The Segregation Of Disabled Canadian Citizens

The entrenchment of rights in the Canadian Constitution comes after long experience with a system of parliamentary supremacy. The American judicial tradition of treating the written constitution as fundamental law cannot have an instant Canadian counterpart. Thus, it does not follow that the Canadian courts will necessarily claim a role comparable to that of courts in the United States, nor is it clear that the representative bodies in Canada would tolerate such a judicial assertion of power. Opposition by government bodies to the Charter have already occurred in Canada, where the Parti Quebecois government of Quebec invoked the “notwithstanding the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms” clause for the purpose of protecting their language laws from attack under the charter. This report will attempt to note some of the common and distinctive features of the text of the two constitutions as well as to how they differ.

Many modern democracies have a bicameral legislature which is a body of government that consist of two legislative chambers. The bicameral legislature provides representation for both, the citizens of the country and the state legislature on a federal level. The Canadian parliament has two chambers, the lower chamber which is an elected House of Commons and the upper chamber which is the non-elected Senate. The Canadian Senate is assumed to be a “sober second thought” [3] on government legislation which is a phrase that describes the Senate’s role in promoting and defending regional interest. There has been an immense amount of the public outcry regarding the Senate after spending scandal that occurred during the recent election period. A question that has induced discussion in parliament is whether the Canadian Senate should be reformed or not? This issue divides the population in half because of differing views. Some political parties want the abolition of the Senate to occur while other parties would like to have an elected Senate because provinces are not represented equally. A method of deciding the faith of the current Senate, the functions of the Senate and objectives of Senate reform should be defined. The assumptions about the purpose of the Senate, problems of the current Senate, the goal of Senate reform and the method of achieving the reform may help provide a consensus on how the Senate should be reformed.

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council has made some controversial decisions in key cases in Canada’s past. When looking at the Canadian Founders intent for Canadian Federalism, many scholars argue that the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council has done a bad job following the founders’ intentions and intentionally decentralized Canada. The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council did fail in keeping in line with what the founders intended for Canada and may have even intentionally set out to decentralize the Canadian government, but this does not mean it had a negative impact on Canada. There are a number of cases that were seen by the JCPC that played a vital role in the decentralization of the Canadian government, yet

Today’s society is different in its thinking when dealing with people with disabilities. There had to be many changes made in its labeling, and approach when dealing with people who may have physical/mental differences. The ostracize behavior that people were known to disturb in society has changed a great deal, due to the many federal laws that have been put in place to insure the well-being of people that have disabilities. In 1972, one very well-known case is Mill vs Board of Education of the District of Columbia this case address how the constituted rights of students were not being meet by not providing them with a public education.” Many disabled children had been excluded from public education prior to 1975,24 Congress, through the Act, sought initially to set up a process by which states would find children in need of educational services and bring them into the system”(Kotler, p.491,2014).

Individuals with disability have had a long history of maltreatment in America. From being thought of as possessed individuals in need of exorcism, targeted for heinous experiments, unknowingly sterilized, being labeled imbecile, feeble minded, and retarded, to being shipped off to state schools or mental asylums, those with disabilities were given no consideration as a valuable and able to contribute member of society. In a speech to congress, Frank Bowe, a highly educated deaf-man highlighted this claim by stating, “we are not even second-class citizens, we are third-class citizens” (Bowe, F. 1977--need citation), and Jim Cherry (2001) furthered the ideal in his words, that prior to “1970 we [disabled citizens] had no right to education, to employment, to transportation, to housing, or to voting. There were no civil rights laws for us, no federal advocacy grants. Few people looked beyond our medical needs” (Cherry, J.L, 2001 http://www.raggededgemagazine.com/0701/0701cov.htm). Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 attempted to fundamentally change how disabled people were reguarded.

The issues are compelling, the future of Quebec in Canada, and the future of our Senate seem like urgent issues that require immediate attention. Looks can be deceiving though, and the case for both of these issues are not as strong as they seem at first glance. First we are going to look at Quebec’s place in the constitutional family, to show why getting their signature is simply a

The Canadian Senate’s initial purpose is to review legislative proposals that are sent from the House of Commons, in other words to serve as a chamber of “sober second thought”(Malcolmson,Richard,Gerald,Thomas .138) The Senate is known to have statutory power to defeat, stall or pass bills that are sent from the lower house. The intention behind this function was a response to the democratically elected House of Commons that may possibly fail to respect property rights regarding people of lower and higher classes. The Senate body is designed to protect property rights and to pay attention to

