Church Teaching To one person’s right there corresponds a duty in all other persons.
Those, therefore, who claim their own rights, yet altogether forget or neglect to carry out their respective duties,
are people who build with one hand and destroy with the other.
Civil Rights & Liberties
Every member of society is imbued with a number of rights. With them come responsibilities.
In Catholic terms, a “right” has been defined as a subjective moral power, residing in the person posing it, “to do, hold, or extract something,” which functions through appeal to another’s will through the other’s intellect. It is to be distinguished from might, i.e. the physical force or power to take something away from another. – Fr John Hardon, SJ, Modern Catholic Dictionary
Man’s history of sin begins when he no longer acknowledges the Lord as his Creator and himself wishes to be the one who determines, with complete independence, what is good and what is evil. “You will be like God, knowing good and evil” (Gen 3:5): this was the first temptation, and it is echoed in all the other temptations to which man is more easily inclined to yield as a result of the original Fall. – Pope Saint John Paul II, Veritatis splendor
The demands of the common good… are strictly connected to respect for and the integral promotion of the person and his fundamental rights. These demands concern above all the commitment to peace, the organization of the State’s powers, a sound juridical system, the protection of the environment, and the provision of essential services to all, some of which are at the same time human rights: food, housing, work, education and access to culture, transportation, basic health care, the freedom of communication and expression, and the protection of religious freedom. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 164-166
Racism & Discrimination
The unity of the human family is not yet becoming a reality. This is due to obstacles originating in materialistic and nationalistic ideologies that contradict the values of the person integrally considered in all his various dimensions, material and spiritual, individual and community. In particular, any theory or form whatsoever of racism and racial discrimination is morally unacceptable. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 433
Conscience & Religion
The Catholic Church emphasizes, among other rights, the right to religious freedom. Emphasis is given to the paramount value of the right to religious freedom: “all men are to be immune from coercion on the part of individuals or of social groups and of any human power, in such wise that no one is to be forced to act in a manner contrary to his own beliefs, whether privately or publicly, whether alone or in association with others, within due limits”. The respect of this right is an indicative sign of “man’s authentic progress in any regime, in any society, system or milieu.” Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 320-321
With euthanasia and medically-assisted death and abortion legalized, it is critical that healthcare providers whose deepest moral convictions tell them that such procedures are wrong, not be forced to participate. Catholic teaching says workers should be safeguarded from suffering any affront to conscience or personal dignity. It is a grave duty of conscience to avoid cooperating, even formally, with practices contrary to the Law of God.
Freedom of Speech; Truth, Press, & the Media
Information is among the principal instruments of democratic participation. Participation without an understanding of the situation of the political community, the facts and the proposed solutions to problems is unthinkable.
It is necessary to guarantee a real pluralism in the dissemination of information, ensuring that there are many forms and instruments of information and communications. Special attention must be given to the phenomenon of the news media being controlled by just a few people or groups. This has dangerous effects for the entire democratic system… The media must be used to build up and sustain the human community in its different sectors: economic, political, cultural, educational and religious. Society has a right to information based on truth, freedom, justice and solidarity. The essential question is whether the current information system is contributing to the betterment of the human person; that is, does it make people more spiritually mature, more aware of the dignity of their humanity, more responsible or more open to others, in particular to the neediest and the weakest.
A further aspect of great importance is that new technologies must respect legitimate cultural differences. In the world of the media the intrinsic difficulties of communications are often exacerbated by ideology, the desire for profit and political control, rivalry and conflicts between groups, and other social evils. Moral values and principles apply also to the media…. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 414-416
Gender Equity
The feminine genius is needed in all expressions in the life of society. The first indispensable step in this direction is the concrete possibility of access to professional formation. The persistence of many forms of discrimination offensive to the dignity and vocation of women is due to a long series of conditioning that penalizes women, who have seen themselves relegated to the margins of society and even reduced to servitude… An urgent need to recognize effectively the rights of women in the workplace is seen especially under the aspects of pay, insurance and social security. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 295
Property
Private property and other forms of private ownership of goods “assure a person a highly necessary sphere for the exercise of his personal and family autonomy and ought to be considered as an extension of human freedom … stimulating exercise of responsibility, it constitutes one of the conditions for civil liberty.” Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 171
The Church’s social doctrine requires that ownership of goods be equally accessible to all, so that all may become, at least in some measure, owners. The world exists for everyone, because all of us were born with the same dignity. Differences of colour, religion, talent, place of birth or residence, and so many others, cannot be used to justify the privileges of some over the rights of all. As a community, we have an obligation to ensure that every person lives with dignity and has sufficient opportunities for his or her integral development. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 176
Not to share our wealth with the poor is to rob them and take away their livelihood. The riches we possess are not our own, but theirs as well… Other rights having to do with the goods necessary for the integral fulfilment of persons, including that of private property or any other type of property, should in no way hinder [this right], but should actively facilitate its implementation. Fratelli tutti, 188-120
Human Rights
The Church also recognizes a number of Human Rights, including:
– the right to life, an integral part of which is the right of the child to develop in the mother’s womb from the moment of conception
– the right to live in a united family and in a moral environment conducive to the growth of the child’s personality
– the right to develop one’s intelligence and freedom in seeking and knowing the truth
– the right to share in the work which makes wise use of the earth’s material resources, and to derive from that work the means to support oneself and one’s dependents
– and the right freely to establish a family, to have and to rear children through the responsible exercise of one’s sexuality.
