Human right Abuses Assignment PDF

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HUMAN RIGHT ABUSES IN CANADA
Human right abuses in Canada
Name of the student
University name
Author’s note

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Table of Contents
Proposal......................................................................................................................................2
A thesis statement......................................................................................................................3
Discussion on human rights abuses in Canada..........................................................................4
Different approaches taken to address the human right abuses by Canada...............................6
Annotated bibliography..............................................................................................................7
References................................................................................................................................10

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Proposal
The current study focuses upon the aspect of human right abuses in Canada and the
different approaches which had been taken in order to address the issue. Canada has a global
reputation as a defender of human rights, which are guaranteed by the Canadian charter of
rights and freedom. However, the government faces major issues in the dissemination of
equal human rights and privileges to the citizens of Canada. Some of serious human rights
issues which have emerged during the current decade are placement of children in
immigration detention and use of prolonged solitary confinement. There has been a gradual
increase in the crime against women and young girls of the indigenous population. The
reports of abuses from the mining industries have also gained importance. Increased security
concerns from the Canadian government have further deteriorated the living standards of the
refugees. There is inadequate attention to housing, water, sanitation, healthcare, education
and job prospects of the indigenous community living in the remote area. The water bodies in
the local and remote areas have been contaminated though mercury poisoning which has
resulted in poor health status of the residents. Although, the Ontario government pledged that
$85 million will be spent towards cleaning the rivers, they are lagging behind the targets
considerably (Sikkink & Lutz, 2017). Indigenous women constitute 16 percent of the total
female homicides in the country and 11.3 percent of missing women. The policing failure has
been contributed to making the indigenous women more susceptible to violence.
Therefore, from the above analysis it could be ascertained that the Canadian
government had failed to restructure the human rights considerably as the indigenous
population as well as the immigrants have to still suffer from deprivation of the basic
privileges. On the other hand, it could also be stated that the long propagated communal

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sentiments by the colonial government had reinforced the aspect of racial discrimination
within the community.
A thesis statement
For the current study, we have taken two counter views into consideration. One of the
views says that the Canadian government has failed to restructure the human rights, which
could meet with changing requirements the people. This has been further argued by a view
which states that it is the long settled racial sentiments of the people which had prevented the
equitable social inclusion and upliftment of the ethnic minority communities. This could be
further explained with the help of two such acts which are the exclusion act and the
residential schools act.
The exclusion act had been passed out in the year 1882 which prohibited the
immigration of Chinese laborers in the country. This could be referred back to the 1848 gold
rush event which brought a huge number of Chinese laborers to US. However, as the surface
gold became hard to find along with increased social tension between the different
indigenous and refugee communities the Chinese laborers were thrown out. However, during
the refugee movement many travelers along with their filial generations were still trapped in
the United States of America. The families of the immigrants who were trapped in the United
States for later generations had to suffer from racial discriminations and insufficient access to
basic social services. As mentioned by Hennebry, McLaughlin & Preibisch (2016), for years
the discriminatory attitudes have been prevalent within the population of the united states and
the Canadian territory, which are seen to be reflected in the dissemination of the some of the
basic social services such as health, education ,employment.
Thesis statement: Racial discriminatory attitude prevalent within the Canadian population
results in unequal distribution of human rights and social services

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The thesis statement could be further mused in the development of appropriate research
questions such as –
 How inadequate social reforms by the Canadian government have lead to deprivations
of basic right to the ethnic and minority communities?
 How racial discriminatory approaches do affect the lifestyle and social progress of
the ethnic and minority communities settled in Canada?
Discussion on human rights abuses in Canada
Inadequate social reforms
The discussion of the human right abuses in Canada could be grouped into a number
of categories such as violence against indigenous girls and women, rights of indigenous
people, immigration detention of children, gaps in the availability of palliative care, gaps
within the foreign policies. Report and studies has mentioned that the Canadian government
has failed to meet to the human rights of the indigenous women by failing to investigate the
high levels of violence suffered by them (Sikkink & Lutz, 2017). The gaps in the legal
services further deteriorated the conditions of women in the society. The police forces have
inadvertently neglected the murders and disappearances of the indigenous community groups.
The unequal distribution of human rights results in the indigenous group suffering from
sufficient access to clean drinking water. In the rural areas there have been reports of water
contamination owing to mercury deposition. This had further resulted in the development of
gastrointestinal disorders within the patient along with possessing increased risk of cancers.
As mentioned by Freeman (2017), the government has disseminated huge amount of funds
for management of waste water in the Canadian economy. However, little results have been
obtained till date.

