Using the notwithstanding clause as a tool to avoid court challenges over questionable or controversial legislation makes a joke of democracy
Playing the “Cuba card” has allowed for Canada to assert an independent foreign policy from the United States. It’s time to play it again.
Libraries are the battleground in censorship wars; academic freedom and critical thinking are casualties. What does this mean for students?
Canada is acting as a middleman, not a middle power—serving as a conduit for profits from human rights abuses and fossil fuels
The United States is attempting to deliberately trigger a humanitarian crisis in Cuba. Canada must act in concert with regional allies to defy the blockade.
The same party might be in power, but it’s a new era for federal politics in Canada—particularly when it comes to Canada’s relationship with Indigenous peoples. The halls of power no longer echo with speeches in support of Indigenous rights and reconcilliation. Neither do First Nations leaders present headdresses to…
Across the globe, governments are passing anti-LGBTQ+ curriculum laws that curtail queer and gender-inclusive education initiatives, prohibit trans students’ inclusion in sports, and require the use of bathrooms according to sex assigned at birth. Tying these policies together is a common rhetorical theme of “parental rights” that seeks to secure…
Trove of FOI documents sheds new light on lax regulation of troubled Site C dam It was the bureaucratic equivalent of waiting for a box of Timbits and a Double-Double at the Tim Hortons’ drive thru. In the space of just hours on a single day in June 2020, the…
Bill 31 would remove some significant rights from tenants, and hand over more discretionary power to landlords
The Saskatchewan government loves to celebrate treaties.
The practice of raising and educating children, at a moment of seismic social, economic, and political change, has been elevated to new levels of public scrutiny. Political pundits, media personalities, op-ed columnists, school boards, parent-interest groups, and even legislatures have been consumed by debates that (on the surface) concern best…
Andres Musta / Flickr” style=”border-radius:0px;–objectFit:cover;–imagePosX:50%;–imagePosY:50%” decoding=”async” srcset=”https://www.policyalternatives.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/pn_dec2018_GreatNewsForHumanRights-300×133.jpg 300w, https://www.policyalternatives.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/pn_dec2018_GreatNewsForHumanRights-768×341.jpg 768w, https://www.policyalternatives.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/pn_dec2018_GreatNewsForHumanRights.jpg 900w” sizes=”(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px” />On November 27, sixteen years after the previous government abolished it, the BC government passed legislation to bring back the BC Human Rights Commission. Human rights commissions play a vital role in promoting, defending and protecting human rights. Commissions across the country work to prevent abuses by building awareness of…