Human Rights A Day

Manitoba top court rules that English-only laws are unconstitutional.In 1976, Georges Forest was issued a parking ticket in Winnipeg, Manitoba and fined $5. Instead of paying this, he challenged the ticket with documentation in French, and thus began one of Canada’s most contentious debates on the rights of French language outside of Quebec. On April 25, 1979, the Manitoba Court of Appeal agreed with Forest that Manitoba’s English-only aspect of the 1890 Official Languages Act was unconstitutional, as it conflicted with Manitoba’s constitutional guarantees of allowing both French and English in the courts and legislature. The Manitoba Act also stated that all statutes must be printed in both French and English. While the court was unwilling to invalidate all of Manitoba’s laws, which would throw the province into chaos, it did ask the Manitoba government to fix the problem. Years later the NDP government began negotiations with the province’s Francophone community to make Manitoba Canada’s second officially b

Genocide strikes Armenian people.During World War I, the Ottoman Empire (most of that area is now Turkey) worried about a Russian invasion. Ottoman Turks felt threatened by Russia’s support for Ottoman Armenians’ desire for an independent state. They decided to round up, then execute or deport, all of the estimated two million Armenians within their borders. The slaughter began on April 24, 1915. Many Armenians died during forced marches into the deserts of what are now Iraq and Syria. Most of the killings and deportations took place between 1915 and 1917, but reports indicate they continued until 1923. How many were actually killed, and whether the events constituted “genocide,” remain topics of debate. Turkey acknowledges 300,000 dead, but refuses to call it systematic killing or genocide, arguing that not just Armenians were targeted. Armenians themselves say they lost 1.5 million people, and remain horrified that the debate over whether it was genocide continues. After years of debate in Canada, Members o

U.S. President Gerald Ford declares Vietnam War over.The Vietnamese War, a war that defined a generation, was coming to an end in the early 1970s. As casualties mounted, so did pressure on Nixon’s Republican administration. Following Nixon’s resignation, President Gerald Ford and U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger brokered deals with North Vietnamese Foreign Secretary Le Duc Tho in 1972 and 1973, for the return of American prisoners and to allow the South Vietnamese government to stay in some kind of power. As American troops withdrew, however, the NorthVietnamese ignored their promises and sent troops to fill their places. On April 23, 1975, President Gerald Ford gave a speech at Tulane University, New Orleans, in which he said that from an American perspective, the Vietnam War was finished. "Today, Americans can regain the sense of pride that existed before Vietnam. But it cannot be achieved by re-fighting a war." Within days, the North Vietnamese Army took control of most of the South. On April 30th,

U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson starts first Earth Day.Troubled by the state of the environment, U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin convinced U.S. President Kennedy to initiate a five-day, 11-state conservation tour in September 1963. The tour didn’t put the environment on the national agenda, but Nelson didn’t give up. Years later he was so impressed with the impact of teach-ins during the Vietnam War that he decided to copy the idea for the environment. While at a conference in Seattle in September 1969, Nelson announced that a nation-wide grassroots demonstration would take place in the spring of 1970. From that point forward, his senatorial staff couldn’t keep up. The former two-term state governor and three-term U.S. senator knew there was support, but was surprised politicians never took the issue seriously. When the New York Times did a lengthy article about the upcoming event, he knew it would be a success. And what a success it was. This first attempt on April 22, 1970 drew 20 million participants.

David Lam, Canada’s first Chinese Canadian lieutenant governor, retires.David See-Chai Lam was born in Hong Kong in 1923 where, as the grandson of a Baptist minister, he was brought up Christian. Lam received an economics degree from Lingnan University in China and an MBA from Temple University in Philadelphia. While working in banking in Hong Kong, he married his wife Dorothy, with whom they had three daughters. The family immigrated to Canada in 1967 and became Canadian citizens shortly thereafter. After a very successful career in development and investing, Lam turned to philanthropic interests; he and Dorothy bestowed many gifts on educational and community institutions. In 1987, Lam received an honorary doctorate of laws from the University of British Columbia. It was the first of many such university honours. When, on September 8, 1988, Lam was sworn in as British Columbia's 25th lieutenant governor, he became Canada’s first Chinese Canadian to hold the vice-regal post. During his term, Lam urged immigr

