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The English Bill of Rights Receives Royal Assent
This legislation required that all monarchs had to obey the parliament and allow free elections (only wealthy, property-owning men could vote). It also reaffirmed rights granted under Magna Carta, such as freedom from cruel punishments. The English Bill of Rights set the stage for constitutional monarchy. Click here to learn more about the English Bill of Rights -
Signing of the American Declaration of Independence
This declaration stated that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." From its inception, this idea was not extended to all people living in the new country. But the idea of equality and inalienable rights was a game-changer. Read more about the American Declaration here -
Creation of the French Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen
the French National Constituent Assembly issued the Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen which defined rights at the time of the French Revolution. This document stated that man naturally had a right to "liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression." Click here to learn more about this allegorical image of the Declaration -
The Act Against Slavery Passed in Upper Canada
The Act Against Slavery was an anti-slavery law passed on July 9, 1793, in the second legislative session of Upper Canada (the colonial division of British North America that would eventually become Ontario). It banned the importation of slaves and mandated that children born henceforth to female slaves would be freed upon reaching the age of 25. read more here -
The British Slavery Abolition Act Received Royal Assent
This Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom expanded the jurisdiction of the earlier Slave Trade Act of 1807 (outlawed the international slave trade, but not slavery itself) and made the purchase or ownership of slaves illegal within the British Empire. Enslavers were compensated for the loss of their "property" while formerly enslaved people were not compensated in any way for their stolen labour.Slavery Abolition Act -
Chinese Canadians in BC Disenfranchised
The British Columbia legislature passed a law banning Chinese residents from voting. In the 1860s, every male inhabitant of the province had been allowed to vote for legislative councillors. It wasn't until 1947 that Chinese Canadians gained the right to vote federally and provincially. Chinese-Canadian History article -
Women Granted the Right to Vote in Manitoba
Women in Manitoba became the first in Canada to win the right to vote. That victory came after decades of struggle. After Manitoba's entry to Confederation in 1870, provincial law stated that, “No woman shall be qualified to vote at any Election for any Electoral Division whatever.” Author and political activist Nellie McClung was among the women who led the campaign for the right to vote. Watch the Heritage Minute -
Canadian Women Win the Right to Vote in Federal Elections
Canadian suffragists argued that women had earned the right to vote due to their contributions in The Great War. Bordon's Unionist government passed "An Act to confer the Electoral Franchise upon Women" which gave female citizens, not included under racial or Indigenous exclusions, aged 21 and over became eligible to vote in federal elections. Women's Suffrage in Canada -
The Dominion Elections Act Brings Universal* Franchise
*Just kidding. It didn't give the vote to everyone and it actually took the vote away from some groups. This Act said that if a province discriminated against a group, that group would also be excluded from the federal vote, (BC Chinese, Japanese and South Asians lost their right to vote federally). This part of the act was repealed in 1949. Voting in Canada -
Alberta Enacts the Sexual Sterilization Act
Alberta’s Sexual Sterilization Act was in effect from 1928 to 1972. The Eugenics Board, which decided whether or not a patient in a psychiatric hospital should be sterilized, caused thousands of forced sterilizations. Indigenous women were over-represented among those targeted. BC had a similar act in form from 1933 to 1973 to reduce the birth of children with "mental disease or deficiency.” Eugenics in Canada -
Persons Case Concluded
The Persons Case was a constitutional ruling that established the right of women to be appointed to the Senate. The case was initiated by the Famous Five, a group of prominent women activists. In 1928, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that women were not “ persons” according to the BNA Act and couldn't be Senators. The women appealed to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in London, which in 1929 reversed the Court’s decision. Heritage Minute -
Beginning of Japanese Canadian Internment
During WWII, Japanese Canadians were taken from their homes on Canada’s West Coast, without any charge or due process and exiled to remote areas of the country. The federal government stripped them of their property and pressured many of them to accept mass deportation after the war. Internment of Japanese Canadians -
Universal Declaration of Human Rights Adopted
The newly formed United Nations adopted this declaration in the aftermath of the horrors of World War II. It set out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected. UDHR Canadian Connection -
Status Indians Granted the Right to Vote in Federal Elections
Until this time, Indigenous people could only vote if they relinquished their Indian status. In 1960, Portions of Section 14(2) of the Canada Elections Act were repealed in order to grant the federal vote to status Indians. First Nations people could now vote without losing their Indian status.
Indigenous Suffrage -
Canadian Bill of Rights Passed
The Canadian Bill of Rights, passed in 1960, was the first federal human rights law in Canada. It guarantees many basic rights and freedoms, including the "right of the individual to life, liberty, security of the person and enjoyment of property" and the right not to be deprived of any of those rights except in accordance with "due process," meaning basic procedural fairness. Read more here -
Ontario Human Rights Code Enacted
Ontario's Human Rights Code was the first of its kind in Canada. The Code prohibits actions that discriminate against people based on a protected ground in a protected social area. Examples of grounds are age, race, and gender identity. Examples of social areas are employment and housing.
OHRC Guide -
The Canadian Human Rights Act
This Act applies only to people who work for or receive benefits from the federal government, to First Nations, and to federally-regulated private companies such as airlines and banks. Protected grounds are similar to the Ontario Human Rights Code, for example, age and race. Initially, it did not apply to the Indian Act. This was finally remedied in 2008. Understanding the CHRA -
Charter of Rights and Freedoms
The Charter (as it is commonly known) is the most visible and recognized part of Canada’s Constitution. The Charter guarantees the rights of individuals by enshrining those rights, and certain limits on them, in the highest law of the land. The Charter has created a social and legal revolution in Canada. Charter article
