The norms, values, beliefs, structures and systems that grant power, privilege and superiority to men, and thereby marginalize and subordinate women.

A term which applies to all people who are not seen as White by the dominant group, generally used by racialized groups as an alternative to the term visible minority.  It emphasizes that skin colour is a key consideration in the "everyday" experiences of their lives. The term is an attempt to describe people with a more positive term than non-White or minority which frames them in the context of the dominant group.

Refers to persons who identify themselves as experiencing difficulties in carrying out the activities of daily living or experience disadvantage in employment, and who may require some accommodation, because of a long term or recurring physical or developmental condition (see Disability).

A state in society where some degree of cultural, linguistic, ethnic, religious or other group distinctiveness is maintained and valued.  Pluralism is promoted by policies of multiculturalism and race relations, the Human Rights Codes and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

That which allows one group to name and classify subordinate groups and to subject them to differential treatment.

A state of mind; a set of attitudes held by one person or group about another, tending to cast the other in an inferior light, despite the absence of legitimate or sufficient evidence; means literally to "pre-judge" considered irrational and very resistant to change, because concrete evidence that contradicts the prejudice is usually dismissed as exceptional.  Frequently prejudices are not recognized as false or unsound assumptions or stereotypes, and, through repetition, become accepted as common sense notions. When backed with power, prejudice results in acts of discrimination and oppression against groups or individuals.

The experience of freedoms, rights, benefits, advantages, access and/or opportunities afforded members of the dominant group in a society or in a given context, usually unrecognized and taken for granted by members of the majority group, while the same freedoms, rights, benefits, advantages access and/or opportunities are denied to members of the minority or disadvantaged groups.