The Church also emphases rights to adequate housing; clean water, and secure, nutritious food; education and access to culture, transportation, basic health care. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 151-166
Individual Responsibilities
In human society, to one man’s right there corresponds a duty in all other persons: the duty, namely, of acknowledging and respecting the right in question. Those, therefore, who claim their own rights, yet altogether forget or neglect to carry out their respective duties, are people who build with one hand and destroy with the other. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 156
Subsidiarity
Subsidiarity is the principle that each element of society should serve its proper purpose, and support others in serving theirs, the over-arching goal being to encourage and enable the authentic human development of the individual.
One consequence of this principle is that each individual, and smaller groups of people, should be allowed and expected to make for themselves all the decisions that can responsibly be left to them, rather than to larger groups or greater authorities. A premise of this principle is that we are each responsible for our own salvation, within the limits of the gifts and the challenges with which God has endowed us. This is one of the fundamental social teachings of the Church, since it helps to ensure that each individual is empowered to find his or her own way to God.
Families, Individuals, and Civil Society
It is impossible to promote the dignity of the person without showing concern for the family, groups, associations, local territorial realities; in short, for that aggregate of economic, social, cultural, sports-oriented, recreational, professional and political expressions to which people spontaneously give life and which make it possible for them to achieve effective social growth. This is the realm of civil society… This network of relationships strengthens the social fabric and constitutes the basis of a true community of persons, making possible the recognition of higher forms of social activity.
The political community is established to be of service to civil society, from which it originates… This vision is challenged by political ideologies of an individualistic nature and those of a totalitarian character, which tend to absorb civil society into the sphere of the State. The political community and civil society are not equal in the hierarchy of ends. The political community is essentially at the service of civil society and, in the final analysis, the persons and groups of which civil society is composed.
The State must provide an adequate legal framework for social subjects to engage freely in their different activities and it must be ready to intervene, when necessary and with respect for the principle of subsidiarity, so that the interplay between free associations and democratic life may be directed to the common good. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 185, 417, 418
Subsidiary governments: provinces, municipalities, territories, & Aboriginal societies
The principle of subsidiarity is opposed to various forms of centralization, bureaucratization, and welfare assistance, and to the unjustified and excessive presence of the State in public mechanisms… Just as it is gravely wrong to take from individuals what they can accomplish by their own initiative and industry and give it to the community, so also it is an injustice and at the same time a grave evil and disturbance of right order to assign to a greater and higher association what lesser and subordinate organizations can do. Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church, 185
Green Party of New Brunswick The Individual & Society
The party states that:
– the fight against climate change and the transition towards a green economy needs an activist government, as well as the mobilization of all sectors of society. If everyone is to contribute, it is essential that each person is respected and feels secure in a society that values them.
– a Green society celebrates and protects social and cultural equality and diversity.
– to achieve this, we must make peace with one another by recognizing the vulnerability of certain groups and communities. We must collectively reject racism, sexism, homophobia, and mistrust towards those who are different from the majority.
– we must counter the idea that democracy is simply the rule of the majority. It also includes the right of all people to equality in society.
Civil Liberties & Human Rights
Racism
The party states that:
– racialized people experience systemic racism and oppression in Canada and New Brunswick. Prejudice and stereotypes have no place in a fair and green society. The government must act to eliminate the racism embedded in provincial political, social, and cultural systems to allow racialized minorities to fully participate in society.
The party advocates:
– including in school curricula the study of the history of slavery, segregation, and systemic oppression in Canada and in New Brunswick.
