Human Rights A Day

John Lennon’s comments get Beatle records banned in South Africa. Sometimes artists joined governments and human rights organizations in pressuring the South African government to end its apartheid system which legally denied basic rights to blacks. But on August 3, 1966, South Africa decided the Beatles had gone too far. First, the popular British rock and roll band had revealed that it would not tour South Africa until the country lifted apartheid. Then, referring to his band, singer John Lennon told the British Evening Standard, “We’re more popular than Jesus.” Offended government officials banned Beatles records in South Africa for five years. Apartheid, on the other hand, survived another three decades. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Commonwealth foreign ministers join festival seeking to end apartheid. Canada was actively involved in proposing sanctions against South Africa for its apartheid system, which legally denied basic rights to blacks. As a member of the British Commonwealth, Canada also sought to lead a unified front that would persuade South Africa to change its laws. Canada supported changes that would allow the black majority to vote and enjoy the same freedoms as South Africa’s white population. On August 2, 1988, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Joe Clark and six other Commonwealth foreign ministers joined 3,000 people at the Rekindle the Light Festival on Toronto’s harbourfront. There, they lit candles to symbolize “lighting the way out of apartheid.” Six years later, their aims became reality as black South Africans were granted equal rights, including the ability to vote. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Métis leader Louis Riel found guilty of treason. Louis Riel was born in the Red River settlement of St. Boniface on October 22, 1844. The young Métis returned there in 1868 after studies in Montreal. Due to his education and determination, Riel soon found himself in a leadership position for Métis people. He headed up a provisional government in 1869 which lead to the creation of the Manitoba Act and the territory as a Canadian province. However, after his involvement with the Red River Uprising, and with a $5,000 bounty on his head, Riel went into exile in the United States in 1870. He returned to Manitoba and was elected to the Parliament of Canada in 1873 and 1874, only to be expelled from the House of Commons by his fellow MPs. He was banished from Canada in 1875 for five years. Nine years later a group of Metis from Saskatchewan asked Riel to come back to Canada to help them with their grievances with Ottawa. Riel and the Metis were mostly ignored, so Riel created a provisional government in Saskatchewan

Hermann Goering initiates “final solution” plan for Europe’s “Jewish question.” Under Nazi control, the Jews of Europe suffered increasing hardship. Many were enslaved and killed, but Hitler’s ultimate plan was to eliminate them altogether. On July 31, 1941, Hitler’s No. 2 man, Herman Goering, instructed Reinhard Heydrich, second in importance to Heinrich Himmler in the Nazi SS and known as "The Blond Beast" or "Hangman Heydrich”, to create and carry out a plan to do so. He called it the “final solution” of the “Jewish question” in the German sphere of influence in Europe. German ministries cooperated fully, uprooting and deporting Jews to extermination camps in the east. Before the war ended, the Germans had exterminated at least 13 million people. Of those, approximately six million were Jews, which was approximately 65% of Europe’s Jewish population at the time. Of those six million Jews, about 1.5 million were children. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Preferential treatment of married men violates human rights, says Ontario court. It’s not easy persuading senior employees with families to work in remote job locations, but three engineering and consulting companies referred to as “London Monenco” engaged in a joint venture at the Ontario Hydro Generating Station Project at Atikokan, Ontario thought they had a solution. Married employees, the company announced in the early 1980s, would be allowed paid flights home every three weeks. The decision didn’t wash with single employees, of course. So Thomas Geiger, an engineer, and Bob Barboutsis, an architectural planner, filed a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Commission in 1984, saying they were discriminated against based on their marital status. They lost at the commission and the Ontario Divisional Court, but on July 30, 1992, the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that the policy violated the human rights code, and sent the case back to the Human Rights Commission to assess damages. Unmarried employees no

