Browse "Social Issues"

Women’s movements (or, feminist movements) during the period 1960–85 — often referred to as second-wave feminism — included campaigns in support of peace and disarmament, equality in education and employment, birth control and an end to violence against women.

Women’s movements (or, feminist movements) during the period 1985–present — sometimes referred to as third- or fourth-wave feminism — engaged in multiple campaigns, from employment equity and daycare, to anti-racism and ending poverty and violence against women.

​The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples was a Royal Commission established in 1991 in the wake of the Oka Crisis.

Abortion is the premature ending of a pregnancy. Inducing an abortion was a crime in Canada until 1988, when the Supreme Court of Canada struck down the abortion law as unconstitutional. Since then, abortion has been legal at any stage in a woman's pregnancy, and is publicly funded as a medical procedure under the Canada Health Act. However, access to abortion services differs across the country, and abortion remains one of the most divisive political issues of our time.

Children have been maltreated and exploited throughout history. Evidence even exists that child abuse existed during the prehistoric period. Children have long been considered family property. Fathers in ancient times could sell, mutilate or kill their children.

Sexual abuse of children has been defined in Ontario as abuse that includes "any sexual intercourse, sexual molestation, exhibitionism or sexual exploitation involving a child that could be a violation of the Criminal Code or render the child in need of protection under the Child Welfare Act.

Aging is a continual biological, psychological and social process from infancy to old age. Conventionally, the term narrowly refers to the transition from adulthood to old age. Population aging refers to a decline in relative numbers of young people and an increase in relative numbers of old people.

Illnesses that this infection can produce include a transient disease, developing within several months of exposure. It is characterized by rash, fever, malaise, joint pains and lymphadenopathy (swollen lymph nodes).

Alcoholism is a behaviour pattern characterized by uncontrolled drinking of alcoholic beverages to the extent of impairing health and social functioning.

Canadians use computers in many aspects of their daily lives. Eighty-four per cent of Canadian families have a computer in the home, and many people rely on these devices for work and education. Nearly everyone under the age of 45 uses a computer every day, including mobile phones that are as capable as a laptop or tablet computer. With the widespread use of networked computers facilitated by the Internet, Canadians can purchase products, do their banking, make reservations, share and consume media, communicate and perform many other tasks online. Advancements in computer technologies such as cloud computing, social media, artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things are having a significant impact on Canadian society. While these and other uses of computers offer many benefits, they also present societal challenges related to Internet connectivity, the digital divide, privacy and crime.

Canadian society can be described, at one level, as a complex network of relations among ethnic groups which occupy unequal economic, political and social positions in Canadian society.

"Two nations warring in the bosom of a single state" was Lord Durham's assessment of the relationship between Lower Canada's French Canadian and British Canadian communities in the 1830s.

​Antifeminism is a counter-movement that is opposed to feminism and that seeks to thwart efforts to emancipate women. Antifeminism has evolved in response to advances made by the feminist movement.

Cultural appropriation is the use of a people’s traditional dress, music, cuisine, knowledge and other aspects of their culture, without their approval, by members of a different culture. For Indigenous peoples in Canada, cultural appropriation is rooted in colonization and ongoing oppression. Indigenous peoples have seen culturally significant symbols and motifs used in non-Indigenous goods, marketing and art. They have also seen stereotypical images of “Indians” used in sports logos and the sale of various products.

Until it was amended in 1982 the Criminal Code contained the offence of rape. The offence required proof that a man had sexual intercourse with a woman other than his wife without the woman's consent. It was punishable by up to life imprisonment.

Canada's birthrate ballooned from the end of the Second World War until about 1965, thanks to improving economic conditions and a related trend over the same period toward larger families. The result was a 20-year bulge in the population known as the baby boom, a generation whose demographic influence has shaped Canada's economy and society and continues to do so as its members age and move into retirement.

The Basilian Fathers, or Congregation of St Basil, founded in France in 1822, are now centred in Toronto. They came to Canada in 1850 and in 1852 founded St Michael's College there.

In May 1871, the government of New Brunswick, under George Luther Hatheway, passed the Common Schools Act. This statute provided for free standardized education throughout the province, the establishment of new school districts, the construction of schools, and stricter requirements regarding teaching certificates. This law also made all schools non-denominational, so that the teaching of the Roman Catholic catechism was prohibited.

IT'S AFTER MIDNIGHT and we're cruising slowly along the potholed road that leads to Svay Pak, Phnom Penh's infamous brothel district. It's very dark - there are no street lamps and the only light comes from flickering candles set in small Buddhist shrines on the roadside.

At times, the surroundings must seem grim. The white walls are devoid of decoration, except for a home-made Valentine addressed to "Maman" on the refrigerator, and twin beds are pushed together in the dining-room to create more space.