This article provides an insightful analysis of Canada’s commitment to human rights as articulated in international human rights covenants. It identifies a period in Canadian history, the 1960s and 1970s, when human rights influenced the development of social policy and programs that respected the dignity of all Canadians and met the necessities of life. The article goes on to confirm the assault of neo-liberalism on the interpretation given to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms where civil and social rights were not weighed with equal value. It highlights the fact that the courts have systematically not addressed the effects of poverty on the life, health, and security of individuals. It concludes that, unlike other democratic countries, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms has yet to be interpreted to protect the social rights of Canadians. – Joey Edwardh
“Rights must be subject to adjudication and effective remedies to achieve the status of rights in our decision-making structures. That does not mean that courts or human rights tribunals make all the decisions. Rather, they clarify what rights mean and what obligations flow from them, and ensure that the evolving meaning of rights is infused into decision-making. We have seen this process occur in some areas of equality rights in Canada, particularly around LGBT rights. It only takes a few cases to be considered by human rights tribunals and courts to establish a human right as one which must inform a myriad of policies and decisions. Poverty, homelessness and hunger have always been, at the same time, social policy challenges and human rights violations. It is not one or the other. Human rights rely on social programs to be realized and social programs rely on human rights to be effective. It is time to reconnect social policy and human rights in Canada, to reaffirm our commitment to the equal status of all human rights […]”
