At
147 years Canada stands amongst nations of the world as a teenager,
its future shining with an abundance of hope and promise. We have
not known anguish or struggle over ideology, setting brother against
brother as have our neighbours. Nor have we been exposed to the terror of
invasion by foreigners as those lands from which many Canadians find
a link through ancestry. Our growth and gradual maturity has been
peaceful, built on discussion and debate rather than anger or
violence.
Although
our past has travelled down roads of peace we had not ignored the
call for help from others. The two great wars saw Canadians proud
and strong standing alongside other nations willing to sacrifice life
for the ideals of freedom and dignity. More recently our brave men
and women travelled to lands where democracy and freedom as daily
concepts had no existence or chance of practice. So it can't be said
that in our youth we have not known sacrifice or experienced the pain
of loss.
No
Canadian had known how it would feel to wear the yoke of slavery.
Individual freedom has been an almost presumed code of existence.
Yet another form of slavery had not escaped our society, and we still
deal with it today. The notion that race, religion or gender can be
identifying marks may seem repulsive to many yet those marks still
exist.
Although
Canadians had not taken part in the horrors of slavery and willingly
opened their doors to those brave enough to travel the dangerous road
toward freedom, we still fought with the notion of branding. Five
courageous women, Emily Murphy, Irene Parlby, Nellie McClung, Louis
McKinney and Henrietta Muir Edwards, later to be known as The
Famous Five, dared to question
the ideal that a person was not a person, unless he was a man.
These
five Canadian women asked the Supreme Court of Canada to answer the
question, “Does the word 'Persons' in Section 24 of the
British North America Act, 1867, include female persons,” in
the case Edwards v. Canada (Attorney General). The Supreme Court on
the 24th
of April in 1928 summarised its unanimous decision that women were
not such “persons.” Later on October 18th
1929 the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council overturned
the judgement. What these five courageous women did brought about
change in the Canadian judicial approach to the Canadian constitution
that has come to be known as the “living
tree doctrine.”
As
it came to be known the “Persons' Case” also had important
ramifications for women's rights and women had never stopped
demanding equality. From women's rights to human rights Canada has
found individuals willing to stand against the flow and dare to
provide reasons to change. John Peters Humphrey authored the first
draft of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and on December
10th 1948 the General Assembly unanimously adopted the
declaration.
All
of humanity had witnessed the horror of war and the unspeakable
atrocities committed by man against man. It was not only a time for
healing, it was a time for change. Mrs. Roosevelt dubbed the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights as the “International
Magna Carta of all mankind.” In 1882 Canada adopted its own
legal framework to protect and defend basic human rights of all
Canadians with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Canadians
have been willing to show that change is the nature of humanity and
we have provided examples of true pride in our past. Yet it is the
future that has to be thought about, as our recent past has not had
the same dignity. Our true independence relies on the dependance
on all Canadians. We still have to deal with big issues in
relation to equality of all, but as individuals it is our home base
that holds the true relevance to each of us.
It
is on that level that we need to care enough to stand up for the
ideals expressed by the few courageous individuals in our past.
There are weaknesses of the human spirit that cannot be eradicated on
the whole but to simply accept that fact and do nothing about it is
simple cowardice. Environmental issues, although clouded at times,
are very real and not simply play things for hippy activists. If we
are not willing to care for the soil we walk on, the air we need to
breathe or the water that sustains all life today then what are we
handing down to our children and grandchildren?
Accepting
things simply because fear of raising one's voice is too great to
overcome will only in the end bring about an erosion of individual
freedom. In St. Catharines, Ontario self-imposed censorship has
reached a level where greed and corruption are the true masters of
the future. It is easy to claim that one individual, any one
individual, cannot bring about change. Yet looking at a crowd what
do you see, it is a gathering of single individuals willing to stand
together for an ideal.
Whether
we remember the Famous Five who stood against all that was
accepted in their time, or remember the eloquence of thought of
someone like John Peters Humphrey, it is the individual human spirit
that is worth celebrating. Mary Ann Shadd, editor of The
Provincial Freeman first printed in March 1853, provided a motto
for her life, her work and the reason behind her courage,
“Self-reliance is the true road to independence.” As we
celebrate Canada Day these words need to be held tightly to our
spirit. It is the individual who is part of a whole that provides
strength to the whole. Our future depends on each of us, and each of
us are equally responsible for our combined future.
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