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The Pros And Cons Of Charter Narrows Discretion

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the Charter has permanently changed the way in which policy proposals make their way to the Cabinet table. Many governments have instituted new procedures or bureaucratic structures designed explicitly to ensure that the Charter is taken into account at the earliest stages of the policy process. Even the smaller provincial governments, which have tended to respond to the Charter in a less formalized manner, nevertheless believe that the Charter's existence has changed the way policies are evaluated and approved. For policy makers, the Charter represents a new element of uncertainty in the policy mix. Whereas prior to 1982, the risk of constitutional reversal in the courts was relatively limited, the enactment of the Charter has very substantially …show more content…

A number of governments now automatically require all policy proposals coming to Cabinet to be subjected to Charter scrutiny at the earliest stages of the policy process.1 6 Under these early-warning systems, Charter considerations are supposedly factored into the analysis at the front end of the process, rather than as a last minute add-on when a fullydeveloped policy proposal is about to reach the Cabinet table. This type of scrutiny reduces, to the greatest extent possible, the likelihood that the courts will intervene to redesign policy schemes in the absence of an adequate understanding of the costs and implications of the available …show more content…

Critics of an entrenched Charter argued that it was inappropriate for unelected judges to substitute their views for those of elected political leaders. The consensus view amongst government policy makers is that the Charter does not operate as a veto on government initiatives or proposals. Rather, the officials participating in this study reported that the Charter adds a new variable to thepolicy mix. This new policy variable is the risk that the courts will intervene and rule that a particular initiative violates the Charter. But the introduction of this new policy variable does not appear to prevent the government from advancing its policy initiatives. It simply alters the calculations the government must make in drafting its legislation. Governments have made important changes to the way in which legislation proceeds through the Cabinet process to ensure that Charter considerations are highlighted and properly

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