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Women’s Voting Rights
Prior to 1916, Women had no federal or provincial voting rights and had fought for them for years. In January 1916, Manitoba women won their provincial voting rights, a few months later they also won in Saskatchewan and Alberta. In 1917, women in British Columbia and Ontario also won their provincial voting rights. In 1918, May 24th, Women across Canada received the right to vote federally. In 1919, women from New Brunswick and Yukon also gain the right to vote provincially. -
Indigenous Canadians Voting Rights Continued
Only in 1950, the Inuit group could vote federally, and ten years later Status Indians could vote as well. It only went up from here, and finally in 1982, in section 3 of the Canadian Charter of rights and freedoms stated that Every citizen of Canada had the right to vote. -
Indigenous Canadians Voting Rights
Things started to change for all indigenous Canadians voting rights towards World War Two, besides the Military Voters Act in 1917, no other Indigenous Canadian could vote federally. Throughout World War Two, the House of Commons special committee decided that the indigenous were the most neglected social group, and that they deserved the right to vote. In 1942, parliament established a committee on the Indian Act, leading to them recommending that they can vote. -
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Persons Case
In 1928, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that women were not considered persons under the constitution act of 1867. This meant that they couldn’t become senate, which was discovered when Emily Murphy wanted to be appointed and the famous five sent a letter to the Governor General in 1927. They didn’t like the outcome, and kept fighting. They sent this to the British Privy Council, who stated that the word persons does in fact include women on October 18th, 1929. -
Indian Act Revisions
A new version of the Indian Act (1876) was passed in 1951. The Canadian government spoke with First Nations about changes in the Act for the first time, since after the Second World War, people reconsidered the restrictions and oppressive measures from the original Indian Act. On June 20th, 1951, the new, revised Indian Act was given royal assent. This removed some of the offensive political, cultural, and religious restrictions. -
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Canadian Bill Of Rights
This was the first federal law in Canada that protected citizens human rights and fundamental freedoms. This bill got enacted by the government in 1960, but it was proved to be too limited and ineffective mainly because it only applied to federal statutes. This bill got cited in thirty-five cases between 1960 and 1982, and thirty got rejected by courts. Eventually the bill got replaced by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982. -
Ontario Human Rights Code
This was the first in Canada, and was enacted in 1962 by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. It prohibits actions that discriminate against people based on protected grounds in protected social areas. This means it prohibits discrimination in signs, services, facilities, accommodation, employee and trade union membership, on the grounds of race, colour, nationality, ancestry, and place or origin. -
Royal Commission on the Status of Women
The Royal Commission on the Status of Women was officially created in 1967. It’s purpose was to inquire and report on the status of women in Canada, and to recommend what steps the federal government can take to ensure equality for women in all parts of Canadian society. This may not have been created if it weren’t for the female activists, who were tired of the inequality across the world. -
Immigration Act
This act brought new regulations in 1967, for evaluating potential immigrants. These new standards brought in a points system for independent immigrants, to determine their ability to settle in Canada. These points were assigned based off of their education, age, occupational skills, character, ability to speak English and French, and employment prospects. -
Canadian Official Languages Act
The Canadian Official Languages Act was made in 1969 with the purpose to ensure respect for both English and French in Canada. This act also declared that English and French were now official languages in Canada. This act continued to get revised in 1988, and 2005 with minor corrections to establish federal and provincial standards that were missed the first time. -
Canadian Human Rights Act
The Canadian Human Rights Act was created in 1977, with the purpose to protect people in Canada from various types of discrimination. It protects citizens while they’re employed by or receive services from the federal government, as well as other governments and companies run by the federal government. Citizens can also use the Human Rights Act to protect themselves from discrimination and harassment under one or more of the sixteen grounds of discrimination. Including race, sex, and many more. -
