7.1.1 Balancing Individual Rights
Completion requirements
7.1.1 Balancing Individual Rights
"Canadian Mosaic Wall" Composition and individual photos by Tim Van Horn. Courtesy of http://canadianmosaic.ca/photo
A boy stands in front of Canadian flag made from the portraits of Canadians around the nation.
A boy stands in front of Canadian flag made from the portraits of Canadians around the nation.
Throughout your study of liberalism, you have looked at the key principle of individual rights and freedoms. But what rights are you entitled to? What rights are considered natural or inalienable to all human beings, and what rights are particular to Canadians?
As liberal democracies evolved, the role of government has increased to provide more than simple protection of individual rights to the protection of rights for groups of people, especially minority groups and groups who have traditionally faced discrimination. Groups of people may need their collective rights protected to experience the positive freedoms of modern liberalism.
The photo shows a group of women walking down the street in Ottawa.
As liberal democracies evolved, the role of government has increased to provide more than simple protection of individual rights to the protection of rights for groups of people, especially minority groups and groups who have traditionally faced discrimination. Groups of people may need their collective rights protected to experience the positive freedoms of modern liberalism.
The photo shows a group of women walking down the street in Ottawa.
- What rights and freedoms are experienced by these women?
- What rights do they enjoy in Canada that might be denied to them in other countries?
- What freedoms do they experience today that were not available to them fifty or a hundred years ago?
Today by law, Canadian women have rights equal to men, including voting rights, mobility rights, and freedom of expression, which includes the right to dress as they see fit. In some countries, a woman is not allowed to go out in public dressed in shorts and a sleeveless shirt. In others, the hijab might be outlawed. In some countries, a woman would not be allowed out of her house without the escort of a male relative.
During World War II, US President Franklin Roosevelt identified four freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from fear, and freedom from want. He believed there could be no lasting peace unless people all over the world were guaranteed these freedoms.
Although the first two of his freedoms are part of many constitutions traditionally, the second two demonstrate a move towards modern liberalism in which the government has a role to create positive freedoms that provide people with greater opportunities.
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was written shortly after World War II as a response to the atrocities that were experienced leading up to and during the war. Drafted by Canadian John Humphreys, it was adopted in 1948 and outlines the fundamental rights that all human beings should have. Its principles are followed by nations around the world.
In this section, you will consider the fundamental rights that are guaranteed to individuals through law and custom. You will look at how liberal democracies deal with the need to balance individual and collective rights in a pluralistic society.
How should a liberal society balance individual and collective rights?