Discrimination Stories: Exclusion, Law, and Everyday Life

Despite growing societal and media attention to problems of discrimination in Canadian society, legal concepts in equality and anti-discrimination law are not widely understood. Discrimination Stories: Exclusion, Law, and Everyday Life explores diverse legal cases brought before courts and human rights tribunals to help us understand the development of anti-discrimination law in Canada. The cases take us into — and teach us about — the concrete realities of inequality in everyday life. They portray the struggles of individuals, families, and communities seeking justice and legal remedies for the harms of discrimination. The cases also reveal both the strengths and limits of anti-discrimination law. They show that equality in our human relations cannot be crafted exclusively by courts or tribunals, despite their significance and importance. Drawing on the complexity and power of discrimination stories, this book is designed to expand our collective knowledge of the evolving legal concepts at the heart of equality law. 

• Preface 
• Introduction 
• Be Careful Going Shopping: Racial Profiling in Everyday Life 
• When Rules Exclude: On Bowling and Equality 
• Excluded, Harassed, and Undervalued: The Struggle to Break Systemic Barriers 
• Taking Positive Steps: Equity Initiatives 
• Equitable Freedom and Dancing Shoes 
• Caring about Equality in Indigenous Communities 
• Seeking Justice and Belonging: The Complexity of Identity 
• When Speech Hurts: Conflicting Freedoms 
• Conclusion: With Glowing Hearts 
• Notes 
• Selected Additional Readings  
• Index 
• About the Author 

Colleen Sheppard is a professor at the Faculty of Law, McGill University, a member of the McGill Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism, and a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Her teaching and research focus on equality rights, systemic discrimination, and Canadian constitutional law. She has published widely on these issues both nationally and internationally.