Human Rights in Canada

Royal Proclamation of 1763

• States that Aboriginal title has existed and continues to exist, and that all land would be considered Aboriginal land until ceded by treaty

• Forbade settlers from claiming land from Aboriginal occupants, unless it has been first bought by the crown and then sold to the settlers 

• Royal Proclamation sets out that only the Crown can buy land from First Nations

Indian Act

• Cause (HILP)

  • Higher rates of suicide (children + youth) + unemployment + incarceration 

  • Inadequate housing conditions 

  • Low levels of education + income

  • Poorer Health

• Superintendent of Indian Affairs will supervise control and management of reserve lands, money and property of Indians in Canada

• The term band will relate to any tribe who are interested in reservation land

The term irregular band relates to any tribe who do not have land or money

Benefits of Indian Act

• Penitentiary ceremonies to help native inmates, the Stony Mountain Penitentiary in Manitoba has 4 sweat lodges at the far end of exercise yards. These prisoners gather once a week to participate in the spiritual program of the sweat lodge ceremonies

• The Native justice system emphasizes the use of treatment through healing circles, rather than imprisonment

Limitations of the Indian Act

• In a sentencing circle, offenders are brought to their families, friends, and band elders, to discuss sentencing,

These scenarios can be intense between the victim and the victimizer 

(this can also be a biased opinion on offender)

• Everyone has an equal say in the sentencing 

• Punishments can include a ban in the forest for a set period of time, and reconnect with their ancestors to be spiritually cleansed and rehabilitated 

• Native Americans have a separate justice system, than the canadian justice system, since the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees equal rights to all Canadians, so there should be equality for all regardless of status 

Indian Status

•  registered First Nations peoples as:

• Any male person of Indian blood reputed to belong to a particular band;

• Any child of such person;

• Any woman who is, or was, lawfully married to such person.

• brought all those with status under the control of the federal government

Numbered treaties

• 11 historic agreements (1871-1921) between the Crown (Canada) and First Nations, establishing land use for settlement/resources in exchange for annuities, reserves, hunting/fishing rights, education, and health, covering vast areas of Western and Northern Canada, though different understandings of terms created ongoing legal and social complexities, forming a foundational, living part of Canada's Indigenous relations

Pass System

• Canada's historical, discriminatory policy (1885-1940s) forcing First Nations people to carry official passes to leave reserves, acting as internal passports to control movement, prevent economic participation, and enforce segregation, impacting generations

Oliver Act

• 1911, cities and companies are allowed to take portions of reserve land.

• A judge can move an entire reserve away from a city 

Nisga’a Casa

• In 1973, the Nisga’a people of Northwestern British Columbia claimed that the ownership of their land had never been taken away.

• After undergoing many courts and being dismissed by the Supreme Court, 3 judges who sided w/ the Nisga’a claimed that they were never conquered or entered into a treaty/deed of surrender.

•  The Trudeau gov’t recognized the significance of the Calder decision and reversed the stand it took in the white paper.

• Introduced the process for negotiating land claims and settlements.

• Treaty in depth: 

  • Ownership of approx 2000km of land 

  • Right to estab a Nisga’a gov’t (the Nisga’a Tribal Council) w/ jurisdiction similar to local gov’t 

  • Ownership of surface + subsurface resources on their lands, a share of the Nass River salmon catch + wildlife harvests 

  • Nisga’a’s only commercial fishery 

  • $190 million, paid over 15 yrs 

Significance of Nisga’a Case

• In August 1988, the Nisga’a reached an agreement with the province of British Columbia and the federal government. 

• The first treaty ever signed between a Native group and the British Columbia government

• In addition, the Criminal Code, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms + other fed and prov laws apply to the Nisga’a like any other Canadian 

Wet’suwet’en and Gitxsan Case

• Focused on Native rights and treaty rights regarding the case of Delgamuukw v. British Columbia in 1977

• Began in 1981 when 51 members of the Wet’suwet’en and Gitxan hereditary chiefs wanted to gain ownership of their ancestral lands

• Went to the Supreme Court - they could not determine if the nation had had any title established in their ‘claimed’ territories, ultimately sending their issue back to trial

Significance of the Wet’suwet’en and Gitxsan Case

• Defined the meaning of a Native title

• Structured a test to prove Native title demonstrating that the Constitution does protect these claims

• Test: proof of exclusive occupation of the land before Britain’s declaration of sovereignty established the official title; can be through oral histories

• However! Court stated that the Native title and rights are not absolute

  • Government has jurisdiction to interfere 

  • Must be justified 

• Ultimately, showed Native peoples that as long as they established a true/official native title, they were able to demand in treaty negotiations

Colder et al. v. British Columbia

The case referred to as Colder et al. v. British Columbia is likely a reference to the landmark Canadian legal case Calder et al. v. Attorney-General of British Columbia (1973).

