that the laws would be enforced through the establishment
of the Ontario Human Rights Commission.
• THE NATURE OF HUMAN RIGHTS LEGISLATION
• The main intent of human rights legislation is to remedy the situation for the
person or group discriminated against and prevent further discrimination—
the intent is not to punish the individual or company who has discriminated.