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Further research has highlighted the children in Canadian immigration facilities are
held in medium security prisons where they are provided with insufficient educational and
recreational opportunities (Heifer, 2017).Though, there is availability of primary care
facilities little progress has been made with regards to the provision of mental healthcare
services. The Canadian child protection agency is a responsible for e providing support carte
to the children who has their parents held in detention. There have been large-scale incidents
of abuses in Canada based mining industries. As suggested by Lupu (2015), the legal
framework has been relatively loose in handling and management of the offences suffered by
the employees of the Canadian firms spread across the world. However, as argued by
Hennebry, McLaughlin & Preibisch (2016), the government has failed to excise monopoly
over some of its country wide forms which are guided by the rules and regulations of the
local land. In the year 2016, Canada government has come out with legislations for
providing support and care to the older population to address the concerns of the grievous and
irremediable. As supported by social exclusion and reduced sense of responsibilities towards
the indigenous adults can further deteriorate their social and health conditions.
Racial discriminations
In this respect, some of the social issues leading to deprivation and racisms within
the indigenous people are the exclusion act and the residential schools act. Both the acts help
in comparing the old world with the contemporary world. The exclusion act is an imprint of
the colonial form of government whereas the residential schools could be referred to as the
cultural genocide of the (Heifer, 2017). As mentioned by Sheppard (2017), the governments
brutal residential school system was bent upon removing the last specks of any other
nationality form the children and make them invigorately adopt the Canadian culture. As
argued by Hannum (2016), the move could also been seen as brining mire and more people

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within the national mainstream. However, nothing could be more torturous than separating
the children from their parents at a young stage
Different approaches taken to address the human right abuses by Canada
A number of different approaches had been implemented by the government if
Canada to address and reduce the inequalities in human rights within certain sections of the
Canadian society. The Canadian government has recently put much emphasis s upon the
implementation of the Responsibility to protect. As per the new rule stated in the light of
expansion of the human rights the attribute of responsibility to protect be replaced by
humanitarian intervention. As mentioned by Hannum (2016), a humanitarian approach could
provide sufficient freedom to the victims to express themselves in front of the society as well
as demand for equal lining rights. As argue by Slade et al. (2014), the international
community’s approaches were limited by diplomatic approaches.
Additionally, some of the issues which had been highlighted recently is the provision
of low wages to some of the women workers, marginalized, indigenous group of population.
The pay gaps have further affected the labor market spectrum, which further creates and
intensifies the social imbalance. As mentioned by Cornish (2012), ending up of the pay gap
is a basic human right which needs to be offered to the Canadian indigenous group. Federal
laws such as the employment equity act were implemented in this regard, which was aimed at
bridging the gap and improve the conditions of the marginalized within the society.
However, as argued by Cole (2015) a number of challenges had been identified,
which hindered the efficient implementation and practice of human rights within the
Canadian continent. Some of these were suppression of topics during the public polls such as
disability, sexual orientation etc. Some of the issues such as abortion were failed to be
recognized as the rights of the women. It would only be considered in case the child was

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deformed, or else the mother of the child was not in the best of physical and mental health.
As mentioned by MacLean (2016), these discussions were brought to the mainstream to give
the marginalized women a voice. However as argued by Matsuda (2018), none of the
indulged discussions were ever made into legal rights. The Canadian newspaper discusses
sufficiently regarding the aspect of same sex marriage or whether or not that should be
legalized. However, as argued by Clément, Silver & Trottier (2012), it fails to discuss upon
housing as a basic human right. As a suggested by Kivel (2017), though there are a number of
non-governmental organizations working at the central level highlighting the importance in
providing equal rights and benefits to the disabled citizens. However, some of these basic
ethics and values are often failed to be implemented in the day to day practice.
As argued by MacLean (2016), the interests of larger good have been conflicting with
the common good. In the face of increasing terrorism across the globe the countries are
tightening their security policies which restrict the immigration of people within the mainland
of nations. As supported by Kivel (2017), the policies made owing to the global war of terror
have been further seen to limit the rights of the marginalized sections of the society who have
been inhering an immigrant mainland for long time.
Annotated bibliography
Article 1: Hannum, H. (2016). Reinvigorating Human Rights for the Twenty-First
Century. Human Rights Law Review, 16(3), 409-451.
The article calls for reinforcing the human rights as international human rights law
and thus maintains a difference between law and morality. The article has been written has
been reviewed upon policies implemented by the commission and the effect of these policies
on the society as a whole. The article has been broken down into various components of the
human laws which have been discussed with respect the large scale society.

