Restraining Equality

'The authors of this work adopt an even-handed approach that is sympathetic to the pressures faced by human rights agencies but that also recognizes the defects in the existing system ... this point of view makes a very useful contribution to the debate about human rights policy.' -- William W. Black, Faculty of Law, University of British Columbia

The authors blend public policy analysis,historical research, and legal analysis as they address the contemporary financial, social, legal, and policy pressures currently experienced by human rights commissions across Canada.

"Restraining Equality" addresses the contemporary financial, social, legal, and policy pressures currently experienced by human rights commissions across Canada. Through a combination of public policy analysis, historical research, and legal analysis, R.Brian Howe and David Johnson trace the evolution of human rights policy within this country and explore the stresses placed on human rights commissions resulting from greater fiscal restraints and society's rising expectations for equality rights over the past two decades.

The authors analyse sources of these tensions in relation to the delivery of equality rights in both federal and provincial jurisdictions since the Second World War. Through a series of interviews with human rights commission officials and a survey of advocacy groups, business organizations, and human rights staff the authors explore the performance and the internal workings of these. Howe and Johnson also analyse human rights commissions in light of the theoretical literature and empirical data, and discuss the political and legal contexts in which the commissions operate, and the reform measures that have been implemented.