International criminal court investigates Ugandan atrocities. The Republic of Uganda in east Africa has been affected by the violence of military dictatorships of one kind or another since its independence from Britain in 1962. The most infamous of all is Idi Amin Dada who came to power during a military coup in 1971. His reign of terror involved wide-spread murder, horrible abuses of human rights and the expulsion of tens of thousands of Asian residents. During a period of three months, Canada took in more than 4,400 who held British passports. After Amin fled in 1979, leading to further coups and leadership changes, President Yoweri Museveni came to power in Uganda in 1986. Although Museveni introduced democratic reforms and improved the country's human rights record, he has been unable to stop the war in northern Uganda, run by the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels. The LRA’s leader, Joseph Kony, believes himself to be semi-divine. During LRA’s reign of terror, soldiers have slaughtered tens of thousands of p

Nova Scotia governor orders French-speaking Acadians deported. French people first landed in Acadia – later to become Nova Scotia – in 1604. In 1713, the English took control of the territory under the Treaty of Utrecht. Many French citizens left rather than pledge allegiance to the British Crown. Those who stayed suffered many forms of discrimination under the English, who disliked their religious and cultural practices. The new leaders denied French-speaking Acadians title to their land and access to any further land. Then, fearing they might join with the Mi'kmaq Indians and take up arms against the British, Nova Scotia Governor Charles Lawrence decided to rid the region of Acadians altogether. On July 28, 1755, Lawrence and his council ordered their removal. Over a period of eight years, officials packed some 11,000 of the estimated 15,000 Acadian population into ship holds and sent them to unknown locations. Many families were split apart, never to see one another again. Today, most of Atlantic Canada’s

Anti-segregation protests get Martin Luther King Jr. arrested in Georgia. Future Nobel prize winner Martin Luther King Jr. was born on January 15, 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. His work as a Baptist preacher and civil rights activist forced the United States to change many of its racist laws and practices. His strategy of peaceful, non-violent direct action gave hope to many blacks and poor people. He urged citizens to stand up against injustice and prejudice, even when it meant a personal sacrifice. But he asked nothing of others that he didn’t ask of himself. He was arrested 30 times during anti-segregation marches and demonstrations. For example, on July 27, 1962, King was arrested and jailed in Albany, Georgia for failing to obey a police officer, obstructing the sidewalk and disorderly conduct. He had numerous offers for bail but he wanted to serve his sentence which helped keep the public’s attention on the cause through protest marches and publicity. He was released with a suspended sentence on August 10.

Mi’kmaq leader Alexander Denny is born. Alexander Denny was born July 26, 1940 on the Eskasoni reserve of Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, where he became an elder, activist and teacher of his people. At the age of 28, he was kji-keptin (grand captain) of the Mi'kmaq, and at 34, and again at 53, he served two-year terms as president of the Union of Nova Scotia Indians. Denny helped enshrine treaty rights for his people through a court challenge that, following many defeats, ended up in the Supreme Court of Canada. In 1985, the court found that the Treaty of 1752 between the governor of Nova Scotia and the chief of the Mi'kmaq Indians was still in effect, which meant the Mi'kmaqs’ hunting and fishing rights (among others) took precedence over provincial laws. Denny, perhaps reflecting on the stubborn persistence that helped push the case to the top court, joked, "I'm a pain in the ass for everyone who has a look at me." During his life, Denny traveled the world, educating others about the rights of the Mi'kmaq

Italian king arrests Benito Mussolini. On October 31, 1922, Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini became Italy’s youngest prime minister. King Victor Emmanuel III appointed him to prevent civil war between right-wing fascists and left-wing communists. But Mussolini’s fascist government ruled by fear and propaganda. After making a pact of friendship with Germany’s Adolph Hitler, Mussolini began annexing countries in the same manner as Hitler. Early into World War II, he decided the Nazis were likely to win, so in 1940, Mussolini declared war on England. He later expanded this to the Soviet Union and United States, only to be defeated at the hands of the Allies. On July 25, 1943, Mussolini was deposed. The fascist high council turned on him and the king stripped Mussolini of his powers. He was arrested and sent to prison. Although released by German soldiers, he was captured and shot to death in 1944 as he tried to flee to Switzerland. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

