Category: Human Rights

The period from June 21 to July 1 is commonly referred to as the Eleven Days of Celebration; they encompass National Aboriginal Day, St-Jean Baptiste Day, Canadian Multiculturalism Day and Canada Day. It’s an opportunity to celebrate all aspects of our heritage – to reflect on the wide range of people who contributed to building our great country.

But perhaps this is also a good time to talk about the importance of heritage — the importance of preserving it for future generations.

Institutions responsible for collecting and preserving our heritage have suffered drastic cuts. These include Library and Archives Canada, our national museums, Heritage Canada, Parks Canada and the National Capital Commission.

At Library and Archives Canada, like many other departments and agencies that we represent, the staff was cut by 20%.

“The people who’ve lost their jobs are the ones who assist visitors, teachers, researchers and students,” said National President Doug Marshall. “Canadians are being deprived of valuable services and it’s future generations that are going to be robbed of their heritage.”

When it comes to acquiring important pieces of our history, the department hasn’t been making acquisitions since a 10-month moratorium on purchases was put in place in 2009. Ten months, four years… same thing?

Meanwhile, the head of Library and Archives Canada just recently stepped down after it was revealed that he spent $170,000 in travel and hospitality expenses; twice that of the minister. And the expenses included $5,000 for Spanish lessons…. ¡Ayayay!

Another very sad cut was the loss of the National Archival Development Program; a small program that cost only $1.7 million per year. That very teeny, teeny, teeny, tiny, tiny little amount of money (in the great scheme of things!) helped support over 800 archives during the past 26 years.

Interesting math: the money spent on the war of 1812 could have kept the National Archival Development Program alive for 16 years.

The program provided education and advisory services for archives and archivists who would not otherwise be able to afford these services that helped them preserve the unique and irreplaceable documents, photos, plans and electronic records in their care.

It’s important to remember that many smaller archives are run by volunteers – so this service was incredibly important.

And while we’re on the topic of cuts that don’t really make sense; consider Library and Archives Canada has been touting digitization as the magic pill to make our history more accessible… but then it turned around and cut the staff responsible for digitizing archives was cut by 50%.

According to the Canadian Association of University Teachers, as of September 2012, only 0.5% of LAC’s holdings had been digitized. The association estimates that, “at the current rate of spending on digitization (approx $5 million annually) it would take LAC 300-700 years to digitize its published holdings.”

And, just to throw some more irony in the mix, the government that wants to make history more accessible just eliminated the inter-library loan service; a service that allowed Canadians to borrow material only available from the LAC via their local library. According to the CAUT:

In the fiscal year 2012-2013 alone, LAC filled 21,294 requests for loans and copies from its collections and helped locate materials at other facilities in response to another 11,658 requests. The loss of [the inter-library loan service] is a huge blow to Canadians’ ability to access our collective history.

Oh, but that’s okay! Because, err… Canadians have access to soooo much of LAC’s material online.

Seriously.

A government bent on assimilation; that’s what our nation’s Aboriginal Peoples had to fight for more than a century. To talk about Aboriginal Peoples’ history, in a human rights context, means recognizing that for many years, the Canadian government’s goal was to make Aboriginal People incapable of directing their destiny – unable to resist assimilation.

Shortly after Confederation, the government began to force Aboriginal People into ‘becoming civilized’. The Constitution Act gave the federal government responsibility over ‘Indians’. The government then gave itself the business of determining who was and who wasn’t ‘Indian’.

Who was and wasn’t a ‘status Indian’ became a complicated thing. Indian status was passed down from fathers; if only your father was Indian, so were you. If only your mother was, then you weren’t. A status Indian woman who married a non-status man was suddenly not considered status Indian anymore. That policy stayed in effect until 1985.¹

Many status Indians automatically also lost their status as a result of graduating college or university.

Band councils were established, but mainly to displace the dominance of elders. By undermining the elders, the Indian Act was designed to weaken Indian communities and make them easier to control.

“Despite this show of respect, the Indian Act allowed band councils limited authority. Indian agents could remove from office chiefs whom they considered unsuitable and overrule band council decisions with which they disagreed.”²

The government also attacked Aboriginal Peoples’ spirituality and cultural practices. Powwows and potlatches were banned until 1951. Government officials and missionaries felt that these practices “were preventing Aboriginal people from assimilating into Canadian society.”³

The government also restricted Aboriginal Peoples’ mobility.