Future research scientist Margaret Newton is born.Margaret Newton was born on April 20, 1887 in Montreal, Quebec. Four of the five Newton children, including Margaret, earned a Ph.D in agriculture. Margaret, after attaining her education degree, also took an interest in agriculture and was admitted to Macdonald College, the agricultural faculty for McGill University. There, she successfully petitioned the dean of the college to allow women to use the laboratories at night, even though women students were supposed to be in their residences by 10 p.m. At Macdonald, Newton studied rust diseases suffered by wheat, which were devastating farmers at the time. In 1918, she became the first woman to obtain a degree in agriculture from Macdonald College, and she did so with awards and peer recognition. She spent six months in Saskatoon and six in Minnesota while working on her Ph.D, becoming the first Canadian woman with a doctorate in agricultural science. She worked at the Dominion Rust Research Laboratory in Winnip

Tom Longboat wins Boston Marathon and breaks record by five minutes.In 1999 MacLean’s magazine named Tom Longboat the top Canadian sports figure of the 20th century. Born on the Six Nations Reserve near Brantford, Ontario on June 4, 1887, Thomas “Tom” Longboat was spotted at a young age for his running abilities. In 1906 Longboat broke the Canadian record by two and a half minutes for a ten-mile race in Toronto. He would end up breaking every Canadian record for distances of a mile or longer. On April 19, 1907, not yet 20, Longboat ran the Boston Marathon. In reporting the race, the New York Times referred to “unfavourable conditions” which were in fact rain, sleet and cold winds. For the first five miles Longboat stayed behind the leaders. Then, one by one, he overtook them. He finished with a time of two hours, 24 minutes and 20 seconds, almost five minutes faster than the previous record and more than two and a half minutes ahead of anyone else. Longboat wasn’t able to compete the following year, as he had

Baroness Bertha von Suttner becomes first woman to win Nobel Peace prize.Baroness Bertha Felicie Sophie von Suttner was born into aristocracy and a military family as the Countess Kinsky on June 9, 1843 in Prague. In adulthood, the Baroness moved to Paris to work as Alfred Nobel’s secretary, then to Vienna to marry Baron Arthur Gundaccar von Suttner. To escape her disapproving in-laws, the couple moved again and lived a meagre life, teaching language and music, and writing. Bertha, who became a successful writer, gravitated toward the topic of peace. When she learned of the Arbitration and Peace Association in London, she wrote her second serious book The Machine Age, criticizing the world and the destructive nature of nationalism and armaments. In 1889, she wrote the compelling novel, Lay Down Your Arms, describing the effects of war. This made her a leader of the peace movement, about which she corresponded frequently with her former employer, Nobel. Only when Nobel died did she discover through his will th

Canada’s new constitution puts Charter of Rights and Freedoms into effect.For decades, Canadian politicians who wanted to cut constitutional ties with England made unsuccessful attempts to amend the country’s constitution. After nine short months on the opposition benches of parliament, Pierre Trudeau and his Liberals came back into power in 1980. From that point forward, Trudeau put much of his energy into patriating the constitution once and for all. After much debate and wrangling, the federal government and all provinces except Quebec agreed to a new constitutional amending formula and to a new Charter of Rights and Freedoms which stirred great controversy. Where in the past, Parliament had always had the final say on legislation, the Charter gave Canadian courts the ability to strike down or alter legislation that conflicted with the substance of the constitution. On April 17, 1982, the queen ushered in the new constitution by signing it into law in an historic ceremony on the steps of Ottawa’s House of

David Milgaard, wrongfully convicted for murder, released after 22 years in prison.When 20-year-old Gail Miller was raped and stabbed to death in January 1969 in Saskatoon, a 16-year-old who’d been passing through town at the time, David Milgaard, became a suspect despite his protests of innocence. A year later, he was convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Neither the Saskatchewan Court of Appeal nor the Supreme Court of Canada were willing to reverse the decision, but Joyce Milgaard’s relentless efforts to get her son freed continued. In 1991, under mounting pressure, Justice Minister Kim Campbell directed the Supreme Court of Canada to review Milgaard’s case. The court ordered a new trial that ended up ordering his release. After more than 22 years in prison, Milgaard finally walked away from the Stony Mountain federal penitentiary on April 16, 1992. The Saskatchewan government chose not to re-try Milgaard. Five years later, DNA evidence proved he was not Miller’s killer. Finally, in 1999, La