– ordering a study of the personal, social, and economic impact of racism in New Brunswick, and developing a strategic anti-racism plan to repair this damage and prevent racism going forward.
Gender Equality
The party states that:
– the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the vulnerability of women and the fragility of the gains that they achieved over the years.
– the government has a leadership role to play in correcting systemic inequalities and providing women with services that support their access to employment, justice, and elected positions. Half of the potential of humankind must not be lost.
The party advocates:
– requiring pay equity in the private sector, and providing support to small businesses to help them carry out comparative job analyses.
– funding implementation of the framework proposed in the report, Preventing and Responding to Sexual Violence in New Brunswick: A Strategic Framework for Action, in order to fill the gaps in services for survivors and better support the community organizations working on issues related to sexual violence.
– providing adequate funding to support salaries of workers providing community services and childcare service.
– collaborating with the Multicultural Council of New Brunswick and its partner organizations to increase employment possibilities for immigrants and newcomers.
Gender Expression
The party states that:
– it is illegal and unjust to discriminate on the basis of sexual identity and gender, yet despite the progress that has been made, lesbian, gay, transgender and two-spirit communities will experience discrimination.
The party advocates:
– ensuring the effective right of all people to self-determine their sexual identity and gender.
– prohibiting the practice of conversion therapy on minors.
– ensuring that, in cases of students who have changed their name in accordance with the Change of Name Act, only the adopted name will appear on the student’s file and be used by school system teachers and staff.
Speech & Freedom of the Press
The party dates that:
– the cornerstone of any democracy is a media independent of vested and political interests, reflecting the full diversity of New Brunswick society. Without this the province’s full democratic potential cannot be realized.
Duties & Responsibilities
The party states that:
– to counter the cynicism and detachment of individuals from the political life of our province, people must be seen as citizens in communities contributing to a common good, not as self-interested consumers in a Consumer Society.
– local, national and global security should rest on cooperation, just economic and social structures and relations, ecological security, and vigorous protection of human rights.
Liberal Party of New Brunswick Civil Liberties & Human Rights
The party states among its values that:
– it is committed to full gender equality and is open to all New Brunswickers who accept Liberal principles, regardless of their race, creed, social standing, age, gender, or sexual orientation.
– through its commitment to equal opportunity, and a belief in the inherent dignity of all people, the New Brunswick Liberal Party will strive to advance progressive and innovative policies and programs designed to overcome social inequities, whether based on economic or regional factors, age, gender and sexual orientation, ethnic background, or physical or mental ability.
– it will strive to encourage and enhance multiculturalism in New Brunswick.
– it stands for full linguistic and cultural equality of those who speak French and those who speak English, and of the equality of the two linguistic communities. These principles will be reflected both in the development of policies and in internal practices.
Human Rights
The party states that:
– people who are transgender have the same human rights as anyone else.
– human rights in Canada are defined and protected by our constitution and courts.
– the current provincial government in NB has driven wedges between NB residents on human rights issues for people who are transgender, leading to fear, conflict, and threats of violence.
The party advocates:
– governmental respect for respect the human rights of every person in NB, including no intentional or knowing abridgement of the human rights of any New Brunswicker, except as provided by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the NB Human Rights Act, or other applicable laws.
– not using the Notwithstanding Clause to sustain legislation that restricts human rights in New Brunswick.
– amendment of Policy 713 in accordance with the guidance and recommendations of the Child and Youth Advocate Report on Policy 713.
Gender Equity
The party states that:
– significant inflation rates have led to higher costs of living, resulting in increased foodbank usage, scarce affordable housing, overburdened mental health services, and record high homelessness.
– there are inadequate resources addressing the specific needs of women (including Indigenous and Multicultural women), in areas such as healthcare, violence, childcare, senior and long-term care, housing, food security, education, financial aid, pay equity, transportation, language learning, and leadership opportunities.
– existing government, business, and non-profit programs and services are either unknown, uncoordinated, or insufficiently women-focused, and gaps in services exist in specific areas. The current Women’s Equality Branch and Women’s Council lack the resources to address these issues effectively.
– integration of Social Inclusion Networks into the 12 Regional Service Commissions offers an opportunity to work efficiently within existing structures, providing regionally accessible services in a hub and spoke model.
The party advocates:
– creating a Department of Women’s Equality with infrastructure and resources on par with other Provincial government departments, mandated to assess and address women’s needs and provide consistent women-centered services throughout the province through direct “one-stop shops” in the 12 Regional Service Commissions. The department would be funded by allocating existing budgets from departments like ONB (Opportunities New Brunswick) and PETL (Post-Secondary Education Training and Labour), specifically for women’s services.