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The article offers sufficient evidences in the form of the social challenges which are
faced before the implementations of a policy. Some of these are resistance from the coalition
government.
Article 2: Cornish, M. F. (2012). A living wage as a human right. Canadian Centre for
Policy Alternatives, Ontario Office.
The book evaluates the basis of discrimination within the Canadian society. It focuses
upon realized, marginalized, segregated and ethnic minority group. The book helps in
evaluating the different policies and programs which have been compared with respect to
their usefulness or gaps.
The article correctly relates the socio-cultural aspects of Canada with the economic
disparity. However it fails to discuss the extent of the success rate of any policy or context
which has been seen to benefit the aspect of marginalization within the community.
Article 3:Clément, D., Silver, W. A., & Trottier, D. (2012). The Evolution of Human
Rights in Canada. Canadian Human Rights Commission.
The book discusses the context of evolution of Canada’s human rights over time. It
brings into light the different scenarios over time along with the changing political situations
which affects the prospects of implementation of the human rights. It also highlights their
various challenges, which are faced in the implementation of the human rights.
These have been further explained on the basis of the process gaps as well the innate
mentality of people which challenges the optimum implementation of the human rights.

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References
Clément, D., Silver, W. A., & Trottier, D. (2012). The Evolution of Human Rights in Canada.
Canadian Human Rights Commission, 78-125.
Cole, W. M. (2015). Mind the gap: State capacity and the implementation of human rights
treaties. International Organization, 69(2), 405-441.
Cornish, M. F. (2012). A living wage as a human right. Canadian Centre for Policy
Alternatives, Ontario Office, 55-89.
Freeman, M. (2017). Human rights. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, 656-718.
Hannum, H. (2016). Reinvigorating Human Rights for the Twenty-First Century. Human
Rights Law Review, 16(3), 409-451.
Heifer, L. R. (2017). Overlegalizing Human Rights: International Relations Theory and the
Commonwealth Caribbean Backlash Against Human Rights Regimes.
In International Law and Society (pp. 125-204). Abingdon: Routledge.
Hennebry, J., McLaughlin, J., & Preibisch, K. (2016). Out of the loop:(In) access to health
care for migrant workers in Canada. Journal of International Migration and
Integration, 17(2), 521-538.
Kivel, P. (2017). Uprooting Racism-: How White People Can Work for Racial Justice.
London: New Society Publishers, 271-318.
Lupu, Y. (2015). Legislative veto players and the effects of international human rights
agreements. American Journal of Political Science, 59(3), 578-594.

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MacLean, G. A. (2016). Human security in the national interest? Canada, POGG and the
‘New’Multilateralism. In A Decade of Human Security (pp. 79-88). Abingdon:
Routledge.
Matsuda, M. J. (2018). Public response to racist speech: Considering the victim’s story.
In Words that wound (pp. 17-51). Abingdon: Routledge.
Osler, A. (2015). Human rights education, postcolonial scholarship, and action for social
justice. Theory & Research in Social Education, 43(2), 244-274.
Ramasastry, A. (2015). Corporate social responsibility versus business and human rights:
Bridging the gap between responsibility and accountability. Journal of Human
Rights, 14(2), 237-259.
Sheppard, C. (2017). Challenging systemic racism in Canada. In Race and Inequality (pp. 57-
76). Abingdon: Routledge.
Sikkink, K., & Lutz, E. (2017). The justice cascade: the evolution and impact of foreign
human rights trials in Latin America. In International Law and Society (pp. 319-351).
Abingdon: Routledge.
Slade, M., Amering, M., Farkas, M., Hamilton, B., O'Hagan, M., Panther, G., ... & Whitley,
R. (2014). Uses and abuses of recovery: implementing recovery‐oriented practices in
mental health systems. World Psychiatry, 13(1), 12-20.
Stephens, B. (2017). The amorality of profit: transnational corporations and human rights.
In Human rights and corporations (pp. 21-66). Abingdon: Routledge.

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