“A pass system was introduced after the 1885 rebellion, confining Indians to reserves unless they procured a ‘pass’ from the Indian agent stating their place of travel, reason, and duration of visit. This pass system was completely extralegal and recognized as such by all Crown officials.”⁴

The pass system was nonetheless enforced by the North-Western Mounted Police, thus preventing traditional gatherings and further confining First Nations People to reserves. It made it impossible or aboriginal communities to work together to form a resistance.

Residential schools were another key mechanism by which the government hoped to assimilate Aboriginal Peoples. Children were separated from their families so they could be ‘changed’ away from their parents’ influence. These schools punished students severely for speaking their own language.

But the government didn’t have the resources to administer these schools, so they arranged for churches to do the work.

“The brutal treatment in the schools is said to have resulted in the deaths of some 50,000 native children, with countless others becoming victims of serious physical and sexual abuse.”⁵

In 1904, Dr. Peter Bryce was appointed Medical Inspector to the Department of the Interior and of Indian Affairs. Three years later, Bryce conducted inspections of 35 residential schools in the three Prairie Provinces. His report, Bryce revealed a surprising rate of sickness and death among the children. Among his recommendations, Bryce urged the government to “undertake the complete maintenance and control of the schools, since it had promised by treaty to ensure such.”

But the report was swept under the rug. Frustrated by the government’s inaction, Bryce resigned and, in 1922, published his findings in a book entitled The story of a national crime.

“This story should have been written years ago and then given to the public,” wrote Bryce in the book’s epilogue.⁶

“Today I am free to speak,” he added, after explaining that, after resigning from his position, he was no longer bound by the civil service’s oath of office, which had been the only thing keeping him silent for so long.⁷

[1] Henderson, William B. The Indian Act. Canadian Encyclopedia

[2] Berry, Susan & Brink, Jack. (2004) Aboriginal Cultures in Alberta: Five-hundred Generations. Edmonton, Alberta: McCallum Printing Group, Inc.

[3] Idem

[4] Harring, S. (2005) There Seemed to Be No Recognized Law: Canadian Law and the Prairie First Nations. In Knafla, Louis A. and  Swainger, Jonathan (Eds.), Laws and Societies in the Canadian Prairie West, 1670-1940. Vancouver, B.C.: UBC Press.

[5] Akhavan, Payam (2012) Reducing Genocide to Law. New York: Cambridge University Press.

[6] Bryce, P.H. (1922) The story of a national crime, as retrieved from http://www.archive.org/stream/storyofnationalc00brycuoft/storyofnationalc00brycuoft_djvu.txt

[7] Idem

May 17 is the International Day Against Homophobia.

According to the most recent report of the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Intersex Association, there are still 78 countries where homosexual acts are illegal. In Mauritania, Sudan, Iran, Saudi Arabia Yemen, as well as parts of Nigeria and Somalia, being gay is punishable by death.

But the report does remark on some good news; 2012 and 2013 have been great years for those who side with marriage equality. There are now 14 countries where same-sex partners can legally marry. The latest countries to legalize marriage between partners of the same sex include Argentina, Uruguay, France and New Zealand. The United Kingdom is expected to pass its same-sex marriage bill very soon (which would finally end the second-class ‘civil partnership’ nonsense).

Even south of the border, things are changing fast. Just yesterday, Minnesota became the 12^th state to approve marriages between partners of the same sex.

But there’s still a long road ahead. This year, Fondation Émergence, a Montreal-based LGBT foundation, is trying to raise awareness about homophobia on social media.

If you want a disturbing look at just how common casual homophobia is on Twitter, you can head over to nohomophobes.com; a website designed by the University of Alberta’s Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services.

The website tracks the use of homophobic language on Twitter. Last week alone, the website tracked 361,405 instances of the word “faggot”, 80,131 instances of “so gay”, and 31,478 instances of “dyke”.

And although the site doesn’t track French homophobic language, our very unscientific research shows roughly one occurrence of the word “tapette” (the French equivalent to “faggot”) per minute.

