Canadian Law I Unit 2 Rights and Freedoms

Unit 2: Rights and Freedoms 2.1 Human Rights ● Right: a legal, moral, or social guarantee that people are granted primarily by the government. ● Human rights: a justifiable right every human is entitled to ● The human rights of every Canadian are protected by the law. ● The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is the document that has every right and freedom a Canadian citizen is guaranteed. ● The Canadian Human Rights Act applies to the federal government, businesses, and crown corporations and ensure that they uphold the rights of Canadians. ● Provinces also have their own human rights codes. ● These codes prohibit discrimination on the grounds of race, age, gender, ethnic orgigin, and other irrelevant characteristics. Grounds for Discrimination in Employment ● Every citizen has a right to be treated equally, especially in the workforce but sometimes, the requirements for employment seem harmless but indirectly exclude large groups of people. ○ Example: the police department used to have a height requirement for all of its officers. This seemed like a harmless rule, but that height requirement excluded many women from even being able to consider applying for police jobs (because most women are not very tall). ● This is a type of discrimination known as constructive discrimination and has long been struck down by Canadian courts. ● Some actions are not considered constructive discrimination if they are justified. ○ Examples; affirmative action, having a driver's license as a job requirement, etc 2.2 The Charter of Rights and Freedoms: Fundamental Freedoms ● Section 1-2 of the Charter guarantees the four fundamental freedoms. No fundamental freedoms are absolute, meaning there can and have been limitations placed on them to prevent one person’s rights from infringing on another's. ○ Freedom of conscience and religion: you can believe and practice whichever religion you want. ■ Limitations: Some acts which are allowed in certain religions can still be prohibited by the law (e.g polygamy, human sacrifices, etc.). ○ Freedom of thought, belief and expression: everyone has the right to think and express whatever they want without the fear of being silenced. ■ Limitations: Promoting hate speech or threatening someone can result in a charge because under the law, you are inciting violence, hatred, or making a threat to someone’s life. ○ Freedom of peaceful assembly: you can gather in groups whenever and with whomever. ■ Limitations: You can’t assemble anywhere because of trespassing laws, for example. Another limitation is that if the police deem that assembly unpeaceful, your freedom to assemble is taken away. ○ Freedom of association: the right to associate with whomever without fear of violence or discrimination. ■ Limitations: An example of a limitation would be in the workforce. It is illegal to only hire employees based on certain characteristics because you only want your company to associate with certain types of individuals. Examples of Fundamental Freedoms Violations ● An employer requesting their employee not come to work with a hijab on or they will be fired -- violating freedom of religion. ● A peaceful protest for climate change is shut down because the government does not want to change its current policies violating freedom of expression. ● Churchgoers assemble in a church every Sunday, but the police tell them one day they are not allowed to anymore -- violating freedom of peaceful assembly. ● The government passes a new law stating everyone must have at least one white friend violating freedom of association. 2.3 The Charter of Rights and Freedoms: Democratic Rights ● Section 3-5 of the Charter guarantees democratic rights. ○ Every Canadian citizen has the right to vote in a Canadian election and the right to be a part of a legislative assembly, if elected. ■ In Canada, the right to vote is automatic, as soon as you are a citizen, which in most cases is when you are born. But, that right can only be exercised when the citizen becomes of age (18 years old). ○ No elected House of Commons assembly can be in office for more than five years without a re-election. Provincial and federal elections must be called a maximum of every five years. ○ House of Commons members (parliament) must sit a minimum of once every twelve months. ● Some limitations on these rights include… ○ Age: to run for an elected official position, the candidate must be at least 18 years of age. ○ Imprisonment: a person who is currently in jail can vote but cannot run for an elected official position. 2.4 The Charter of Rights and Freedoms: Mobility Rights ● In the past, mobility rights had been a topic of controversy because some provinces would try to limit local residents’ ability to move from province to province so they would get available jobs first, and not newcomers. This was a concern because when people were moving away from their home provinces because those provinces had better access to social services, the tax burden on local residents would be increased. ● Section 6 of the Charter guarantees mobility rights, meaning the right to move around as one pleases. ○ Every citizen has the right to enter the country, leave the country, or remain in the country in whichever province they chose. ○ Every person with permanent residence statues can move to and take up residence in any province. ● Some examples of limitations on these rights are. ○ A common case where mobility rights come into question is when a parent moves away from his/her family to avoid paying child support, or to pay a lesser amount because the child support amounts are lower in other provinces. This is a situation where a judge might say that the parent cannot move away unless they guarantee they will still pay the amount required in that province. This is because the cost of living is different throughout the country and the amount of money you can survive on in one province might differ from the amount you would need in another. 2.5 The Charter of Rights and Freedoms: Legal Rights ● Section 7-14 of the Charter covers every legal right Canadians are entitled to. ○ Everyone has the right to life, security, liberty, and the right to not be deprived of any of these. ○ Everyone has the right to not be searched or seized without reason. ○ Everyone has the right to not be imprisoned or detained by police on the basis of random choice. ○ When arrested, everyone has the right to ■ Told why they were detained ■ To be told their rights and offered the choice to retain counsel ○ If charged with a criminal offence, everyone has the right to ■ To be informed why without delay ■ To be tried in front of a judge within a reasonable amount of time ■ To not be compelled to be a witness against themselves ■ To be innocent until proven guilty ■ To not be denied bail without a good reason ■ To be free from double jeopardy (being tried for the same offense twice) ○ Everyone has the right to not be put under any cruel treatment. ○ Everyone has the right to have to have to prove anything or provide evidence. ○ If the accused does not understand the language, they have the right to using an interpreter. 2.6 The Charter of Rights and Freedoms: Equality Rights ● Section 15 of the Charter guarantees quality rights. ● This clause of the Charter was also more controversial and debated because many provinces did not agree with why it had to be added to theCharter because citizens were already protected from discrimination in the provincial human rights codes. ● In this section, the phrase “equality before and under the law” means people will have access to this protection in court (before the law) and discriminatory laws will be abolished (under the law). ○ Every Canadian citizen is equal under before and under he law and benefits equally from the law without discrimination based on ■ Mental or physical disability ■ Sex or gender ■ Race ■ National or ethnic origin ■ Age ■ Religion ● Limitations: ○ Age: age is a discriminatory factor that is not considered discrimination in every situation. For example, an 8 year old cannot go to university not because of discrimination, but because they would not have the academic requirements. 2.7 The Charter of Rights and Freedoms: Language Rights ● Sections 16-22 of the Charter cover language rights of every Canadian citizen. ○ The two official languages of Canada are French and English, and both can be equally used in the Parliament and government of Canada. ○ All Parliament documents must be published in both of the official languages. ○ Everyone has the right to use English or French in public debates or Parliament meetings. ○ Any services provided by the Canadian government must be offered in both English and French. ○ Everyone has the right to use English or French in court. 2.8 The Charter of Rights and Freedoms: Minority Language and Education Rights ● Section 23 of the Charter deals with minority education and language rights. ○ Everyone whose first language is French has the right to have their children educated in French. ○ Everyone who has received their education in French has a right to have their children educated in French. ○ Everyone who has a child already receiving an education in French has a right to have their children educated in French. ● The best example of this section of the Charter is French schools in Canada and French immersion programs available to every student in Canada.