Welcome to your Friday MashUp. There are a LOT of things happening on the international stage relating to human rights (and it seems like every Twitter and RSS feed coming up from different sources are all outlining how things are VERY BAD right now). As a result, I tried hard to find positive upbeat articles this week to share so if you’re sick of worrying over whether or not BP will ever get that oil spill cleaned up, North and South Korea will implode or any other half a dozen concerns out there, kick back and enjoy some good news for once!
Charter Challenge aims to force governments to create public housing
A coalition of social-welfare organizations is launching a challenge to try to force the federal and Ontario governments into providing affordable housing for those who are in need of it. They are arguing that Section 7 of the Charter applies in this case because “People who are homeless are perhaps the most marginalized, disempowered, precariously situated and vulnerable group in Canadian society.â€
Section 7: Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance to the principles of fundamental justice
You know, a federal mandate in this regard might help push a more cohesive strategy towards making affordable housing available, especially in regards to budget and I think there is definite need to look at affordable housing. Canada often has these weird gaps in social policy that just shouldn’t exist in our society with an economy as powerful as ours but it should be pointed out that while current housing crises are shouldered by municipalities (as pointed out by this article; see Homeless Connect here in Alberta about two MashUps back) anyways and I think that if this were to pass (we can hope and dream), the burden will still fall to municipalities to come up with and execute the strategy. That also makes sense, given that a one size fits all housing solution will fit no one, as these things often don’t.
But the other interesting question about this article is whether or not a Charter challenge like this would actually work. Does anyone know?
Canada’s teen birth and abortion rate drops by 36.9 per cent
A new report from the Sex Information and Educational Council of Canada says that better access to contraception, better sex education and shifting social norms have contributed to the decline of Canada teen birth and abortion rates by 36.9 per cent between 1996 and 2006.
A key reason for the decline, according to this article, is that that Canadians have a more relaxed attitude towards the “reality of adolescent sexuality”, which is an interesting turn of phrase and probably hits it on the head. If you have a more liberal attitude towards sexuality, the more likely it is you’d be okay with teaching about sex education including, and it must be stressed, abstinence.
Which makes you wonder what the Canadian Government is thinking if abortion is not on the table for maternal health. Sex education works if consistently applied.
And…that’s it. It was actually pretty hard finding positive news stories this week, to be honest but if you know of some, leave us a comment and share! Have a great weekend, everyone.
