Summertime is often a time to sit back and read. So this month, we thought we would explore the links that exist between human rights, poetry, and literature. What role does poetry play in a human rights framework? What influence does literature have on human rights and vice versa?

As host of the upcoming G8 summit, Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced in January that maternal health was going to be on the agenda. It looked like a golden opportunity for Harper to be seen as a promoter of an important development issue, as well as one that could help him win the trust of Canadian women voters. 

As the United Nations is somewhat removed from our daily experience, we have a tendency to ignore it, or treat it as unimportant, and especially when the story is not so flattering.

In January, some members of the board of directors of Rights & Democracy published an opinion letter in both the National Post and Le Devoir defending the majority position of the board on the crisis surrounding the organization.

When contemplating disability accommodations in legal proceedings, a lawyer might think instinctively about the rights of accused persons in criminal trials, or perhaps the common TV image of a lawyer in a wheelchair addressing an attentive jury.

Bill C-300, “an act respecting corporate accountability for the activities of mining, oil or gas in developing countries,” has generated heated public debate, as well as strong opposition from the Canadian mining sector.