Former Cambodian dictator Pol Pot dies.Pol Pot was born Saloth Sar on May 19, 1925 in Cambodia. Though he did not graduate from high school, he studied in Paris, where he developed a strong interest in the teachings of Marx and Lenin and linked up with other Cambodians pursuing communism.After returning to Cambodia in 1953, he took a leadership role in the country’s communist parties and by 1963, headed up the Workers’ Party of Kampuchea, later known as the Khmer Rouge. At first, the American government supported the Khmer Rouge, but then worked against it. Between 1969 and 1973, the U.S. secretly carpet-bombed Cambodia, unintentionally enhancing the Khmer Rouge’s appeal among Cambodians. Pot and his party controlled most of the country by 1975, when they began “purifying” the country of capitalism, foreign influence and religion. Millions of people were forceably moved from the cities to live agrarian lives. During Pot’s less than four years in power, between 1.5 and 3 million people died from hard labour, s

U.S. President Abraham Lincoln shot.Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809 in a one-room log cabin on Nolin Creek, Kentucky. Between supporting his family and himself, he found little time for study. But after venturing into business with limited success, he finally found a way to study and then practice law.He delivered his first speech at the age of 21, then poured himself into politics, eventually joining the newly formed Republican Party. On November 6, 1860, Lincoln became the first Republican president of the United States. It wasn’t to be an easy ride; shortly after the election, a number of Southern states seceded from the Union over the issue of slavery, which Lincoln strongly opposed. Just five weeks after Lincoln was sworn in, the American Civil War began on April 12, 1861, causing numerous casualties on both the Union and Confederate sides. The war finally ended April 9, 1865, as General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant. Five days later, on April 14, 1865, while the pre

Sidney Poitier becomes first black male actor to win an Oscar.When Sidney Poitier became the first black man to win an Academy Award for best actor, it was not without controversy. Just for pecking him on the cheek as she presented him with the Oscar on April 13, 1964, actress Ann Bancroft was called scandalous in the U.S. Poitier won the award for his role in the movie Lilies of the Field. In the film, he played construction worker Homer Smith, a man who built a church for a group of nuns. After growing up in poverty in the Bahamas, Poitier moved to New York, only to have difficulty landing acting jobs due to his Bahaman accent. He finally played a doctor alongside Richard Widmark in the 1950 movie, No Way Out. His big break came five years later in The Blackboard Jungle, after which he built a career known for challenging American stereotypes of blacks. His first on-screen inter-racial kiss with actress Katharine Hepburn in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, and his portrayal of a police detective in In the Heat

Terry Fox begins his cross-Canada run for cancer research.Terry Fox was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on July 28, 1958, and raised in Port Coquitlam, B.C. His last year of high school, he shared the Athlete of the Year award with a friend. While studying physical education at Simon Fraser University, he was diagnosed with bone cancer and suffered his right leg being amputated six inches above the knee. Suddenly keenly aware of cancer research’s lack of funds, he made it his mission to raise $1 for every person living in Canada – 24 million at the time. Fox began his “Marathon of Hope” when he dipped his artificial leg into the Atlantic Ocean in Saint John’s, Newfoundland on April 12, 1980.He ran 143 days through six provinces and 5,373 kilometres, only to be forced to end his journey outside Thunder Bay, Ontario, when his cancer spread to his lungs. Shortly after Fox arrived home in B.C. for treatment, Governor General Edward Schreyer flew there to name him the youngest person to become a Companion of the Order

Quebec Premier Godbout grants women the vote.The man who granted Quebec women the right to vote was a former agronomist: Joseph Adélard Godbout, born in Saint-Éloi, Quebec in 1892 and elected to the legislative assembly of Quebec in 1929. After various cabinet portfolios, he became leader of the Liberal Party of Quebec and premier in 1936. A progressive leader, he established Hydro Quebec and brought in free, compulsory education for children aged six to 14. Despite clergy opposition, he fought to break through years of failed attempts to give Quebec women the vote – even threatening to resign if the church did not stop its aggressive campaign against universal suffrage. His Bill 18 finally passed on April 11, 1940. A year later, women were given the chance to vote and run for municipal office. 1944 would be the first year women were actually able to cast their vote in a provincial election. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Nancy Hodges, B.C. MLA, becomes British Empire’s first legislative woman Speaker.Nancy Hodges was born in London, England in 1888, the ninth of 10 children. After university and work as a journalist, she and her husband Harry Hodges moved to Kamloops, B.C. in 1912, where they edited the Inland Sentinel. A few years later they moved to Victoria to work for the Victoria Times. Here, Nancy Hodge’s writing championed women’s causes and she actively involved herself with the Liberal Party. In 1941 she was elected to the B.C. legislature, one of only five women. Hodges was known as a great debater and passionate about women’s issues. She came out against taking away jobs from single women to make way for WW II vets and called for women to be included in workers’ compensation benefits. When she was appointed Speaker of the legislature on April 10, 1950, she made history as the first woman in the British Commonwealth to hold such a position. Her prominent role came with its drawbacks as Hodges noted she would no long

