Human Rights Issues In Canadian History

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms upholds the individual rights of all Canadians. Agree or disagree with the following statement.

The Canadian Charter of Rights has been entrenched in the Constitution Act of 1982 since 1982 and affected the lives of countless Canadians ever since it was passed, with most if not all of the effects being positive. This can be proven by the fact that the act that the act has only faced two amendments in the 35 years it has been in effect. Furthermore, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms has five components; Fundamental Freedoms, Democratic Rights, Mobility Rights, Legal Rights, and Equality Rights. All of these were designed to make sure that Canadians face no discrimination, and are not denied any basic rights. This can be seen by seeing how much the quality of life for Canadians has increased over the time the Charter has been embedded in the Constitution, by how much the Charter actually does protect the rights of Canadians.

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is an important milestone in Canadian history. An effort through rigorous debate and compromise gave birth to this document that defines our collective values and principles by guaranteeing and protecting the fundamental rights of its citizens. Prior to the Charter, there was no gurantee in Canada that rights and freedoms would not be taken away by legislation. The Charter also allows courts to render the constitutional duty so that any decisions made are consistent with those rights and freedoms. The Charter was established firmly in “The Constitution Act, 1982”, with the declaration of this act Canada escaped from the severe practice of concept of parliamentary supremacy. The Charter has an enormous effect on court’s decision power to award justice to important and debatable issues about policies that affect public. In awarding the verdict courts are not even reluctant to rewrite laws that violate the testament of the Charter. The judges have a duty to regulate the rulings of both provincial and federal governments which, disagree with the root value of Charter.

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was signed into law by Queen Elizabeth II April 17, 1982. Often referred to as the Charter, it affirms the rights and freedoms of Canadians in the Constitution of Canada. The Charter encompasses fundamental freedoms, democratic rights, mobility rights, legal rights, language rights and equality rights. The primary function of the Charter is to act as a regulatory check between Federal, Provincial and Territorial governments and the Canadian people. Being a successor of the Canadian Bill of Rights that was a federal statute, amendable by Parliament, the Charter is a more detailed and explicit constitutional document that has empowered the judiciary to render regulations and statutes at both the

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was enacted under the Pierre Trudeau government on April 17, 1982. According to Phillip Bryden, “With the entrenchment of the Charter into the Canadian Constitution, Canadians were not only given an explicit definition of their rights, but the courts were empowered to rule on the constitutionality of government legislation” (101). Prior to 1982, Canada’s central constitutional document was the British North America Act of 1867. According to Kallen, “The BNA Act (the Constitution Act, 1867) makes no explicit reference to human rights” (240). The adoption of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms significantly transformed the operation of Canada’s political system. Presently, Canadians define their

Three decades ago, honorable Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau was establishing the renowned Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Since the three decades of being established, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms has protected the individual rights and freedoms of thousands of Canadians. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms has become a part of the national identity and has become a big patriotic symbol for the country. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms is the document the truly separates Canada from all the other powerful nations and is really something that Canadian take a pride in. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms brings up many questions, but the biggest and most common question is How effectively does Canada’s Charter of Rights and

Canada is perceived by other nations as a peace-loving and good-natured nation that values the rights of the individual above all else. This commonly held belief is a perception that has only come around as of late, and upon digging through Canadian history it quickly becomes obvious that this is not the truth. Canadian history is polluted with numerous events upon which the idea that Canada is a role model for Human Rights shows to be false. An extreme example of this disregard for Human Rights takes place at the beginning of the twentieth-century, which is the excessive prejudice and preconceived notions that were held as truths against immigrants attempting to enter Canada. Another prime example of these prejudices and improper

It is believed that Canada was in violation of the human rights when they forced the aboriginals to get assimilated into a Eurocentric society. There were instances of children being forced from homes into Christian schools. This was violation of human rights ( Asch 98).