French President Charles de Gaulle shouts “Vivre le Quebec libre!” in Montreal. In 1967, Canadian Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson invited French President Charles de Gaulle to Canada on a journey that would include many stops and the usual diplomatic fanfare. On July 24, 1967, as de Gaulle was delivering a speech at Expo 67 in Montreal, he shouted “Vivre le Quebec libre!” The message, meaning “long live free Quebec,” prompted roars of approval from the crowd, but condemnation throughout the country. Given the growing concerns about Canadian French separatism at the time, Prime Minister Pearson decided to issue a response on television and radio. Canadians, he said, do not need to be liberated. In retaliation, de Gaulle pulled out of the trip, refusing even to show up for a state dinner with the prime minister the next day. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ship defying discriminatory Canadian immigration law turned back. The first East Indians to enter Canada suffered hardship and racism sharpened by a concerted effort to keep them out. In 1910, the Canadian Parliament enacted the “continuous journey provision” of the Immigration Act, specifying that only immigrants who had traveled from their place of origin to Canada on one non-stop boat trip, could enter the country as new immigrants. Clearly, this was possible from Europe but not India; the legislation was designed specifically to exclude immigrants from India. In 1914, Gurdit Singh chartered a boat, the Komagata Maru, to challenge the discriminatory laws. Among the 376 passengers were 340 Sikhs, 12 Hindus and 24 Muslims from India. The ship departed from Hong Kong and stopped in Japan before entering Vancouver’s harbour on May 23, 1914. Authorities detained the ship for two months as legal wranglings took place. In the end, they allowed only 24 aboard to stay. A military escort forced the ship and the rest

Ontario Court of Appeal grants citizenship to Dutch atheists Ernest and Cornelia Bergsma. Dutch immigrants Ernest and Cornelia Bergsma had been living in Canada for nine years when they applied to become Canadian citizens. At their hearing, the judge told them that Canada was a Christian country and asked them if they believed in God. When Ernest answered “I don’t,” the judge refused them citizenship. He felt that the oath of allegiance to Canada and its queen – an oath that ends with “so help me God” – was meaningless if citizens did not follow a religion. The judge said, “The things that we believe in in this country stand for Christianity – being honest and being kind – believing in Christ's teachings.” The Bergsmas challenged the judge’s decision successfully. On July 22, 1965, the Ontario Court of Appeal ordered the citizenship court to grant the Bergsmas certificates of citizenship, as they had been denied them solely for their lack of religious beliefs. The court ruled that honest citizens unwilling to

Ceylon introduces world’s first woman prime minister, Sirima Bandaranaike. When Ceylon’s prime minister was assassinated in 1959, his wife Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike took the helm of her husband’s political party. That made the 42-year-old widow the world’s first woman prime minister, a duty she accepted officially on July 21, 1960. Bandaranaike overhauled the country’s constitution and changed her nation’s name to Sri Lanka. Her leadership caused much turmoil, especially policies leading to the improper treatment of the country’s minority Hindu Tamils. Through voter manipulation and the scapegoating of the Tamils, Bandaranaike stayed in power for decades. She died of a heart attack on October 10, 2000. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Rita Johnson becomes Canada's first woman premier. Rita Johnston was born in Melville, Saskatchewan on April 22, 1935. After moving to Surrey, British Columbia, she and her husband operated a mobile home park and became actively involved in the Chamber of Commerce. From there, Johnston got involved in municipal politics, where she sat as a city councillor from 1969 until 1983, with one failed attempt at the mayorship in 1975. In 1983, Bill Vander Zalm, who would eventually become B.C.’s premier, resigned from provincial politics. Johnston was elected into Vander Zalm’s former riding of Surrey-Newton, where she served as the Social Credit MLA for eight years before becoming a parliamentary secretary. When Vander Zalm returned to politics as premier in 1986, Johnston was sworn into cabinet. She served in a number of portfolios, eventually becoming deputy premier in 1990. When Vander Zalm resigned over a political scandal in 1991, Johnston was ensconced as interim leader of her party, and therefore premier of th