Canadian troops begin battle to reclaim Vimy Ridge in France.On a ridge 12 kilometres northeast of Arras, France, in September 1914, the German Army constructed and fortified a site with bunkers, caves and artillery-proof trenches. Vimy Ridge’s height gave them such good observation powers that attacking forces failed to penetrate it for years. While the Germans destroyed Arras with heavy artillery, French attempts to seize control of the ridge cost them some 150,000 casualties. In early April 1917, British troops commenced heavy artillery fire on the Germans in hopes of wearing them down and influencing them to concentrate defences in the wrong location. Then Canadian troops, which had been practicing to attack the ridge under the command of British General Julian Byng, struck. At dawn on April 9, 1917, four Canadian divisions consisting of 20,000 men attacked Vimy Ridge, recapturing much of it within hours and completing the task within three days. Although the victory came at a cost of 10,602 wounded and 3

Kenya’s future president, Jomo Kenyatta, sentenced to seven years’ hard labour.White Europeans controlled Kenya, like much of Africa, from the early 1900’s onward. (Kenya officially became a British colony in 1920) Tribal resentment of this grew until the country’s Kikuyu tribe launched a secret society and the Mau Mau movement in 1947. Eager to rid their country of the thousands of white settlers who had seized African land after World War II, the Mau Maus utilized such violent tactics that by 1952, the government found it necessary to declare a state of emergency. White authorities arrested hundreds of Mau Mau members, as well as Jomo Kenyatta, an individual whom many historians contend was not involved with the group. But during his trial, Kenyatta refused to denounce the Mau Mau’s actions. On April 8, 1953, he was found guilty and sentenced to seven years’ hard labour. He not only survived this, but two years after his release, became president of the Kenya African Union – and then, in June 1963, the coun

Canada’s first black doctor, Anderson Ruffin Abbott, is born.Wilson Ruffin Abbott and Ellen Toyer lived in Alabama before moving to Toronto, Ontario, where they acquired property and Wilson became active in politics. On April 7, 1837, their son Anderson Ruffin Abbott was born. After excelling at school, the young Abbott graduated from the Toronto School of Medicine in 1857 and continued with studies at the University of Toronto. After studying under a foreign-born black doctor, Alexander Thomas Augusta, Abbott obtained his license from the Medical Board of Upper Canada and became Canada’s first Canadian-born black doctor in 1861.In 1863 he signed on as a medical cadet in a “colored” regiment for the Union Army during the American Civil War, and eventually became a civilian surgeon for the military. He worked at hospitals in Washington, D.C., receiving high praise for his work. In April 1865, when President Abraham Lincoln was shot, Abbott was on duty, and tended to him as he died. In gratitude, Mary Todd Linc

Oscar Wilde arrested for sodomy and gross indecency.Renowned poet Oscar Fingal O’Flahertie Wills Wilde was born on October 16, 1854 in Dublin, Ireland. An avid and award-winning scholar, he excelled especially in classics and poetry. After graduating from Oxford, Wilde moved to London, where he published his first collection of poetry. Throughout 1882, he toured the United States, delivering lectures on aesthetics and meeting with such famous writers as Longfellow, Holmes and Whitman. After touring Britain and Ireland, Wilde married Constance Lloyd in 1884; they had two sons over the next two years. Shortly thereafter, Wilde created some of his most noted works, including children’s stories and his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray. Although the novel’s homoerotic nature garnered Wilde negative attention, he went on to establish himself as a playwright with highly acclaimed and financially successful plays such as An Ideal Husband and The Importance of Being Earnest. When Wilde met Lord Alfred “Bosie” Do