In recent years, the enforcement of Canadian human rights statutes has been the subject of much criticism. That criticism comes not only from organizations that are required to change their practices to comply with the statutes, but from advocates who question the effectiveness of human rights enforcement. Studies which attempt to address these criticisms generally review the criticisms and then seek to modify the enforcement models to ameliorate the problems which have generated the criticism. This thesis considers the problem from a more theoretical perspective. With a focus on disability, this thesis considers whether Canadian anti-discrimination statutes, which were created when the prevailing theory of equality was a formal one, are capable of achieving substantive equality as it is now conceived. Applying a disability rights perspective, substantive equality for people with disabilities requires that a wide and complex variety of barriers be removed. These barriers may result from intended or unintended discrimination. They may be physical or attitudinal. They may be isolated, individual acts or they may reflect widespread societal norms. To eliminate such an array of barriers, anti-discrimination statutes must include a range of powers and procedures: they must incorporate provisions that protect people with disabilities from such barriers; they must provide mechanisms to identify the barriers; there must be mechanisms to determine whether the barriers contravene the protected right; and the statutes must provide effective remedies. This thesis concludes that contemporary human rights enforcement models are capable of effectively addressing many individual barriers to equality for people with disabilities. However, under a complaint-based model, human rights agencies cannot effectively address barriers that result from the operation of widespread norms. Canadian human rights agencies are therefore limited in their ability to achieve the societal transformation that is necessary to achieve substantive equality for people with disabilities. For such equality to be realized, anti-discrimination statutes must be seen as just one facet of a much broader approach. / Law, Peter A. Allard School of / Graduate

No description available.

Canada has actively incorporated human security into its foreign policy framework ever since the first articulation of human security in the 1994 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Annual Report. The Canadian Government has been at the forefront of promoting the concept internationally, thereby identifying Canada as one of the leading 'humanist-activist' states. This thesis, however, takes a more skeptical approach towards the emancipatory claims of Canada's human security discourse. It argues that, despite its overarching humanistic tone, the question of who is secured through the language and operationalization of human security remains problematic. In examining Canada's human security discourse in reference to this central question, this thesis analyses the promotion and operationalization of human security within Canada and abroad. The central argument of this thesis is that with its overwhelmingly statist and liberal language, Canada's interpretation of human security is far from being a challenge to the traditional ontological claims of security as being the provider of political order. The Canadian human security agenda is driven by a traditional fear of national insecurity. It aims to secure national unity and identity in Canada, and its national and economic security abroad, by promoting the ideals of liberal democratic peace. Drawing upon the insights of critical security studies and post-structuralist approaches to international relations, this thesis reveals several meaning-producing effects of Canada's human security discourse. First, domestically, it perpetuates the truth claims of the discourse of Canadian identity by naturalizing the idea of Canadian goodness. Canada's human security discourse enhances the social control of the population by masking 'human insecurities' within Canada. Second, by framing 'failed' and 'fragile' states as a threat to Canadian security and liberal international order, the Canadian Government perpetuates the constant struggle between the zones of peace and the zones of chaos, and overcodes human security with simultaneously a statist and universalist language that aims to control as well as emancipate the 'borderlands' Third, while Canadian discourse on human security claims to encourage a bottom-up approach to security, it works ironically as an elitist policy which endorses an ideal form of governance in Canada and abroad.

This study explores the political impact of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms on the Supreme Court of Canada. This influence is contrasted with the judiciary's historic reluctance to recognize civil liberties, commencing with the position taken by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council and the cautious reaction of the Supreme Court to the Diefenbaker Bill of Rights. / The treatment of civil liberties under the Charter is considered through a survey of some of the Charter cases addressed by the Supreme Court of Canada. The political consequences of the Court's decisions are examined. Alternative possibilities for the Court's role in Canadian society are considered, including the prospects for entrenchment under the Meech Lake Accord and other recently proposed reforms. / The criticism that too much power is being vested in the "least democratic branch" is addressed and the suggestion that the Charter should be located in the "communitarian tradition of Canadian politics" is appraised. This study reflects upon the theoretical assumptions which underlie the existence of the Charter, as it evaluates the political theory behind differing conceptions of judicial interpretation. This thesis concludes by determining that the Supreme Court has made a positive political contribution to Canadian society.

No description available.

This thesis is concerned with those 'social' rights that relate to the provision of the basic necessities of life; that is the right to an adequate standard of living (including food, clothing and shelter), the right to health and the right to education. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights (ICESCR) recognises obligations pertaining to the progressive realisation of these rights, whilst leaving the method of implementation within domestic discretion. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms only accords domestic constitutional protection to civil rights, leaving the implementation of these social rights within government discretion. This study will examine what has, in the Canadian experience, proven to be the practical consequences of adopting such a policy of 'selective constitutionalisation,' that puts social rights by definition outside the ambit of legal enforcement. Firstly, it will examine the court's approach to cases that have, in the absence of constitutionalised social rights, attempted to indirectly invoke social rights by encouraging a positive social interpretation of the right to equality and the right to life, liberty and security of the person, and will illustrate that the courts have failed to interpret these rights so as to indirectly protect social rights. Secondly, it will consider the relationship between legal, political and social discourse, illustrating that, in light of the non- constitutionalised status of social rights, the values underlying these rights have been marginalised in political and social discourse, facilitating reforms that have restructured and eroded the welfare state, reducing the realisation of social rights within Canada. Thirdly, it will consider the practicability of adopting the alternative approach of according equal constitutional protection and justiciable status to social rights, through an examination of the theoretical literature and the approach taken to social rights under the Final Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996. It will illustrate that the philosophical arguments that have been utilised to support the nonconstitutionalised status of social rights are no longer sustainable and that the constitutional experience of South Africa provides evidence that a practical alternative to the position adopted in Canada exists.

