Bill of Rights Timeline

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Universal Declaration of Human Rights

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is Document that outlines all the Univseral Rights and Freedoms that everyone is entitled to. The Universal Rights and Freedoms are Right to Equality, Freedom from Discrimination, Right to Life, Liberty, Personal Security, Freedom from Slavery, Freedom from Torture and Degrading Treatment, Right to Recognition as a Person before the Law, Right to Equality before the Law, Right to Remedy by Competent Tribunal, Freedom from Arbitrary Arrest and Exile, Right to Fair Public Hearing, Right to be Considered Innocent until Proven Guilty, Freedom from Interference with Privacy, Family, Home and Correspondence, Right to Free Movement in and out of the Country, Right to Asylum in other Countries from Persecution, Right to a Nationality and the Freedom to Change It, Right to Marriage and Family, Right to Own Property, Freedom of Belief and Religion, Freedom of Opinion and Information, Right of Peaceful Assembly and Association, Right to Participate in Government and in Free Elections, Right to Social Security, Right to Desirable Work and to Join Trade Unions, Right to Rest and Leisure, Right to Adequate Living Standard, Right to Education, Right to Participate in the Cultural Life of Community, Right to a Social Order that Articulates this Document, Community Duties Essential to Free and Full Development, Freedom from State or Personal Interference in the above Rights.

1916 - 1920

1916 - 1920

January 28th, 1916

• Manitoba women became the first in Canada to win the rights to vote and to hold provincial office.

May 24th, 1918

• All female citizens aged 21 and over became eligible to vote in federal elections in Canada.

July 1919

• Women in Canada gain the right to stand for the House of Commons.

January 10th, 1920

- The Dominion Elections Act gives the right to vote in federal elections to all adult Canadians, male and female. However Aboriginal and those of Asian decent weren't allowed to vote

These are all advancements in human rights.

1929 - 1945

1929 - 1945

1929

- Women in Canada gain the right to hold a seat in the Senate.

1934

- Libel Act that allows legal action to stop personal attacks based on race or religion that expose people to hatred, contempt or ridicule.

1940

- Women in Québec obtain the vote.

1944

- Ontario enacts the Racial Discrimination Act, prohibiting the publication or display of any notice, sign, or symbol indicating racial discrimination.

1944

- Tommy Douglas becomes premier of Saskatchewan and enacts a “humanity first” policy in government, making available free health care to the poor and to senior citizens.

1945

- The B.C. Social Assistance Act of 1945 prohibits discrimination based on colour,creed, race or political affiliation in social assistance programs.

Tommy Douglas

1947 - 1951

1 April 1947

- The Saskatchewan Bill of Rights, Canada's first general law prohibiting discrimination, is passed under Tommy Douglas.

10 December 1948

- The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is signed by the United Nations members. Canadian John Humphrey plays a large role in drafting the declaration, and Canada is among the signing nations.

1948

- The federal Elections Act is changed so that race is no longer a ground for exclusion from voting in federal elections, Japanese Canadians receive the right to vote in federal elections and the UN Created the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

March 1949

- Wartime restrictions and the War Measures Act are ended.

1951

- The Indian Act is revised and removes some of the repressive features of the act

1947 - 1951

1956 - 1964

1956 - 1964

1956

- Equal Pay for Equal Work law is adopted in Manitoba, preventing discrimination in salary based on gender.

10 August, 1960

- Prime Minister John Diefenbaker brings in the Canadian Bill of Rights.

1960

- Aboriginal people receive the unrestricted right to vote in federal elections.

1960

- The barring of immigrants based on nationality, citizenship, ethnic group, occupation, class or region of origin is ended in Canada.

1964

- The first anti-age discrimination law in Canada is passed in B.C and Laws requiring separate schools for blacks in Ontario are removed.

John Diefenbaker

1968 - 1976

1968

- The Criminal Code is amended to decriminalize homosexuality.

1970

- Ontario becomes the first province to pass a law guaranteeing a blind person. the legal right to be accompanied by a specially trained dog guide in all facilities

open to the public.

1971

- The Criminal Code makes it a crime to advocate genocide or publicly incite hatred against people because of their colour

1974

- Nova Scotia amends its Human Rights Act to prohibit employment discrimination against the physically handicapped, unless the handicap prevents an acceptable job performance

1975

- Québec passes its Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.

1976

- Capital punishment is removed as a penalty for crime in Canada.

1968 - 1976

1977 - 1985

1977

The federal government passes the Canadian Human Rights Act and sets up the Human Rights Commission and The Immigration Act removes all restrictive regulations based on nationality, citizenship, ethnic group, occupation, class or geographical area of origin.

1982

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms becomes part of Canada's constitution and the Canadian identity. Since that date many landmark decisions have been made by the Supreme Court to uphold the human rights provisions of the Charter and The Constitution Act specifically recognizes Aboriginal rights and the Métis as an Aboriginal people.

April 1985

Bill C-31 changes the Indian Act to end some forms of discrimination that had existed since the 1860s. Prior to Bill C-31, Indian women who married non-Indian men were no longer considered to be Indian, nor were their children. They were now allowed to reclaim their status under the Indian Act. Other First Nations people were also allowed to reclaim their status as Indians under the Act.

