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Human rights in Canada have evolved over the last century. There was a time, however, when people suffered great prejudices in their everyday activities.

prejudice: a prejudgment or an opinion, point of view, or perspective made without understanding all the facts

 Vocabulary

Retrieve your Issues for Canadians Definitions handout from your Activities folder, and add the term prejudice.

Think of examples of prejudices that have occurred in Canada's history to include on your handout.

Return your updated handout to your Activities folder.


For information on historical context, read "Did You Know?" on page 101 and "Organizing Historical Events" on page 342 of your textbook, Issues for Canadians.

As you continue to explore human rights, be sure to analyze the historical context. You will see that the events may have been acts of prejudice committed by institutions, such as governments, but they were presumably for the common good.

Think of a time when something happened to you, a friend, or a family member and you wondered why it happened. When you question why something happens, you are trying to understand how it affects you or what the outcome will be. Events always have a cause-and-effect relationship.

For example, a person may be late for school because the alarm clock did not go off. Or a student may score a low mark on a test because he or she did not study. An individual may win a citizenship award after volunteering with a charitable organization.

By investigating the cause and effect of historical events or human rights milestones and the context of the events, you can understand better the issues that affect quality of life, citizenship, and identity today. Your world and the world of future generations will be a better place.

Explore one of the human rights milestones from Canada's history. The following example will help you to understand cause and effect.

• What was the event?
  
  The Chinese Immigration Act was passed in 1900 to restrict Chinese immigration to Canada. This act included the Chinese head tax, a charge that every Chinese immigrant had to pay.
  
  

• What was the cause of the event? (Think about the people involved.)
  
  The Canadian government was concerned that a huge influx of Chinese would come to Canada. Some Canadian officials felt that Chinese customs and way of life would not fit in Canadian society.
  
  However, many male Chinese immigrants were welcomed to Canada to work for the Canadian Pacific Railway because of a lack of available Canadian labourers. Many Chinese immigrants planned to bring their families to Canada when they had saved enough money.
  
  

• What were the intended or unintended effects? (What were the consequences for Canadians or on worldviews?)
  
  Because of restrictions and the increasing Chinese head tax, immigration of Chinese decreased. In 1923, a new policy stopped Chinese from coming to Canada.
  
  

Today, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms ensures equality rights. Laws that do not apply to all Canadians are said to be discriminatory.

If you need help with how to analyze cause and effect, read pages 104 and 365 of your textbook, Issues for Canadians. There are other examples of cause and effect available on page 365 of your textbook.

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