5.1

Question 1

When did Trudeau regain control of the Prime Minister office? What was his objective?

Answer 1

February of 1980. He wanted a patriated Constitution that would include a guarantee of rights and freedoms.

Question 2

Why would a patriated Constitution be a major change in Canada?

Answer 2

Because Canada’s legal system was teh British system (Parliament had the final say on all laws). With the charter, the Supremem court would have power over parliament.

Question 3

Why didn’t Quebec (and other provinces) not like the constitution?

Answer 3

They felt that the new constitution would restrict their powers and form a more centralized gov’t and Quebec also feared that the new constitution would hurt Bill 101, The Charter of the French Language.

Question 4

What was the Gang of Eight?

Answer 4

Premiers that were against the charter.

Question 5

When did the Gang of Eight fall apart?

Answer 5

When Quebec sided with the federal gov’t.

Question 6

What was the Kitchen Accord?

Answer 6

The important players met in a pantry of the hotel they were staying at, all except Quebec’s Levesque as he was at another hotel.

Question 7

What is the Kitchen Accord known as in Quebec and why?

Answer 7

“Night of the Long Knives” because Rene Levesque felt stabbed in the back.

Question 8

What are the 4 Aboriginal rights that were defined in the charter?

Answer 8

1) Defining Aboriginal peoples
2) Defined treaty rights as included rights by land claims that would be negotiated in the future
3) Treaty rights are guaranteed equally to men and women, which is a change from previous history
4) Have to include Aboriginal leader in future constitutional discussions

Question 9

What is the supreme law of Canada?

Answer 9

The Constitution so all other laws must be consistent with the rules set out in the Constitution.

Question 10

What is Canada’s most important law?

Answer 10

The Charter

Question 11

What does the Charter allow gov’ts to put limits on?

Answer 11

The Charter rights

Question 12

What does Section 1 of the charter say?

Answer 12

Other laws may limit the rights and freedoms in the Charter so long as those laws are reasonable and justified in a free and democratic society.

Question 13

When did the Charter come into effect? What was it a part of?

Answer 13

April 17, 1982

A part of a package of reforms contained in a law called the Constitution Act of 1982

Question 14

When did Section 15 come into effect? Why did it come in later?

Answer 14

April 17, 1985 to allow the government’s three years to bring their laws into line with the equality rights in section 15.

Question 15

How many sections are in the Charter? What do they define?

Answer 15

34 that define the relationship between people, organizations, and companies in Canada and the gov’t.

Question 16

The charter applies to, or has authority over relationships between the gov’t which includes:

Answer 16

• legislative, executive, and administrative branches of federal and provincial gov’t
• crown corporations (ex. post office)
• federally incorporated companies or organizations regulated by the federal gov’t
• people
• organizations
• companies

Question 17

How many justices in the SUpreme Court of Canad are responsible for interpreting and enforcing the Charter?

Answer 17

9

Question 18

What does section 24 of the charter give peopl/

Answer 18

People who believe their Charter RIghts have been violated the rights to challenge the gov’t in court.

Question 19

What was the role of courts before the charter?

Answer 19

Interpret existing law, rather than to uphold the rights of citizens

Question 20

To decide whether a case will be hear, the SCC asks:

Answer 20

• is the right in question covered under the Charter?

- is the violation or infringement within a reasonable limit?

Question 21

What is third-party participants or “friends of the court” in legal proceedings?

Answer 21

Individuals or organizations that have a special interest in the proceedings and are permitted to promote their own views.

Question 22

What does the federal or provincial gov’ts have to prove it they want to pass a law that limits a Charter right?

Answer 22

That this limitation can be justified in a free and democratic society.

Question 23

What and when was the Oakes Test? What are the four points?

Answer 23

• 1986
• SCC Case gives criteria for establishing whether a reasonable limit can be justified in a free and democratic society.
  1) reason for omitting Charter must be important enough to justify a constitutionally protected right
  2) measure carried out to limit the right must be reasonably and logically connected to the objective for which it was enacted
  3) right must be limited as little as possible
  4) the more severe the right limitation, the more important the object must be

Question 24

What is Section 2 of the Charter?

Answer 24

Freedom of Conscience and Religion

Question 25

What are the 4 points of Section 2?

Answer 25

1) freedom of conscience and religion
2) freedom of thought, belief, opinion, and expression including freedom of the press and other communication
3) freedom of peaceful assembly
4) freedom of association

Question 26

What does freedom of Conscience and Religion mean?