“What we’re trying to do is focus attention like a laser beam and quantifies how common this experience is in our society,” said Dr. Kristopher Wells, a researcher at the Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services, in a video explaining the project.

Wells says the point is to ask people to break the silence – help them stop spreading the language of prejudice.

Have you ever encountered casual homophobic language in the workplace or among friends? What did you do? Share your story in the comments below!

Spring has finally arrived and with it, the chance to once again witness nature at its best: sprouting! What better time to celebrate our planet and reflect on the many ways we can better the environment. This Earth Day, take the time to rethink old habits and take action! The following helpful hints can get you started:

Give up your love-affair with the printer
Not everything needs to be printed! The first step towards doing away with piles of paper on your desk is to adapt an organized and intuitive way of filing your electronic documents. Also, check your printer settings. Is your printer set to print double-sided by default? This alone could cut your paper consumption in half!

Think green… procurement!
Are you in charge of ordering supplies and printed documents? Choose products that come with minimal packaging. Ask your supplier about products made from recycled materials. When ordering printed material, opt for paper that is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council; they are a widely respected non-profit organization that certifies certain types of paper as being both environmentally and socially responsible choices. They also play an important role in protecting old growth forests.

Rethink your lunchbox
Waste reduction can start in the very lunchbox you bring to work. Bring beverages from home in a reusable stainless steel bottle instead of purchasing plastic water bottles or juice boxes. Bring cutlery from home instead of using disposable plastic cutlery from the cafeteria. Get inspired by the University of Victoria who banned plastic cutlery in an effort to reach zero waste; they now provide biodegradable cutlery made from bamboo! Finally, give up the ready-made meals from your store’s freezer section; a homemade meal in a reusable plastic container will have less of an impact on the environment and will, most likely, taste much better too!

Go vegetarian once a week!
You may have heard Dr. David Suzuki mention this concept before. Meat-production has a very serious impact on the environment. A United Nations report from 2006 found that raising livestock creates more carbon emissions than the world’s transportation put together¹. In fact, the meat industry accounts for 18 per cent of global emissions.² Try going vegetarian or vegan once per week – get your family and coworkers involved! You’ll reduce your carbon footprint dramatically and feel healthier. Who knows, you may even discover a new favourite recipe!

There are many ways to reduce our impact on the environment. This Earth Day, take a moment to reflect on a few ways you can do your part. For more information on earth day events across Canada and ways to take action, please visit the Earth Day Canada Web site: http://www.earthday.ca

[2] Livestock’s Long Shadow (2006). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.

The Union of National Employees is strongly committed to the promotion of human rights. While all unions have a rich history of advocating for human rights, our members are especially proud of this cause.

The award is meant to recognize a member’s exceptional work promoting human rights. The Union of National Employees is looking for nominations – the due date is August 1. More information is available here.

The last member to receive the award was Cheryl Aucoin, in 2007.

Aucoin remembers her work trying to get people with disabilities, as well as gays and lesbians recognized as equity-seeking groups within the PSAC.

“It was a struggle at the very beginning,” said Aucoin. “They certainly weren’t jumping up and down for people who were gay and lesbian.”

Aucoin says it was easier for her to advocate on behalf of her gay brothers and lesbian sisters because she was straight.

“I was very happy to take some of that stuff on,” said Aucoin, quite proudly. “I was safe as a church! But for some other folks, that wasn’t the case at all. For some, it was really quite painful.”

The PSAC finally adopted a policy against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in 1994. According to Aucoin, it was in large part due to the progressive leadership in our union.

“I think of all the components, we were the forerunner,” said Aucoin.

“In retrospect, it was probably some of the best times of my life.”

For those of you who may recognize Cheryl Aucoin’s name, she says hello! She says that while she is indeed retired, she still keeps in contact with all the PSAC members in Sydney, Nova Scotia. She still gets invited to local union events – and goes!

Imagine finding out that your resume ended up in the recycle bin because your name sounded “too ethnic”. It’s the kind of blatant discrimination you’d hope wouldn’t happen in this day and age, but according to one study, this sort of thing happens all too often.

