Canadians like to see themselves as champions of human rights in the international community. Closer to home, however, the human rights system in Canada - particularly its public institutions such as commissions and tribunals - has been the object of sustained debate and vehement criticism, based largely on widespread myths about how it works. In Speaking Out on Human Rights, Pearl Eliadis explodes these myths, analysing the pervasive distortions and errors on which they depend. Canada's human rights system, a unique legal tradition operating within a powerful modern constitution, is a fundamental mechanism for ensuring the practical application of our national commitment to tolerance and inclusion. Drawing on in-depth interviews with Canada's leading human rights experts and extensive original research, Eliadis explores the evolution of commissions and tribunals as vehicles of public policy and considers their mandate to mediate rights conflicts in such contested areas as hate speech, religious freedoms, and sexuality. She provides a frank assessment of how Canada's human rights system functions and argues that misplaced critiques have prevented urgent and necessary discussions about the reforms that are needed to improve fairness and equality before the law and to ensure institutional independence, impartiality, and competence. Speaking Out on Human Rights shows how our human rights system plays a unique and important role in the rights revolution both in Canada and internationally and offers promising avenues for its future development.

Pearl Eliadis is a Montreal-based lawyer and lecturer. She has worked with human rights systems in six countries, including Canada. Eliadis teaches civil liberties at McGill University and is president of the Quebec Bar Association's Advisory Committee on Human Rights.

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“Pearl Eliadis’ book is the leading reference text on human rights law in Canada. It is comprehensive in its review of the law and, at the same time, it is an engaging narrative that explores the most divisive human rights issues in the country, It is an

"To my knowledge, this is the only book of its kind to be published in Canada and provides essential information for balanced and informed discussions of human rights commissions and tribunals in our country." Sarah Lugtig, Faculty of Law, University of Manitoba

“Eliadis provides a reasoned, consistent and coherent explanation of the history, rationale and current functioning of the system. She provides clear explanations and definitions for terms, concepts and principles that are regularly misused, conflated or

"Readable and straightforward in its form and delivery, Speaking Out on Human Rights consistently presents a balanced discussion of the functioning and effectiveness of Canada's contemporary human rights systems. The book is broad in its overview and impr

“A truly impressive work. There is simply nothing that compares in providing this kind of overview of human rights legislation in Canada.” Paul Champ, Champ and Associates