Volume 27, numéro 1, 1986 Les droits des minorités

FR :

Un pays est jugé par la façon dont il traite ses minorités, selon les paroles de Gandhi. L'auteur voit dans le respect de cette « règle de l'égalité » le symbole d'une maturité politique certaine. On n'a qu'à considérer l'histoire des guerres mondiales pour comprendre comment la façon dont on peut traiter certaines minorités peut affecter la paix des nations. L'élaboration du principe « d'autodétermination des peuples » après la guerre implique comme corollaire la protection des peuples minoritaires.

Cette protection peut se faire sur deux plans, soit en cherchant à prévenir la discrimination, soit en élaborant des mesures positives de protection des minorités pour les aider à préserver leur identité. Sous quelles formes peut-on retrouver ces mesures de protection et quel en est l'impact réel, lorsqu'un pays entend davantage assimiler que protéger ses minorités.

C'est à cette question que l'auteur tente de répondre.

EN :

The author outlines areas covered by constitutional texts and in doing so points to various deficiencies. The first one is brought on by the override clause provided in Section 33 of the Charter which makes it possible to suspend certain rights and a second one is found in the fact that the Charter does not deal with social and economic rights, a deficiency which is most likely to be perceived by members of a minority.

His observations lead him to conclude that the courts will have to assume an activist role in order to implement various rights.

EN :

For religious minorities, freedoms are best guaranteed by the principle of non-interference, a kind of « right to indifference ». There is no question of denying the existence of oppressed groups, but rather of being opposed to some « class » right for religious groups.

The author highlights from the time of Roman history onwards the emancipation and repression of individuals and groups in areas of freedom of conscience and religious practice.

He is quite critical towards our era as he underscores the deficiencies in the Canadian and Québec charters in coming to grips with legislative discrimination. According to his conclusions, the non-separation of Church and State and the introduction of statutes on minorities perpetuates discriminated-against minorities.

EN :

In this paper the author questions the future of minorities as a political force. He notes in this respect that religion no longer plays a preponderant role in occidental societies as a mobilizing force for autonomous action. Religious minorities no longer succeed in intervening in politics.

The author underscores the contrast with the prevailing situation in Eastern socialist societies where the Church is the only institution that can stand up to the State which tends to monopolize politics. He also raises the problems caused by the coexistence of religious and linguistic or ethnic groups.

FR :

A travers l'évolution jurisprudentielle, l'auteur retrace la protection accordée au principe fondamental de la liberté de religion. Quel fut l'apport de la Charte canadienne des droits à cet égard ? La religion y fait l'objet de deux dispositions, soit l'article 2, et l'article 15 où est garanti le droit à l'égalité. La Charte se distingue des précédentes déclarations de droits en ce qu'elle insère la liberté de religion dans la Constitution du pays.

FR :

A travers les légendes des peuples indiens, nous pouvons sentir l'étroite relation existant entre eux et leurs territoires.

En retraçant l'histoire des nations indiennes, nous pouvons constater une diminution de la reconnaissance et de la protection de leurs droits. L'auteur relate, du 17^e siècle à nos jours, l'évolution de cette situation à travers les événements majeurs, les traités et les politiques qui l'ont marquée.

FR :

Ce sont de facteurs sociaux, économiques et politiques que dépend la survie des populations indigènes. La protection de certains droits est considérée de première importance.

L'auteur conclut dans cette optique qu'il est primordial d'accéder à une reconnaissance effective des droits des peuples indigènes et cela, par l'intermédiaire de garanties constitutionnelles et de conventions internationales.

Les peuples indigènes constituent une force vitale et doivent être traités de façon à ce qu'ils se réalisent

EN :

The right to equality is one of the most fundamental of human concepts. The author draws attention to the fact that this right is often depicted in negative terms, usually stating that any form of discrimination is forbidden.

The concrete application of equality can sometimes lead to inequalitarian measures. An even policy for equality that is applied to unequal parties can result in a form of inequality. This is the reason why the author endorses equality in fact and not just as a formality in law. According to him, it is indispensable to take positive and specific measures in order to place minorities in a situation of equality and development. These measures, far from being contrary to the principle of non-discrimination, are in conformity with provisions in international treaties pertaining to the right to equality.

FR :

La première question qui se pose est celle de définir ce que sont les droits des minorités. L'auteur l'aborde en examinant la reconnaissance qu'ont reçue ces droits dans le passé, à travers les traités internationaux, les constitutions d'autres pays ainsi que l'expérience canadienne. Il s'attarde sur la distinction à faire entre « droits individuels » et « droits de minorités ». L'essence de cette distinction se situe surtout dans le fait que la protection des groupes minoritaires exige une action positive du gouvernement tandis que celle des droits individuels ne nécessite aucune intervention.

