Archive for the ‘Equality History’ Category
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Monday, April 4th, 2011
Mar 25, 2011
Trudeau left his lasting mark following the Referendum by pushing through, by sheer determination, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms… Approval of it has remained consistent at the 90% level over the last two decades… In that vision, individual Canadians possess defined rights, and no province or region has a special status. In this bilingual, pluralist Canada, it would not all turn on Newfoundland’s cod, Alberta’s oil, or, most decisively, Quebec’s language. We would be masters in our house, but our own house would be all of Canada.
Tags: ideology, multiculturalism, rights
Posted in Equality History | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, March 8th, 2011
Mar 08 2011
The struggle for women’s political and economic rights was big news in Old Toronto, 100 years ago. British suffragist Emmeline Pankhurst and her daughter Sylvia were drawing sizable crowds… editors at the Toronto Daily Star devoted much of the front page to eldest daughter Christabel Pankhurst’s stunning declaration in London that the suffragists had embarked on a “real war” to claim women’s rights.
Tags: ideology, participation, rights, standard of living, women
Posted in Equality History | 3 Comments »
Thursday, February 3rd, 2011
February 1, 2011
Smith lived in an age of personal responsibility. Poor relief was a local, personal affair, as was the “beneficence” that Smith praised as the highest virtue. “Beneficence,” wrote Smith, “is always free, it cannot be extorted by force.” Forced redistribution would have offended Smith’s notion of justice, and he would instantly have spotted that “social justice” is a weasel concept that reverses the notion of justice entirely… Smith would have thought it ridiculous to suggest that a nation might become wealthier or happier by forced “redistribution”.
Tags: economy, ideology, poverty, standard of living, tax
Posted in Equality History | No Comments »
Monday, January 17th, 2011
Jan. 17, 2011
In the 1930s, outrage at the pre-Depression extravagance of the rich, contrasting with the dislocation experienced by masses of Americans, sparked a decade of left-leaning foment. Government expanded income security, directly hired millions of unemployed, and actively supported a new generation of unions to fight for the common folk. Meantime, it reined in business excess through tough financial rules, anti-trust policies, and high taxes on the rich. This time around, there’s been plenty of populist anger – but (so far) it’s been steered in exactly the opposite direction
Tags: economy, globalization, ideology, standard of living, tax
Posted in Equality History | No Comments »
Saturday, October 16th, 2010
Oct 16 2010
For four decades after the war Canadians joined with citizens in other North Atlantic democracies in creating the most productive and equitable societies in history… For both ethical reasons and the functional need for stability, an expanding role for government and increasing equality came to be taken for granted. Left behind was the belief that individuals and the economy should be left to fend for themselves. In its place was… an idea retrieved from ancient Greece, that democracy meant more than the right set of procedures for selecting and maintaining governments. It also meant government action for the people.
Tags: featured, ideology, participation, poverty, rights, standard of living, tax
Posted in Equality History, Equality Policy Context | No Comments »
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
Aug 10 2010
“I was struck,” Pierre Trudeau said, “by his vigorous defence of human rights and individual liberties. The Bill of Rights remains a monument to him.” August 10 is the 50th anniversary of the proclamation of the Canadian Bill of Rights. Had this lifelong dream of Diefenbaker’s not become a reality, one could argue that Trudeau’s own Charter of Rights might not have come into being… “I believe the time has come for a declaration of liberties to be made by this Parliament,” he thundered in the Commons in 1946.
Tags: rights
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Sunday, July 18th, 2010
Jul 16 2010
In Canada, the Americans With Disabilities Act helped spark the Accessibility for Ontarians With Disabilities Act —this is still the only province with specific legislation — and continues to be “a model for many other countries,” says Penny Hartin, CEO of the World Blind Union. The union, whose headquarters are in Toronto, has members in 190 countries… Roberts’s campaign to live independently, with paid attendants, began California’s groundbreaking policy of supportive services for people with disabilities.
Tags: disabilities, rights, standard of living
Posted in Equality History | 1 Comment »
Sunday, April 25th, 2010
Apr. 25, 2010
In a match that pits a modern-day human-rights crusader against a historical women’s-rights pioneer, a prominent Winnipeg lawyer is questioning whether Nellie McClung should be venerated on the grounds where she first fought for her right to vote nearly a century ago… While Mr. Matas doesn’t deny Ms. McClung’s influential role in gaining the vote for Canadian women, he does take umbrage at her prominent support of the eugenics movement… By the mid-1930s, it had formed the intellectual basis for the forced sterilization of mental-health patients…
Tags: disabilities, participation, rights
Posted in Equality History | No Comments »
Monday, October 19th, 2009
TheStar.com – news/gta – CANADIAN CITIZENSHIP: A HISTORY
Published On Mon Oct 19 2009
Before 1915 — People in Canada from the U.K. and Commonwealth countries were British subjects. Others had to live here for five years and be of “good character” to be naturalized.
1921 — A separate status of “Canadian national” was created under the Canadian Nationals Act.
1946 — Canada passed the Canadian Citizenship Act and became the first Commonwealth country to establish its own nationality.
Posted in Equality History, Inclusion History | No Comments »
Saturday, June 27th, 2009
TheGlobeandMail.com – Opinions – Indians and the just society: Forty years after Jean Chrétien’s ‘white paper,’ we still struggle to reconcile the Canadian square and the aboriginal circle
Jun. 27, 2009. William Johnson
A bombshell. No, a mega-magnitude earthquake. The tectonic plates underlying Canada collided against each other. To this day, the aftershocks continue their eruptions.
Posted in Equality History, Inclusion History | No Comments »
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