Notwithstanding the many shortcomings of the Senate, it is an important institution that serves an essential purpose. Although it is rarely commended publicly for its accomplishments, other public servants and academics praise the Senate “for the breadth and quality of its investigative and scrutiny functions in committee” (Smith, 2003). In order to understand the Senate, one must distinguish the roles of the upper and lower houses. While the House of Commons serves the elective function of making or unmaking government “the Senate is not a confidence chamber” and thus serves a distinct, yet equally relevant role (Smith, 2003). The Senate, and bicameralism more broadly, was instituted as a constraint on government. Its justification “rests on obstruction: rather than empower, it restrains government” (Smith, 2003). This impediment to the unchecked power of the House of Commons justifies the preservation of the Senate as an institution. While some consider the Senate unnecessary or redundant, it is an essential element of Canadian government. However, despite its significance, it is not particularly well liked and some consider it to be the “most criticized institution of government in Canada” (Frank, 1988). For over sixty years, the issue of Senate reform or abolition has been inherent to Canadian political discourse (Frank, 1988). Given the importance of the Senate in Canadian

The topic in regards to the disabled worker is of interest to the author. The commentary is titled “Accommodation for Disabled Workers: Knowledge of Rights a Good Start” at the Rand Corporation blog by author Kathleen Mullen. The article describes how employees quitting their jobs because of healthcare decline and applying for social security benefits. As a number of social security benefits increase it puts US funding at risk. The author knows several disabled workers that are faced with working with a health-related disability. Additionally, they are challenged to take care of their families in spite of their disability. The disabled subgroup often expresses that they feel misunderstood by the world. The disabled person is betwixt and in between.; society expects the

Since its inception in 1982 the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, very much like its primary architect Pierre Trudeau, has been one of the most celebrated yet controversial elements of Canadian politics and governance. Revealing how this dynamic emerged requires a nuanced understanding of the motivation behind the Charter and the techniques it employed to succeed. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, like the entire patriation process, was motivated by and mobilized support through, constitutionally enshrining democratic core values, multiculturalism and a sense of nationalism. However, it should not be seen as merely a symbolic gesture on the part of Britain and Canada or merely a strengthening of core values. Instead it was a fundamental reinvention of Canadian federalism that shifted power away from the provinces to the federal government and from the Parliament to the courts. This was accomplished by incentivizing provincial acceptance, developing common interests, and, as a result, formalizing a national identity where the protection and expansion of core values was encouraged as fundamental. This dynamic allowed the reinvention to, by and large, succeed.

Moving further to the arrangements, we can say that until we don't contribute in evacuation of segregation nothing will be accomplished. It is said that, regardless of our employment, regardless of our tallness we as a whole should be dealt with 'RIGHT'. Various states, in any case, have authorized laws that blacklist any sorts of isolation—changes that should serve as a format for conclusion partition of any kind. Discussing segregation in Canada, it is secured through a few rights. For example, The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom, Canadian Human Rights Act, and so forth.

All they want is to take part of society as a normal individual. The disability-movement has fought for the disabilities rights throughout the years and has achieved goals such as accommodation of architectural infrastructures to serve better people who are physical impairments. The public policies have been great accomplishments because it has helped people with disabilities to be part of society. The disability-movement points out the healthcare finance policies have taken freedom away from the disability community, “ Health-care financing policies force disabled people into Institutions and nursing homes rather than funding independent living. Income-maintenance and public health-insurance policies include “disincentives” that penalize disabled individuals for trying to work productively.”(p.4). The government has done a great job on protecting disabled individuals’ rights. However, the health-care system has isolated this group even more by restricting the level of productivity that they have within the system, as a result this medical model marginalizes this group of people and this program available for this community does not fully address their issues.

In her chapter on legal peripheries, Chouinard examines the social location in the context of legal rights as experienced by disabled people. In her discourse she identifies a social location where the lived experience of disabled contradicts their legal rights in Canadian law. She calls this social location legal peripheries as the lived experiences of disabled people lies on the outside of the center of Canadian society which enjoys the full power, privileges and benefits of such legal rights and protection. Canadians measure the accomplishments of a civil and accessible society by the laws that influence the perceived equality enjoyed by disabled Canadians such as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom, provincial human rights laws, and the Accessibility for Ontarians with a Disability Act (AODA; in

Persons with disabilities have also been at a disadvantage in the Canadian labour force. Like the aboriginal people, they too have higher unemployment rates, lower participation rates and lower levels of education. 1981 census statistics for disabled person in the labour force

This is not just a disadvantage to disabled people in the United States, it is a problem world wide. In the United Kingdom, only 6 percent of young disabled people are employed (O'mahony). All this leaving the United Kingdom with just “less than one in 20 people with a mental or physical disability are in paid employment”(O’mahony). Disabled people around the world in different nations are taken away the feeling of usefulness and the feeling of accomplishment. Affecting the disabled both financially but also emotionally.