Rwanda forms new, multi-ethnic government in wake of slaughter. When the Dutch colonized Rwanda in 1916, they favoured the minority Tutsis over the majority Hutus, giving the Tutsis better jobs and educational opportunities. This created such resentment among the Hutus that when the Dutch granted Rwanda independence in 1962, they seized control of the government and blamed all the country’s problems on the Tutsis. On April 6, 1994, Rwanda’s Hutu president, Juvenal Habyarimana, was killed along with Burundi’s president when their plane was shot down. The presidential guard blamed the Tutsis and called for Hutus to take revenge. Insurgents killed Opposition politicians, including moderate Hutus. The UN withdrew its troops after 10 of its soldiers were killed. Within 100 days, 800,000 Rwandans, mostly Tutsis, had been slaughtered; another two million had fled the country. When aid workers and UN soldiers returned, the country formed a multi-ethnic transitional government on July 19, 1994. The new Hutu president,

Canada accepts immigration of 50,000 Vietnamese “boat people.” Two years after the Vietnam war ended, the country’s communist government began stripping the rights of its ethnic Chinese citizens. Hundreds of thousands of them fled any way they could. Those who traveled by boat often landed on the shores of China and other Southeast Asian countries. International pressure mounted for Western countries to admit more of these “boat people,” prompting Canadians to apply pressure on their own leaders. On July 18, 1979, Prime Minister Joe Clark’s Progressive Conservative government announced that Canada would accept 50,000 of these refugees by the end of 1980. In the end, more than 60,000 were allowed to make Canada their new home. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Jailed youths in Toronto subjected to “cruel and unusual” conditions, court rules. On April 19, 1990, an incident took place at a holding cell in Toronto, Ontario that resulted in three youths being charged with mischief. As was normal procedure, they were transferred from the York Detention Centre to smaller cells in the Jarvis facility to await the completion of their court process. But when they came before Judge King of the Ontario Provincial Court, he stayed (dismissed) the charges for an unusual reason at the time. He referred to the Jarvis cells as “hot and dirty, with no fresh air or air flow and permeated by a putrid smell,” and ruled that the three had been “degraded, humiliated and treated indecently” during their stay. Thus, his ruling on July 17, 1991 declared that their rights under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms had been violated. As per section 12 of the charter, they’d been subjected to cruel and unusual treatment that was “grossly disproportionate” to what was required. The case

Emily Howard Stowe becomes Canada’s first licensed woman doctor. Emily Stowe was born in Norwich, Ontario in 1831 to parents of the Quaker faith who believed strongly in the equality of men and women. So, even though it was unusual for a woman at the time, Stowe set her sights on studying medicine after she had married and had three children. Since the University of Toronto would not admit women, she went to New York and graduated in 1867. When she was denied a license to practice medicine in Canada on the basis of not having graduated from a Canadian school, she established a respectable practice in Toronto anyway, catering mostly to women and children. Finally, on July 16, 1880, Toronto’s Council of the College of Physicians and Surgeons granted Stowe her medical license. Three years later, Stowe helped found the Ontario Medical College for Women, which later became Women's College Hospital. In 1981, she was honoured with a postage stamp for her tireless work to promote equality for men and women. She died

Harry Jerome sets world record for 100 metre race in Saskatoon. Henry “Harry” Winston Jerome was born on September 30, 1940 in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. When he was 12, his family moved to North Vancouver where, as a black family, they were met with a petition aiming to remove them from the neighbourhood. After moving to a more hospitable neighbourhood, Jerome excelled as a sprinter in school, soon being coached at the University of Oregon by famed coach and Nike co-founder Bill Bowerman. At the age of 19 on July 15, 1960, while in Saskatoon for the Olympic trials, Jerome ran the 100 metres in 10.0 seconds, becoming Canada’s first to hold a world track record. He competed for Canada in the 1960 Olympics, but suffered an injury. That same year, Jerome ran the 100 yards in 9.2 seconds, becoming the first man to share the world 100-yard and 100-metre records. When he suffered a severe muscle injury at the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth, Australia, he didn’t know if he’d be able to run again. Yet at the 1964