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Many laws were “common law” (unwritten
and thought to be understood)
Many rights were abused during WWII, so
after the War, rights were written down.
1945 John Diefenbaker tried to get rights made
into law, but he was defeated by the MPs
When he became PM, Parliament passed the
Canadian Bill of Rights on Aug. 10, 1960.
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The Canadian Bill of Rights still had some much
needed adjusting, especially when it came to
equality rights. It was easy to change because it
was only a federal statute.
Pierre Elliott Trudeau fought for a “just society”
and greater rights. He was largely responsible for
the Constitution Act, 1982.
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is
thought to be the most important part of the
Constitution Act. The rights and freedoms in the
Charter are entrenched (a part of the constitution).
This make the Charter very difficult to change.
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The Charter states that anyone whose Charter
rights have been infringed (violated), may
“apply to a court...to obtain such a remedy as
the court considers appropriate and just”
The rights and freedoms do have limits. The
reasonable limits clause says that laws can
limit rights if it “can be demonstrably justified
in a free and democratic society” ex: you have
the right to free speech, but not the right to
spread lies or hurtful statements that could
injure another
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The purpose of the Charter is to limit the power
of the government
The Supreme Court of Canada (most powerful)
plays an important role in interpreting
Canadian values and beliefs, because rights are
written in general terms, and they can make
decisions based on individual rights and the
needs of a community.
Many feel the nine Supreme court judges have
too much power and are undemocratically
appointed by the PM and not elected.
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When a case comes before the court, the court
must decide whether it is covered by the
Charter.
The Charter protects individual rights from
being violated by the government [intra-vires:
within the authority of the government to
legislate]
It does not cover private legal matters (ex: a
businessman discriminates against you) [ultravires: outside the authority of the government
to legislate]
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This clause came into effect because the provinces
and territories feared the federal government
would have too much power over them
The clause allows provincial and territorial
governments to enact legislation in spite of the
fact, or “notwithstanding”, that it may violate the
Charter
Rarely used, however, in 1988, using the
notwithstanding clause, the Quebec government
passed a bill allowing Quebec to have French only
signs