Human Rights Commission Tag

12 Feb 2013 Born Alive, Left to Die and the Mainstream Media Turns a Blind Eye

André Schutten - February 1, 2013 - (update appended, February 12, 2013) - Last week marked a new low for Canadian journalism. Three Members of Parliament were made aware of a credible allegation of 491 homicides. They sent a request to the RCMP to investigate. After they issued a press release, the Canadian Press turned the story about multiple homicides into a headline about abortion. For example, the National Post simply ran the Canadian Press story with this headline: Three Tory MPs want police to investigate abortions after 19 weeks as homicides. I read the news release from the three MPs. There is nothing in the release suggesting that the MPs were asking the RCMP to investigate abortions. They called specifically for a criminal investigation into the deaths of children already born - babies born alive and left to die. Between 2000 and 2009, 491 medical procedures were carried out which resulted in the live births of 491 infants. These infants were left to die. This information has been recorded by Statistics Canada. It's accurate. It's horrific. It's criminal.
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31 Jan 2013 MPs Call on RCMP to Investigate 491 Documented Cases of Children Born Alive and Left to Die

The following letter was sent from Members of Parliament Leon Benoit, Wladyslaw Lizon, and Maurice Vellacott to the RCMP Commissioner on January 23, 2013: Dear Commissioner Paulson, Recent public reports have revealed the possibility of numerous breaches of the Criminal Code - to be specific, homicides - in Canada which need to be investigated. These killings appear to have started out as attempted abortions, but the babies were born alive. At the blog, Run With Life, you will learn: "From 2000 to 2009 in Canada, there were 491 abortions, of 20 weeks gestation and greater, that resulted in live births. This means that the aborted child died after it was born.
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10 Dec 2012 Rasouli case has huge implications for end of life care

Today, the Supreme Court of Canada heard oral arguments for the Cuthbertson v.Rasouli case. The case will determine whether physicians are required to obtain consent from a patient or their substitute decision maker before withdrawing life support. The case is about an Ontario man who became comatose following complications with a relatively minor brain surgery. While his condition has since improved, at the time the legal proceedings began, his physicians determined that he was in a persistent vegetative state, had no hope of recovery and should be withdrawn from life support. His family, including his wife who is a physician, disagreed with the diagnosis and sought a court order to prevent the doctors from removing Mr. Rasouli from life support.
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17 Feb 2012 Ontario Human Rights Review: Presentations and Submissions

On February 16, ARPA Canada delivered submissions to the Ontario Human Rights Review on our perceptions and experiences with the Human Rights process. Hamilton ARPA has also produced a stellar written submission (it’s very impressive, reasonable, well-researched!) and have applied to make an oral presentation as well. Both submissions are attached to this article. The recommendations made by ARPA Canada’s legal counsel focused on religious employment rights and addressed fundamental and structural flaws in the Human Rights Code. The submissions by Hamilton ARPA focussed on the unequal access to legal assistance for respondants in a human rights complaint.
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16 Jan 2012 ARPA’s Legal Counsel: Presentation to the OHRC

The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC), in partnership with the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and the Religion in the Public Sphere Initiative, hosted a community dialogue on human rights related to religious observance and practice. The OHRC issued a call for academic papers to be submitted on various aspects of religious human rights in order to assist in developing their policy on religion. ARPA Canada’s legal counsel Andre Schutten submitted a paper proposal arguing that greater protection of associational rights is necessary in the human rights and religious employment context. The OHRC accepted the paper proposal and Andre attended the by-invitation-only dialogue as a speaker. Those in attendance included numerous leading academics including Professors Richard Moon, Errol Mendes, Benjamin Berger, Janet Buckingham, Bruce Ryder and Iain Benson. There was also a full complement of OHRC staff, including lawyers, policy makers and Ms. Barbara Hall (the chief commissioner) in attendance throughout the entire two-day program. Finally, there was a broad representation of various faith groups including Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Baha’i, Humanist, Atheist, Catholic, Anglican, Unitarian, Evangelical and Reformed.
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16 Jan 2012 ARPA’s Legal Counsel: Presentation to the OHRC

The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC), in partnership with the University of Toronto Faculty of Law and the Religion in the Public Sphere Initiative, hosted a community dialogue on human rights related to religious observance and practice. The OHRC issued a call for academic papers to be submitted on various aspects of religious human rights in order to assist in developing their policy on religion. ARPA Canada’s legal counsel Andre Schutten submitted a paper proposal arguing that greater protection of associational rights is necessary in the human rights and religious employment context. The OHRC accepted the paper proposal and Andre attended the by-invitation-only dialogue as a speaker. Those in attendance included numerous leading academics including Professors Richard Moon, Errol Mendes, Benjamin Berger, Janet Buckingham, Bruce Ryder and Iain Benson. There was also a full complement of OHRC staff, including lawyers, policy makers and Ms. Barbara Hall (the chief commissioner) in attendance throughout the entire two-day program. Finally, there was a broad representation of various faith groups including Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Baha’i, Humanist, Atheist, Catholic, Anglican, Unitarian, Evangelical and Reformed.
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13 Jan 2012 Penalizing Political Involvement

This is just what we need – more disincentives to get involved in politics. We can all agree that sitting on the sidelines and grousing about our politicians, without doing much about it, isn’t doing our society any favours. Mike Del Grande doesn’t seem to be one of those individuals. His track record includes two decades of membership in organizations like the Silver Springs Community Association, the Scarborough Homeowners Alliance for Fair Taxes, and the local Neighborhood Watch program.
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