Rights Revolution In Canada

In common law, judges interpret the law and judge apply it based on precedent from previous cases; compared to civil law which focuses on written legislature. In Canada, judges are given the chance to be activists. If a judge believes a citizen’s rights, under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, are being violated, they are given the power to rule against the unconstitutional law made by the elected branches of government; this concept is referred to as judicial activism (Hausegger, Hennigar, & Riddell, 2015, p. 123). Judicial activism ensures the individual rights of each person are upheld, but the concept is controversial. Judicial activism is problematic because it awards an authoritarian level of power to unelected judges, which goes against Canada’s democratic ideology where elected officials decide and vote on the laws (Cameron, 2009, p. 27). I argue that judicial activism should not be a part of Canada’s judicial process because it gives too much power to the courts and disrupts the democratic process of

The first reason that shows that Canada has become a “just society” is the changes to women’s legal rights. Since the 1970s, many women have stepped up to the work of politics. Several instances include Kim Campbell, the first woman to become the prime minister of Canada,1 Kathleen Wynne, the first premier of Canada to be lesbian,2 Beverley McLachlin, the “first female chief of justice of the Supreme Court of Canada,”3 and Catherine Callbeck, the second female provincial premiere and first woman to win

Today, Canada is known around the world as a cultural mosaic. As a nation it welcomes people of both sexes with all different beliefs, cultures, and religions. Creating a mature nation would require promoting equality of opportunity to all and giving help to those who were disadvantaged. However, Canada has not always been a welcoming and mature nation. In the past, women were not allowed to vote alongside men or run for political positions, due to the fact that they were not considered “persons”. As well, Aboriginal children were stipped from their homes, families, and identities so that they could assimilate all First Nations people. During the last century, women have gained more political rights, gained more respect from society, and

In recent years, there has been an increase in same-sex couples applying to adopt children at both infancy and from the foster care system. Although society’s perception of a family normally consists of a mother and father, the times are changing. According to the United States 2000 Census, this societal perception of a normal family, referred to as the “nuclear family”, only represents less than 24%, of households in the U.S. The notion of the “nuclear family” is ever changing in today’s society, and with this change must come a more open view of who can adopt children. It is clear that there are several issues regarding gay and

The preservation of human rights are the building blocks within society and provide a clear image of the emphasis on equality. Unfortunately, there are numerous times where it is evident there was little regard for human rights. For example, the immense slavery of African-Americans within the United States and residential schools for Aboriginals in Canada, are instances of a disregard for human rights. Another major example of human rights issues within Canadian history and in current day, is the treatment of female offenders. Prisoners overall have been subsequent victims of human rights violations, as society tends to disregard or dehumanize them due to their criminal status. However, this is exemplified for female offenders as even before

Marriage has always been, and remains, one of Canada's most important social structures. Yet more and more marriages are ending in divorce. Canada's divorce rate is currently about fifty percent. Half of all children will witness the break up of their parents' marriage. Of these children, another half will witness the break up of a parents' second marriage, as well. (Furstenberg, Nord).

Every single child deserve the chance to be part of a caring, nurturing family. Whether the family has a single mother, single father, or two parents. There are many opportunities for individuals to become the legal guardian (or guardians) of a child. Those opportunities, however, are not as easily accessed for gay and lesbian prospective parents as they are for straight people, and many times, these opportunities are completely prohibited by state laws. Recently, there has been a major boost in the amount of gay and lesbian couples hoping to adopt children in the United States. Ironically enough, there is also a critical shortage in the overall number of foster and adoptive parents. In order to solve the problem faced by thousands of children who are struggling without the guidance and love of a family, adoption laws must be more feasible, especially for homosexuals who are willing and capable parents. While it is obviously quite important for adoption requirements to be strict and specific, custody of these children should not be denied to someone who is capable simply due to their sexual orientation. This is for many reasons including that it is discriminatory, sexual preference does not affect one’s parenting ability, many gay and lesbian people foster wonderful parenting abilities from experience, and that there are thousands of children in need of adoption.

In Canadian society, it is viewed socially ideal to have a strong and healthy relationship with one's family. There are a number of factors that are taken into account for a family to be able to coexist peacefully and efficiently with one another, such as: importance of legal marriage between parents, blended family living, and same sex marriage.

