Tunnicliffe on public debates about human rights legislation in Ontario, 1975-1981

Also in the November, 2013 issue of Histoire Sociale/Social History, an article by McMaster Graduate Student Jennifer Tunnicliffe, "“Life Together”: Public Debates over Human Rights Legislation in Ontario, 1975-1981."

Here's the abstract:

Between 1975 and 1981, government, activist groups and the larger public took part in a review of Ontario’s Human Rights Code, negotiating a new human rights framework for the province. This article addresses three questions: how were human rights understood in 1970s Ontario, to what extent did public debate influence government policy, and did legislative changes represent a genuine shift towards a code that could more effectively address discrimination? While this review period represents an important step in Canada’s so-called rights revolution, it also demonstrates the limits of this revolution. 

De 1975 à 1981, le gouvernement, des groupes militants et le grand public ont participé à un examen du Code des droits de la personne de l’Ontario, négociant un nouveau cadre des droits de la personne pour la province. Cet article s’intéresse à trois questions. Quelle interprétation faisait-on des droits de la personne dans l’Ontario des années 1970? Quel effet le débat public a-t-il eu sur la politique gouvernementale? Les modifications législatives ont-elles permis d’opérer un vrai virage vers un code susceptible de mieux combattre la discrimination? Bien que cette période d’examen ait marqué un pas important dans la révolution dite des droits de la personne au Canada, elle témoigne également des limites de cette révolution.

Henderson on banishment of convicted Patriotes to Bermuda post 1837 Lower Canada rebellion

In the November 2013 issue of History Sociale/Social History, an article by Jarett Henderson entitled "Banishment to Bermuda: Gender, Race, Empire, Independence and the Struggle to Abolish Irresponsible Government in Lower Canada."

Here's the abstract:

This article traces the process by which eight Lower Canadian Patriotes became Bermudian convicts to uncover what their transition from freedom to unfreedom can teach us about the intersection of gender, race, independence, politics, and empire during Lord Durham’s tenure as Governor General and High Commissioner of British North America. The Patriotes’ struggle to abolish irresponsible government, which led to their banishment to Bermuda in July 1838, reminds us that Lower Canada was part and parcel of social, cultural, and political changes that were taking the British empire by storm in the 1830s. Moreover, the actions of Lord Durham’s administration and the demands of these eight Patriotes raise important questions about colonial independence and Patriote efforts to ensure that Canadiens, as white non-British British subjects, received those political rights that white, bourgeois, and British men in England and its empire were increasingly demanding: specifically, the right to govern themselves.

Cet article retrace l’expatriation aux Bermudes de huit Patriotes du Bas-Canada afin de savoir ce que leur passage de la liberté à la non-liberté peut nous enseigner au sujet de l’intersection du genre, de la race, de l’indépendance, de la politique et de l’empire durant le mandat de Lord Durham à titre de gouverneur général et haut-commissaire de l’Amérique du Nord britannique. Le combat des Patriotes pour l’abolition d’un gouvernement irresponsable s’est soldé par leur bannissement aux Bermudes en juillet 1838 et nous rappelle que le Bas-Canada était un acteur à part entière de la transformation sociale, culturelle et politique qui frappait de plein fouet l’Empire britannique durant les années 1830. De plus, les actions de l’administration de Lord Durham et les exigences de ces huit Patriotes soulèvent d’importantes questions quant à l’indépendance coloniale et aux efforts des Patriotes pour veiller à ce que les Canadiens jouissent, en tant que sujets non britanniques, des mêmes droits que ceux que réclamaient de plus en plus les hommes blancs de la bourgeoise britannique de l’Angleterre et de son empire, en particulier celui de se gouverner eux-mêmes.

CLSA/ACDS Graduate Student Essay Prize

UPDATED: The Canadian Law and Society Association/Association Canadienne Droit et Societe invites submissions for the ACDS-CLSA Graduate Student Essay Prize. Graduate students at Canadian universities are cordially invited to submit papers on socio-legal issues (note: includes legal history.) Papers should be 6000-8000 words long and should be submitted in .doc or .docx format..

Deadline extension: CLSA/ACDS annual meeting

The deadline for submissions to the CLSA/ACDS annual meeting has been extended to January 31. For details go here.

CFP: "Inequalities: Politics, Policy and the Past," Social Science History Association Meeting, Toronto

The Labor Network of the Social Science History Association invites proposals for papers and complete panels for the 39th annual meeting of the Social Science History Association in Toronto, Ontario, November
6-9, 2014.  We also are looking for volunteers to serve as panel chairs and discussants.