Answer 26

You have the right to entertain the religious beliefs you choose, to declare these beliefs openly, and to express your religious beliefs through practice, worship, teaching, and dissemination

Question 27

What is Freedom of Thought and Expression? What else does it include?

Answer 27

Freedom of the press and media
Free to think and believe what you want and to publicly express your opinion through writing, speech, painting, photography, and other means.

Question 28

What is the keystone of democracy?

Answer 28

Freedom of expression

Question 29

What is freedom of peaceful assembly?

Answer 29

Right to peaceably assemble such as a orderly demonstration or a group of picketers versus an unlawful assembly of riot.

Question 30

How is something classified as a riot?

Answer 30

The unlawful assembly must consist of 12 or more persons under the Criminal Code, an assembly can be dispersed if it disturbs the peace

Question 31

What is freedom of association?

Answer 31

Closely connected to freedom of assembly–ability to connect with other people or groups such as unions, political parties, cultural groups, educational organizations, or sporting clubs.

Question 32

Why did Trudeau want the Charter?

Answer 32

He wanted a charter because he wanted to Patriate the constitution and this would change the role of parliament as they would no longer have the final word on all laws.

Question 33

Why did Bennett and Lougheed not want Aboriginal or treaty rights in the constitution?

Answer 33

They didn’t want aboriginal or treaty rights in the constitution because they were afraid that the guarantee was too vague and that it might lead to many new demands on federal and provincial governments.

Question 34

List 5 specific reasons why the Constitution Act of 1982 is so important in Canadian history?

Answer 34

The constitution act of 1982 is so important in Canadian history because: 1) it was the first time in Canadian history that a major constitution change had been made without approval of the Quebec government. 2) it was the first time in history that Canada had control over its most important legal documents. 3) all Canadians including Aborignals had a constitutional guarantee of rights for the first time. 4) guaranteed French and English families the right to receive education in their own language anywhere in the country. 5) allow s provinces to “opt out” of certain charter rights through the notwithstanding clause.

Question 35

What are a few examples of rights within the constitution?

Answer 35

Equality rights, democratic rights, legal rights.

Question 36

What are a few examples of fundamental freedoms within the constitution?

Answer 36

Freedom of expression, freedom of religion, freedom of thought.

Question 37

What happened in PEI because of the PEI French school board ruling?

Answer 37

Several francophone families in PEI wanted a French language school in their community because the children were being bussed to the closest school which was almost 100 km away. The gov’t of PEI denied the request so the families turned to the court which ruled that bussing the children was not adequate and that the Ministry of Education had to build a French school in the area. It changed the way that the government across Canada look at minority education.

Question 38

What did Stephen Harper’s gov’t do with the same sex section of the Charter? Did they win?

Answer 38

In 2007 Stephen “Hitler” Harper plus his government (Nazis) introduced a motion to restore the traditional definition of marriage but the motion was defeated in the House of Commons.

Question 39

What is Bill 94 and what are the ethical dimensions of Billl 94?

Answer 39

Bill 94 was proposed by the Quebec gov’t which proposed a ban on face coverings in any government-funded building, including hospitals, government-subsidized high schools, and universities. The bill was proposed in the name of “public security, communication, and identification” and was the first of its kind in North America.
The ethical dimensions are that it goes against the part of the charter which talks about religious freedom and stuff like that. The different interests would be the interests of those who wear the niqab (the very very small minority) and those who don’t (the very very large majority). The interests that conflict would be that these women are only exerting their religious freedom, but being completely covered up does pose a huge security threat in our country. We need to be able to see your face.

Question 40

Do you think Canada should limit or ban certain religious practices in this country? What criteria should be used to judge whether a practice is acceptable or not? Who should decide which practices should be limited?

Answer 40

2) I don’t thank that Canada should ban certain religious practices, but I do think that we should limit some. The criteria that should be used is whether or not it would pose a potential threat to Canadians. I think that elected officials, as well as a vote. The population, should decide which practices should be limited.

Question 41

What has been the effect on the charter and religious freedoms?

Answer 41

The effect that the charter has had on religious freedoms is that it will not be allowed if it endangers public safety.

Question 42

What consequences did the entrenchment of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the Constitution have on human rights in Canada?

Answer 42

The consequences that the enfranchisement of the charter in the constitution has had on human rights in Canada is that it ensures everyone’s basic human rights because it cannot be changed easily. It protects all Canadians, but there is also the problem with certain things being outdated and it is a long process to change them and some people may also feel as if their rights are being ignored and having the charter enfranchised makes it difficult to change them or work towards a solution without great difficulty.