Frank Halderman: LGBT Human Rights in Canada

LGBT Human Rights: Canada, its domestic role and impact on furthering international legislative.

Research Question: 

What are the policy origins of and current deficiencies, if any, in human rights legislation to protect the rights of LGBT individuals in Canada, and what role did the legislation in Canada, and in other pro-sexual rights nations, have on policy development on the international stage?

Background:

Canada:

To understand the current status of and deficiencies regarding LGBT human rights legislation in Canada and internationally, it is important to first investigate the origins and evolution of human rights in Canada. The first step will be to define the concept of human rights and then look at the rights enshrined in the Canadian constitutional framework, in particular the Charter of Rights and Freedoms Section 15; the Equality of Rights. The next step would be to examine the development of legislation regarding sexual orientation and human rights in Canada. In 2005, the controversy surrounding the enactment of Bill C-38, the Civil Marriage Act which permits same-sex marriages, exemplifies the contentious nature of LGBT human rights in Canada and abroad (Hurley, 2005). And yet, it is curious that Canada continues to enact legislation that protects the human rights of such minorities; however, in many countries this is not the case. It is important to explore this policy puzzle and examine what impact Canada’s legal decisions have made on the LGBT human rights on the international stage and in organizations such as the United Nations, the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice.  The purpose of this paper is therefore to provide the historical, political and theoretical backdrop for the submission to the United Nations regarding the internationalization of LGBT human rights. 

British Columbia:

In the context of British Columbia, it is concerning that the Liberal government of B.C. has recently decided to eliminate the chair position for the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal (Smith, 2010). Indeed, this is not the first time that the B.C. provincial government has taken such action. In 2003, the then Attorney General Mike de Jong eliminated the B.C. Human Rights Commission. It will be important to investigate this action and determine if it will affect the representation of human rights, and specifically LGBT rights, in British Columbia. It is clear that William Black, UBC Professor Emeritus and an expert in human rights, has concerns that this decision may have a negative impact (Smith, 2010). As one component of this paper, it is important to determine which institutions play a critical role in protecting human rights in Canada and whether or not, as in cases like this one, government action is eroding recent advances in human rights representation.

Human Rights Activism:

Activism plays an important role in educating the public about any social or political cause and creating policy change. By identifying the key figures in the LGBT human rights arena, we will be better able to discover the current issues and policy areas that are presently being advanced. Georgia Beyer, the first-ever transgender person to hold office as a Member of Parliament in New Zealand, is one of these individuals. She will be in Vancouver on October 02, 2010. Georgia Beyer played a critical role in the passing of the Prostitution Reform Act which decriminalized prostitution in New Zealand. Her appearance in Canada is especially well-timed as Ontario Superior Court Justice Susan Himel’s decision on September 28, 2010 struck down the law criminalizing prostitution (Canada’s, 2010).   She will speak at an Egali-sponsored event in Vancouver on October 02, 2010. Helen Kennedy, Director of Egali, will chair this event. Helen Kennedy has agreed to meet with Calyn Shaw and I regarding human rights in Canada and their organizations current activities – one key objective of their non-governmental organization (NGO) is to obtain consultative status in the United Nations, so that it can advance its LGBT initiatives more readily. Beyond the actions of governments, it is important for us to identify the impact of activists and NGOs in the advancement of LBGT human rights domestically and at the U.N. level to get a complete picture of the policy-making process. 

Objectives:

    •    The focus of this paper is to investigate the policy development of LGBT sexual and human rights in socially conscious nations, using Canada as a case study. It will examine the role of government, activists, and NGOs in the advancement of this legislation in order to expand our understanding of the issue and identify the current debates regarding LGBT rights on domestic and international scenes.  This paper will also examine the question as to what, if any, influence this legislation has had on the advancement of LGBT rights in other states and in international organizations such as the United Nations. The end goal is that the information unearthed in this paper will enable us to build a more comprehensive submission paper to the U.N.

    •    This paper will be a compliment to Calyn Shaw’s paper, which will focus on identifying the policy positions of key states and international NGOs in regards to the internationalization of LGBT rights. Both papers are intended to be the foundation for a joint submission to the U.N. regarding internationalizing LGBT human rights.

Bibliography:

Hurley, Mary C. 2005. Library of Parliament. Parliamentary Information and Research Division. Sexual Orientation and Legal Rights: A Chronological Overview. Accessed on September 28, 2010 from http://www2.parl.gc.ca/Content/LOP/ResearchPublications/prb0413-e.htm#introductiontxt

Smith, Charlie. B.C. “Liberals shake up human-rights tribunal”. July 15, 2010. Accessed on September 28, 2010 from http://www.straight.com/article-333824/vancouver/bc-liberals-shake-humanrights-tribunal

n.a. “Canada’s criminal law decriminalized”. The Canadian Business Journal on-line. Accessed on September 28, 2010 from http://www.canadianbusinessjournal.ca/business_news/canadian_business_news/0928_canadas_prostitution_laws_decriminalized_10.html

On-line Resources:

Canadian Lesbian and Gay Archives http://clga.ca/index.shtml

Egali Canada http://www.egale.ca/

International Gay& Lesbian Human Rights Commission http://www.iglhrc.org/cgi-bin/iowa/home/index.html

International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association http://ilga.org/ 

Comments

[Michael Byers]

I like where you're going with this. However, you should probably consider the international dimension at both ends of the Canadian policy-making process. It seems to me that developments outside Canada influenced the advancement and adoption of legislation here, and that Canadian developments then influenced developments abroad. You will want to read some of the International Relations literature on transnational human rights, including Andrew Moravcsik, Kathryn Sikkink, Harold Koh, etc. A paper that delved into this positive feedback loop, integrating the existing theoretical literature into a new case study, could have both academic and policy relevance!