Freedom in the World 2009 - Canada
|Publication Date||16 July 2009|
|Cite as||Freedom House, Freedom in the World 2009 - Canada, 16 July 2009, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/4a6452c723.html [accessed 3 June 2015]|
|Disclaimer||This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.|
Political Rights Score: 1
Civil Liberties Score: 1
The Conservatives scored gains in Canada's national elections in October 2008, though the margin of victory fell short of a majority. Prime Minister Stephen Harper suspended Parliament in December, thereby postponing a vote of confidence that his Conservative government was likely to lose. The country also continued to face controversies over freedom of expression during the year with the investigation of journalists who had written commentaries critical of Muslims and minority groups.
Colonized by French and British settlers in the 17th and 18th centuries, Canada was secured by the British Crown under the terms of the Treaty of Paris in 1763. After granting home rule in 1867, Britain retained a theoretical right to override the Canadian Parliament until 1982, when Canadians established complete control over their own constitution.
After a dozen years of center-left Liberal Party rule, the Conservative Party emerged from the 2006 parliamentary elections with a plurality and established a fragile minority government. The Conservatives' status was weakened, however, in 2007 by setbacks in several provincial elections, most notably in Ontario. The Conservative provincial government there had advocated expanding state assistance for religious schools to include a variety of faiths; state aid had long been restricted to schools operated by the Roman Catholic Church. The electorate apparently rejected the proposal, dealing the Conservatives a major blow at the polls.
The Conservative Party rebounded in October 2008 national elections, gaining 19 seats in Parliament for a total of 143, although the margin of victory still fell short of a majority. The Liberal Party, the principal opposition party, lost 26 seats for a total of 77. The Liberals subsequently formed an alliance with the social democratic New Democratic Party (NDP) and the Quebec-based Bloc Quebecois, in an attempt to displace the Conservatives with a coalition government. Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the leader of the Conservative Party, suspended Parliament in December to prevent a confidence vote, which his government was likely to lose.
Meanwhile, advocates of press freedom and freedom of expression have grown increasingly concerned over legal cases filed against journalists who wrote critically about Muslims and Islam, as well as other minority groups. In one case, four Muslim law students filed a grievance in 2006 against Mark Steyn, a columnist, and Maclean's, a prominent magazine, in response to a 2006 article featuring the argument that Muslims would eventually dominate the world due to current demographic trends. In another case, charges were brought by a Muslim leader in February 2006 against the publisher of the Western Standard after the newspaper republished controversial Danish cartoons that had lampooned the prophet Muhammad. The federal human rights commission also began proceedings in October 2008 against Jim Pankiw, a former member of parliament from Saskatchewan, for material he had included in mailings to constituents that was allegedly offensive to indigenous Canadians. Journalists' associations and press freedom organizations have argued that the willingness of government entities to give such complaints a hearing could send disturbing signals about the freedom to publish articles on certain contentious subjects.
Since the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Canada has struggled to find a balance between ensuring the country's security and safeguarding civil liberties. A number of laws adopted soon after the 2001 attacks have been modified or struck down by the courts. While Canada itself has not been the victim of a terrorist attack in recent years, Canadian citizens have been arrested in the United States and elsewhere on charges of conspiring to commit such attacks. In May 2008 the Supreme Court determined that the United States violated the rights of Omar Khadr, a Canadian who had been held at the Guantanamo Bay prison facility since the age of 15. The court rebuked the Canadian government for having allowed its intelligence agents to interview Khadr and share information with U.S. officials. In October 2008 an inquiry led by a former Supreme Court justice found that Canadian officials had acted improperly by providing inflammatory information to the United States about three Canadian citizens. The three, all Muslims, were detained and tortured during visits to Syria.
Debate intensified in 2007 over Canadian troops' participation in a NATO-led mission to fight a resurgent Taliban militia in Afghanistan. Canadian forces have suffered a number of casualties during the conflict, and critics noted that Canada's troops were fighting in Afghanistan's volatile southern provinces while a number of other NATO countries restricted their forces to noncombat missions in the relatively peaceful north. In January 2008, the government announced its intention to extend its mission in Afghanistan to 2011, but added a condition that the commitment would be fulfilled only if at least one other NATO country assigned 1,000 or more troops to the violent province of Kandahar. The policy was endorsed in a parliamentary vote, with the support of the Liberal opposition but not other opposition parties.
