Individual Liberty and The Bill 94 in Quebec, Canada

John Locke, one of the philosophes of the Enlightenment, said that “all men are naturally in...a state of perfect freedom...within the bounds of the law of nature” (Doc A). The citizens didn’t have any say in things, only the king would choose the laws that the people had to obey, and it wasn’t considered of the people to have any natural rights. Locke’s main idea about freedom was that the people should be able to choose their own government and that man is born with natural rights, which shines the light for the final branch of freedom, which is equality of education for men and women.

The writings of John Locke were basic in the idea that they focused on the natural rights of people, the rights given by God. Locke had theories when it came to religious tolerance. Locke believed that earthly judges, the state in particular, and human beings generally, cannot dependably evaluate the truth-claims of competing religious standpoints. InA Letter Concerning Toleration, Locke argues for freedom of religion, which became one of the bedrock principles which the country was founded on.

Locke’s thought on having a king, laws, and a civil society under a social contract was so all men can enjoy and protect their rights. Where all men obtain the right to life, all humans have the right to live and life shouldn't be taken away from another human being. The right to liberty, protecting an individual's freedom and unreasonable detention. The right to property, a citizen in which Locke thought a human's labour was his own, anything created or made should remain that individuals as well and the right to rebel against unjust rulers and laws.

Locke is best known for his philosophical ideals regarding the rights of humankind- all individuals have the right to life, liberty, and property.

This paper is about John Locke who was a philosopher in the 17-century. He was an Englishmen and his ideas formed the basic concept for the government and laws, which later allowed colonist to justify revolution. I agree with what Locke is saying because everybody should be able to have their own freedom and still respect the freedom of other people. John said, “Individuals have rights, and their duties are defined in terms of protecting their own rights and respecting those of others”. This paper will present to you information about his enlightenment, personal information, and how we as people feel about his decisions.

Locke’s arguments for liberty sound familiar today, but he believed that one must choose between liberty and equality. Locke’s argument that any government which did not admit to the principles of freedom ceased to be legitimate especially appealed.

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

Pauline Marois graduated with a bachelor’s degree in social services from the University of Laval in 1971 (Parti Québécois, n.d.). She then went on to proceeded, in 1976, to obtain a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Montreal (Parti Québécois, n.d.). She is the leader of the Parti Quebecois since 2007, and is also the Prime minister of Québec since 2012 (Parti Québécois, n.d.). Pauline Marois and the Parti Québécois proposed Bill 60, also known as the Charter of Values, in fall of 2013 (Riga, 2014, para. 7). Therefore the purpose of this paper will be to analyse the goal of this bill, the ways it may be achieved, and the central criticisms of it.

John Locke’s main idea was that the government should only be there to protect and provide for the people. He thought that society would be better if the government wasn’t so persistent in the lives of citizens. He also believed that people should deserve natural rights. It was his belief that people were born with these rights and that these rights should never be violated by anyone, including the government. He stated “[men are in] a state of perfect freedom to order their actions, and dispose of their possessions and persons, as they think fit, within the bounds of the law of nature…” (Doc. A). In other words, this quote shows that Locke believes that humans have natural rights and that people should be free to use them however they please. Therefore, he believed that no one, especially the government, should have power over peoples’ natural

Long before the October Crisis in the 1970’s, the Parti Quebecois has been trying to separate from Canada. The Parti Quebecois has implemented their own charter called Bill 60 in order amend the current Canada Charter of Rights and Freedoms which is entrenched in the Constitution of Canada. If this proposed bill were to be passed, it will cause many problems amongst the citizens of Quebec in terms of diversity as it will be banning some of the most important guaranteed rights stated in the Constitution: Freedom of expression and freedom of religion. Although there are positives to a secular state, there are also a few negatives if you were to look closely. Citizens moved to places like Canada to practice their freedom, not to have them taken away. Taking away these rights could start separatist groups and maybe even start wars within the province of Quebec. The reason why this bill is being proposed it that they Parti Quebecois would like to see more equality between men and women (cbc.ca). There really is no reason for this bill to be passed as it shows how weak Quebec is mainly because they are afraid of losing their own culture.

Locke’s have developed different views on human nature. He states, that all the men should have natural right to get private property and protection should a top priority of the government. Locke’s powerful quotes states that the men should have the right to life, liberty and property. He depends on human reason to give citizens their freedom and their right to protect it. This freedom is the foundation of the individual’s way of life and their human rights. A threat to an individual’s freedom can be extended to be a threat to many other aspects of the individual to take away their freedom. One of the Locke’s quote states, “Master and servant are names as old as history, but

To explain how the rights of an individual should be managed Locke first goes into detail about what an individual’s rights entail. Locke explains that a “man being born… hath by nature a power… to preserve his property – that is his life, liberty, and estate” (Locke). These rights, although

Locke’s main discussions of freedom took place in his work entitled Two Treatises on Government. These views were built upon the view of a natural state in which every individual maintained a state of natural freedom. In this natural state, each individual was free to make decisions and choose actions without any constraints. Locke felt that under this view every individual should maintain equal and independent and refrain from harming one another. However, the main problem in this concept of freedom is that fact that an individual’s free will can be constrained by the actions of another.

John Locke’s perspective on slavery demonstrates his attempt to create a utopian society. He believes that a man is unable to give power over his life to another person if he himself does not possess that power over his own life. Thus, Locke believes that because one does not have the liberty to take away his own life, he is unable to give this power to another person. After stating such restrictions, Locke states, “a man, not having the power of his own life, cannot, by compact, or his own consent, enslave himself to anyone” (Chapter 4, Section 23, Page 17). This demonstrates that John Locke believes that if one does not have power over his own life, another man is unable to enslave him. Locke’s beliefs place restrictions upon a