Achieving equality and justice for all Canadians has often been a difficult and challenging task, especially for women facing political inequality, Black Canadians dealing with segregated schools, and Indigenous peoples affected by residential schools. Firstly, women in Canada struggled for political equality, as they were not seen as equals to men under the law. The Persons Case is a well-known moment in history that highlighted women’s political inequality and helped address it by establishing the right of women to be appointed to the Senate. Section 24 of the British North America Act, 1867, which served as Canada’s constitution at the time, specified qualifications needed to be appointed to the Senate of Canada. However, the Canadian government …show more content…
Emily Murphy was then determined to fight for women’s rights. It started when a lawyer challenged Murphy on her first day as a magistrate, stating that she’s not seen as a person according to British law. This was a key motivating factor in her fight for women’s political equality. She discovered a law that allowed any group of 5 to talk to Canada’s Supreme Court regarding certain parts of Canada’s constitution, and on August 27, 1917, Emily Murphy gathered 4 other bright women who wanted to fight for women’s rights; they consisted of Henrietta Muir Edwards, Nellie McClung, Louise McKinney, and Irene Parlby. These 5 women became known as The Famous Five. As a group, they used this law to sign a letter to refer their questions to the Supreme Court to decide whether a woman could be appointed to the Senate of Canada or not. As a group, they used this law to sign a letter requesting the Supreme Court to decide whether a woman could be appointed to the Senate of Canada. Meanwhile, many Canadians questioned Prime Minister Mackenzie King on whether a woman could be appointed to the Senate of Canada. As expected, many wanted Emily Murphy as Senator, however, Canada’s government did not allow this due to the law. Mackenzie …show more content…
Black Canadians were forced to attend separate, often inferior schools. Segregation was seen as normal as it was enforced through laws and court decisions, and was justified through ideas of racial inferiority. This affected Black children and their families. This was especially prevalent in the 19th and early 20th centuries in Ontario and Nova Scotia. In other provinces, white residents had the right to deny Black people access to their local public schools. These schools were underfunded, had poor facilities, and lacked qualified teachers. Segregated schools were especially created in areas with high concentrations of Black Canadians. At times, Black children weren’t allowed to attend any local public schools in their town, even if no segregated schools existed. To add, racially segregated schools included secondary schooling and post-secondary schooling as well. Universities such as McGill, Queen’s, and UOFT allowed Black males to attend before the Civil War. However, attitudes began to change during the 1900s, leading to a shift where they stopped admitting Black students. A variety of universities started to ban Black students from joining their medical programs as they believed White patients wouldn’t feel comfortable or safe being treated by Black doctors or nurses. Black communities, parents, and civil rights activists fought for
died on September 1, 1951, in Victoria, British Columbia. She was part of an important social/political change in Canada because her contributions helped achieve woman suffrage and the advancement of women rights, including the eligibility to become a Senator. She was elected to the Alberta Legislature in 1921 and was the first woman on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Board of Governors. In addition, she was a delegate to the League of Nations. In 1927, McClung and four other women: Henrietta Muir Edwards, Louis McKinney, Irene Parlby, and Emily Murphy came together to be known as the “Famous Five”. Emily Murphy’s authority to preside as a judge was challenged by a lawyer on the basis that women were not considered to be "persons" under the British North America Act. As a result, they launched the "Persons Case”. They asked the question, “Does the word persons in section 24 of...
Schissel, Bernard, and Terry Wotherspoon. “The Legacy of Residential Schools.” Inequality in Canada: A Reader on the Intersections of Gender, Race, and Class. 2nd ed. Ed. Valerie Zawilski. Don Mills: Oxford University Press, 2010. 102-121. Print.
In Canada, women make up slightly more than half of the population. However, throughout Canadian history and modern day, women are needing to stand up for themselves and other women to bring about change. Canadian women are strong and have the power to work together and bring about change. Jennie Trout stood up for Canadian women that wanted to be in the medical field, women during WWI made a difference in their lives by entering the workplace and standing for their right to work, Nellie McClung was a leader for women’s suffrage, and The Famous Five campaigned and won The “Persons” Case allowing women to be considered persons under the Canadian Constitution. These women were instigators of change. Change for women only occurs when ambitious and courageous women stand up for a difference that they deserve.