EN :

The Director of the Institute for Intergovernmental Relations herein underscores the fact that neither the protection of human rights nor political sovereignty can fully ensure the rights of national or ethnic minorities. He points out to this effect that the doctrine of liberalism is deficient due to its superficial apprehension of the relationship between the individual and the collectivity. As for the principle of sovereignty, it too fails on the level of social theory.

The author proposes as a solution to the problem of ethnic minorities various elements. First, he suggests federalism, but mainly the instigation of a new political formula as a complement to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The purpose of this formula would be to define and ensure the rights of ethnic minorities through the drafting of standards of conduct, partial self-goverment and the establishing of intergovernmental accords.

EN :

Canada's international obligations for protecting minorities imply non discrimination and the establishment of means for allowing minorities to preserve and perpetuate their national characteristics. The author deals with the scope and role of the Canadian Charter in recognizing the value of « multiculturalism. » He presents the various obstacles that lay in the way of exercising the right to multiculturalism such as the financial cost for achieving it and the principle of « territoriality. »

FR :

Quelle est la situation actuelle des langues minoritaires au Canada ? Tandis que les communautés de francophones hors Québec n'ont cessé de décroître depuis le siècle dernier, celle des anglophones du Québec avait su se maintenir jusqu'à récemment. Cependant l'avènement de la Charte de la langue française a modifié considérablement la situation.

Tout cela nous amène à nous interroger à savoir si les minorités linguistiques survivront au Canada. Pour cela, il faudrait que ces minorités soient centralisées territorialement et que soient mises sur pied des institutions permettant l'usage de leur langue, telles des écoles, des structures gouvernementales, culturelles et économiques.

La grande lacune au Canada en matière de protection des communautés linguistiques se situe au plan du développement économique. Le gouvernement, en implantant des centres de recherches et des services spécialisés au sein d'une communauté minoritaire, assurerait sa subsistance.

EN :

This survey deals with the problem of linguistic diversity in Europe. In what way does the Council of Europe react to what is commonly called there the « new minorities » composed of immigrants and refugees ?

The Director for Human Rights at the Council of Europe first covers guarantees provided to members of minorities under the European Convention on Human Rights (article 14), then describes attempts made by the Council of Europe to protect minorities as such.

As for the new minorities, the Council is taking action to favour intercultural education. Its policy aims a both preserving European languages in their diversity and encouraging multilingualism which is of such nature as to facilitate communication and understanding between different peoples

EN :

In this paper the author examines the importance of constitutional litigation as an instrument for promoting minority linguistic rights in Canada. He goes on to explain the reasons which drove him to challenge a unilingual English traffic summons which he received in Manitoba.

Court proceedings are not the only means of strengthening minority language rights. The author underscores the importance of informing and educating the public as to the role and place of linguistic minorities in Canadian history. He also emphasizes the fact that heads of state should exercise more leadership in the area of language rights.

EN :

The Commissioner of Official Languages presents the evolution of linguistic rights from the time of Confederation up to the period of the Quiet Revolution in Québec.

This survey dwells upon guarantees granted to linguistic minorities in Canada. At the Federal level of government, the author describes the consequences of the Royal Commission of Enquiry on Bilingualism and Biculturalism : The Official Languages Act and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. At the provincial level of government, he draws up an overall account of the factual integration of these laws.

His observations lead him to conclude that Canada will never be a homogeneous country with regard to linguistic rights and that minority aid systems are deficient.

As a solution, the author underscores the timeliness of Federal-provincial arrangements with a view to creating specific development projects for official language minorities in accordance with local needs, but founded upon a common basis.

EN :

Internationally, the basis for the legal protection of minorities is found in the International Covenant for Civil and Political Rights. In order to appraise the scope of this regime, the author first questions the degree to which protection provided under standards laid down in the Covenant may be sufficient. To this end, he distinguishes elements of non-discrimination and special measures for protecting minorities for which he underscores the genuine difficulties in applying them.

The author then questions the feasibility of devising other means likely to improve the fate of minorities that would not upset the delicate balance of Covenants. In such a perspective, he recommends the drafting of a Declaration by the United Nations General Assembly concerning minorities. He also draws attention to the hypothesis of developing international protection for minorities by increasingly resorting to local and territorial legal instruments by proposing greater usage of international means for implementing human rights.

EN :

With a view to defining what a minority is, the author lays down an inventory of variables likely to aid in answering the above question. Hence we find the minority's « will to survive » and the « number of its members ». In his research, the author leads us to consider various legal, para-legal and doctrinal opinions from which we may extract several constants that permeate the whole. Thus it is that down through the decisions of the Permanent Court of International Justice, the European Court for Human Rights, Canadian courts, etc., there are various elements defining what a minority is.