The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms(CCORAF) Guarantees a Free and Democratic Society The Charter of Rights and Freedoms upholds the individual rights of all Canadians. Agree or disagree with the following statement. The Charter is part of Canada’s constitution; the highest law of Canada, which sets out the framework for how Canada is to be governed. The CCORAF sets out those rights and freedoms that Canadians feel are necessary to maintain Canada as a free and democratic community. The Charter created several constitutional protections for individuals, which apply to all laws and government. However, each right comes with a responsibility that all citizens need to enforce to their daily lives. If all Canadians are capable of taking control over their duties, not only would Canada have a higher quality of life, but take a positive turn in citizenship and identity. The CCORAF is an effective way to address citizens’ needs and wants in society. The Charter states that Canada’s government is justified in restricting rights, only if they are necessary to maintain Canada’s incredible status. Although looked in a wider view, not many rights have been restricted in the past, and to come. Democratic, Equality and Legal rights are all various aspects in which the Charter protects the society’s freedoms and privileges. Voting is an excellent advantage Canadians receive, as not all countries have this beneficial opportunity ahead of them. Compared to other nations, Canada’s
Collective rights are what makes Canada uniquely different from the other countries. These rights have grown more equal over time to shape Canada to become a fair and equitable governed society. Collective rights are rights given to specific groups for historical and constitutional reasons for groups such as the First Nations, Inuit, Francophones and Anglophones. As great as it sounds, back in Canadian history back when collective rights were just starting off as treaties and laws, First Nations and the Metis were faced with assimilation. Francophones and Anglophones were given collective educational rights when put in a minority setting. Without collective rights shifting to become better, historical groups who found Canada would have either
The entrenchment of rights in the Canadian Constitution comes after long experience with a system of parliamentary supremacy. The American judicial tradition of treating the written constitution as fundamental law cannot have an instant Canadian counterpart. Thus, it does not follow that the Canadian courts will necessarily claim a role comparable to that of courts in the United States, nor is it clear that the representative bodies in Canada would tolerate such a judicial assertion of power. Opposition by government bodies to the Charter have already occurred in Canada, where the Parti Quebecois government of Quebec invoked the “notwithstanding the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms” clause for the purpose of protecting their language laws from attack under the charter. This report will attempt to note some of the common and distinctive features of the text of the two constitutions as well as to how they differ.
This charter means that everyone no matter what race, religion, sex, national origin, age or mental and physical abilities they have they are protected. The charter allows people to have basic human fundamental rights that most government rules and regulations were restricting before it came into act. The freedom of speech, religion and to associate yourself with whoever you want are just some of those rights that are being offered with the entrenchment of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Finally the last achievements that Pierre Trudeau did that assisted in making Canada better are the legalization of laws on abortion, homosexuality and lotteries.
Apart from the other laws in Canada’s constitution, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is an important law that affects every Canadian’s rights and freedoms. It was created in 1981 by former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau to provide legal protection for the most important rights and freedoms. These rights include fundamental freedoms, democratic rights, mobility rights, and legal rights. Most but not all articles included in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights are protected in the constitution. However, if a Canadian feels that their rights are violated, they can challenge laws and unfair actions using the justice system. In my opinion, I believe the Canadian Charter of Human Rights somewhat protects Canadians’ rights and
Since the alignment of the Charter, every citizen (both past and present) of Canada have been affected by the bill; as it had given citizens the rights that are still apparent to this
As we know from section two of the Canadian Charter of Rights and freedoms everyone has certain fundamental freedoms, and among those rights is the freedom of conscience and religion. Secularism comes as a shock to Canadians because of how many people immigrate to Canada because of its positive attitudes towards multiculturalism. After presenting opposing arguments with concern to the promotion of a secular state through a device such as the Québec Charter, I will that the Charter because it violates basic human rights and forces secularism onto the Quebecois.
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is without a doubt one of Canada’s most important section entrenched in the Canadian Constitution. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a bill of rights enacted into the Canadian Constitution as part of the Canada Act in 1982. However, the Charter was Canada’s second attempt to protect the rights and freedoms of its citizens all throughout the country and on every level of government. The Canadian Bill of Rights, which preceded the Charter was enacted in 1960. However, being only a federal statute rather than a full constitutional document, it had no power and application to provincial laws. In addition, the Supreme Court of Canada only narrowly interpreted the Bill of Rights, therefore rarely unlawful laws were declared inoperative and continued to exist. As a result, the ineffectiveness of the Bill of Rights led to many movements to improve the protection of rights and freedoms in Canada. However, similar to its predecessor, the Charter is not without faults, and loopholes. In some cases, it has even infringed upon certain liberties and democratic rights and freedoms. In other cases, the Charter has incited conflicts between liberty and democracy and raised questions that speculate whether it is truly democratic.
