Image: "Fragment of The Famous Five Monument" by Dmitri Lytov is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
In the 1920s, section 24 of the B.N.A. Act, 1867, now the Constitution Act, 1867 stated, and still states, that the Governor-General shall summon “qualified persons” to the Senate.
Emily Murphy was the wife of an Anglican minister, mother to four...
Image: Interview by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Pix4free.org
During a job interview, should an applicant disclose her pregnancy to a potential employer?
Doing so may assure she is not hired and leave her unable to prove that not getting the job had anything to do with her pregnancy.
Not disclosing...
Image: "Pregnant" by Frank de Kleine is licensed under CC BY 2.0.
Brooks v. Canada Safeway Ltd., [1989] 1 SCR 1219 was a landmark decision about discrimination against pregnant women.
Facts
In the early 1980s, Canada Safeway’s group insurance plan provided compensation to employees who were unable to work due to accident or sickness.
The...
Image: "Stop school closure OLB" by Backbone Campaign is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
As Mothers’ day 2021 approached, schools closed in Alberta and Ontario and parts of Manitoba. At the time of writing, Alberta’s schools had reopened, but schools in Ontario and parts of Manitoba remained closed.
B.C. schools closed briefly in March, 2020,...
Image: "Study" by Tim Swinson | http://timswinson.com is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
Clearly, some members of society are being left behind amid responses to corona virus.
Women, the disabled and the impoverished are particularly affected.
Between March and June, schools in B.C. and Alberta abruptly closed.
Alberta’s government is closing middle and high schools again...
Image: "Pension Plan - retired couple on a stack of coins" by verchmarco is licensed under CC BY 2.0
In Fraser v. Canada (Attorney General), the Supreme Court of Canada recently held that the RCMP violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (the Charter) for women who job shared.
This case involved indirect, or adverse effect, discrimination. This occurs...
Last week we began looking at the recently published federal Work Place Harassment and Violence Regulations (Regulations).
The Regulations contain requirements on federally regulated employers to comply with their obligations under the Canada Labour Code (CLC) harassment and violence prevention...
Image: Mad formal executive man yelling at camera, Andrea Piacquadio, courtesy Pexels
Bill C-65, An Act to amend the Canada Labour Code (harassment and violence), the Parliamentary Employment and Staff Relations Act and the Budget Implementation Act, 2017, No. 1, received Royal Assent on October 25, 2018.
Bill C-65 will be force on...
Photo: "At the protest for the International Day Against Police Brutality" by Grant Neufeld is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
It may be tempting, when watching incidents of police brutality in the United States, to think the problem does not really exist in Canada. However, police misconduct and a lack of accountability do exist in Canada.
Videos recently surfaced of RCMP...
Photo: "Wahi Sawaal | Short Film" by Abhey Singh, jaikishan patel is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0
As International Women’s Day approaches, what better time to introduce legislative amendments to assist employees impacted by “domestic or sexual violence.” For simplicity, I will refer to this as domestic abuse. If implemented, the amendments will also apply to employees...