1977 - 1985

1988 - 1995

Brian Mulroney

22 September 1988

- Prime Minister Brian Mulroney acknowledges Canada’s wrongful actions against Japanese Canadians during WWII and offers a compensation program.

1990

- Elijah Harper, an Aboriginal Member of the Manitoba Legislative Assembly, is instrumental in the defeat of the Meech Lake Accord, as it neglected to

acknowledge Aboriginal Canadians’ significant role in shaping Canada’s future.

1990

- The Sparrow case affirms that the constitutional rights of Aboriginal people

cannot be infringed without justification

1991

- The federal government announces a five-year national plan to help bring

persons with disabilities into society’s mainstream.

1993

- The Anglican church apologizes to residential school victims.

1995

- The Canadian government establishes a policy to move Aboriginal

self-government policy forward

1988 - 1995

Elijah Harper

1996 - 1998

1996

Sexual orientation is added as a grounds for discrimination in the Canadian Human Rights Act, The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples report is issued and Aboriginal rights existed prior to The Constitution and are not extinguishable.

1997 The Delgamuukw decision of the Supreme Court of Canada confirms the existence of Aboriginal title in B.C. and The Canadian Race Relations Foundation, an organization to promote racial harmony, opens its doors.

1998

The Canadian government releases Gathering Strength: Canada’s Aboriginal

Action Plan, which expresses regret for damaging actions that have been

committed against Aboriginal people, and sets out a plan to fully implement

treaty terms, strengthen Aboriginal self-government, and to provide resources to promote social, cultural, and economic development for Aboriginal communities and The Canadian government issues a statement of reconciliation to residential school survivors and victims and establishes the Aboriginal Healing Foundation

In 1988, the Supreme Court of Canada struck down Canada's abortion law as unconstitutional.

1996 - 1998

1999 - 2012

1999 - 2012

17 June

1999

Canada's Extradition Act states that Canada will refuse to forcibly return anyone to a country that wants to punish that person because of race, religion, nationality, ethnic origin, language, colour, political opinion, sex, sexual orientation, age, mental or physical disability, or status.

2003

The Powley case establishes that the rights of a particular Ontario Métis community to hunt for food were infringed by provincial law.

2005

The Canadian government announces a $1.9 billion compensation package to benefit tens of thousands of survivors of abuse at native residential schools

July 20, 2005, a law approved by the Canadian Parliament went into effect allowing same-sex couples to marry on an equal basis with different-sex couples in all 13 provinces and territories in Canada.

March 30, 2007

Canada signs the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

March 11, 2011

Canada ratifies the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

February 10, 2012

Supreme Court of Canada rules that mentally disabled adults can give reliable court testimony

The Powley Case

2018 - Current Events

2018 - Current issues

2018

- Canada has violated numerous Human Rights. like failing to providing indigenous peoples with adequate access to clean, safe, drinking water is posing a major public health concern in many Indigenous communities. The poor quality of water on First Nations reserves has a serious impact on health and hygiene.

2018

- Canada has also violated more rights like Children in Immigration Detention, Mining Industry Abuses. but they have taken steps foward in other areas like Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity The Canadian government has taken significant steps domestically to advance the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender LGBTQ+ people, including passing legislation to protect transgender people from discrimination and creating a non-binary gender option on passports.

2018

- Bill C-16 received royal assent amending the Canadian Human Rights Act to add gender identity and gender expression to the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination.

2019,

the tribunal found that Ottawa “willfully and recklessly discriminated against Indigenous children on reserve by failing to provide funding for child and family services.” The tribunal ordered the government to provide up to $40,000 to each Indigenous child who was unnecessarily taken into government care on or after January 1, 2006

2021

- $8 million settlement agreement was reached in two class action lawsuits against the federal government brought by First Nations communities living under drinking water advisories.

in 2022

the Canadian government passed Bill C-15, establishing a framework for implementing the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples into federal legislation. The legislation requires that all levels of government affirm Indigenous rights as protected by international human rights standards.

Citations

What is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights? | Australian Human Rights Commission. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2022, from https://humanrights.gov.au/our-work/what-universal-declaration-human-rights

Human Rights. (n.d.). The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved November 1, 2022, from https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/human-rights

United Nations. (n.d.). Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Retrieved November 1, 2022, from https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights

Clément, Dr. D., Silver, W., & Trottier, Dr. D. (n.d.). The Evolution of Human Rights in Canada. The Evolution of Human Rights in Canada. Retrieved January 7, 2020, from https://www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/sites/default/files/ehrc_edpc-eng.pdf

Leung, E. (2013, October 17). Supreme Court of Canada rules that mentally disabled adults can give reliable court testimony. Retrieved November 1, 2022, from https://eugenicsarchive.ca/discover timeline/525f74c4c6813a54690000

Canada. (2022, January 13). Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2022/country-chapters/canada

Canada. (2018, January 18). Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2018/country-chapters/canada

nytimes.com. (2021, December 23). Canada to Pay Billions to Indigenous Groups for Tainted Drinking Water. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/23/world/canada/indigenous-water-lawsuit.html

Human Rights in Canada. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2022, from https://www.chrc-ccdp.gc.ca/en/about-human-rights/human-rights-canada

THE CONSTITUTION ACTS, 1867 to 1982. (n.d.). Retrieved November 1, 2022, from https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/const/page-12.html