Discrimination: Examining Events in Canadian History - Essay Sample

Introduction

In the majority of the political theories, issues of rights, equity, and discrimination have surfaced with minimal interventions developed by the associated bodies. Based on history, particularly the Canadian account, various events of discrimination and harassment have been identified as the people strive for equality and human rights. Discrimination includes an action that mistreats an individual based on their characteristics like gender, age, and race. In the determination as to whether a behavior is discriminatory or not, it is based on the outcome or impact of the behavior and not the intention behind the action. According to the Canadian Human Rights Act, the various grounds for discrimination include ethnic origin, race, religion, color, sex, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, and disability as well (Satzewich, 1999). As a form of discrimination, harassment includes unwanted verbal or physical behavior that humiliates or offends an individual. Precisely, when an individual makes unwelcome remarks or intimidates the other based on their sex, race, disability, or any other of the discrimination grounds, this is considered harassment.

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Keeping that in mind, it is essential to understand some of the significant issues surrounding the case of the student and teacher. Following the specific remarks and responses towards the disabled student, he feels harassed and discriminated against as a result of his disability. Similarly, from the comments made by the program chair to the involved teacher, it is evident that the teacher feels discriminated against and harassed based on his race and ethnic origin. However, to address this issue, it is essential to understand some of the underlying subjects in both discrimination and harassment and its connection to human rights and equity. As demeaning practices, harassment and discrimination tend to attack an individual's self-respect and dignity as they influence relationships. Often, this results in workplace issues such as loss of employees, legal actions, low morale, among other events.

By focusing on the different grounds of discrimination, discrimination based on an individual's race has been seen in Canada, especially with harassment towards the Indigenous people. Viewed as a social construct, the issue of race has been known to result in various social disputes as it creates a hierarchy on social systems and structures. By heightening inequalities between individuals from different ethnic origins, the discrimination based on race is often constructed on modern ideas and historical consideration of events that have occurred before. Hence, in an investigation involving race discrimination, it is essential to develop a clear understanding of the emergence and numerous incidents of race harassment to address any issues of discrimination and hatred.

Majorly, issues of race discrimination could be viewed as oppression and exploitation. In oppression, which involves an unruly assertion of power, it is a systemic abuse of power. It occurs when the individuals in power become systematically unjust to a specific individual who might result in exploitation, devaluation, and the deprivation of human rights. As for exploitation, it involves the act of unfairly treating individuals to take advantage of their vulnerability. In this dispute, the professor encounters oppression and exploitation as the program chair requests him to make sacrifices wrongly in favor of the disabled student. According to the professor, the requests can be seen as harassment and discrimination based on ethnic origin and race. The claims appear authentic as the program chair attempts to exploit the professor in favor of the learner, which signifies oppression and exploitation. In as much as the program chair was focused on the welfare of the student, the instructor requires a similar consideration in terms of priorities. Such a development gives the professor the grounds for his case at the anti-harassment office and Ontario Human Rights Commission.

Correspondingly, people with disabilities have been known to encounter similar discrimination and oppression as the racialized group. According to the Ontario Human Rights Code, it views disability as any degree of physical impairment caused by bodily injury, illness, or congenital disability without the limitation of the generality of the preceding. As the Federal Disability Reference Guide looks at disability as a complex phenomenon, reflecting the association between body and mind, and the features of the community they live in. Provided by the Canadian Survey in Disability in a 2017 study, there were approximately 6.2 million Canadians with disabilities between the age of 15 and above, which represent 22.3% of the Canadian population (Satzewich, 1999). Specifically, individuals with a hearing disability were 21.4% of the community. In this dispute concerning human rights and equality, the involved learner is deaf and is trying to acquire some benefits and special treatment for his inability to read the professor's lips.

Even though the student had recommendations on what should have been done, the program chair could not reach a sensible solution that represented the failure to accommodate his special needs as a way of respect towards his rights as an individual with disability. These developments give the student a ground for a rights and equality case. Some of the significant issues that people with disability encounter in Canada include unemployment, pervasive poverty, as well as abuse. With such events, this results in the duty to accommodate. However, in both scenarios, it is essential to note that an issue of equity and respect for human rights is raised. As people encounter discrimination, especially in the workplace, it is crucial to ensure that recognition of rights, enforcement of freedom, and equity is practiced to address issues of systemic racial discrimination, especially in the workplace. Also, as a driver of social change in the community, it is critical to consider the significant factors surrounding discrimination and harassment based on race and towards individuals with disabilities.

