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Toronto Bathhouse Raids (1981)
On 5 February 1981, patrons of four bathhouses in downtown Toronto (The Barracks, The Club, Richmond Street Health Emporium, and Roman II Health and Recreation Spa) were surprised by 200 police officers in a series of coordinated raids, called “Operation Soap.” Law enforcement officials claimed the raids resulted from six months of undercover work into alleged sex work and other “indecent acts” at each establishment. Bathhouse patrons were subjected to excessive behaviour by police, including verbal taunts about their sexuality. When the night was over, 286 men were charged for being found in a common bawdy house (a brothel), while 20 were charged for operating a bawdy house. It was, up to that time, the largest single arrest in Toronto’s history. Most of those arrested were found innocent of the charges. The raids marked a turning point for Toronto’s gay community, as the protests that followed indicated they would no longer endure derogatory treatment from the police, media and the public.
Layton on the Eve of the Election
Jack LAYTON laughs a lot for a socialist. And maybe that's the problem.
Lortie Released
Denis Lortie, the former army corporal who murdered three people and injured 13 others after storming the Quebec National Assembly in May, 1984, was released on day parole to a halfway house in Hull, Quebec.
Canadian Identity and Language
Language policy in Canada, as it relates to Canadian identity, traditionally encompasses three points of view. One favours an officially bilingual Canada. It reaffirms the country as the product of two “founding peoples.” A version of this approach, introduced by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, endorses official bilingualism but rejects the claim that two “peoples” or “nations” deserve any special recognition. Rather, it argues that we should instead emphasize Canada’s multiculturalism. The second position argues that, since no linguistic group deserves special status, the country should therefore have no official languages. The third position argues that Canada is not only multicultural, but also multinational. It argues that French and English should have official status because this recognizes two of the country’s founding nations. This approach also suggests that efforts should be made to help preserve Indigenous languages.
Nationalism
Nationalism is the doctrine or practice of promoting the collective interests of a national community or STATE above those of individuals, regions or other nations.
Arbitration
Arbitration is a process for resolving legal disputes by recourse to a neutral third party tribunal chosen by the parties in dispute.
Estates General of French Canada
The Estates General of French Canada were a series of conferences held from 1966 to 1969 which gathered over a thousand delegates from Quebec, Acadia, Ontario and Western Canada. These last patriotic assemblies organized after the Congrès de la langue française (1912, 1937, 1952) marked an important turning point in the history of French-Canadian nationalism and in that of the relationship between Quebec and the Canadian Francophonie.
Cuban Dissidents Lose Hope
EITHER MANUEL Vásquez Portal was an idealist, a romantic hero who fought for freedom and democracy in a country where neither exist. Or he was a fool, for waging a public-opinion battle against a dictatorship where public opinion does not exist either.
Third Option
The Third Option was a 1972 pronouncement by Mitchell SHARP, secretary of state for external affairs, calling for a lessening of US economic and cultural influence on Canada. It appeared in a paper by Sharp, "Canada-U.S. Relations: Options for the Future" (International Perspectives, 1972).
Latest Gomery Shockers May Not Yield a Spring Election
JUST ABOUT everybody breathlessly described Jean Brault's testimony as explosive.
Gomery Enquiry May Mark the End of an Era in Quebec
WHEN THE DAM finally burst, the dung that had been piling up for more than a week behind a publication ban at the Gomery inquiry sent political operatives running for cover, and politicians in Ottawa and Quebec City shifting damage control into overdrive.
Explosive Testimony at Gomery Inquiry
FINALLY, THERE CAME A MOMENT when it was raining tax dollars so hard in Quebec that even a resourceful man started running out of buckets to catch them. So in 1999 and again in 2002, Luc Lemay tried something new: he attempted to give some of the money back.
Provincial Orders
On 9 May 1991 Provincial Orders were incorporated into the Order of Precedence for Canadian Orders, Declarations and Medals through Order in Council approved by the government of Canada.
Think Tank
A think tank is an interdisciplinary body of experts such as scholars or former politicians that crafts opinions on regional, national or international policy and strategic direction, typically related to areas such as commerce, the military, immigration or social welfare.
Layton's New Ambition
The dark cars with the tinted windows roll up and Jack Layton emerges, an RCMP detail, as all candidates for prime minister are afforded, in tow.
Godbout Case
In the Godbout case (1997), the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously decided that the obligation imposed on all its permanent employees by the city of Longueuil (near Montréal) that they live in the city was unconstitutional.
Hébert Case
In the Hébert case (1990), the Supreme Court of Canada spoke directly on the right to silence. Hébert was accused of grand larceny. Advised of his right to counsel, he was imprisoned after the consultation.
Gomery Inquiry Reveals Liberal In-fighting
JUSTICE JOHN GOMERY'S command of French is flawless, but his accent is unique: he sounds like a bad French actor imitating how an Anglo is supposed to sound when speaking French - cute, but seldom heard in real life.
Tory Belinda Stronach Defects to Liberals
BELINDA STRONACH'S job in Paul MARTIN's cabinet will last, barring catastrophe, for the life of this minority Liberal government. Perhaps even longer if the Liberals win re-election.