This case was a foundational moment in Canadian law, as it was the first time the Supreme Court of Canada acknowledged that Aboriginal title to land has a place in Canadian law and existed at the time of the Royal Proclamation of 1763.

Key details:

• Parties Involved: Nisga'a elders and chiefs, led by Frank Calder, were the plaintiffs against the British Columbia government.

• The Claim: The Nisga'a sought recognition of their Aboriginal title to traditional lands in the Nass Valley.

• The Ruling: While the Supreme Court's decision was split, the Nisga'a's appeal was ultimately lost on a technicality.

Significance of Colder et al. v. British Columbia

• The case was significant because the judges acknowledged Aboriginal title as a legal right under Canadian law. This led to federal policies for negotiating land claims and paved the way for modern treaties in Canada, such as the Nisga'a Treaty. 

Chinese Head Tax

• discriminatory fee imposed by the Canadian government on every Chinese person entering Canada between 1885 and 1923. This race-based legislation was designed to discourage Chinese immigration after the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR), for which thousands of Chinese laborers provided essential, dangerous work.

Chinese Exclusion Act

• racist immigration laws in both the United States (1882) and Canada (1923) that banned Chinese laborers, severely restricted Chinese immigration, and imposed harsh regulations like mandatory registration and photo ID on existing residents, preventing family reunification and hindering community growth for decades.

Direct continous passage

• a discriminatory Canadian immigration law from 1908 that required immigrants to travel directly from their native country to Canada on a through ticket.

War measures act of 1914

granted the federal government sweeping powers to ensure security, defense, peace, and welfare, allowing for the suspension of civil liberties like freedom of speech and association, censorship, and detention of "enemy aliens" (mostly people from Central Powers) without trial. This Act, used during WWI, WWII, and the 1970 October Crisis, enabled broad government control and was eventually

Japanese Internment

• Japanese internment refers to the forced relocation and incarceration of people of Japanese descent, primarily during World War II, by the U.S. and Canadian governments, driven by wartime panic and racism following the attack on Pearl Harbor, resulting in the confiscation of property, abysmal living conditions in camps, and significant human rights violations for tens of thousands of citizens and residents. 

1910 Immigration Act

• Canadian government had powers to reject “immigrant belongings to any race deemed unsuitable to the climate or requirements of Canada”

• 1917 department of immigration and colonization created a list of preferred vs non preferred 

  • Rejected: central and eastern europeans, asians, blacks, jews, pacifists, medically and morally unfit, and assisted immigrants

  • Accepted: british, americans, northern and western europeans, targeted occupations

• In 1967, point system established based on ‘merit’

• significantly expanded the government's power to control immigration, broadening "prohibited classes" to include those "unsuited to the climate or requirements of Canada," effectively targeting non-white immigrants, and allowing deportation within three years for becoming a public charge or for moral/medical issues, with restricted judicial review

1976 Immigration Act

• Four categories of immigrants

  • Visitors: here on temporary purposes (students, workers, travellers) - attempting to be reduced recently

  • Family class: can be sponsored by relative to become citizen

  • Independent class immigrants: seeking better economic opportunities and need to prove ability to improve economic growth in Canada

  • Refugees: need to establish a well founded fear of origin/persecution

• established the formal objectives of Canada's immigration policy for the first time, focusing on economic, social, and cultural benefits, family reunification, and fulfilling international refugee obligations.