Political Rights and Civil Liberties
Canada is an electoral democracy. The country is governed by a prime minister, a cabinet, and Parliament, which consists of an elected 308-member House of Commons and an appointed 105-member Senate. Senators may serve until age 75, and elections for the lower house have been held at least every five years. However, a law enacted in 2007 stipulated that lower-house elections would be held every four years, with early elections called only if the government lost a parliamentary no-confidence vote. The British monarch remains head of state, represented by a ceremonial governor-general who is appointed on the advice of the prime minister. As a result of government canvassing, Canada has nearly 100 percent voter registration. Prisoners have the right to vote in federal elections, as do citizens who have lived abroad for fewer than five years. However, voter turnout in the 2008 election, at 60 percent, was one of the lowest in Canadian history. Political parties operate freely. The main parties are the Conservative Party, the Liberal Party, the Bloc Quebecois, and the NDP.
Civil liberties have been protected since 1982 by the federal Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but are limited by the constitutional "notwithstanding" clause, which permits provincial governments to exempt themselves with respect to individual provisions in their jurisdictions. Quebec has used the clause to retain its provincial language law, which restricts the use of languages other than French on signs. The provincial governments exercise significant autonomy.
In 2004, the Supreme Court upheld legislation that places a limit on the amount lobbying groups can spend on advertisements that support or oppose political candidates, a measure designed to prevent corruption. While Canada has a reputation for vigorous prosecution of corruption involving public officials, the country has endured several high-profile scandals in recent years. Nonetheless, Canada is regarded as a society with a low level of official corruption. Canada was ranked 9 out of 180 countries surveyed in Transparency International's 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index, the best ranking among countries in the Americas.
The media are generally free, although they exercise self-censorship in areas such as violence on television, and there is concern that this tendency may also apply to coverage of the country's minority groups, especially Muslims. Limitations on freedom of expression range from unevenly enforced "hate laws" and restrictions on pornography to rules on reporting. Some civil libertarians have expressed concern over an amendment to the criminal code that gives judges wide latitude in determining what constitutes hate speech on the internet. Nevertheless, recent judicial decisions have restricted the authority of the government to demand that reporters turn over their research materials and interview notes or reveal the identity of confidential sources. In recent years, press freedom advocates have expressed concern over legal cases filed against journalists who wrote critically about Muslims and Islam.
There is a high degree of media concentration. In 2008, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission set forth a new policy designed to lessen excess concentration. Critics, however, complained that the regulations would have little impact on media concentration because they did not deal with media mergers that had already been put into effect.
Religious expression is free and diverse. Academic freedom is respected.
Freedom of assembly is respected, and many political and quasi-political organizations function freely. Trade unions and business associations enjoy high levels of membership and are free and well organized.
The judiciary is independent. Recently, critics have complained that the judiciary has become overly activist, issuing decisions that effectively usurp the powers of the legislature. Canada's criminal law is based on legislation enacted by Parliament; its tort and contract law is based on English common law, with the exception of Quebec, where it is based on the French civil code. While Canada's crime rate is low by regional standards, it has experienced a growing problem from the growth of criminal gangs, often involved in the illegal drug trade.
Canada maintains relatively liberal immigration policies. However, concern has mounted over the possible entry into Canada of immigrants involved in terrorist missions. The 2002 Immigration and Refugee Protection Act seeks to continue the tradition of liberal immigration by providing additional protection for refugees while making it more difficult for potential terrorists, people involved in organized crime, and war criminals to enter the country. Some officials have also raised questions about Canada's rules allowing immigrants to maintain dual citizenship. About 10 percent of foreign-born Canadians hold passports from another country, leading critics to charge that some immigrants use Canadian citizenship primarily as a safety net while maintaining principal loyalty to their country of origin. Others have objected more broadly to Canada's policies of multiculturalism in education, law, and social life. At the same time, defenders of immigrant rights have complained of policies that favor potential immigrants with higher levels of skills and academic credentials over those who come from more impoverished backgrounds.
The authorities have taken important steps to protect the rights of native groups, although some contend that indigenous people remain subject to discrimination. Indigenous groups continue to lag badly on practically every social indicator, including those for education, health, and unemployment. There are frequent controversies over control of land in various provinces.
The country boasts a generous welfare system that supplements the largely open, competitive economy.
Women's rights are protected in law and practice. Women have made major gains in the economy and are well represented in such professions as medicine and law. Following the October 2008 election, women held 22 percent of seats in parliament. However, women's rights advocates report high rates of violence against women in indigenous communities. Canada in 2005 became one of the few countries in the world to legalize same-sex marriage.