Guest Lecture: University of Winnipeg – History of Human Rights
For many years, Alastair Clarke has given guest lectures to students at various colleges and universities across Canada, including BCIT in Vancouver (BC), Robson Hall law school (MB), students at Legal Aid Ontario (ON), Wilfred Laurier University in Waterloo (ON), Toronto Metropolitan University (ON) and, of course at the University of Winnipeg (MB). Full disclosure: Mr Clarke’s spouse is a professor at the University of Winnipeg.
Prof Kenyon at the University of Winnipeg has requested Mr Clarke to give a guest lecture on Oct 23 on Human Rights in Canada. Mr Clarke looks forward to meeting university students and hearing their feedback. This presentation will focus on recent developments in human rights laws as they relate to immigration and refugee law.
For reading, we will be covering recent challenges faced by refugee claimants who are seeking protection based on SOGIE(SC) characteristics (sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, and sexual characteristics). These claims may be particularly difficult for the RPD Member as the claimants may be from countries where they cannot be open and they have been taught their whole lives to hide their identity.
Prof Rehaag and his Research Assistant Alex Verman recently published a significant article, “TRANSGENDER ERASURE: BARRIERS FACING TRANSGENDER REFUGEES IN CANADA” on this topic. As described by the authors:
We argue that barriers to entry, obstacles to self-recognition, subjection to discrimination in Canada, and diso-rientation within the demands of the refugee status determination pro-cess, all result in what we identify as a surprisingly high success rate among transgender refugees, even as the experiences of these refugees and the lawyers who assist them is fraught, under-resourced, demanding, and traumatizing. We have chosen to describe this process using the word “erasure” in the title of this article to highlight how these policies and practices result in the systematic underreporting, invisibilization, and dismissal of the diversity, complexity, and humanity of transgender peo-ple. In other words, as we argue, despite (and at times, even through) these positive changes, transgender refugees are erased.
Currently, Canadian laws regarding human rights in various contexts are shifting. Access to Justice (A2J) issues are preventing cases from being heard. Backlogs are causing systemic problems and creative solutions are scant.
Recently, Mr Clarke attended a presentation on Reforming the Manitoba Human Rights Commission. The presentation raised serious issues that face anyone who may be seeking a remedy from a human rights violation in our province.
If you are interested in this topic, we would urge you to become informed and, if possible, take a course at the University of Winnipeg.
