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Fundamental Freedoms,
Democratic and Mobility Rights,
and Legal and Equality Rights
Krystal Woodside
Cyrena Leclair
Mackenzie Bell
Keiana Cameron
Allison MacNeill
Hannah Wood
Canadian Charter of
Rights and Freedoms
Rights, Freedoms, and
Responsibilities.
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The Fundamental Freedoms

The right to conduct ones affairs without governmental
influence.

These freedoms, however, are not absolute, and have
limitations.

You cannot infringe upon another persons rights and
freedoms.
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
Freedom of Conscience and
Religion
Meaning You:



Have a right to believe in a religion of your
choice
To declare these beliefs openly.
To practice, worship, teach, and disseminate
these beliefs.

Dissemination: Spreading ideas widely.

It states that no one can be forced to act in a
way that contradicts their beliefs or
conscience.

A persons freedom of religion can be limited
to the rights and freedoms of others.

An example of this would include blood
transfusions that are against a children’s
religion, but if the charge is underage and
unable to speak for themselves, they can be
given a transfusion by the power of the court.
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
Freedom of Thought and
Expression
Means You:

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Are free to think and believe what you want.
To publicly express your opinions through
writing, speech, painting, photography, and
other means.

This includes freedom of press and other
media, because they are seen as means of
communicating information and as a way of
speaking out about issues.

The right of the public to information and the
right of the press to fulfill this right are
included under this category, and have been
protected in Charter decisions by the
Supreme Court.

An example of this freedom is the case
including Robin Sharpe, who after being
charged with child pornography, claimed
that this went against his freedom of
expression.
+ Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and
Association

Means You:
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Have the right to assemble for peaceful
purposes.
Can protest against a government action or
march in support of a cause.
Have the right to connect with other people or
groups in unions, political parties, cultural
groups, and other organizations.
Means You Cannot:
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Have an ‘unpeaceful’ assembly, or a riot, which
must consist of twelve or more persons. Once
distinguished as unlawful, causing fear in nearby
citizens, or disturbs the peace, it may be
dispersed by authority.
Interact with fellow peers if this is included in the
probation of a young offender.
Guarantee trade unions the right to bargain
collectively.
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Democratic Rights

Although s3 in the charter claims that
every citizen has the right to vote,
there are restrictions such as age,
mental capacity, residence, and
registration.

Certain groups such as the judiciary
are excluded to ensure their
independence from government.

Prisoners serving more than two
years cannot vote.

The charter guarantees not only
voting rights, but also the right to
exercise these rights.
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Democratic rights

Canadians are assured the opportunity to an election every
five years except under extraordinary circumstances such as
war or national emergency.

Parliament and provincial legislative assemblies must hold at
least one session a year.

This allows for both elected members and the public to
question government actions and policy.
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Mobility Rights

Section 6 of the Charter concerns the
rights of citizens to move from country to
country and province to province.

A lot of Charter cases in this section
involve extradition, which is
surrendering an accused person to
another jurisdiction to stand trial.

However, should someone accused of a
capital offense, a crime punishable by
death in some jurisdictions, be on trial in
a country where the death penalty is a
possibility, extradition will not take
place.
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Fun fact! Having children within Canada
does not confer any Charter right on the
parents to remain in the country.
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Mobility Rights….Continued
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Despite what some may think, there are limitations to
Canadians’ rights to move to different provinces and secure
work.

Wealthy provinces worried about an overload of unemployed
people from other provinces taking jobs and using services
paid by permanent residents, and poor provinces were
concerned that scarce jobs would be taken away.

To help prevent this from happening, the following orders
were put into place in the Charter:
- Publically funded social services can be restricted to
those who have lived in the province for a certain length of
time [s. 6 (3)(a) and (3)(b)].
- A province with a higher unemployment rate can
create programs to favor its own permanent residents [s.
6(4)].
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Legal and Equality Rights
Section 7: Life, Liberty, and Security of Person

Everyone has the right to Life, Liberty, and Security. You are
not to be deprived of these rights, except when not in
accordance with the Principles of Fundamental Justice.

Example: Abortion and Assisted Suicide (to be discussed
later)
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Legal and Equality Rights
Section 8: Unreasonable Search and Seizure

Everyone has the right to be secure against unreasonable
search and seizure.

If authorities went to search one’s personal items, they need a fair
reason and the search must be conducted reasonably

Example: If a warrant is for weapons, then the authorities cannot
search for any other items. Some cases can be overthrown with
special permission.
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Legal and Equality Rights
Section 9: Arbitrary Detention and
Imprisonment
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Everyone has the right not to be arbitrarily
detained or imprisoned.

People can not be held for questioning, arrest, or
kept in custody by police without good reason
Section 10: Rights when under Arrest or
Detention

When under arrest or detention a person
has the following rights:
 To be promptly told reason for arrest
 To obtain and inform a lawyer
 To prevent wrongful detain
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Legal and Equality Rights
Section 11: Proceedings in Criminal Matters
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When charged everyone has the right:
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To be informed of offense
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To be tried within time
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Cannot be forced to be a witness
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Innocent until proven guilty
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Not to be denied bail without cause
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Except when under military law where the punishment exceeds
five years
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Not to be found guilty unless categorized under international law
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If acquitted, that accused can not be tried again
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If the accused served a punishment between the time of the trial
and time of verdict, then that service will be reflected on new
punishment
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Legal and Equality Rights
Section 12: Cruel and Unusual Punishment
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Everyone has the right to not be subjected to punishment in
an unnecessarily harsh fashion.
+ ISSUE
Assisted Suicide

Tracey Latimer was born with cerebral
palsy, meaning she dealt with total paralysis
from the neck down and full brain damage,
with the conditions being continuously
degenerative.
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Tracey went through many different
surgeries to try and correct these issues,
and was unable to take painkillers stronger
than Tylenol, because it could lead to a
coma and life support.

At the age of twelve, Tracey was in extreme
pain, unable to eat, sleep, and had little to no
quality of life.

Her father, Robert Latimer, was pained to
see his daughter suffer so much. He made
the hard decision to take his daughter to his
vehicle and assist in her death by carbon
monoxide poisoning.

Her father was charged with second degree
murder, and issued life imprisonment with
no chance of parole for ten years.
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Cited:
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Law In Action: Understanding Canadian Law (Text)
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http://www.robertlatimer.net/
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http://www.theblaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/freedom-of-religion.png
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http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-aMX13Ng5q4/TaBHeKYx6XI/AAAAAAAACDw/2u00GK9pd1k/s1600/4.jpg
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http://www.osstf.on.ca/wlargeDrights_en.jpg
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http://1.bp.blogspot.com/ihKlX5ZcfOw/T2CytXOQYDI/AAAAAAAAAhs/ZEFd8dTAwHo/s1600/Democracy-Logo.jpg
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http://www.cbc.ca/knowyourrights/kyr-ep-4-graphic.jpg
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http://beyondclause8.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/warrant.jpg
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http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_CarNcodpCMA/TROVG95wsxI/AAAAAAAAKL0/KTtqzfkuelw/s
1600/travel-luggage-clipart-graphicsfairy004.jpg
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http://humanrightshouse.org/files/thumbnails/4367-Chains-225x225.jpeg
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http://www.tribunaux.qc.ca/c-appel/English/Images/Imagehautgauche/rulescriminal.gif
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