14 Arguments in Favour of Human Rights Institutions Edited by Shelagh Day, Lucie Lamarche and Ken Norman

Today, many human rights commissions are threatened or are no longer in existence. This book argues in support of our human rights institutions, including the new Canadian Museum for Human Rights. These arguments debunk current challenges to our human rights commissions and tribunals. Further, they chronicle the ways in which governments have backed away from the project of growing a culture of human rights, and of maintaining the role of human rights commissions to promote and protect human rights. In sum, this book will help readers to evaluate criticism of human rights institutions so that Canadians can strengthen current systems and ensure that they are responding to today’s problems in the field of human rights.

CONTENTS

Editors’ Introduction
       Shelagh Day, Lucie Lamarche and Ken Norman

Part 1: Human Rights Institutions in Canada: Manoeuvring in a Context of Hostility and Political Tension
Reflections on Government Hostility, Systemic Discrimination, and Human Rights Institutions
       Shelagh Day
Governments as Interpreters and Shapers of Human Rights
       Gwen Brodsky
Saskatchewan’s One Bright Shining Moment, At Least It Seemed So at the Time
       Ken Norman
Human Rights Systems: Are They Fair?
       Pearl Eliadis

Part 2: The Evolution of Human Rights Complaints Management in Canada: Transformative Justice or Efficient Justice?
Saskatchewan and the Gatekeeping Debate
       Genevieve Leslie
Ontario and the Direct Access Model to Human Rights
      Michelle Flaherty
The Paris Principles Twenty Years After
      Maxwell Yalden

Part 3: Discrimination and Political Struggle: Three Case Studies
Sexual Harassment: A Feminist Phrase That Transformed the Workplace
      Constance Backhouse
From Sexual to Psychological Harassment: One Step Forward, Twenty-Five Years Back for Women’s Equality at Work?
      Rachel Cox
The Hate Speech Diversion
      Richard Moon

Part 4: Human Rights Commissions and Policy-Making: Naming – Engaging – Implementing
Ontario Human Rights Commission Promotion Activities: The Experience of Responding to Racial Profiling by Police
      Shaheen Azmi
The Québec Human Rights Commission and the Construction of the Concept of Social Profiling
      Paul Eid

Part 5: The Future of Human Rights Institutions in Canada: Interdisciplinary and Interinstitutional Collaboration
The Ontario Human Rights Commission and the Framework for Mapping and Addressing Competing Human Rights
      Lorne Foster and Lesley Jacobs
Emerging Human Rights Institutions: The Case of Museums in a Human Rights Culture
      Jennifer Carter and Jennifer A Orange

Selected Readings
Index
About the Editors