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Balancing Competing Human Rights Claims in a Diverse Society

Institutions, Policy, Principles

Editors

Shaheen Azmi, Lorne Foster, Lesley Jacobs

ISBN

9781552213117

Publication Date

30/11/2012

Format

Paperback

Page Extent

484

Publisher

AUD $69.90 gst included

SKU: 9781552213117 Category: Tag:

As societies around the world embrace diversity, certain challenges and tensions have become visible that were not fully anticipated. In particular the practice of human rights has become increasingly complex in Canada and other diverse societies because more and more often the claim to a right of one individual or group directly affects the claim to the human rights of another group. The challenge of balancing these competing human rights claims is the focus of this book. Beginning in 2005, the Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) began a process to develop the first policy in Canada to address competing human rights claims. This policy development included extensive consultation with the public, academics, human rights commissions elsewhere in the country, and stakeholders in the human rights community in Ontario. These efforts resulted in a policy for Ontario which was released in April 2012. Part One of this book presents this policy and a series of chapters that provide instructive background for the development of the policy. Part Two broadens the scope of the discussion by exploring broad principles at stake when human rights compete.

Editors’ Introduction

Shaheen Azmi, Lorne Foster, Lesley Jacobs
Part 1: Institutions and Policy
Policy on Competing Human Rights
Ontario Human Rights Commission
Addressing Competing Human Rights Claims: The Policy Approach of the Ontario Human Rights Commission
Shaheen Azmi
Oil and Vinegar: Resolving Conflicting Rights under the Charter and Ontario’s Human Rights Code
Janet Epp Buckingham
The Attack on Human Rights Commissions
Richard Moon
Societal Perspectives in Competing Rights Policy: Law Reform Agencies and Consulting with Communities
Patricia Hughes
Competing Human Rights Claims during Tribunal Procedures
Gary Yee
Part 2: Principles and Applications
Sidewalk Stories: Sites of Encounter and Coexistence
Shauna Van Praagh
Framing Competing Human Rights Claims: The Promise of Shared Social Citizenship
Lorne Foster and Lesley Jacobs
Reaching Equilibrium between Conflicting Rights
Errol P Mendes
The Reconciliation of Legal Rights
Patricia Hughes
Balancing Conflicting Rights: Towards an Analytical Framework
BJ Wray
Sexual Orientation and Religion in Canada: Litigation and Beyond
Miriam Smith
Fairness and the Freedom of Religion: Diversity and Pluralism in the Public Sphere
Iain T Benson
Competing Rights in Context: The Rights of Persons with Disabilities
Lauren Bates
Regulating Hate Speech in Canada
Richard Moon
Toleration and the Reconciliation of Conflicting Rights
Stephen L Newman