Eugenics and human rights in Canada: The Alberta Sexual Sterilization Act of 1928.

Abstract

This case study looks at how the Alberta Sexual Sterilization Act (1928) is a site of contested and difficult Canadian history. In particular, it focuses on how the Act can be used as a narrative of individual versus collective rights, the evolution of social thought in Canada, the legitimized stigmatization and physical violation of thousands of individuals, and the development and protection of human rights. This case study discusses the emergence of the eugenics movements in Canada, the proposal and passing of the Act into law, the nature of the Act itself, the damage it caused to thousands of individuals, and its eventual repeal. The sources drawn upon include both primary and secondary works. The story of the Alberta Sexual Sterilization Act (1928) is not just about how mistakes were made in the past, but the broader issues of collective and individual rights, and how they must balance in our society.

God’s Will

“…Such practices continued into the early years of the twenty-first century. So, too, must we consider the long legacy of sexual sterilization in the name of eugenics (Dyck, 2013;McCavitt, 2013). During the course of the province of Alberta's forty-seven-year engagement with sexual sterilization, over 2,800 individuals were sterilized (Dyck, 2013).…”