Human Rights Law

Supreme Court of Canada Building | Copyright Dominique Clément / Clément Consulting
Landmark court cases in Canada’s human rights history, including early human rights decisions in British Columbia to accompany the book Equality Deferred. The Canadian Human Rights Reporter publishes decisions dating from 1980 for all jurisdictions in Canada.
- Attorney General of Canada v. Lavell 1973.
- Boyer v. The King 1948.
- Chaput v. Romain 1955.
- Christie v. York 1939 [1940].
- Dupond v. City of Montreal 1978.
- GATE v. Vancouver Sun 1979.
- Lamb v. Benoit 1959.
- Noble Wolf v. Alley 1950.
- R v. Dick 1947.
- R v. Drybones.
- R v. Keegstra 1990.
- R v. Lunan 1947.
- R v. Mazerall 1946.
- R v. Mazerall 1946 appeal.
- R v. Smith 1947.
- Robertson and Rosetanni v. The Queen 1963.
- Roncarelli v. Duplessis 1959.
- Saumur v. City of Quebec 1953.
- Switzman v. Elbling 1957.
- Aujla BOI 1978
- Bill v Trailer Sales 1977
- Borho BOI 1975-76
- Bremer v School Board Trustees 1977
- Bremer v Sooke School District 1977
- Caldwell and McLellan BOI 1981
- Carignan v Mastercraft Publications 1979
- Commission v College of Physicians and Surgeons 1976
- Culley v Canadian Pacific Air 1976
- Davies HR Board Decision 1976
- Davies HR Board Decision 1977
- DD v BC Corrections 1976
- Driediger v Peace River Block News 1977
- Felstad Wilson HR Board Decision 1976
- Fields v Willie’s Rendezvous 1984
- Flight Attendants BOI 1976
- Forest Industry BOI 1979
- Forest Industry Supreme Court 1978
- Foster BOI 1979
- Foster Supreme Court 1979
- Garnett BOI 1979
- Garnett HR Board Decision 1978
- GATE HR Board Decision
- GATE v2 HR Board Decision
- Gawne BOI 1979
- Gawne HR Board Decision 1978
- Gay Alliance BOI 1976
- Gibbs HR Board Decision 1978
- Gibbs Teachers Association BOI 1979
- Grafe BOI 1979
- Grafe2 1979
- Heerspinck BOI 1977
- BC Heerspink HR Board Decision 1979
- Holloway v Shop Easy 1982
- HW BOI 1976
- HW v Kroff 1976
- Immigrant Doctors BOI 1976
- Jefferson BOI 1976
- Jefferson Supreme Court 1977
- Jefferson Supreme Court 1979
- Jewsbury BOI 1978
- Jorgensen BOI 1980
- Jorgensen HR Board Decision 1979
- Linton BOI 1978
- Kesterton v Spinning Wheel restaurant 1975
- Khan v Pieschel 1975
- Lopetrone and Bilga v Juan de fuca Hospital 1975
- Mathieson v Maple Ridge Golf 1975
- McCartney v Woodward Stores 1982
- Misty Inc HR Board Decision 1979
- Myszkowski v Min of Transportation 1985
- Nechiporenko HR Board Decision 1975
- Nelson BOI 1978
- Oram v Pho 1975
- Oxouzidis v Chahels 1975
- Regina HR Board Decision 1976
- Ruff BOI 1979
- Ruff HR Board Decision 1978
- Ryan v North Sydney 1975
- Sam BOI 1976
- Sam HR Board Decision 1976
- Strenja HR Board Decision 1981
- Tharp BOI 1976
- Warren BOI 1977
- Yvonne Bil BOI 1977
- Ward vs Canadian National Express 1982
- Zarankin Wessex Inn 1984
- National Human Rights Conference Programme 1958.
- Newfoundland Human Rights Commission decisions 1971-77.
- Newfoundland Human Rights Commission Annual Report 1983.
- Newfoundland Human Rights Commission Annual Report 1986.
- Newfoundland Human Rights Commission Annual Report 1987.
- Newfoundland Human Rights Commission Annual Report 1988.
- Newfoundland Human Rights Commission Annual Report 1989.
- Newfoundland Human Rights Commission Annual Report 1990.
- Newfoundland Human Rights Commission Annual Report 1991.
Further Reading
The following is a survey of the Canadian Bar Review from its inception in 1923 to 1970. The survey is concerned with how often the topic of civil liberties and human rights are the subject of articles or commentary. The survey is based on an examination of the subject titles provided at the beginning of each issue as well as the subject index produced in 1960 that lists those articles dealing with “civil liberties and civil rights”. In some cases it was a full article, and other cases were a brief case commentary.
Civil liberties or human rights were not always the primary subject for framing the article. The term ‘civil liberties’, for instance, was first applied in an article title in 1941. The term ‘human rights’ did not appear until 1948. The 25th anniversary issue of the Canadian Bar Review, published in 1959, did not include a single article on civil liberties. The spike in articles in 1959 reflected debates at the time over the proposed Canadian Bill of Rights. The spike in 1945-1949 was largely a response to the Gouzenko Affair.
In 1923, 1949 and 1954 the dominant issue was race. Some of the key figures involved in the espionage commission were executive members of the Canadian Bar Association including E.K. Williams, Judge James McRuer and Gérald Fauteux. Women’s rights were rarely discussed in the CBR, whereas habeas corpus was the most common rights-issue discussed in the journal. While the journal was technically a national publication, it was predominantly an English-language periodical. The journal rarely carried more than a few articles in French in any given year.
The readings lists available on this site deal with a range of topics from human rights to biographies and specific events.
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- Any use of material or referencing content from HistoryOfRights.ca should be acknowledged by the User and cited as follows:
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- Clément, Dominique. “page title or document title.” Canada’s Human Rights History. www.HistoryOfRights.ca (date accessed).