Pay Equity for Women
The party states that:
– women, including Indigenous and Multicultural women, often bear significant care responsibilities alongside their employment, without commensurate wages. Essential services such as healthcare and education, dominated by female workers, have been highlighted for inadequacies, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.
– worker shortages in essential care services and many private-sector businesses in New Brunswick have heightened the need to address service gaps.
– barriers specific to women, such as long waitlists for childcare, limit their workplace participation. Models in other countries like the Netherlands demonstrate the effectiveness of workplace flexibility and supports for women, balancing work and family life without compromising worker shortages.
– 65% of women in New Brunswick work in the private sector, yet the current Pay Equity Act, 2009, is limited to the public service sector and Crown Corporations. Pay Equity legislation applies to the private sector in Ontario, Quebec, and the Federal Government.
– the care sector, a major employment area for women in New Brunswick, is among the least well-paid and most undervalued sectors. Women constitute the majority of the 11,000 individuals employed by approximately 700 community care agencies across rural and urban areas in New Brunswick. The sector serves vulnerable populations, including the elderly, children, and people living with disabilities or mental illness, and encompasses homecare, daycare centers, specialized nursing homes, community residences, family support, employment, and support services (PESS), and transition homes. The sector faces recruitment and retention challenges, and the absence of a long-term pay equity and improved working conditions plan exacerbates the crisis, affecting the quality and availability of care.
The party advocates:
– evaluating such workplaces and initiating plans to remedy gaps, ensuring quality care and education.
– extending the Pay Equity Act, 2009 to the private sector, including the non-profit sector, ensuring that such extension involves job evaluation based on skills, responsibility, effort, and working conditions, with the creation of an independent Pay Equity Bureau to implement and monitor the law, providing tools, training, and information to employers and employees.
Women in Government
The party states that:
– the 2021 Census revealed New Brunswick’s population as 50.8% female and 49.2% male, yet women’s representation in government at various levels does not reflect these figures. The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women has expressed concern about the underrepresentation of women in politics and public life in Canada and its provinces.
– only 29% of members in provincially appointed agencies, boards, and commissions are women, while other countries have successfully implemented gender quotas or parity in such appointments. Methods like Wales’ ‘zippering’ approach and New Zealand’s proportional representation have effectively increased women’s participation in government.
– the Federal Government of Canada has demonstrated the feasibility of gender parity in its Cabinet.
The party advocates:
– exploring and adopting methods to achieve full gender parity in the Legislative Assembly, Cabinet, and appointments to provincial agencies, boards, and commissions, including includes evaluating and removing existing barriers to women’s involvement, reflecting the population composition of New Brunswick.
– ensuring that a comprehensive plan to achieve pay equity in the entire community care sector includes public investment in sector wages until pay equity is achieved; development of pay scales incorporating pay equity and annual indexation of these scales; and conducting pay equity exercises for all roles in the sector that have not yet been evaluated.
Responsibilities: Participation & Subsidiarity
Local Empowerment
The party states that:
– local governments are already engaged in land use planning, with plans either in place or under development.
– the effects of climate change require changes in our consumption habits, development plans, and infrastructures. Related loss of nature directly impacts communities and their citizens.
– the consequences of climate change, such as erosion, forest fires, heat or cold waves, air quality issues, and economic impacts, as well as potential solutions, may vary significantly from one community or region to another.
The party advocates:
– adopting a collaborative approach with Indigenous communities, municipalities, Regional Services Commissions, and concerned non-profit organizations to devise local and regional solutions to the effects of climate change and nature loss, with multi-year funding and technical support to local governments and non-profit organizations for environment and climate change-related projects.
New Brunswick NDP Civil Liberties | Human Rights | Responsibilities: Participation & Subsidiarity
Racism
The party states that it is committed to ending all forms of racism and discriminatory practices, including:
– through provincial education and justice systems, working to recognize and stop anti-Black racism, Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, anti-Indigenous racism and all other forms of systemic racism.
– declaring New Brunswick to be a Sanctuary Province where people can access basic services without fear, regardless of their immigration status, as a decent, humane thing to do.
– expanding oversight of provincial police and correctional facilities with an emphasis on moving towards a system that reduces recidivism through rehabilitation—rather than profiling and punishment.
LGBTQ+
The party states that it stands in solidarity with members of the LGBTQ+ community, and is committed to advancing the rights and priorities of LGBTQ+ people and working together to build a more just and inclusive province.
