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Women’s Voting Right
Women’s suffrage was a decade long movement that addressed issues gender equality. During world war 1, women who had family in war were given the ability to vote. From there women kept protesting for equal voting rights until 1925 women were finally given the right ending decades long oppression. -
Persons case
Person’s case as case that was to help overrule a law that states that only “qualified person” can be appointed to the senate, and because the term “person” does not state gender and men are normally label as “person,” it was decided women can not be apart of the senate. A group of five women gathered together to create a petition that was sent to the Supreme Court to disband this law. By October of 1929, the law was restated that the term “person” now included women. -
Indian act revisions of 1951
The Indian act is a law created to control Indian status, First Nations governance, and reserve lands. The act was established in hopes to integrate First Nations into western style society, further causing excessive trauma on generations of indigenous children. To this day the act still exists, even though it has been modified it still holds control over indigenous communities. -
Indigenous Canadian’s Voting Right
Before 1960, no one under the “Indian” status was allowed to vote federally without removing themselves from their status. If a man was to remove his status as “Indian” his wife and children would have to remove it too. Once World War II happened, many indigenous people served in the war, gaining them access to vote without conditions. Finally by 1960 they changed the law to allow any First Nations the right to vote without removing their status. -
Canadian bill of rights
The Canadian Bill of Rights was Canada’s first ever federal law that protected human rights and fundamental freedoms. Enacted by John Diefenbaker, the bill was very limited because it only applied to federal statutes from 1960 to 1982. By 1982 the Canadian Charter of rights and freedoms was created, still leaving the Canadian Bill of rights in effect, but less of need for it. -
Ontario human rights code
The Ontario Human Rights Code was created in hope to protect people from acts of discrimination. Its goal was to protect people in social areas, like work or at school from harassment based on a protected ground, like age, race or disability. All Ontario laws that are established must coincide with the Human Rights Code. -
Royal commission on the status of women
The Royal Commission on the Status of Women in Canada promotes women rights and documents the reality of their lives. It was established by the Canadian government as the first national inquiry that had an impact on gender equality. -
Immigration act of 1967
The Immigration Act of 1967 introduced a points system to be able to fairly evaluate immigrants. The points were set by categories such as, education, age, and so on. The act was created in response to lingering criticism that was raised due to the 1966 White Paper, hoping to remove any discrimination that still stood. -
Canadian official languages act
The Canadian Official Languages Act was created to enroll French and English as the official languages of Canada. In the eyes of the act the French are a minority in Canada, one of the principles of Official Languages is to help stabilize the equality of both French and English in Canadian society. This does not mean that you have to bilingual in Canada, only unless you try to work for the federal government. -
Canadian human rights act
The Canadian Human Rights Act Was enacted to extend the laws in Canada. The principle states that all individuals should have all equal opportunities, and their needs must be accommodated. Members of the canadian society must be protected from attempts of discrimination against examples like, religion, gender identity or sex. -
Canadian charter of rights and freedoms
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is to protect a person’s rights and freedoms. It’s part of our highest form of law, the Constitution. The Charter is celebrated every year for service, and is one of Canada’s greatest accomplishments. -
Big M Drug Mart
The Big M Drug Mart case was when Big M Drug Mart was accused of selling merchandise on a Sunday, going against the Lord’s Day Act. The Lord’s day act was in place to create the ideal Christian Religion. The case was sent to the Supreme Court but because due to the Charter of Right And Freedoms, annyone is guaranteed the freedom of religion, meaning they do not have to participate if they’re not religious. -
R. v. Oakes
In the R v. Oakes case, David Oakes was accused of the possession of drugs for trafficking. The case was taken to the Supreme Court where section 8 of the Narcotic Control Act automatically over turns the presumption of innocence. It states that if one is in possession of drugs it should be presumed that they have them for the intent to traffic them. This is a limitation of rights and freedoms in according that can’t be justified in a free and democratic society. -
Canadian Equality Employment Act
The Canadian Equality Employment Act is put in place to ensure that there is equality in the workplace. No one should be denied of any employment opportunities due to unrelated reasons. For example, a man shouldn’t get a raise for doing a worse job just because he’s not a women who’s more experienced. -
Abortion rights
Abortion is a medical procedure that allows the termination of a pregnancy. Everyone should have the right to their own body and decisions, if a person does not want to carry the child of an unwanted pregnancy she should not be forced to. Unlike some countries, Canada ensures that abortion is apart of healthcare and a fundamental freedom. -
Delgamuukw v. British Columbia
The Delgamuukw case was to define the aboriginal title as a protected right under Canada’s Constitution Act, clarify ownership over traditional land. The Supreme Court of Canada ruled in Delgamuukw favour enacting the law, as well as becoming a example for future indigenous court cases. -
Vriend v. Alberta
The Vriend V. Alberta case was to free individuals from discrimination based on their sexual orientation. Deleting Vriend was fired from his job because of his sexual orientation, he tried to appeal his termination but failed. He then continued to file a complaint with the Alberta Human Rights Commission but was rejected. Eventually after filing multiple reports to various courts, LEAF stepped in and won the case. -
R. v. Marshall
The Marshall Case is focused around Donald Marshall, an indigenous man from Nova Scotia. He was caught selling 210 kg of eel that were caught illegally without a license. He was then arrested and charged under the federal fisheries act. This happened to be his 3rd charge in a provincial court. The Supreme Court then recognized the hunting and fishing rights that were promised to the tribes that signed the treaties which also happened to the tribe Marshall was apart of. (Mi’kmaq) -
Same Sex Marriage
In 2003 Ontario and British Columbia became the first two provinces to legalize same sex marriage, from there the federal Civil Marriage Act came into play in 2005 making same sex marriage across Canada legal. This means that Canada became the third country in world to allow same sex marriage. Now that same sex marriage is legal, marriage becomes a federal jurisdiction in Canada. -
Truth and Reconciliation Commission
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada was through a legal settlement that is between Residential School Survivors, the Assembly of First Nations, Inuit representatives and the parties that created the residential schools. The TRC was to inform all Canadians about the truth of residential schools, it documented the all survivors and families. All records were then sent into safekeeping of the National Centre for a Truth and Reconciliation.