2001 Immigration and Refugee Protection act

• Strengthen sponsorship obligations

• Streamlined the refugee determination process (more difficult for them)

• Encouraging family reunification

• New selection criteria to attract skilled workers

• Includes screening to identify and deal with suspected criminals and terrorist due to 9/11

Person’s Case 1929

• Alberta’s Famous Five challenged the British North American Act to establish that women are ‘persons'and eligible for appointment/ability to run for Senate

• This overturned a Supreme Court of Canada decision and advancing women's rights

• Had to go to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council in Britain who officially declared women equal to men under the law

Moore v. Canada (Treasury Board)

• a landmark Supreme Court case about adequate educational accommodation for students with disabilities, and an earlier case involving the Treasury Board (1996) regarding same-sex spousal benefits, though the user's query specifically names the Treasury Board, suggesting the latter, but the Education case is more prominent in search results for "Moore". The 2012 SCC case established that education providers must provide meaningful access to education, not just minimal services, for students with learning disabilities, requiring robust needs-based analysis before closing programs, and finding the B.C. Ministry of Education failed Jeffrey Moore by not providing sufficient remediation

Royal Commission on Chinese Immigration 1885

• First piece of Canadian legislation to exclude immigrants based on origin of ethnic background

• investigated Chinese immigration to Canada, driven by anti-Chinese sentiment in British Columbia after Chinese laborers built the Canadian Pacific Railway

Disabled Child

• They have rights to equality, inclusion, and non-discrimination under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 

Canadian Human Rights Tribunal

• an independent body that hears and decides discrimination complaints under the Canadian Human Rights Act (CHRA) and other related laws, primarily for federally regulated organizations like banks, airlines, and the federal public service

Medicare

• The universal and publicly funded healthcare system that provides all citizens and permanent resident with access to hospital and physician services

• Uses tax money and provinces/territories uses federal guidelines 

• Ensures coverage for doctor visits, surgeries, and diagnostic tests

• Excludes prescription drugs, dental care, vision, physiotherapy

Employment Equity Act

• A federal law requiring federally regulated employees (like banks, telecom, federal public services) to achieve workplace equality by removing barriers 

• This happens through correcting underrepresentation for four designated groups

  • Women

  • Indigenous peoples

  • People with disabilities

  • Racialized people (visible minorities)

• Specifically though more access to employment opportunities, promotions, and benefits

Groups of Canadians that have experienced discrimination

• women; gender based discrimination, pay gaps, underrepresentation, violence

• Indigneous Peoples; restrictive rights, access, services, policing, education - residential schools

• People with disabilities; physical, mental and learning; barriers to accessibility and equality

• Gay people; limited jobs, healthcare, housing, safety

• immigrants; - chinese immigrant workers, lower wages, dangerous jobs, head tax, exclusion acts - south Asian immigrants, Komagata Maru - Italian & Japanese immigrants, WW2, internment, housing and employment discrimination - Jewish immigrants, antisemitism, job restrictions and housing dis - black immigrants, racial profiling, employment dis, forced into low paying jobs

• Refugee groups; - jewish refugees, denied asylum during holocaust (none is too many) - Vietnamese, language barriers, poverty, employment dis (boat people) - Syrian, islamophobia, housing dis, job credential barriers - Afghan refugees, trauma-led barriers to employment and education - Ukrainian, temporary status creats job and housing insecurity

Refugees and Immigrants: Economic Discrimination, Top-down system still relevant; historically: poor immigrants are restricted to lower paying jobs; modern: homeless immigrants face barriers to healthcare, housing, and safety

How did the Canadian government try to assimilate First Peoples?

1. Gradual Civilization Act passed in 1857 and encouraged enfranchisement (giving up their Indian status for full Canadian citizenship 

• only one person agreed

• leading to cultural loss, land alienation, and undermining self-governance, puts european norms, forced women and children to enfranchise with their husbands/fathers, and sets the stage for the Indian Act (1876), stripping Indigenous people of identity and control, though few voluntarily enfranchised, showing resistance.

