Unit 2: Rights and Freedoms Human Rights in Canada Unit 2: Rights and Freedoms

Human Rights Development In a free society like Canada, we are entitled to hold our own beliefs and opinions However…acting on prejudicial belief and acting on those beliefs could result in discrimination Essentially all Human Rights are about treating everyone equally and allowing for equal treatment (not that same as equality) Prejudice and Stereotyping is not illegal but discrimination is Human Rights legislation is enacted to prohibit discrimination and help protect society against it

Some History… 1215 Magna Carta 1689 English Bill of Rights 1776 Declaration of Independence (USA) 1789 Declaration of the rights of Man and of the Citizen 1833 Emancipation Act (Britain)

Some more history… And then came World War Two 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)- page 608 Article 2: everyone (example of natural law) is entitled to the rights without discrimination based on… Article 24, 25, 14, 17, 18, 19 Any questions about these…think about it

Human Rights in Canada 1948 UDHR (Canada signs) 1960 Bill of Rights 1961 Ontario HR Commission 1977 Canadian Human Rights Act 1982 Charter

Human Rights in Canada The difference between the Charter and Human Rights legislation is this: Charter deals with public laws and bodies, such as acts of parliament Human Rights legislation deals with private laws and parties Easiest difference is employment- if you have a business, having the business is not covered by the Charter but you must follow the OHRC

Commissions and Tribunals Each province and the federal government has their own commissions Their obligation is to investigate complaints of discrimination, allow for legal procedures to try the cases and to find solutions Most complaints are decided at the commission level however some require more investigation and when parties will not reach a settlement together. If this occurs the case will proceed to a tribunal

Human Rights “Trials” In this area of law the burden of proof (Onus) is on the complainant – Balance of Probabilities Covered Areas Covered Grounds- enumerated or analogous Was there an adverse impact on the complainant? Was the adverse impact the result of a bona fide requirement that if dismissed would create undue hardship What do these mean…