| Protecting Human Rights for 25 Years: 1972-1997 | ||
This year we're celebrating the 25th
anniversary of the Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission.
A special celebratory event is being
planned and, as well, all schools in the province will be encouraged
to note the anniversary with classroom activities that recognize
the importance of human rights.
The Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission
came into being in April 1972, when The Saskatchewan Human
Rights Commission Act was passed by the legislature. For the
first time the people of Saskatchewan could direct human rights
complaints to an agency that had the authority to investigate
complaints, and then to resolve them or send them to a hearing.
Another change - there was a new emphasis on compensation for
the victim.
New human rights laws were not created
by The Saskatchewan Human Rights Commission Act. Instead,
the Commission administered the human rights laws that were already
in place - The Fair Employment Practices Act, The Fair
Accommodation Practices Act and The Saskatchewan Bill of
Rights. Those pieces of legislation prohibited discrimination
on the basis of race, religion, colour, sex, nationality, ancestry
and place of origin.
Those laws were important, of course,
as an expression of society's commitment to human rights and because
they set goals to be followed. But in purely practical terms,
they weren't very effective. The process for bringing complaints
forward was cumbersome. And remedies focused on punishing the
wrong-doer rather than on compensating the victim. As a result,
very few human rights complaints were pursued. It was the creation of a Commission with investigative powers that made the difference. In its first four years, the Commission received 690 complaints of discrimination, a huge increase in the number of complaints prior to 1972. |
Another significant step forward in
the 1972 legislation was a new emphasis on prevention. In addition
to investigating complaints, the new human rights commission was
directed to battle discrimination and to promote equality through
research and education.
The Commission opened its first office
in Saskatoon in 1973 and in the same year held its first formal
inquiry to hear a complaint alleging discrimination on the basis
of ancestry. In 1974 offices were opened in Regina and Prince
Albert.
There's another human rights anniversary
in 1997 - the 50th anniversary of The Saskatchewan Bill of
Rights - the first general human rights act in North America.
It guaranteed fundamental freedoms -
freedom of religion, freedom of speech and of the press, freedom
of assembly and association, freedom from arbitrary arrest or
detention and the right to vote. Today, the Bill of Rights
is part of The Saskatchewan Human Rights Code.
During second reading of the Bill
in March 1947, the Honourable J.W. Corman, the attorney-general,
said: "...It is the people of Saskatchewan who support the
principle of this Bill and they have shown by their actions
of the past that they will not rest content if their province
lags behind...in outspoken service, unequivocal commitments to
the principles of freedom, liberty and the democratic safeguarding
of the rights of minorities." Although much remains to be done, the history of human rights law in Saskatchewan is one of which we can be proud.
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| I n --T h i s --I s s u e | ||
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Highlights of 25 Years Teaching Human Rights CASHRA Meeting |
Accessibility Complaint Goes back to Board Boards of Inquiry | |