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was enacted in 1982, and guarantees the rights and freedoms of Canadian citizens. The charter protects Canadians from the government, with many sections such as freedom of expression, right to life, freedom of speech, and more. However, in section one, the government is able to limit these rights and freedoms if the reasoning is justifiable in a free and democratic society. -
Big M Drug Mart
In 1985, Big M Drug Mart was accused of selling merchandise on a Sunday, which was allegedly going against the Lords Day Act. The court stated that the Lords Day Act was mainly for the Christian religion, and went against everyone else’s freedom of religion since they didn’t practice Christianity, as well as their right to a free and democratic society. In the end, nothing happened because the court didn’t see a reason for the Lords Day Act to limit the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. -
R. V. Oakes Continued
It got difficult and the crown appealed it to the Supreme Court, who did agree that sometimes it can be necessary to override these rights and freedoms to protect other Canadians. To help decide, they created a criteria that for four “reasonable limits” that would have to be satisfied by the case in order to override the right, when they applied it to the case, they found that it didn’t follow the second one, and Oakes’ case was dismissed. -
R. V. Oakes
Oakes got charged with possession of narcotics, an amount that led the court to believe he had the motive to use them to traffic, under s.8 of the Narcotic Control Act. Oakes argued that that act went against section 11 of the charter, that stated everyone had the right to be seen as innocent until proven guilty, and the court pulled a reverse onus. -
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Canadian Employment Equality Act
The Canadian Employment Equality Act was first enacted in 1986, with the purpose to build a foundation for equal employment opportunities for four different groups who experienced discrimination in these areas. Those four groups include women, indigenous peoples, people with disabilities, and other visible minorities. In 1996, Canadas federal public service become subject to this Act, and has been building since. -
Abortion Rights
Up until 1988, Abortion was considered a crime in Canada. This was when the Supreme Court struck down the provision in the Criminal a code for abortion as unconstitutional. They found that it violated a woman’s right to “life, liberty, and security as a person” because of the R. V. Morgentaler case. Before this, it was only allowed if the pregnancy threatened a woman’s life or health. -
Delgamuukw V. British Columbia
This was a case that took place in 1997, where concerns about Aboriginal title were raised, such as the definition, content, and extent. This happened because the Gitxsan and Wet’suwet’en nations tried to negotiate land ownership with British Columbia, and they kept failing. Eventually the Supreme Court finally recognized that the Aboriginal Title was constituted as a ancestral right, protected by the Constitution Act, 1982. -
Vriend V. Alberta
Vriend was a fired from a Christian college for not complying with the school's policy on homosexual practice, since they discovered he was gay. He argued that the employer discriminated against him because of his sexual orientation, but was told he couldn’t make a complaint because it wasn’t a protected ground under the Individual Rights Protection act of Alberta. -
Vriend. V. Alberta Continued
Him and other groups fought against the Government of Alberta, and kept losing, so he appealed the case to the Supreme Court, who started that the IRPA of Alberta was unconstitutional, and reversed the Court of Appeals decision. -
R. V. Marshall
Marshall, a mi’kmaq man was charged for catching and selling eel with an illegal net and without a license. He was found guilty on three charges, but got the case appealed to the Supreme Court of Canada. The Supreme Court recognized hunting and fishing rights that were promised when the Peace and Friendship treaties were signed between the British and the Mi’kmaq, Wolastoqiyik, and the Peskotomuhkati back in 1760. -
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Same Sex Marriage
In 2003, Ontario and British Columbia were the first two provinces in Canada to legalize same sex marriage in them. Then in 2005, a federal act called the “Civil Marriage Act” came into effect, which allowed same sex marriage across Canada. The Supreme Court also ruled under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms that a religious official cannot be forced to marry a same sex couple if it’s against their religious beliefs. -
Truth and Reconciliation Commission
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was implemented in 2007, with the purpose to educate people about the history of residential schools. They spoke to over 6,500 witnesses to get accurate information, and to share and honour the experiences of these students who had to go through that and their families. To this day they share stories and encourage Canadians to continue learning about the sad truth and history.