GRSJ224/ Forced Sterilization in Canada

History of Eugenics in Canada

Compulsory sterilization, also known as forced or coerced sterilization, are government programs which force people to undergo surgical or other sterilization procedures. Forced sterilization was part of the Eugenics Movement that occurred in Canada throughout the early 20th century. Eugenics refers to a set of beliefs and practices aimed at encouraging reproduction by people or populations with “desirable” traits (termed “positive” eugenics) and discouraging reproduction by people with “undesirable” qualities (termed “negative” eugenics).

The Second International Eugenics Congress Logo.

The Sexual Sterilization Act

Sexual Sterilization Act was passed in two Canadian provinces, Alberta and British Columbia. It was first enacted by the legislative assembly of Alberta in 1928. The Act allowed for sterilization of mentally disabled people, in order to prevent the transmission of undesirable traits to offspring. At the time, eugenicists believed that certain disorders including mental illness, mental retardation, alcoholism, epilepsy and social defects such as prostitution and sexual perversion were determined by genetics, and could be inherited by one’s offspring. It was also commonly believed that people with these disorders also had a higher reproduction rate in comparison to the rest of the population. The dominant fear was that gene pool of the general population was weakening and the Sexual Sterilization Act was created in order to combat this fear. It is estimated that over 2,800 people were sterilized under the Act, before it was repealed in 1972. In British Columbia, the Sexual Sterilization Act was in place from 1933 until 1979. Under the Act, the B.C. ethics board had the right to sterilize people living in government-run institutions, without their consent or knowledge about what was happening. In B.C., the Act was repealed in 1979.

Targeted Populations

Young people, minorities and women were sterilized in disproportionately high amounts. Indigenous and Métis people were also targeted, regardless of their age. The Act also disproportionately affected anyone who was in a socially vulnerable position, including children, institutionalized people, unmarried people and rural citizens. At the time, Indigenous people only made up 2.3% of the population in Alberta, but 6% of the institutionalized population. It is estimated that by the time the Act was repealed, Indigenous and Métis people made up over a quarter of the population who had been sterilized under the Act. The widespread Eugenic ideology of the time conveniently justified the disproportionate rates of sterilization among Indigenous populations.

Lasting Impact

The impact of the Sexual Sterilization Act in Canada was substantial and long-lasting. In the case of Indigenous women in Canada, forced sterilization is connected to the broader context of colonialism, as it is one of the many various types of violence committed against Indigenous women. Forced sterilization undermines one’s ability to make decisions about their own body, specifically regarding their reproductive health.

Forced Sterilization of Indigenous Women in Canada

Indigenous women were among the most severely affected by the Sexual Sterilization Act in Canada. Coerced sterilization of Indigenous women took place both within and outside existing legislation and has carried on into the 21st century. Among the thousands of documented cases of forced sterilization of Indigenous women, some of them have been occurring as recently as 2018, and modern forms of coerced sterilization continue to occur in present day. Between the 1970s and 2018, approximately 100 Indigenous women across Canada have alleged that they were pressured to consent to sterilization, often while in the vulnerable states of pregnancy or childbirth. Many of these women report that they were not given the necessary time of information to make the decision regarding sterilization, or being told they would not be able to see their newborn infant until they agreed to undergo sterilization.

Leilani Muir

Early Life

Leilani Muir advocating for victims of forced sterilization at an Alberta Eugenics Awareness Week event in October, 2011.

Leilani Marietta (O'Malley) Muir (July 15, 1944 – March 14, 2016) grew up in Alberta as an unwanted, unloved child. By the time she was 11 years old, Muir had been institutionalized at the Provincial Training School for Mental Defectives in Red Deer, Alberta. She was admitted to the institution without any diagnostic testing, solely based on information provided by her mother. After living at the Training School for 2 years and 4 months, Muir underwent Intelligence Quotient (IQ) testing. After receiving an IQ score of 64, she was formally diagnosed as a "Mental Defective Moron". The Eugenics Board used Muir’s low IQ score to justify her sterilization. On January 19, 1959 Muir was sterilized during what she was told to be an appendectomy. She did not find out that she had been sterilized until over a decade later.

Forced Sterilization

In 1965 Muir left the Provincial Training School and went through two failed marriages. During her first marriage she was unable to get pregnant. Muir sought professional advice and, after administering multiple fertility tests, a doctor informed Muir that she had been sterilized. Muir was desperate to have children, but she was unable to adopt a child due to the stigma attached to her time spent in an institution.

The Court Case

Leilani Muir was the first Canadian person to file a successful lawsuit against the Alberta government for wrongful sterilization under the Sexual Sterilization Act. Since Muir’s case, the Alberta government has apologized for the forced sterilization of over 2,800 people. Nearly 850 Albertans who were sterilized under the Act were awarded $142 million in damages. Muir's case led to the initiation of several other class action lawsuits against the province of Alberta for forced sterilization. Her advocacy shed light on issues of eugenics, institutionalization and human rights for people living with disabilities.

Recent Cases of Forced Sterilization of Indigenous Women in Canada

In 2017, two Indigenous women filed a lawsuit against the provincial government of Alberta, each claiming $7 million dollars in damages. Both women alleged to be victims of coerced sterilization after giving birth at the Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon in 2008. One women reports that she was asked to sign a form consenting to a tubal ligation immediately following the birth of her son via emergency C-section. She was being rushed into surgery and had been given opioids at the time. The other woman was also sterilized immediately after giving birth, even though she reports that she explicitly denied consent. Both of the women report having severe physical and mental symptoms as a result of their forced sterilizations, including early menopause, hormonal imbalances, anxiety and depression. Since 2017, dozens of other Indigenous women have disclosed their stories of coerced sterilization after giving birth. Reports state that many of the women were told that they would not permitted to leave the hospital until they had their fallopian tubes tied, cut or cauterized, and that they could not see their newborn infants until they complied. Others state that they were pressured into signing consent forms agreeing to surgical sterilization during and immediately following labour. After an independent review in January 2017, the Saskatoon Health Region apologized for the coerced sterilization of Indigenous women in the past.