Charter of Rights and Freedoms (C3) Flashcards
When was the Charter of Rights and Freedoms created?
1982
What is a freedom?
The power to act, speak, or think without restraint/hinderance
What is a right?
What individuals and groups are allowed to do in a society, established in law
Responsibility
Obligation part of a job/role
Labour Union
An organization of workers that acts to protect workers’ rights and interests
What is the Charter and why is it important?
A part of Canada’s Constitution that specifically establishes the rights and freedoms of individuals/groups.
Importance:
- Constitutional protection
- Allows for Charter Challenges against unfair laws
- Justifies some restriction to maintain a free and democratic society
What are the (4) Fundamental Freedoms?
- Freedom of Expression (Express opinion/think/act)
- Freedom of Religion
(Any religion/No religion) - Freedom of Association (Form group/associate)
- Freedom of Peaceful Assembly
(Organize peaceful meetings/demonstrations)
What are the (4) Rights?
Democratic Rights, Mobility Rights, Legal Rights, Equality Rights
Democratic Rights
- Every citizen can vote
- The HoC or any provincial legislature must have an election within 5 years of the last (wartime can extend)
- HoC or any prov. leg. must meet at least once a year
Mobility Rights
- All citizens have the right to remain in, leave or enter Canada
- Any citizen/PR can move anywhere within Canada
Legal Rights
- Life, liberty, security (no search/seizure, no cruel punishments, no imprisonment without conviction)
- Right to a lawyer
- Right to know what offense was madd
Equality Rights
Everyone has the right to be treated equally without prejudice no matter sexual orientation, race, religion, beliefs, nationality etc., free of discrimination
When was the Indian Act passed and how did it affect the rights of First Nations peoples?
- 1876 (Without consulting F.N. and had ethnocentrism, aimed to assimilate).
- First Nations had to obtain govt permission to wear traditional clothing
- First Nations ceremonies banned
- Blocked First Nations political action
- Defines a status Indian
- Pressured to revision many times
- Still here today
When did the Canada Elections Act allow women suffrage (right to vote)?
1918
What was the War Measures Act and how did it violate the rights of some groups?
An act passed in 1914 to give govt more power during war; unfair internment of Ukrainian, Italian and Japanese Canadians
What are strikes?
Events where workers refuse to do their jobs to pressure employers, usually held by worker unions
(Pragmatic Usage) How to analyze cause and effect?
Identify the event, then the correlated before likely are causes, and correlated after likely are effects
What are the cause, event and effects of the communication barrier incident?
Cause: Robin Eldridge and John and Linda Warren are deaf. When they went to the hospital, the provincial govt denied them access to interpreters. The three later sued B.C. provincial govt.
Event: Supreme Court favors them in case
Effect: Violation of rights, now interpreters must be provided at healthcare facilities
What are the cause, event and effects of the Lord’s Day Act incident?
Cause: Big M refused to stop transactions on Sundays
Event: Supreme Court overturned the law
Effect: More business revenue, economic growth, diversity + multiculturalism (can open on Sundays now)
What is the controversy surrounding the no-fly list bans, and the cause+event+effect? How does it violate rights?
Cause: Due to terrorism and 9/11, Canada, the US and many nations decided to strengthen security, especially for airlines.
Event: Canada implemented and expanded the no-fly list to bar more “suspicious” people from boarding airlines
Effect: This raised some backlash and controversy towards rights
Rights: People should be “innocent before proven guilty”, and the no-fly list violates this right by using suspicion to ban people. Many advocate to suspend the no-fly list
What is the cause to ban junk food advertisements? How does the Charter relate to this cause?
Experts persuade the government into banning junk food advertisements, as they have a correlation to kids’ spending habits. It is interesting as most children before the age of 9 cannot differ between a commercial and a real TV program.
Charter: (best answer) Equality Rights
What was the Ontario Labour Union(s) Charter Challenge incident in 2001? What was the result?
4 women and 5 worker unions launched a Charter Challenge, stating that the province discriminated against them and paid less for women than men. They won the case, and the Ontario pr. govt paid $414 million to the workers in 2003 (Before a hearing even started)
Who was (previous) Professor Olive Dickason and what did she do?
A distinguished Metis historian who worked at the UofA for 7 years; She launched a Charter challenge debating whether the university could force her to retire at 65, as this counted as a form of DISCRIMINATION. Though due to her signing contracts previously the Supreme Court ruled against her, provinces in Canada have reexamined retirement legislations. Nowadays, it is illegal to force employees to retire because of age.
