Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

OJEN ROEJ Ontario Justice Education Network IN BRIEF CANADIAN CHARTER OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS STUDENT HANDOUT THE CANADIAN CONSTITUTION AND THE CHARTER The Canadian Constitution sets out the fundamental rules and principles of Canadian society, including how the country will be governed, processes for making and changing laws, how resources and political power will be shared and even how the Constitution itself can be amended. It is the most powerful law in Canada, and apart from very specific exceptions (see below), all other laws must be consistent with these principles. It also sets out the fundamental rights and freedoms enjoyed by persons in Canada in a special section called the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Charter was enshrined in the Constitution with the passage of the Constitution Act, 1982. It governs the relationship between individuals and the government, ensuring that governments cannot pass laws or enact policies that infringe unfairly upon our rights and freedoms. Issues dealing with rights and freedoms in relationships between individuals-for example, in the workplace - are often protected by separate legislation, such as provincial human rights codes. In this sense, it acts as a restraint upon government power. Prior to the Charter, there was no guarantee in Canada that rights and freedoms would not be taken away by legislation. We had the Canadian Bill of Rights, but as a statute, it could be amended or repealed by Parliament. In other words, if a given government was opposed to a particular right or freedom, it could simply vote in Parliament to have it changed or removed. By enshrining these rights and freedoms in the Constitution, they cannot simply be repealed by ordinary acts of Parliament or provincial legislatures. RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS Different rights and freedoms are set out in different sections of the Charter. Some of the key areas they address are as follows S.2-Fundamental Freedoms Fundamental freedoms can be understood as rights so basic and essential to the quality of life that they can only be infringed upon by government in the most dire of circumstances, or when their exercise threatens the fundamental freedoms of others. This section protects: • Freedom of conscience and religion (s. 2(a)); • Freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression (s. 2(b)); • Freedom of peaceful assembly (s. 2(c)); and • Freedom of association (s. 2(d)). ojenica 2013 1