Equality Deferred: Sex Discrimination and British Columbia’s Human Rights State, 1953-84

In Equality Deferred, Dominique Clement traces the history of sex discrimination in Canadian law and the origins of human rights legislation. Focusing on British Columbia - the first jurisdiction to prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex - he documents a variety of absurd, almost unbelievable, acts of discrimination. Drawing on previously undisclosed human rights commission records, Clement explores the rise and fall of what was once the country’s most progressive human rights legal regime and reveals how political divisions and social movements shaped the human rights state. This book is not only a testament to the revolutionary impact of human rights on Canadian law but also a reminder that it takes more than laws to effect transformative social change.