Duty to Accommodate Up to The Point of Undue Hardship

In the accommodation of persons with disabilities, this is a legal duty under the Canadian Code and allows individuals to benefit equally as others. The most significant accommodation should meet the requirements and individual needs of individuals with a disability. However, one is exempted in an event this duty to accommodate cause undue hardship. The obligation to accommodate up to the point of undue hardship is a code that provides the basis on the extent or degree to which individuals can assist individuals with a disability to ensure that they are accommodated. Even though accommodation might be associated with destructive thinking, some of the involved factors include the ability to protect an individual's rights and ensure accessibility. According to the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disability Act passed in 2005, people with disabilities should be protected and provide recognition of the Human Rights Code.

In connection to various court cases involving a violation of the right of individuals with a disability, they demonstrate the importance of understanding equality relating to laws affecting the rights of people with disabilities. A substantive approach is critical as one looks into various cases of equality for people with disabilities (Vanhala, 2010). In this case, involving the disabled student, the human rights laws, as well as the AODA, are applicable since they seek to ensure that the student is accommodated based on his request. In his classroom activities, as a deaf learner, it would only necessary to ensure that he is well assisted in such a way that suits his requirements in the classroom and maintain the preservation of his human right to avoid an event of harassment or discrimination. Also, the accommodation duty can be partially applied to ensure that the professor is also protected against an incident where his rights will be violated. This realization of limits can be seen as consideration of "undue hardship" since the Canadian Code provides that the duty to accommodate is only appropriate and applicable up to the point of undue hardship.

Employment Equity in Connection to the Dispute

The employment equity, as stipulated by the Canadian federal law within the Employment Equity Act, provides that every jurisdiction employer should engage in proper employment activities that boost the representation of various groups of people (Bakan & Kobayashi, 2007). Primarily, the Employment Equity Act is a unique Canadian framework that focuses on programs and policies focusing on visible minorities, individuals with disabilities, women, and the indigenous people. According to Judge Rosalie Abella, some of the significant barriers to equitable workplaces include, undervaluing of work experience and education gained outside Canada and unequal access to education in connection to the dispute (Bakan & Kobayashi, 2007). When involved with workplace activities, employment equity means more than creating individual equally but should be seen as a strategy to mitigate and limit any practices of inequality and discrimination to ensure that there is accommodation (Beck et al., 2002). In its applicability, the requirement of the Employment Equity Act provides a reliable blend of what is necessary and can be done, what is fair, along with what is workable (Beck et al., 2002). To create "equality of opportunity" focus on the employment process, workplaces should ensure that they adopt procedures and policies that will deliver opportunities of employing more individuals from marginalized groups and focus on what can be done to achieve that.

In connection with the current dispute, the professor's rights could have been violated following the requirements and description of the Employment Equity Act. As a visible minority based on his race, it was not equitable for the program chair to ask the professor to shave his beard since this might have demonstrated harassment and discrimination in the workplace. On the other hand, the student's rights seem to have denied based on the fact that the school did not do much to help despite having a disability. The legislation of the Employment Equity Act requires employers to ensure the preparation of an appropriate plan describing how they intend to eliminate employment barriers and push for positive practices (Bakan & Kobayashi, 2007). Also, it requires employers to analyze any event of underrepresentation of the involved minority groups in various occupational groups in the workplace (Bakan & Kobayashi, 2007). In different ways, the necessity of the Employment Equity Act is evident when dealing with the shortcoming of human rights, especially when dealing with each other (Beck et al., 2002). One of the significant differences between Employment Equity Act policies and human rights laws is that the human rights policies advocate for the prohibition of discrimination and harassment. In contrast, equity policies require proactive actions to address issues concerning the existing inequalities.

Both Employment Equity Act policies and human rights are essential in this case and other cases involving discrimination since they bring individuals or excluded group into direct interaction with the people holding power and those responsible for employment, support equality and allow individuals seeking it to demand structural changes (Beck et al., 2002). Since the professor can only raise concerns about the discrimination, this brings about the involve...