Rights

 The 1995 referendum was the closest the country ever came to coming apart. The separation of Quebec was narrowly defeated. Premier Jacques Parizeau, in an infamous speech that night likely influenced by liquor, blamed the loss on money and "ethnic votes."

Bilingualism is a force in the country.

The next thematic area looks at human rights, including voting, which in the aftermath of the Second World War began to be extended to groups that had been excluded, including First Nations peoples.

Multiculturalism has become one of our strengths over time.

The rights of women is also explored, particularly as a response to violence. One of the darkest chapters of the country's history is the killing of fourteen women at the Ecole Polytechnique in Montreal by a man best described as a misogynistic terrorist.

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a bill of rights entrenched within the Constitution.

Race and religion have long been difficult subjects, evolving over time. 

This installation is by artist Leila Binbrek, with each side of these two tables reflecting her western and Yemeni influenced backgrounds.

Viola Desmond was a civil rights trailblazer. Owner of a beauty school in Nova Scotia, she challenged the segregation policies of a movie theatre, a decade before Rosa Parks. Today her portrait is on the Canadian ten dollar bill.

I leave off here with where we'll pick up tomorrow, with a panel about the disabled- particularly disabled athletes.