University of British Columbia Press
Equality Deferred
Sex Discrimination and British Columbia’s Human Rights State, 1953-84
9780774827508
9780774827492
Distributed for University of British Columbia Press
Equality Deferred
Sex Discrimination and British Columbia’s Human Rights State, 1953-84
In Equality Deferred, Dominique Clément traces the history of sex discrimination in Canadian law and the origins of human rights legislation. Focusing on British Columbia – the first jurisdiction to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex – he documents a variety of absurd, almost unbelievable, acts of discrimination. Drawing on previously undisclosed human rights commission records, Clément explores the rise and fall of what was once the country’s most progressive human rights legal regime and reveals how political divisions and social movements shaped the human rights state. This book is not only a testament to the revolutionary impact of human rights on Canadian law but also a reminder that it takes more than laws to effect transformative social change.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Preface
Additional Resources
Introduction
1 Sex Discrimination in Canadian Law
2 “No Jews or Dogs Allowed”: Anti-Discrimination Law
3 Gender and Canada’s Human Rights State
4 Women and Anti-Discrimination Law in British Columbia, 1953-69
5 Jack Sherlock and the Failed Human Rights Act, 1969-73
6 Kathleen Ruff and the Human Rights Code, 1973-79
7 Struggling to Innovate, 1979-83
8 Making New Law under the Human Rights Code
9 The Politics of (Undermining) Human Rights: The Human Rights Act, 1983-84
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index