2. Gradual Enfranchisement Act in 1859 

• created the elective band council system

• Superintendent General of Indian Affairs had the power to decide who was of “good moral character” and deserved certain benefits 

• Established gender based restrictions to status

  • In indigenous it is matriarchal; Eurocentricity follows patriarchal

  • loss of rights, land, community, and cultural identity, disproportionately affecting women who lost status and benefits upon marrying non-Indigenous men, creating a deep divide and dismantling traditional governance and connection to reserves, and ultimately serving the government's goal of reducing financial obligations and erasing Indigenous peoples as distinct groups

3. Numbered Treaties 

• East coast has some of the first treaties established 

• establishing reserves, restricting movement, disrupting traditional lifestyles (hunting/fishing), and imposing assimilationist policies (schools), leading to cultural loss, poverty, and broken promises despite initial understandings of land-sharing or "right-of-way" agreements, not outright land sales, creating ongoing disputes over resources and governance

Significance of the Oka Crisis

• In Oka, Quebec, the town wanted to expand a golf course onto land claimed by the Mohawk community that included their sacred burial ground

• Mohawks blocked the expansion in protest

• Standoff of Canadian Army and police vs. Mohawk lasted 78 days, ending in one death

Awareness raised nationally: put Indigenous land disputes and rights in the spotlight with media coverage, protests, and public debates between Canadians that focused on the systemic neglect and broken agreements from governments

Land rights are highlighted: had been about the claim to sacred land and burial grounds, emphasizing how Indigenous People’s connection to land is central to their identity and culture - more about how the government and their policies often ignore these claims

Effects on future reconciliation: changed how Canada negotiates Indigenous land claims, encouraging reconciliation efforts, the creation of agreements, and need for government acknowledgement of Indigenous rights

Resistance symbol for Indigenous activism: Mohawks’ stand has become a symbol for Indigenous resistance, inspiring more communities to continue to fight for recognition, sovereignty, and justice

Transforming government policy: changes in federal and provincial policies by forcing attention towards land claims and prevention of more conflict 

What forms of discrimination existed and still exist in Canada

Racial/Ethnic

• Chinese Head Tax (1885-1923)

• Komagata Maru incident (1914)

• Japanese Canadian internment during WW2

• Racial profiling by police

• Employment and housing discrimination 

• Systemic racism in education and healthcare

Indigenous

• Residential Schools (1870s-1996)

• Indian restrictions (1876 onwards)

• Denial of land rights, culture, identity, and self-governance

• Lack of clean water and adequate houses in some communities

• Overrepresentation in justice system (they make up 5% of the population and account for 30% of inmates) 

Gender

• Women denied right to vote before 1918

• Exclusion from jobs and professions

• Famous Five (Albertan women) that defined women as ‘persons’

• Gender pay gap

• Underrepresentation in leadership roles

• Gender-based violence and harassmen

Disability

• Lack of access to public buildings, education, and employment

• Transportation barriers

• Workplace and healthcare barriers

• Social stigma

Economic

• No education, proper housing, social service for poor

• Unsafe working conditions and low paying

• Low income cnadaians and homeless people face barriers to affordable housing, healthcare, and employment

• Systemic issues make it harder for marginalized communities to escape poverty

Gay

• Criminalization of same-sex relations before 1969

• Exclusion from legal protection and marriage

• Transphobia and barriers to healthcare

• Bullying in schools and discrimination 

• Personal safety risk

What is being done to eliminate discrimination

Laws and Legal Protection

• Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

• Canadian Human Rights Acts

• Provincial Human Rights Codes

• Employment Equity Act

Policies and Programs

• Reconciliation with Indigenous peoples through land claim agreements, Indigenous-led governance, education programs, and Truth and Reconciliation Commission 

• Gender Equality initiatives in paying equity, leadership programs, and anti-harassment policies 

• Accessibility programs that aim to remove barriers in workplaces and services

• LGBTQUIA+ Protections in inclusion policies at schools, workplaces, and healthcare that recognize gender identity and sexual orientation in law

Education

• Anti-bullying programs in schools 

• Anti-racism programs in schools

• Public campaigning to reduce hate crimes and increase understanding of diversity 

• Workshops on cultural sensitivity and inclusion in workplaces and communities 

Advocating Community Support

• Support services for women, Indigenous Peoples, refugees, and people with disabilities

• Non profit organizations (BLM Canada, Eagle Canada for LGBTQIA+, Canadian Council for Refugees)

Monitoring and Reporting

• Investigation of complaints in discrimination

• Statistics Canada tracks inequalities and systemic discrimination to inform policy

• Government reports on progress in equity, diversity, and inclusion initiatives