The Charter and Human Rights(lec 7) Flashcards
who tried to create a bill of rights, passing it as a law, but was unsuccessful?
John Diefenbaker’s conservative government
what were Pierre Trudeau’s main goals with the Charter and the Constitution in the in the early 1980s?
-patriate the Constitution
-create formula for future constitutional amendments
what did Trudeau add to the charter that gives Provinces the ability to nullify any part of the charter if it clashed with provincial laws or statutes?
notwithstanding clause
what is the the night of the Long Knives?
-Trudeau negotiated new Constitution without Leveque(Quebec premier) present
-Leveque was separatist, unlikely to agree to any ‘made in Canada Constitution’
-did not agree with the final proposal, wanted distinct society recognition in a charter + a veto power for Quebec.
-Canada’s Charter Canada’s Constitution came home, but without Quebec signature on it.
In 1987, what did conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney’s new deal for the constitution include? What was this called?
Meech Lake Accord
-distinct society clause for Quebec
-expanded provincial powers for the rest of the provinces
-federal and provincial control over immigration in the Constitution
Why did the Meech Lake Accord fail?
-Manitoba didn’t pass it
-MP Elijah Harper refused Premier Gary Filman’s request to put the Accord into the House for debate
-Indigenous people were never consulted, or considered in the new arrangement
-Manitoba given more time to vote
-meantime, opponents of Meech elected to other provinces
what does the charter protect?
-fundamental freedoms
-democratic rights
-right to live, seek employment anywhere in Canada
-legal rights
-life
-liberty
-personal security
-equality rights for all official languages of Canada
-minority rights
-minority language
-educational rights
-Canada’s multicultural heritage
-indigenous people’s rights
what does “protection of these rights is not absolute” mean?
other laws may contravene them
why have a section of the charter of override all other sections?
-originally a way of getting provinces to even agree to charter
-Canada as a federation, needed their agreement
why is the notwithstanding clause controversial?
-can be used to avoid the charter
-cannot be removed at this point, would require provinces to agree to open up the Constitution for a renewal
-clause reflects “law applies in that it no longer applies”
why was the charter created?
-end of World War two, Universal Declaration of Human Rights, created by the United Nations
-whole world was going through a Rights Revolution
-bring Canada into compliance with international law
-ending Canada’s long standing racist immigration policy
where did the driving force for human rights law come from after the creation of the actual legislation?
- judges, from judicial review
-Early cases became anchor points to develop human rights
-cases contributed to a rights culture
-intro of the charter changed court’s role: challenging parliamentary will + policy development
Explain the issue with the charter being almost exclusively focused on political and civil rights. Where does that leave issues like poverty, economic, social, or cultural rights?
-people in poverty; all human rights are at risk
- tied to discrimination and lack of access to resources
-viewed either as bad luck or as the fault of those experiencing it
-Economic rights often seen as secondary or privileges that only matter once civil and political rights are secured
-However, unequal access to civil and political rights can actually result from the lack of protection for economic rights
Western societies resist recognizing economic rights as true rights
-economic rights were fully recognized, what responsibility would that place on the government?
-How could capitalist system support economic rights?
-Current human rights discussions are mainly focused on civil and political rights, possibly to avoid addressing economic rights.
