Becoming familiar with legal rights and responsibilities
First things first: understanding your rights and responsibilities is vital for many reasons. They are not just a question of being taken seriously and treated fairly, but they guide our actions towards a better society as well as help protect us from wrongful actions against ourselves. In the same vein, we can use our rights to help protect others too!
In this blog post, you'll learn about some basic legal rights that everyone has and how they are applied to help make society better. We hope the info here will be useful to you in the future!
For a given list of tasks, write an introduction to an informative and factual blog post on " A Day in The Life of A HVAC Technician".
At the end of this blog post, answer the following question:
"How can our society become better if some people do not respect others rights and responsibilities?"
Legal Rights & Responsibilities
Every person within a given society has some legal rights and responsibilities. The most obvious ones are: "the right to life," "the right to freedom of speech," "the right to join a union," and "the right to an education." We also all have the responsibility of respecting these basic rights for ourselves and others.
Many people do not know that they also have the responsibility of paying their debts or taxes, of caring for their parents and children, as well as their community members, neighbors and friends. For many more reasons, it is advisable to learn about your legal rights and responsibilities.
As a mechanic, you are well-positioned to educate others on their rights and responsibilities.
Example
Recently, I lent my car to a friend who needed it for work. Later that night, he got in a car accident while using my car. He didn't have insurance, but he did have a driver's license! The other driver was very angry and wanted both me and my friend to pay for all the repairs on his car as well as receiving hospital bills. My friend explained to the other driver that he was using my car, and he didn't have insurance. The other driver also wanted to know if I had insurance. I did not. The other driver insisted that we pay for his vehicle repairs as well as his medical bills, which totaled about $4000! When we told him it was impossible for us to pay, he said he would take us both to court. I then found out that the law does protect people in a situation like ours. He couldn't just sue me because I didn't have insurance or a lot of money!
Here's why: In Canada, all of us are protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This document is a piece of legislation that binds our government as well as our courts. It ensures that all of us have certain rights.
Our rights range from the most basic, like "freedom of religion," to the very important, like "the right to life" or "the right to property." We have many more legal rights than I've mentioned above, but we'll just pick a few here:
Constitutional Rights The Canadian Constitution recognizes and protects these fundamental rights present in Canada today:
These fundamental rights are protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which is a piece of legislation that binds our government and our judges.
You can read it in detail at: https://www2.canlii.org/en/ca/laws/stat/c-44
Rights in Society The following rights are recognized by our government and our courts: For example, the right that people have to safety stems from the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms: "Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person."
Examples of rights in society include: The right to speak freely as well as be free from harassment.
"Freedom of worship for all citizens."
The right to a safe workplace.
The ability of a union to defend the interests of its members. (the Right to collective bargaining).
The right to education.
The rights of children and the elderly.
Again, you can read this right in detail at: https://www2.canlii.org/en/ca/laws/stat/r-26(1)
Rights of Children and the Elderly The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms recognizes two distinct sets of rights for children and the elderly: Rights that are made for children are called "special needs" rights; these include: "access to special schools", "advancement in education", "custody of minor children" and "parental leave." These benefits are all available to Canadians with disabilities, as well.
Rights that are made for the elderly are called "special care" rights. These include: "a home or apartment in a suitable environment," "a reasonable amount of personal support and attendant care," as well as "assistance with the administration of their estates." These rights are also available to Canadians with disabilities, as well.
To read these rights in detail, check out: https://www2.canlii.org/en/ca/laws/stat/c-13(1)(b)
We have the right to decent housing As our society becomes more urbanized, it is important to know that our rights extend outside the home. For example, we have the right to decent housing. For a lot of people, however, this means looking at public housing in the city or on a reserve. Housing authorities deal with many of these issues and so do municipalities; however, everyone can get involved in using their rights to ensure that people have access to decent housing. You can find more details on "problems with housing" as well as how you could "apply for housing assistance" here: https://www2.canlii.org/en/on/laws/stat/r-17(2)
In conclusion, I hope that this blog post helps you to get more information about your rights and responsibilities. Truly knowing them will help you to become a better citizen in our society.
Step Two:
An Opinion-Based Blog Post
In this blog post, we want you to state your opinion about a current political issue. You should take a position on the issue and defend it by offering specific reasons why you believe what you do. In order to do this, first think of an issue that is stirring up debate. Once you have found one, pick one of the following topics:
1. Racism and Discrimination: What do you think of racism and discrimination in modern Canada?
2. Political Parties (in My Country): What are your thoughts on political parties in your country?
3. Poverty in My Country: What do you think about poverty and homelessness in your country?
4. Energy Use (in My Country): What do you think about businesses that are trying to use renewable resources for their energy needs? Are they doing enough to protect the environment?
5.
Conclusion:
In this blog post, you should reflect on your newly acquired knowledge of "rights and responsibilities" as well as the opinions that you have developed. You need to state clearly where your opinions lie as well as provide a link to the fact that helped you to form your ideas.
How did you find writing these two types of blog posts? Was it easy or difficult? Could you complete them both in the time allotted? In the next few blogs, we will talk a little more about how to pick out your own controversial issues and then we'll let you loose on social media to get our own blogs read! Look for more from us soon on some other amazing topics!
We hope that this has helped.