Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Enter your email address to follow Social Canada and receive notifications of new posts by email. Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights: Christina Schwarzenegger: Get A Total Recall of…, Charlie Zelenoff: The Crazy Life and Career…, Encore Un Soir: Celine Dion’s Best Selling…, Elisha Cuthbert: Most Frequently Asked Questions About…, Arisa Cox: Biography, Big Brother, A Third…, Amanda Lang: Facts About The Canadian Business Journalist, A Rough Guide to Intellectual Property in Canada. Many Canadian prostitutes are poor women (and to a lesser extent, gay men) who come from some of society’s most marginalized groups, such as drug addicts, refugees, or aboriginal Canadians.

All Right Reserved. Of course, this is just a broad summary. Mr. Peterson faced no charges from falling foul of the Ontario Human Rights Code. In response to increasing Canadian life expectancy, the Canadian government has created various pension programs to ensure Canadians will still have access to a livable income even after they are too old to continue working.
It is still technically illegal to sell or produce obscene material in Canada and the Canadian government often bans the import of specific magazines, books, comics, containing very extreme depictions of sexual violence or perverted sex acts like incest or pedophilia. Siding with Morgentaler, the court ruled the country’s existing abortion regulations represented an unconstitutional burden on the rights of women, and the legal restrictions on the procedure were struck down. More sweeping laws that made it a crime to “expose a person or persons to hatred or contempt” on the basis of identity were abolished in 2014. Given that many Canadians like to focus on how their country is different from the United States, social policy is often seen as a window into the sort of values that make Canada a uniquely progressive country — though it would be a mistake to suggest all social policy is progressive or that progressive social policy has no Canadian critics. More sweeping laws that made it a crime to “expose a person or persons to hatred or contempt” on the basis of identity were abolished in 2014. Numerous studies show First Nations people in Canada are at the bottom of the social, economic scale with high rates of incarceration, poverty, unemployment, suicide, addiction, health issues, and other social problems. 1950), the conservative candidate for prime minister, famously brandished this sign during a televised debate, lest anyone think he was soft on the issue of privatizing health care. 1938) passed the Civil Marriage Act, which redefined marriage as simply a “lawful union of two persons.” The law was opposed and continues to be opposed, by many Christian groups and political conservatives, but in 2016 the Conservative Party formally abandoned its promise to reverse the legislation.

A billboard in downtown Vancouver reminds men of Canada's prostitution laws.
The government maintains a long list of banned guns, mostly semi-automatic rifles, though they can be rented for use in shooting ranges. Despite being execution-free for more than 30 years, public support for executing murderers remains high in Canada, though no Canadian political party officially supports reversing the current ban. Canadians who live in more rural parts of the country, in contrast, usually associate guns with hobbies like hunting, sport shooting and collecting, and see gun control as an undue burden that punishes the otherwise law-abiding. There are two national lotteries in Canada, the Lotto 649 and the Lotto Max, with winners picked every month. The most commonly owned guns in Canada are rifles and shotguns. Canada is usually considered to be a fairly liberal country in terms of the government's permissiveness towards several controversial social issues. Juneteenth Has Come And Gone, But Do You Know These Facts? Abortions in Canada were banned entirely until 1969, and then only permitted under narrow conditions when the mother’s health could be proven to be in danger. In many parts of the country it can be difficult to find doctors willing to perform so-called late term abortions. In 2010, the province of British Columbia went even further and became the first jurisdiction in North America to legalize internet casinos as well. Liquor was associated with all sorts of social ills in early Canada, and at various times during the early 20th century most provinces experimented with banning the sale and production of alcohol in various ways. The freedom to say or write whatever one wants is taken very seriously but the constitutionally-protected right to free expression came into a debate recently: One example of dealing with freedom related social issues in Canada began when the famed psychologist and philosopher Jordan Peterson refused to comply with the proposed C-16 bill. Prior to 2018, Canada’s anti-pot laws were rarely enforced and offenders rarely faced serious punishment, particularly in big cities. Canada’s new prostitution laws, passed in 2014, impose tight regulations on precisely how sex can be sold and advertised — generally as far from public view as possible, and only by the prostitute herself (as opposed to a pimp, madam, or brothel). Welfare is a broad term that basically refers to various forms of financial assistance that are paid by the government to people who, for whatever reason, are not working. Hard drugs like heroin, cocaine, LSD, and meth are all banned in Canada. This refers to the idea of being "Two-Spirited," which is the term some aboriginal Canadian cultures use to describe LGBT-type people. NASW’s goal is twofold: encourage those who can vote to exercise their right and work to eliminate barriers to participation. Tobacco cigarettes are legal for Canadians over 18, but in recent years the government has begun to actively discourage their use, both by banning smoking in all public places and forcing cigarette manufactures to place enormous, disgusting warning labels on all cigarette packages. Owing in part to the pressures of the country’s large Catholic population, abortions in Canada… Laws are set to protect from things they can’t control, such as race, gender, religion, or sexual orientation. Canadians face an uphill struggle when it comes to meeting the demands of an ageing population. Canadians’ attitudes towards same-sex relationships have greatly liberalized over the last couple of decades.

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a section of the Canadian Constitution that makes it illegal for the government of Canada, or any provincial government to pass laws that either explicitly discriminate against certain Canadians on the basis of their identity, or simply place an unfair burden on one group over another. New developments need always to include affordable rental housing to curb the housing crisis. It should be noted that in all these cases gambling services are government-run; it remains illegal in Canada to run a private casino or betting house.

Since 2001, it has been legal for Canadian doctors to prescribe marijuana for medical reasons, and in 2014 the federal government authorized the licensing of private retail distribution of medicinal marijuana — a decision which triggered a dramatic increase of pot shops in urban centres, most of which promote rather hazy definitions of “medically necessary” pot. While "LGBT" remains the most common acronym to describe the community of Canadians with non-traditional sexual and gender identities, some activist groups include the number 2 in the acronym as well (LGBT2). Transgenderism, or being born into a biological sex that does not match one’s psychological gender identity has only very recently become a matter of mainstream attention in Canada, and it remains a topic that is far more controversial and contested than homosexuality.

#MeToo Movement in Canada.