The party advocates:
– improving the sexual education curriculum in public schools, with a focus that includes teaching a greater understanding and respect for gender and sexual diversity.
– commit to advancing trans-inclusive health care, and improving accessibility to services and medication.
– making it easier to change gender identity markers on official government documents.
– ending the requirement that educational institutions have gendered bathrooms.
The party has published no current statement concerning its policies relating to:
• Responsibilities, participation, or subsidiarity
People’s Party Civil Liberties | Human Rights | Responsibilities: Participation & Subsidiarity
The party has published no current statement concerning its policies relating to:
- Civil liberties
- Human rights
- Responsibilities, participation, or subsidiarity
Progressive Conservative Party of New Brunswick Civil Liberties | Human Rights | Responsibilities: Participation & Subsidiarity
The party’s constitution states that the party believes in:
– 4. The Individual: it respects the rights of the individual, but is mindful of the responsibilities, which those rights demand. It is by accepting their responsibility and acting on their own initiatives that individuals will achieve their full potential.
Gender Equity
The party’s 2024-25 budget states that, to promote gender equality and reduce systemic discrimination by providing advice and support to the Minister responsible for Women’s Equality as well as to departments of government, and to coordinate the implementation of the government’s actions and initiatives in the areas of women’s personal, social and economic security:
– in 2023-24, the party budgeted $6.4 million.
– in 2023-24, the party spent $9.3 million, or 45% more than planned.
– for 2024-25, the party has budgeted $10.4 million, a further 12% increase.
– for 2024-25, the party has budgeted an additional $485 thousand for the New Brunswick Women’s Council, an independent body that provides advice to the Minister on matters of importance to women and their substantive equality; to bring to the attention of government and the public issues of interest and concern to women and their substantive equality; to be strategic and provide advice on emerging and future issues; and to include and engage women of diverse identities, experiences and communities, women’s groups and society in general.
The party has published no further current statement concerning its policies relating to:
- Civil Liberties
- Human rights
- Responsibilities, participation, or subsidiarity
Points to Ponder Points to Ponder: Rights & Responsibilities; Subsidiarity
A conscience well formed by the social teachings of the Church will seriously consider the following questions:
Civic & Individual Rights & Responsibilities
It is clear that the nation and the provinces owe their citizens great respect for each of a broad range of human rights. But with rights come responsibilities. In fact, a right is nothing other than the flip side of an obligation (responsibility). And while individual citizens have rights, the civil community as a whole also has rights, which means that individual citizens have some fundamental obligations towards the civil community as a whole (the nation).
In that light, we can ask:
- What responsibilities do individuals have toward their communities, provinces, the nation, and the world? For example:
- To what extent are citizens called to live sustainable lifestyles, for example by conserving energy, avoiding waste, and ensuring that they minimize any adverse impact on future generations?
- What should citizens look to their governments for, to encourage sustainable consumer lifestyles and ensure that such lifestyles are affordable?
To what extent are citizens called to:- participate in society, for example through informed voting, continued engagement with candidates and elected representatives, and keeping up responsibly with the news?
- lend a hand to their neighbours, for example by volunteering at home or within the community, in addition to paying taxes?
- Can our governments do anything to enable or encourage citizens to contribute by volunteer service? For example, by offering tax credits to volunteer firefighters, to those who work with the homeless or visit the sick, or to other civic volunteers?
- Under what conditions, if any, is it morally right to require health care providers to participate in morally questionable practices such as abortion or assisted death, when it is contrary to their understanding of morality or their religious beliefs?
In addition to human and civil rights, many parties speak of things residents of New Brunswick and others “deserve.”
- How do the parties determine what citizens do or do not deserve? Do they apply predictable, objective criteria in making such determinations, or can such determinations sometimes seem arbitrary and unfair, or, in the context of elections, opportunistic? What criteria should be applied?
- As the list of our defined political rights expand, how do we reconcile conflicts between them?
Inter-Government Relations & and Civil Society
- Should the powers of the Federal government be expanded or reduced?
- Should the powers of the Provincial government be expanded or reduced?
- Is there too much government intervention in Canada or too little? Are Federal and Provincial governments fulfilling their obligations under the principle of subsidiarity to local governments and community groups by leaving to them all the decisions that responsibly can be left with them?
- Or, should the powers of government be redistributed in order to ensure that individuals, public interest groups, and service organizations have opportunities to employ their lives and talents in the service of others, and the common good?