Canada and the World Backgrounder articles from October 2003

Canada and the World Backgrounder archives from October 2003

Notwithstanding: minorities in Canada can never feel completely, secure as long as the country's Constitution contains the "Notwithstanding Clause".(Minorities--Introduction)
October 1, 2003... Former Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau and Canada's provincial premiers got together in the early 1980s to negotiate the return of Canada's Constitution from Britain's Parliament. More than anything else, Mr. Trudeau wanted a Charter...

Us and them: human beings share a vast array of things in common, yet it is the small differences among us that seem to dominate interaction.(Minorities--Background)
October 1, 2003... Every person is a minority of one. We are all different from each other. Even the world's largest ethnic group, the Han Chinese, of whom there are about 1.1 billion, are a minority in the world. Males outnumber females by a ratio of 101 to 100...

Redefining family: some say marriage is exclusively between a man and a woman, but others say marriage can be between couples of the same sex and is the logical next step in the battle for equal rights for gays and lesbians.(Minorities--Gays)
October 1, 2003... In June 2003, the federal government chose not to oppose same-sex "marriages." This makes Canada one of a tiny handful of countries--a minority in fact--to permit such unions. The decision appears to have the support of a slim majority of...

Looking for inclusion: as a minority group, people with disabilities, and their families, are fighting to have their needs met, and to be seen as part of society.(Minorities--Disabilites)
October 1, 2003... Scott Starson lives in a medium-security psychiatric unit at the Royal Ottawa Hospital. He is said to be a brilliant physicist with extraordinary potential. But he also thinks former Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau was killed by aliens,...

Under suspicion: since the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, Arabs and Muslims around the world have become targets of discrimination.(Minorities--Arabs/Muslims)
October 1, 2003... The President of the Canadian Arab Foundation said in May 2003 that the one million Arabs and Muslims in Canada feel threatened." Raja Khouri says Ottawa's anti-terrorism law gives police wide-ranging powers to infringe on the rights of the one...

Pushing doors open: while addressing the problems of people with disabilities is on government agendas now, advocates say they're not moving fast enough to remove barriers that make equality impossible.(Minorities--Accessibility)
October 1, 2003... In March 1998, Canada was given a prestigious United Nations award for its work for people with disabilities. But, the same year, the Canadian Human Rights Commission started to investigate two of Canada's big banks for breaking agreements to...

Might not always right: size often does matter when it comes to securing rights, but little voices can shout too, and sometimes they're heard.(Minorities--Grab Bag)
October 1, 2003... Minority groups don't necessarily role over and play dead when they feel their rights are infringed. Here are just a few of the battles being fought: they include forced retirement, children's rights, and religious disputes. OLD BUT NOT...

Quote ... Unquote.(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... "Nothing... is more likely to disturb the peace of the world than the treatment which might... be meted out to minorities." U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, 1920 "Recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable...

A growing search.(Stateless Peoples--Introduction)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2003... One authority says there are more than 300 stateless groups claiming national status. James Minahan published his four-volume study, Encyclopedia of the Stateless Nations (Greenwood Publishing. ISBN: 0313316171) in 2002. The author used...

Unpopular outsiders.(Stateless Peoples--Aceh)
October 1, 2003... Aceh is a region on the northwestern tip of the island of Sumatra and part of Indonesia. It covers an area the same size as Nova Scotia. Its people are almost all Muslim, just as the population of Indonesia is. The Acehnese make no claim to a...

"We are not Arabs".(Stateless Peoples--Amazigh (Berbers))
October 1, 2003... Nowadays, there can't be many Berbers (or Amazigh as they prefer to call themselves) left. Since before recorded time, the Amazigh have lived in North Africa. They are non-Arab people in a predominantly Arab region. They have mingled so much...

A troublesome island.(Stateless Peoples--Corsica)
October 1, 2003... Yvan Colonna, France's most wanted man, was arrested in July 2003. Police found Mr. Colonna hiding in a shepherd's hut in Corsica. He was immediately flown to Paris to join eight other Corsicans on trial for murder. It is alleged the group...

Rebellion in the mountains.(Stateless Peoples--Kurds)
October 1, 2003... The Kurds are people of Indo-European origin. They live mainly in the mountains and uplands where Turkey, Iraq, and Iran meet, in an area known as Kurdistan. Although there are minor Kurdish communities in Lebanon, and Armenia, about half...

The South will rise again.(Stateless Peoples--Neoconfederates)
October 1, 2003... The American Civil War (1861-65) was a dreadful affair. It pitted the Northern states (the Union) against the 11 Southern states of the Confederacy. The chief and immediate cause of the war was slavery; it was illegal in the North while...

Quest for Khalistan.(Stateless Peoples--Sikhs)
October 1, 2003... Sikhism is a religion that originated in the Punjab in northwestern India, where the Hindu and Muslim faiths meet. A mystic, Guru Nanak (1469-1539), believed that God is above religious distinctions, so he borrowed from both Muslim and Hindu...

Europe's virtual third world.(Stateless Peoples--The Roma (Gypsies))
October 1, 2003... It's thought the ancient ancestors of today's Roma came from northern India. They started migrating from their original homeland as early as the fifth century BC. They moved slowly west and north; their trek can be traced from various words in...