My dissertation focuses on the rise and spread of Aboriginal mobilization in Canada between 1951 and 2000. Using social movement and social-political theories, it questions the relationship between contentious actions and formal organizational growth comparing among social movement and political sociological perspectives. In most accounts, contentious action is assumed to be influenced by organization, political opportunity and identity. Few scholars, however, have examined the reverse relationships, namely the effect of contentious action on each of these. Drawing upon time-series data and qualitative interviews with Aboriginal leaders and representatives of organizations, I found that critical events surrounding moments of federal state building prompted contentious action, which then sparked mobilization among Aboriginal communities. I argue that three events: the 1969 White paper, the 1982 patriation of the Constitution, and the 1990 'Indian Summer' led to mass mobilization and the semblance of an emerging PanAboriginal identity. This finding returns to older collective behaviour perspectives, which note that organizations, opportunities, and identities are driven by triggering actions and shared experiences that produce emerging norms. Nevertheless, in the case of Canadian Aboriginal mobilization, unlike that of Indigenous movements in other countries, building a movement on triggering actions led to mass mobilization but was not sustainable because of a saturation of efficacy. As a result, Aboriginal mobilization in Canada has been characterized by divergent interests and unsustained contention.

Canada has actively incorporated human security into its foreign policy framework ever since the first articulation of human security in the 1994 United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Annual Report. The Canadian Government has been at the forefront of promoting the concept internationally, thereby identifying Canada as one of the leading 'humanist-activist' states. This thesis, however, takes a more skeptical approach towards the emancipatory claims of Canada's human security discourse. It argues that, despite its overarching humanistic tone, the question of who is secured through the language and operationalization of human security remains problematic. In examining Canada's human security discourse in reference to this central question, this thesis analyses the promotion and operationalization of human security within Canada and abroad. The central argument of this thesis is that with its overwhelmingly statist and liberal language, Canada's interpretation of human security is far from being a challenge to the traditional ontological claims of security as being the provider of political order. The Canadian human security agenda is driven by a traditional fear of national insecurity. It aims to secure national unity and identity in Canada, and its national and economic security abroad, by promoting the ideals of liberal democratic peace. Drawing upon the insights of critical security studies and post-structuralist approaches to international relations, this thesis reveals several meaning-producing effects of Canada's human security discourse. First, domestically, it perpetuates the truth claims of the discourse of Canadian identity by naturalizing the idea of Canadian goodness. Canada's human security discourse enhances the social control of the population by masking 'human insecurities' within Canada. Second, by framing 'failed' and 'fragile' states as a threat to Canadian security and liberal international order, the Canadian Government perpetuates the constant struggle between the zones of peace and the zones of chaos, and overcodes human security with simultaneously a statist and universalist language that aims to control as well as emancipate the 'borderlands' Third, while Canadian discourse on human security claims to encourage a bottom-up approach to security, it works ironically as an elitist policy which endorses an ideal form of governance in Canada and abroad.

This thesis is concerned with those 'social' rights that relate to the provision of the basic necessities of life; that is the right to an adequate standard of living (including food, clothing and shelter), the right to health and the right to education. The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights (ICESCR) recognises obligations pertaining to the progressive realisation of these rights, whilst leaving the method of implementation within domestic discretion. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms only accords domestic constitutional protection to civil rights, leaving the implementation of these social rights within government discretion. This study will examine what has, in the Canadian experience, proven to be the practical consequences of adopting such a policy of 'selective constitutionalisation,' that puts social rights by definition outside the ambit of legal enforcement. Firstly, it will examine the court's approach to cases that have, in the absence of constitutionalised social rights, attempted to indirectly invoke social rights by encouraging a positive social interpretation of the right to equality and the right to life, liberty and security of the person, and will illustrate that the courts have failed to interpret these rights so as to indirectly protect social rights. Secondly, it will consider the relationship between legal, political and social discourse, illustrating that, in light of the non- constitutionalised status of social rights, the values underlying these rights have been marginalised in political and social discourse, facilitating reforms that have restructured and eroded the welfare state, reducing the realisation of social rights within Canada. Thirdly, it will consider the practicability of adopting the alternative approach of according equal constitutional protection and justiciable status to social rights, through an examination of the theoretical literature and the approach taken to social rights under the Final Constitution of the Republic of South Africa 1996. It will illustrate that the philosophical arguments that have been utilised to support the nonconstitutionalised status of social rights are no longer sustainable and that the constitutional experience of South Africa provides evidence that a practical alternative to the position adopted in Canada exists. / Law, Peter A. Allard School of / Graduate

No description available.