In the year 1957, Canada elected its first Prime minister without English or French root, John Diefenbaker. While growing up in the city of Toronto, because of his German name, he was often teased. [1] He grew up as an outcast, and so he was able to relate to the discrimination and inequality many of the minorities in Canada felt. This essay will attempt to answer the question: To what extent did Prime Minister John Diefenbaker help promote equality to the minority communities. . The minorities in this time period were the women, aboriginals, and immigrants. During his time as the Prime Minister, he was able to help protect the rights of this group because many of their rights were being abused by the society. Diefenbaker also helped the minorities to stand up for themselves and other groups. Diefenbaker was able to bring positive change to the minority communities by making an official Bill of Rights and appointing people of discriminated groups to the parliament while other members did not.
Cameron, Jamie. "Justice in Her Own Right: Bertha Wilson and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms." The Law Society of Upper Canada. N.p., 2008. Web. 29 Dec. 2013. .
Before World War I, equality for woman and men were very unfair. Woman weren’t even legally “persons”; they weren’t allowed to join parliament or the senate because they weren’t legally “persons”, therefore these jobs were occupied by men only. During World War I and World War II, many men had left for war, thus meaning there were many job openings that needed to be occupied as soon as possible, women then began to take on stereotypical male jobs which men thought women couldn’t do or couldn’t do as well. Women showed their capabilities and realized they shouldn’t be considered less than men. In retaliation of not being considered “persons”, women decided to take action. The famous five brought the persons case upon the supreme court of Canada in 1927, which was finally determined by Judicial Council of Britain's Privy Council in 1929. The “persons” case involved women not legally being “persons”. After the famous five won the case, women were legally considered “persons” then women began to join important jobs such as members of parliament and the senate. Along with becoming “persons”, women were beginning to get their right to vote in provinces slowly. In 1916, four provinces gave women the right to vote provincially and, finally, in 1940, the last province (Quebec) gave women the right to vote provincially. Later, in World War II, there was another change in
The Indian Residential schools and the assimilating of First Nations people are more than a dark spot in Canada’s history. It was a time of racist leaders, bigoted white men who saw no point in working towards a lasting relationship with ingenious people. Recognition of these past mistakes, denunciation, and prevention steps must be taking intensively. They must be held to the same standard that we hold our current government to today. Without that standard, there is no moving forward. There is no bright future for Canada if we allow these injustices to be swept aside, leaving room for similar mistakes to be made again. We must apply our standards whatever century it was, is, or will be to rebuild trust between peoples, to never allow the abuse to be repeated, and to become the great nation we dream ourselves to be,
Despite the decreasing inequalities between men and women in both private and public spheres, aboriginal women continue to be oppressed and discriminated against in both. Aboriginal people in Canada are the indigenous group of people that were residing in Canada prior to the European colonization. The term First Nations, Indian and indigenous are used interchangeably when referring to aboriginal people. Prior to the colonization, aboriginal communities used to be matrilineal and the power between men and women were equally balanced. When the European came in contact with the aboriginal, there came a shift in gender role and power control leading towards discrimination against the women. As a consequence of the colonization, the aboriginal women are a dominant group that are constantly subordinated and ignored by the government system of Canada. Thus today, aboriginal women experiences double jeopardy as they belong to more than one disadvantaged group i.e. being women and belonging to aboriginal group. In contemporary world, there are not much of a difference between Aboriginal people and the other minority groups as they face the similar challenges such as gender discrimination, victimization, and experiences injustice towards them. Although aboriginal people are not considered as visible minorities, this population continues to struggle for their existence like any other visible minorities group. Although both aboriginal men and women are being discriminated in our society, the women tends to experience more discrimination in public and private sphere and are constantly the targeted for violence, abuse and are victimized. In addition, many of the problems and violence faced by aborigin...
