1914, World War One - Read More

The Great War. In 1914 the Conservative government created the War Measures Act, a law which was to have profound repercussions far beyond the war.

1919, Winnipeg General Strike

The largest work stoppage in Canadian history. The federal government, fearing the radicalism let loose by the strike, reacted by passing draconian laws to suppress political dissent.

1937, Padlock Act - Read More

Maurice Duplessis, Premier of Quebec from the 1930s to the 1950s, was arguably the most repressive political leader in Canadian history. Nothing exemplifies his legacy more than the Padlock Act. This law not only made life miserable for minorities in Quebec, but it inspired the formation of Canada's first civil liberties groups.

1939, World War Two - Read More

The government of Mackenzie King outdid its predecessor from WWI in censorship, internment and limiting human rights. The war sparked fierce debates about how far the state could go in circumventing civil liberties during a crisis.

1940s, Japanese Canadians - Read More

The evacuation of Japanese Canadians from the west coast is one of the most notorious events in Canadian history. And yet, possibly even more significant for the blossoming human rights movement, was the decision to forcibly deport thousands of citizens to Japan.

1946, Espionage Commission - Read More

Historians point to the October Crisis of 1970 as the only time the War Measures Act was applied in peacetime. In reality, it was the second time. A royal commission in 1946 became the focal point for one of the most blatant examples of state repression of human rights in peacetime.

1950s, Supreme Court of Canada and Civil Liberties - Read More

The Supreme Court of Canada was no beacon of hope for human rights activists. By the 1950s the Court continued to legitimate the worst human rights violations by the Canadian state. Suddenly, in the 1950s, the Court began a new chapter in its history.

1959, IWW strike, Newfoundland - Read More

Joey Smallwood, charismatic leader or demagogue, brought Newfoundland into Confederation. He was confronted with one of the most radical movements in the province's history in 1959, and responded with draconian legislation which even his staunchest supporters hesitated to support.

The Sixties - Read More

The Sixties was a period of transformative social change. Political and social protest, economic affluence, technological change and war defined this era. This section offers an overview of developments in Canada and around the world during this tumultuous decade.

1969, Montreal Bylaw 3926 - Read More

The federal and provincial governments are not the only levels of government with the power to suspend fundamental freedoms. Bylaw 3926 is only one example of how municipalities can also place severe restrictions on our most basic rights, such as the right to gather in public places.

1969, White Paper on Indian Policy - Read More

In 1969 Prime Minister Trudeau proposed to abolish Indian status and endow aboriginals with equal citizenship rights. The initiative was fiercely resisted by First Nations peoples across Canada and helped spawn the modern aboriginal rights movement. The white paper on Indian Policy symbolizes the problems inherent in modern conceptions of human rights in a liberal society.

The Seventies - Read More

The end of the Vietnam War, the rise of second wave feminism, economic recession and social unrest characterized the seventies. The optimism of the sixties gave way to the uncertainties of the seventies. This section provides a brief overview of developments in Canada and around the world in the seventies.

Censorship - Read More

One of Canada's most respected Supreme Court jurists, Lyman Duff, emphasized the importance of free speech in a democratic nation in a decision in 1937: “[I]t is axiomatic that the practice of this right to free public discussion of public affairs, notwithstanding its incidental mischiefs, is the breath of life for parliamentary institutions.” And yet, censorship has been prolific in Canadian history.

1970, October Crisis - Read More

In October 1970 terrorists from the Front de libération du Québec kidnapped a British diplomat and a Quebec cabinet minister. The federal government responded by invoking the War Measures Act and suspending the rights of all Canadians.

1970, Report of the Royal Commission on the Status of Women - Read More

Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson reluctantly agreed to appoint a royal commission on the status of women in 1967. The commission's 1970 report invigorated the women's movement and provided a blue-print for state action in the field of women's rights.

1971, Gastown Riot - Read More

In the summer of 1971, thousands of young people gathered in the Gastown suburb of Vancouver to protest the police crackdown on narcotics. The police quickly sent in the riot squad to disperse the crowd and the resulting confusing touched off the worst riot in B.C. history.

Gay Alliance Towards Equality vs the Vancouver Sun - Read More

In 1976 the Vancouver Sun refused to publish a simple advertisement by GATE because the ad could offend the sensibilities of the Sun's readers. The GATE case was the first gay rights case brought before the Supreme Court of Canada.

1976, Montreal Olympics - Read More

The Montreal Olympics is remembered as a proud moment in Canadian sports history. But behind the scenes, and often cloaked behind national security regulations, the Olympics was the pretext for severe rights violations by the state and people intent on profiting from the competition.

1982, Charter of Rights and Freedoms - Read More

Unlike the United States, the Canadian constitution bore no bill of rights at the dawn of the 20th Century. The Charter not only represented the culmination of Canada's rights revolution, but it transformed the relationship between the courts and the legislatures.