For these notes, you will be

regularly told to stop and write

three key points Then compare your notes with your

classmates to see if there is anything you should add.

When you are done, hand in your notes for your teacher to review

Why Human Rights?• According to Liberal International:

• Human rights are the core of liberalism;

• Human rights are a precondition for progress and stability;

• Human rights can only be secured by true democracy;

• True democracy is inseparable from political and civil liberty

How does the protection of human rights promote the ideals of liberalism,

including democracy and progress?

Philosophers: Hobbes, Locke and

Rousseau• each had a different perspective on

individual rights• Hobbes: give up individual rights in

return for security• Locke: individual rights (especially for

property) essential, but some must be sacrificed for security

• Rousseau: group rights should be decided by individuals, but then followed by the group

What are human rights?

• Rights granted to all people, regardless of nationality. Includes fundamental freedoms like freedom of expression and association

 What are civil rights?

• Rights granted to citizens of a state by their government. Includes the right to participate in a democracy

Stop and write three key points

Influence of the French and American

Revolutions

French RevolutionDeclaration of the Rights of Man

American Revolution Declaration of Independence

All men are created equal and have unalienable rights To what degree were/are these principles

followed? What legislation do we have in Canada to

promote human rights?

Worker’s Rights

Women’s Rights• Classical views of women (unstable, less

intelligent, there for the enjoyment of men)• Woman’s place is in the home• all MEN (= propertied class) created equal

• Suffrage (right to vote) - evolution in Canada• First men and women of European extraction, then other ethnic

groups, First Nations not until 1960.

• 1920s – “Persons Case”

Feminism

• Women organized themselves into societies (eg. temperance society)

• Suffragette movement – at times could be quite violent (which hurt the movement – proved women were “too emotional to participate in politics”)

• WWI changed attitudes towards women

Modern Feminism

• “The Feminine Mystique” Betty Friedan (myth of happy 1950s housewives)

• Women’s Liberation Movement (1960s)

• Equal pay for equal work

• Today there are many strands of feminism (eco-feminism, multi-racial feminism, feminist theology)

• Values in other societies – are we imposing our liberal values on others? (ex opposition to Sharia law)

Rights and Liberal Society

• Liberalism advocates civil rights for all citizens, irrespective of race, gender or class.

• Liberals generally believe in neutral government, in the sense that it is not for the state to determine personal values (what constitutes the “good life” or what is morally right or wrong)

• Affirmative action• Liberals support equal opportunity, but not

necessarily equal outcome, so there is disagreement in the support for affirmative action programs.

Stop and write three key points

Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

issue: power to create laws is being transferred from the legislative branch to judicial branch

Proposed Canadian Museum for Human Rights http://www.canadianmuseumforhumanrights.com

Important Rights Cases in Canada

• Bill C-38 – Civil Marriage Act passed in 2005 to allow for the legalization of gay marriage

• Bill 101 – Charter of the French Language passed in 1997

US Bill of Rights

• issue: amendments

UN Universal Declaration of Human

Rights • issue: enforcement

International Criminal Court [ICC]

• issue: lack of participation from major nations like USA

Stop and write three key points

Collective Rights

• These are rights that are given to a group – often with the intention of supporting or protecting a minority group.• They are entrenched into the Constitution

• Two main groups in Canada enjoy these rights – Aboriginal Peoples and Francophones

• Does this support or go against liberal values?

Aboriginal Collective Rights

• Co-operation – competition – coercion

• Proclamation of 1763, treaties, Indian Act

• Efforts to eliminate those rights: White Paper (Red Paper response)

• Efforts to restore and revitalize those rights: Royal Commission, land claims settlements and self-government

Francophone Collective Rights

• First settlers, Conquest of 1763

• Quebec Act – promises made to protect culture• Future constitutions and actions reject

this:• Not allowing Catholics to participate in

government• Manitoba Schools question• Riel Resistance

• Quiet Revolution – the response to the increasing marginalization of the francophone people• Bill 101• FLQ Crisis• Refusal to sign Constitution • 1980 and 1995 referendums regarding

separation

• Today:• Creation of immigration guidelines, dwindling

support for separatist parties

Stop and write three key points

Then compare your notes with your classmates to see if there is anything you

should add.When you are done, hand in your notes for

your teacher to review