The question that is often brought to our nations attention is whether or not incremental equality for First Nations children is compatible with reconciliation. When considering my personal opinion, the two are in fact compatible with one another. However, Canada is still working towards reconciliation but still has not completely reached it. The working towards reconciliation within First Nations children is seen throughout many aspects in Canada. Firstly, incremental equality is trying to be reached through education. Next, incremental equality is working towards being met throughout health systems as well as behaviors. Lastly, incremental equality for First Nations children is moving towards reconciliation throughout the physical environments
Systemic discrimination has been a part of Canada’s past. Women, racial and ethnic minorities as well as First Nations people have all faced discrimination in Canada. Policies such as, Charter of Rights and Freedoms, provincial and federal Human Rights Codes, as well has various employment equity programs have been placed in Canada’s constitution to fight and address discrimination issues. Despite these key documents placed for universal rights and freedoms Aboriginal and other minority populations in Canada continue to be discriminated against. Many believe there is no discrimination in Canada, and suggest any lack of success of these groups is a result of personal decisions and not systemic discrimination. While others feel that the legislation and equality policies have yet resulted in an equal society for all minorities. Racism is immersed in Canadian society; this is clearly shown by stories of racial profiling in law enforcement.
“Honey, you’re not a person, now get back in the kitchen and make me a sandwich!” If a husband were to say these words to his wife today, he would likely receive a well-deserved smack to the face. It is not until recently that Canadian women have received their status as people and obtained equal rights as men. Women were excluded from an academic education and received a lesser pay than their male counter parts. With the many hardships women had to face, women were considered the “slave of slaves” (Women’s Rights). In the past century, women have fought for their rights, transitioning women from the point of being a piece of property to “holding twenty-five percent of senior positions in Canada” (More women in top senior positions: Report). The Married Women’s Property Act, World War I, The Person’s Case, and Canadian Human Rights Act have gained Canadian women their rights.
Justice has began to commence for many of Canada’s Indigenous people now that considerably one of our Nation’s darkest secrets has been spilled. The Residential School system was a collection of 132 church-run, government-funded boarding schools that was legally required for all Indigenous Canadian children. Canadian Residential Schools ran up until 1996 and, for decades, the secrets from within the walls of the institutions have been hidden. But now, the truth has finally come to light.
They were participating the activities originally only meant for men. The Women's Christian Temperance Union was founded in 1874 and by 1890 had 150,000 members. They used their influence to convince the government to introduce prohibition, which banned all production, sale, and consumption of alcohol. In 1921, the first female Member of Parliament, Agnes Macphail was elected to Parliament after winning her riding in rural Ontario. She pushed for prison reform , which lead to the investigation of Canada's prisons in the mid-1930s. The Famous Five were a huge part of the women's' equality movement in Canada. The Famous Five was composed of five women from Alberta, Emily Murphy, Nellie McClung, Henriette Muir Edwards. Lousie McKinney, Irene Parlby. They asked the Supreme Court to rule on the question, "Does the word "persons" in Section 24 of The British North America Act include female persons?". The issue was raised after Emily Murphy, who was the first woman judge in the British Empire found lawyers challenging her right to preside in her court. After 3 months of consideration, the Supreme Court ruled that the word "qualified persons" did not apply to women. In 1928, the Famous Five, with the help of Prime Minister King appealed to the British Privy Council, what at the time was Canada's highest court. In 1929, the British Privy ruled that the word "person applied to males and
Compensation and support can’t fix what residential schools did to Aboriginals, but it is a step further into deepening Canada’s relationship with Aboriginal
The Canadian government has also acted upon their commitments through concrete actions in vital areas such as housing, economic development, education and other basic necessities, which are part of a continuous agenda focused on real results with willing partners. Doing so can improve situations for the hundreds or thousands of indigenous people across the nation and the globe. As a strong voice for the protection of human rights, Canada has numerous human