The necessity to limit the rights and freedoms of Canadians is illustrated and reinforced through the governments use of reasonable limits, ‘notwithstanding clause’ to limit individual rights and freedoms, and the occasional need for the government to have power extended above and beyond the limits prescribed in the Charter.
The first way that the Charter has improved the quality of life for Canadians is through its section on Fundamental Freedoms, it ensures that Canadians are guaranteed the right to express their opinions, choose their own religion, organize peaceful meetings, and associate with any person or group. These four subsections have gone miles in improving the comfort Canadians now experience, starting off with the right to express your opinions, this has been a big problem for First Nations when they were taken into residential schools and were not allowed to express their opinions on whether they wanted to be a part of them, as in if they did they would
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.
Canada is a huge country located between the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean and consists of 10 provinces. This country is the host for immigrants from all over the world with different religions and cultures. It embraces all of these diverse groups of people. It was essential that some arrangements be made to accommodate for these divers groups’ needs and ultimately in the year 1960 legislation of Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was a huge step toward these affairs. The Charter was enacted by the parliament in order to respect each person’s rights and eligibilities in different areas and it is divided into subsections.
The Canadian government takes the responsibility of providing a fair and just system into society. The Charter summarizes every critical right and freedom a Canadian beholds, which includes, Legal, Mobility, Equality, and Democratic Rights, also Freedoms of Association, Conscience and Religion, Peaceful Assembly, and Thoughts Expression Speech Media, are all part of how governance by the federal government creates order in our society. If a rule or law infringes on the individual fundamental freedoms or rights, it could be challenged and hopefully be justified.For instance, in the case of the communication barrier, the government neglected the needs of interpreters for deaf people and refused to pay for them. The British Columbia government infringed on the equality right of deaf people by refusing to provide interpreters for people with communication disabilities, claiming it would be a waste of taxpayers money. Robin Eldridge, (deaf person)needed interpreters for a doctor's appointment and Linda Warren had her first born child taken from her without consult or explanation. The Warrens and Robin Eldridge challenged the ruling due to their belief of a violation for section 15, equality rights.
The Charter of Rights and Freedom is a part of the Canadian Constitution which is a set of laws with basic rules that run our country. Before the Charter was established, the Canadian society was corrupt and unjust, but with the addition of it, Canada grew into a renowned wealthy, free, and equal country. The Charter puts in place rights and freedoms that are necessary for a balanced democratic society and it involves laws and rules that keep citizens protected and safe. It also provides opportunities for social and economic success for not only the people of Canada, but for Canada as a whole. The establishment of the Charter by Queen Elizabeth II on April 17, 1982 was truly the start of a positive, social and legal revolution for Canada that would continue to benefit us and the country even today (Canadian 1; sec. 3, para. 8).
obligation from the other citizens and government. The right to vote means that the government
This gave judges the responsibility to make important decisions in relation to individual rights and freedoms that are guaranteed under the charter. All the rights that are secured under the charter have now become constitutional rights for all Canadian citizens (Chief Justice John D. Richard, Federal Court of Canada, 2000). The establishment of the charter brought more light to the courts and judges and enabled individuals to more easily challenge any infringements they may face. Under section 24 (1) of the charter it is provided that any individual who feels their rights have been infringed upon or taken away “may apply to a court of competent jurisdiction to obtain such remedy as the court considers appropriate and just in the circumstances” (Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms 1982) (Adam Dodek, Globe and Mail, 2012). That means in Canada that every citizen has the right to have their legal concerns and issues looked at and decided by a judge that is fair- minded and neutral (judicial independence, provincialcourt.bc.ca, 2012). With that said, it is argued that some judges make decisions based on their ideological views. Although this may be true, it is not the case with all judges. Some judges vote in a way that is called “consciously” which means their ideological or political views directly influence the decisions they make. On the other hand, there are judges that vote “unconsciously” or