When someone speaks of great inequalities and human rights violations, very seldom is Canada as a nation (in a broader sense,) conjured together with these thoughts. However, in reality probably some of the greatest human right violations within our time and even within the late modern period, and most concerning examples of them, can be found through looking back into Canadian history. For many this may be a surprise to hear, however for others, specifically the native population of Canada, we can assume this is well understood. Commonly known today as Indian residential schools, a great act of wrong was committed under the command and leadership of the Canadian government starting back with elementary roots through the passage of the

Pierre Elliott Trudeau, father of the current Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau was the one who came up with the Charters of Rights and Freedoms. He promised “Quebecers during the campaign that Ottawa would re-open Constitutional negotiations”. (STEPHEN AZZI. Historica Canada. February 02, 2012. <>). When separatists were defeated, Trudeau began to create the Charter of Rights and Freedoms for Canada’s Constitution. The Charter of Rights and freedoms had a huge impact on Canada, in different ways such as our society, us Canadians, our rights and our government. We as in Canadians need the Charters of Rights and Freedoms because “The Charter of Rights and Freedoms guaranteed the democratic, civil and legal rights of Canadian’s by formally

It is believed that while all human kind may have had common beginnings in the millennia past, the course of human history prevents all races from reverting back to that common kind. It is further believed that the racism that subsists in today’s society does not exist in the same manner within Canada. While Canada is an egalitarian society, a close examination would suggest that the blunt historical and social truths of racism that are often smugly denied exist very much in Canadian society and have seeped into the Canadian criminal justice system. The racialization of crime, discriminatory policing, minority overrepresentation in prison populations and a blatant denial of justice are aspects of the system that taint much of its past and create a worried present. This paper argues against the prevalent Canadian defence of egalitarianism by establishing the presence of systemic discrimination within the Canadian criminal justice system.

The right to vote in a fair election is fundamental to Canadian democracy. While protected under law, there are tactics which have been used to prevent individuals from exercising this right. In the 2008 and 2011 federal elections, some voters received fraudulent “robo-calls,” instructing them to vote for candidates who were not running for election, or directing them to incorrect or non-existent polling stations. This was a calculated act of voter suppression presenting serious consequences for democracy in Canada. First and foremost, it was a deliberate attempt to deprive Canadians of their right to vote. As such, victims of these calls, as well as many other citizens, were left feeling disillusioned with our electoral system and mistrustful of politics in general. This has not been aided by the fact that only one person was ever charged in connection with the scandal. What that has proven, however, is that it is possible to utilize robo-calls to commit election fraud with relatively little consequence. The use of robo-calls poses a harmful impact to Canadian democracy by denying citizens their right to vote, fostering distrust in politics, and setting a dangerous precedent for future electoral fraud.

The charter rights and freedom are documents that have been demonstrated in the court of law to protect Canadian citizens with the equal amount of protection, and equality in Canada. The charter rights have started with the fundamental freedom which were referred to freedom of religion, freedom of thought of expression. This allowed citizens to have the freedom to express their religion without any hate, and being able to practice, and believe what they want. For an example, for many Christians religions they believed it was violating religion to work on Sundays, which was called lord day. The democratic rights and mobility rights contained demonoratic rights to have regular elections and voting rights for citizens.

I belief that Canadian society is trying to become a more multicultural but there is still a lot of improvement needed. I have decided to do my research project on civil rights in Canada and on discrimination. There have been many news stories in Canada about humans getting discriminated. Discrimination is defined as prejudicial treatment of a person, minority group, etc. based on sex, religion, and race (discrimination definition, 2004). Discrimination is not acceptable based on the human rights code. This story that I picked where discrimination is based on religion, gender, employment, education in schools, and disability. The first story is about

“The Charter is widely admired, and so are the decisions of the Canadian court,” says Peter Hogg, one of Canada’s leading authority on Canadian constitutional law. “And one reason is that Canada is not the United States (“Ibbitson, 2012”).” Hogg’s words depict the lack of respect our neighbour fails to receive their citizens in regards to their rights and freedoms. Relative to the section of the Charter where it lists out Canadian citizens’ equality rights, Canada ensures that everyone is “treated with the same respect, dignity and consideration”. Furthermore, “Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability (“Department, 2016”).” Canada’s equality rights are important for international reputation because it is proof that Canada cares about their citizens to be treated with equal amounts of respect and give special treatment to those who have been marginalized their entire life. This increases their reputation in the way that more people would come to visit because all the rights in place are friendly to anyone who is coming to visit or immigrate. The government especially takes account of people who have less privileges — they take special care of the highly oppressed groups