In 2009, University of Toronto Professor Philip Oreopoulos conducted a study in which 6000 mock resumes were sent to recruiters in Toronto. In each resume, the level of education and experience was comparable; the only striking difference was that some applicants’ names were English-sounding while others sounded more Indian, Pakistani or Chinese. A further chunk of resumes featured experience and education acquired outside Canada.¹

An applicant with an English-sounding name who was educated in Canada had a 16% chance of getting called for an interview; an equally-qualified applicant with a more ethnic-sounding name and whose experience and education was acquired outside Canada only received a call 5% of the time.²

When only the applicants’ names were in play, “Alison Johnson” was still 40% more likely to get a call than “Tao Wang”.³

The study points to name-based discrimination being a key factor that could explain why immigrants often struggle in the Canadian job market despite their qualifications.

Oreopoulos conducted a similar study again in 2010, this time expanding the research to include Vancouver and Montreal. When the researchers later interviewed recruiters, they discovered that snap decisions are frequently being made; they end up assuming that a foreign name is synonymous with language difficulties or a lack of critical social skills, despite the resume suggesting otherwise. In other words, it’s a form of subconscious discrimination.⁴

Today is the International Day for the Elimination of Racism. We thought we’d share this study with our members as a reminder that racism can take many forms.

We mustn’t forget that affirmative action programs are currently on the chopping block. These programs aim to reverse the pattern of earlier discrimination by giving priority to individuals who are socially disadvantaged.

Affirmative action is often a contentious issue. Conservatives such as Stockwell Day and Jason Kenney, for example, are of the opinion that merit alone should be considered when hiring public servants.⁵ But that approach fails to take into account institutional racism.

If “Tao Wang” is passed over for a job early in his working life because of his name alone, then isn’t he starting the race a few seconds after everyone else?

[2] Idem

[3] Idem

[4] Oreopoulos, P., Dechief, D. (2012) Why Do Some Employers Prefer to Interview Matthew, but Not Samir? New Evidence from Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. Canadian Labour Market and Skills Researcher Network.

[5] Rennie, Steve. (2010) Ottawa orders affirmative-action overhaul. Ottawa Citizen.

Today is the Francophonie Day. Across the globe, more than 220 million men and women speak French; that’s one person out of 32! ¹

In Canada, we often think of French being spoken primarily in one ‘belle province’; but there are actually close to 10 million Canadians who speak French.² In fact, outside Quebec, more and more people are reporting French as their mother tongue. As of 2011, 4.3% of Canadians outside Quebec report speaking French at home; more than 10% report being able to conduct a conversation in French.³

Earlier this month, the Franco-Albertan flag was raised by francophones across Alberta. The Association canadienne-française de l’Alberta has been organizing many activities to celebrate the French language, such excursions to sugar shacks, theatre shows and presentations.

“It’s so vibrant here and we’re one of the few provinces where the French population only keeps growing,” says Isabelle Laurin, director of public affairs for the Association canadienne-française de l’Alberta.

“The francophone population that’s been here for many generations is very engaged,” she said. “Some of the challenges we have is getting new Franco-Albertans to recognize that there is a francophone community here .”

Each year, on March 20, the association holds a kiosk at Canada Place in Edmonton to encourage public servants to find out more about the francophone community in the province.

Meanwhile, in Quebec, there really is a continued struggle for linguistic equality rights. Yvon Beaudoin, a UNE Assistant Regional Vice-President for Quebec, recently attended the annual meeting of members of francization committees in Montreal. These committees are required by law; they aim to promote the French language within workplaces employing 50 or more individuals.

Beaudoin said francophones often have to fight to be able to work in the language of their choice. Sometimes, even access to French computer software can be a problem.

“We know it’s much cheaper to buy software in English[BR4] ,” said Beaudoin. “When we want the software in French, it’s always a bit late – it’s not always available. And it’s much more expensive.”

Beaudoin said that businesses in Quebec can obtain financial support from the provincial government to help them offset the cost of French-language software.

Another growing concern in Quebec revolves around the impact of globalization. As Quebec companies are bought out by larger American ones, francophones increasingly see the English language take centre stage.

Beaudoin is also a member of the UNE’s francophone committee. He says he’s seen a dramatic improvement in the quality of the French both during events and on the union’s website.

[2] French and the francophonie in Canada, Statistics Canada, 2011.

[3] Number of people and proportion of the population reporting French by selected language characteristic, Canada outside Quebec, 2006 and 2011, Statistics Canada, 2011