Investigations done by Webb & Chonody (2012) cover a range of issues in their article that explore considerable legal discrimination that presents influential predictors of attitudes in the laws on artificial fertilization procedures, surrogacy, assisted reproduction, adoption and foster care research indicates that parenting practices in same-sex headed families are at least as favorable as those families in heterosexual headed families and have positive family experiences (Webb & Chonody, 2012). Webb and Chonody (2012) further point out that whilst the law does not recognize legal parentage of non-biological parenting, it has not stopped the formation of families. The review notes that the lack of recognition of formal structures however

Homosexual and Transsexual marriage has emerged a wedge in the partisan gap. On June 26th, 2015, the Supreme Court ruled gay marriage in all fifty states. As the laws have emerged, the rights of Gay and Lesbian parents have not advanced as rapidly. In jurisdictions where gay couples are not permitted to adopt, couples often decide one parent adopt or one parent conceives the child. The second parent then adopts the child by what is called second parent adoption. If the second parent doesn’t or cannot legal adopt the child they have no legal relationship with that child. This poses a problem if the child has fallen ill and needs a parent to make important life decisions or more commonly in break ups or divorce. If a separation occurs, it brings up other family court cases such as child custody and child support. If the parent has no legal relationship to the child, they in turn do not have any rights to child

Cesar Chavez, an American civil rights activist and labor organizer, once stated that the “[p]reservation of one 's own culture does not require contempt or disrespect for other cultures” (University of Florida, n.d., para. 14). This oft-quoted aphorism is particularly relevant in Canada, a multicultural country where certain cultural practices — such as polygamy — are proscribed. In opposing polygamy, critics argue that the cultural practice is incongruent with Canadian values, perpetuates gender inequality, and is inherently harmful to women and children (Reference re: section 293 of the Criminal Code of Canada, 2011). On the other hand, proponents of polygamy contend that prohibition infringes on their Charters of Rights and Freedoms, specifically section 2(a) or freedom of religion (Bala, Duvall-Antonacopoulos, MacRae, & Paetsch, 2005). In light of the foregoing, this paper will evaluate the polygamy legislation in Canada for consistency (or lack thereof) with the Constitution.

Continuing with love and nurturing, advocates can see that children of gay or lesbian couples actually grow up with the ability to be more psychologically empowered. They express their emotions more in comparison to other children. These increases in emotions are cause from the family time that same-sex couples present. In addition, they have a tendency to show their children the same if not more affection than heterosexual. The reason for more affection is in relation to the procedure the parents went through to adopt the child. The adoption processes for homosexuals are so hard that some move to different states just to get their case taking for consideration. Some adoption agency do not accept homosexual application, one in particular is Florida. Where as others will take the application and discard them as soon as the applicant leaves. Even after the applicant is accepted, they still face discrimination from people around them. The hardship these people face is incredible. The one role they ask for is to raise a child, and feel the joy that some unworthy mothers would consider a pain, the pleasure to have known a person is depended on them for devotion and attachment.

28 European countries underwent a study to determine their personal opinion of whether or not, homosexual couples should have or not have the right to adopt children? Homosexual couples includes lesbian women, gay men and their families. Northern countries were more realistic with the concept of homosexual adoption because their countries have established a normative legal systems in which same-sex couples do not have to hide. Research from Herek (2002) and others have indicated the root towards the rejection of these families. For instance, countries that hold traditional perspective are less inclined to be acceptable to support same-sex relationship and less with same-sex adoption. These beliefs encounter roles women and man should play in society and by accepting same-sex relationship, one may go against the traditional societal view of man and woman. Motivations that enable same-sex couples to want to adopt children would be the fact that they cannot bear on their own, “and the idea of not having children could influence attitudes toward adoption” (Takacs, p 1797, 2016). This study gives us an idea of the general international perspective of same-sex adoption and what influences lead them to think this

The laws in the United States regulating adoption policies are not clear, and when it comes to homosexual couples adopting children, the laws are even more complicated. A Washington Post poll conducted in March of 2013 found that 70 percent of adults under age 40 support gay marriage. Even though thirteen states in 2013 have legalized it, and the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that gay married couples cannot be denied federal benefits, gay couples trying to adopt children learn that both legal and cultural obstacles still occur. As legislatures and courts expand the legal definition of the American family, same-sex couples are beginning to feel more pressure. Many gay couples had accepted that they would never be accepted by society as loving parents and assumed they would never have children (Johnson 1).

Since the late 1700’s there has been a great amount of progress in relation to women’s rights. Throughout this paper I will acknowledge the success and challenges that Canada as a country faces when trying to meet its obligation to women. The article chosen is article three “States Parties shall take in all fields, in particular in the political, social, economic and cultural fields, all appropriate measures, including legislation, to en sure the full development and advancement of women , for the purpose of guaranteeing them the exercise and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms on a basis of equality with men”. This article is from the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW, 1979).