For more information on the meeting as well as the call for proposals,
please refer to the SSHA website: www.ssha.org. Additionally, please note
that the SSHA grants several awards and student travel grants, for which
you also can apply.

The deadline for paper and/or panel submissions is February 14th, 2014.

The Social Science History Association Meeting provides a stimulating
interdisciplinary venue for exploring an array of issues related to the
study of social processes over time. This year's theme is Inequalities:
Politics, Policy and the Past.

We welcome and encourage papers and panel proposals on a wide array of
issues related to the historical study of labor and labor movements.
Network members have expressed specific interest in organizing panels
around the following themes:

1. Author-Meets-Critics:  Claire Crowston, Credit, Fashion, Sex:
Economies of Regard in Old Regime France (Janine Lanza, Wayne State
University, organizer)

2. Workers in the Fast Food Industry (Jeremy Milloy, Simon Fraser
University, organizer)

3. Work and the Environment (Josiah Rector, Wayne State University,
organizer)

4. From Labor and Working-Class History to Histories of Capitalism:  Where
Do We Go From Here

5. The Resurgence of Materialist Feminism:  Understanding Gender and Labor
Historically

6. The Decline of Organized Labor and the Rising Tide of Inequality

7. Labor in the Energy Sector

8. Restructuring Labor and the Evolution of Capitalism

9. Remaking the Global Working Class:  Inequality, Race, and Generation

10. The Labor of Knowledge:  The Political Economy of Higher Education,
Work, and Class Relations

11. The Nation-State in Labor History, especially Canadian-U.S. comparisons


Please use the SSHA's web conference management system to submit your
papers and panel proposals. Paper title, brief abstract, and contact
information should be submitted on the sitehttp://conference.ssha.org/.
(If you haven’t used the system previously you will need to create an
account, which is a very simple process.)

Thank you, and we look forward to a stimulating set of panels at this
year's SSHA meeting.

(via H-CANADA)

CFP: Conference on genocide and indigenous peoples at University of Manitoba

Eleventh Conference of the International Association of Genocide Scholars

July 16-19, 2014, Winnipeg-Canada

CALL FOR PAPERS – EXTENDED DEADLINE: due February 17^th, 2014.

Time, Movement, and Space: Genocide Studies and Indigenous Peoples

The International Association of Genocide Scholars and the University of Manitoba welcome papers and sessions related to our conference theme of "Time, Movement, and Space: Genocide Studies and Indigenous Peoples." Innovative panels, workshops, and papers that consider the spatial and temporal issues as applied to Indigenous genocide and its commemoration are particularly encouraged, as are comparative studies. Besides panels and papers, the organizers invite other modes of dialogue, including workshops, roundtable discussions, cultural media, artistic works/readings, and forums that relate to policy initiatives, pedagogy, and education. Scholars, practitioners, and students interested in genocide studies from all disciplines are encouraged to apply. While our theme is centered on Indigenous issues, we also encourage innovative and original papers about other genocides. As 2014 marks the 20^thanniversary of the Rwandan genocide, we are eager to accept papers on! this genocide.

2014 marks an important year for Winnipeg and Canada. In this year, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) will open its doors to the general public. Established by Parliament through amendments to the Museums Act on March 13, 2008, which came into force on August 10, 2008, the CMHR is envisioned as a national and international destination - a centre of learning where Canadians and people from around the world can engage in discussion and commit to taking action against hate and oppression. Also in this year, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada is scheduled to release its final report, after five years of hearings and research into Canada’s history and legacy of the forced assimilation of Indigenous children through residential schools.

h/t Canadian Law and Society Association

Campbell on J.L. Ilsley and tax reform 1939-43 on SSRN

Colin Campbell has posted "J.L. Ilsley and the Transformation of the Canadian Tax System: 1939-1943" on SSRN. This article appears in issue 3 of  Volume 61 of the Canadian Tax Journal/Revue Fiscale Canadienne.

Here's the abstract:

Between 1939 and 1943, the Canadian tax system was transformed under the guidance and leadership of J.L. Ilsley, the federal minister of finance from 1940 to 1946. The personal income tax was extended to most of the working population at high, progressive rates, and the corporation income tax was raised drastically and applied to excess wartime profits. Through the tax rental agreements, income tax jurisdiction was transferred from the provinces to the federal government. The effect was to make income taxation the principal source of federal government revenue for financing Canada's war effort and to lay the basis for financing the post-war welfare state. Ilsley's mastery of the issues and his leadership both in Cabinet and before the public were essential elements of this transformation.