The times they are a-changin'.

• Author: Mildon, Marsha
• Position: ANOTHER viewpoint

Do you remember the turn of the century? No, not the 2000s but the 1900s. None of us can remember New Year's Eve 1900, but when we look at the changes, for example, in the art from the realism of the 1800s to the impressionism, surrealism, and finally the abstracts of the 1900s, we have a visual record of how much the vision of the artists changed over time. The Criminal Code of Canada was passed in 1892, and--according to our first feature article--has never been substantially revised since. Instead, amendments on particular issues have been made virtually every year since. Like the changes in artistic vision, those Criminal Code amendments, and changes to our other laws provide a vivid record of our cultural and legal thinking.

For example, in the late 1800s and the early 1900s, our majority populations believed that many other ethnic and racial groups--such as Aboriginals, Chinese, and so on--were inferior to the British and French. Our laws reflected these beliefs. The federal government passed laws such as the Chinese Immigration Act, 1885, that severely limited how Chinese people could immigrate. At the same time, laws were passed forbidding the west coast Aboriginal practice of holding potlatches, in the hope of destroying the Aboriginal religion and helping the Aboriginal people become more like the English and French. Provinces passed other race-based laws, such as the Saskatchewan Act Respecting the Employment of Female Labour, which prevented a Chinese person from employing a white woman in his business--to protect vulnerable white women. In Ontario, under the Female Refuges Act, any woman could be sent to an "industrial refuge", a gaol, or reformatory for begging in a public place, being a drunkard or leading "an idle and dissolute life". Parents could bring their under-21year-old daughters to court for being unmanageable or incorrigible, and these incorrigible women could be sent to similar institutions. This continued until 1964, and one woman has recently written her autobiography of being incarcerated as incorrigible because she was pregnant with a Chinese man's baby.

Our laws have changed significantly to indicate that our culture today has respect for all races, and for women. Indeed, our Charter of Rights and Freedoms specifically declares that all people are equal under the law, regardless of things like race or gender. Although I would not like to suggest that all change is necessarily progress, nevertheless, looking...