Human Rights
PSAC Statement on Human Rights Day
Struggle against discrimination faces uphill battle
December 10, 2009
The United Nations' Human Rights Day marks the anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948 by the UN General Assembly. The UN has announced that this year's celebration will focus on non-discrimination.
Human rights are a priority for PSAC, which has a long history of defending human rights and fighting discrimination. The union has been at the forefront in promoting employment equity, pay equity and harassment-free workplaces and has been involved in the development and review of human rights legislation and jurisprudence. PSAC's commitment to human rights includes integrating anti-oppression and equity analyses at all levels of its activities.
PSAC remains diligent in monitoring and denouncing all forms of discrimination, especially in the face of rising social conservatism. In the last few years, the mainstream media and the government have been relentless in their attacks against Canada's values of equality and inclusiveness enshrined in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and human rights laws. The federal Conservative government, in particular, has been dismantling the very systems that promote human rights and equality.
More recently, there has been a concerted campaign by right-wing pundits and media to entirely discredit the role and the need for human rights commissions in Canada, including the Canadian Human Rights Commission and the Canadian Human Rights Act under the guise of defending free speech. Their attacks picked on certain decisions by the Commission and Tribunal around section 13, the hate messages clause, of the Act. However their often malicious criticisms expand beyond these specific cases and have the intent of turning public opinion against the human rights commissions, which they have variously labeled as the “thought police” or compared to violent dictatorial regimes. Attacks against the commissions have not been isolated to the federal level but have also been directed towards the Ontario Human Rights Commission and other commissions all across the country.
The federal Conservative government, in the meantime, has been pushing an anti-equality agenda that reversed the gains Canadians have made in the area of human rights. In the four years it has been in power, it has eliminated the Court Challenges Program, made major cuts to programs that provided services to women, children and other marginalized groups, expanded programs that deny migrant workers their labour and civil rights, and reversed gains in the fight of pay equity. It refused to sign on to the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and implement the Kelowna Accord that would have recognized Aboriginal rights. It also cut funding or continues to underfund important organizations that promote and protect human rights, including the Commission itself. It also strengthened measures under the Anti-Terrorism Act which severely restricts civil liberties and has created conditions for rampant racial profiling.
Canadian civil society faces a tougher struggle to protect and promote human rights. This year, to commemorate International Human Rights Day, the PSAC calls on all its members to firm up their resolve and commitment to fight against all forms of discrimination and for true equality. They are essential to ensuring that we not only regain what we've lost but also forge ahead in our collective endeavour to building a world where all “are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Section 1).Date Modified : 2010/01/29
