Just Society Essay
Canadian society today is a more just society than it once was. Are things perfect? Certainly not. There could definitely be less crime, less discrimination, and less injustice, but through changes we have made since Pierre Trudeau's picture of Canada, I think we have achieved the status of "just society" since no society can be perfect. This is particularly true for groups like the LGBTQ community, multiculturalism, and people with disabilities amongst other groups. Canada has made some notable strides in these areas, and for this reason, it deserves to be called a "just society." Firstly, Canada improved our society was the rights in the LGBTQ community. For people who are transgender, Bill C-389 was designed to amend the Canadian Human Rights Code and the Criminal Code to help end discrimination on the basis of gender identity against transgender persons as a hate crime. C-389 died and was reintroduced in 2013 as Bill C-279, which passed in the House of Commons and was sent to the Senate for consideration. The Senate came back in 2015 with amendments to the bill, including exempting places like prisons, women's shelters, and public washrooms from the bill's provisions (Cavanagh). Also, after a prolonged debate in the House of Commons, the Civil Marriage Act (CMA) was drafted in 2003 for same-sex marriage. After several protests against the CMA finally came into force July 20, 2005. By 2006, 7, 500 (16. 5 per cent) of Canada's 43, 500 same-sex couples were legally married, and 9 per cent of all same-sex couples were raising children together( Ambert). Additionally, in June 2013 an amendment bestowed legal recognition of marriages between non-resident couples performed in Canada and allowed non-residents married in Canada to seek dissolution of their Canadian marriage, should it not be recognised in their home country. Since Canada was the 4th country to grant same - sex marriage legal we have been frequently referred to as one of the of the "gayest" countries in the world. Through our progressive measures with respect to the LGBTQ community, Canada has proven itself to be a 'just society'.
Secondly, our society has improved in multiculturalism. Before multiculturalism became official policy, the twin policies of bilingualism and biculturalism served to acknowledge the legacy of both British and French culture in Canada. Now adjustments have been made to Canada's official bilingualism. In 2002, the New Brunswick legislature revised the province's Official Languages Act, which included reaffirmations of the 1969 act, the creation of a provincial commissioner on official languages, provisions to receive health care in both languages, and a commitment to review the regional act every ten years (Joy). Canadians to be bilingual in comparison to 2001's 5. 2 million, the bilinguals' percentage share of the total population increased by 2. 0...
