Accommodation

An arrangement, settlement or compromise.

Advocate

Someone who publicly supports or recommends a particular cause.

Age of majority

The age when people in Canada are considered to be adults. By law someone under this age is considered a minor.

Appeal

Applying to a higher court for a reversal of a decision made by a lower court.

Birth control

Things that are done or steps that are taken to prevent or lessen the frequency of pregnancy.

Charter of Rights and Freedoms

In Canada this document, as well as federal, provincial and territorial laws, protect our human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Child Protection Services

Services with the goal of protecting individual children identified as either suffering, or likely to suffer harm as a result of abuse or neglect. It involves the measures and structures that have been designed to prevent and respond to this abuse and neglect.

Confiscate

Someone taking another person’s property with the authority to do so.

Consent

Permission for something to happen, or the agreement to do something.

Contraception

The deliberate use of artificial methods or other techniques to prevent pregnancy. Contraceptive devices include things such as: birth control pills, condoms, intrauterine devices (IUD’s), etc.

The Criminal Code of Canada

A document that explains all criminal offences and procedures in Canada.

Criminal Harassment

Deliberate conduct that is psychologically harmful to others (example: stalking).

Criminal Law

A system of law that deals with the punishment of people who commit crimes.

Cultural identity

The identity or feeling of belonging to a group. This is part of a person’s self-conception and self-perception, and is related to nationality, ethnicity, religion, social class, generation or any kind of social group that has its own distinct culture.

Degrading

Something that causes someone to feel humiliated and/or like they’ve lost self-respect. Degrading in relation to spanking usually means this took place in public or where other people could see them. Degradation is also a very personal feeling and depends on if the person themselves feels like they were humiliated in a certain way.

Detain

To keep someone in official custody, typically for questioning about a crime or in politically sensitive situations.

Discrimination

An unjust or prejudicial treatment of different categories of people or things on the grounds of things like race, age, sex, gender identity, etc.

Emergency Contraception

Contraception used in the event of forgetting to use or not using other methods.

Exclude

When someone is denied access to or barred from a place, group or privilege. For example, in a school setting it could be a teacher not providing you with the accommodations you need to participate.

Exploitation

When someone treats another person unfairly or poorly in order to benefit from their work.

Genocide

This is the deliberate and systemic killing/extermination of a particular group (usually a national, racial, political or cultural group).

Human Rights Law

Laws that have been put in place by international conventions, by treaties and by organizations, particularly the United Nations.

Identity documents

An identity document (also called a piece of identification or ID) is any document that can be used to prove who a person is (for example a passport, a driver’s license, a health card, etc.).

Involuntary patient

Someone admitted to a health care/psychiatric facility against their will.

Landlord

A person who rents land, a building or an apartment to someone else. This other person is called a “tenant.”

Lease

A contract where one person gives another person land, property or services for a certain amount of time and for a certain amount of money.

LGBTQ+

Acronym that refers to members of a community who identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans*, Queer/Questioning and so on.

Obstructing justice

Attempting to stop the discovery, apprehension, conviction or punishment of anyone who has committed a crime.

Ombudsman

A person who is appointed to investigate individuals’ complaints against dishonest administrations, especially those in public authority.

Peace Bond

An agreement to keep the peace and be on good behaviour for up to one year. It would include terms like no contact, something that requires the person to stay a certain distance away from your home, school, work, etc. If the person does not agree to the peace bond, it will go to a court hearing. At the hearing, a judge decides if they will impose the peace bond on them anyway

Personal property

Items that belong to you and that are moveable (not permanently attached to land or buildings).

Prejudice

Preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.

Pronouns

A word that can function as a noun and refers to the participants in the discourse or to someone or something mentioned elsewhere (for example, I, he, she, they, him, her, them, ze, zir, etc.).

Protection Order

A court order instructing a person to desist from abusing or harassing the petitioner (usually a related person) for a fixed period.

Right to freedom of expression

The right to express one’s ideas and opinions freely through speech, writing and other forms of communication without causing harm.

School administrator

Someone who manages school duties and responsibilities, for example, the principal or secretary of the school.

Secular

Attitudes, activities or other things that have no religious or spiritual basis.

Sexist

Relates to, involves and fosters sexism. Sexism is the attitudes and/or behaviours that are based on traditional stereotypes of gender roles. Sexism can also be the discrimination or prejudice based on a person’s gender identity.

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs)

Diseases or infections that are passed on from one person to another through sexual contact and sometimes by genital contact.

Social assistance

A government system that provides financial help to those who don’t make enough money to support themselves. There are social assistance programs, such as unemployment benefits and low-income support, available in a range of different sectors, for example, Healthcare, Education, Housing, Seniors, Children and Families, DisAbilities, etc.

Trans*

An umbrella term referring to people with diverse gender identities and expressions. It includes, but isn’t limited to, people who identify as transgender, transsexual, cross-dressers, gender non-conforming, gender variant or gender queer, etc.

Truancy

The action of staying away from school without good reason and in defiance of parental authority and in violation of school attendance laws.

Unlawful

Not permitted by or recognized by laws or rules.

Voluntary patient

Someone admitted to a facility with permission.