Do Businesses Have the Right to Refuse Service Based on Moral/Religious Objections?

[AtLast]

Originally Posted by suebee

I guess I have to be very clear - and I've posted this here and in other threads: Canada is certainly not lily-white as far as it's history is concerned. But it seems to have evolved differently in so much as the U.S. has a much more prevelant problem with race relations today. I'm not saying that there isn't racism here either, but there is a tension in the States that always seems just below the boiling point. Is it because the practice of slavery, and therefore the population descended from them was so much larger? Is it because of the way that the U.S. declared it's independence and subsequently wrote a document that greatly valorized individual rights over collective? I don't know. But there are differences between the two countries today, and I think the laws against discrimination - such as the one first discussed by the OP are a reflection of those differences.

Food for thought, for sure.

Oh, I think that the structural and institutionalized racism stemming from US black slavery is very different than Canada. Our histories with native peoples is much more closely related.

There are many, many of Canada's political stances and policies that I wish the US would follow suit with- same-sex marriage and a public health care system for examples.

I agree that individual vs. collective "freedoms" is a large part of what does make our countries different within this context (the thread). I often have difficulty with just how stuck we can get in the US on this. Funny, I have always thought for me personally, this was due to my own family and ethnic background and the time frame in which my family came to the states. For me, as a person, individual rights do not trump what is best for the masses. Working for the common good is just part of my background and I have often felt alone in this as a US citizen.

I wonder, and do not know what the break down of POC to whites is in Canada. How diverse is Canada in terms of race and ethnicity within the overall population? And how does this compare to the US? (Now I have my work cut out for me!). And if it is not as diverse as the US, this might be part of the differences in racial and ethnic tensions- and yes, black slavery as an economic and structural institution along with post US Civil War Jim Crowe laws has a role that unfortunately does give the US a differing context.

Yet, both the US and Canada do not have a lot of room to talk when it comes to how native peoples were treated.