The 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (aka the 1951 Refugee Convention) is the United Nations treaty that defines who is a refugee, setting out the rights and guidelines for those who are granted refugee status and the responsibilities of the nation that grants it. The 1967 Protocol Relating to the Status of Refugees is the following treaty that removes the temporal and geographical restrictions of the 1951 Refugee Convention. Canada is party to both treaties. To apply for refugee status, the asylum seeker must first establish a well-founded fear of persecution and be unable to obtain protection from their country of nationality. The persecution must be due to reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group or political opinion. Persecution, according to LaVolette (2014), is defined as "harm feared [to] be serious and that it be inflicted in a persistent, repetitive or systematic way."