What Are The Benefits Of The Canadian Charter Of Rights And Freedoms

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a one of the essential reasons as to why one should be proud to be a Canadian citizen. The Charter was introduced by Pierre Elliott Trudeau and it was signed by Queen Elizabeth the Second on April 17th, 1982. The Canadian Charter provides every Canadian citizen with rights and freedoms that ensure the proper functioning of society. Although, there is a chance that rights may be restricted under certain circumstances, the Charter is certainly effective at protecting rights and freedoms. The Canadian Charter provides citizens with fundamental freedoms and rights that all Canadians can enjoy. Additionally, the Charter ensures that citizens are protected from the government and people in power. Lastly,

the Canadian Charter establishes equality within society. Therefore, within certain limits the Charter is effective at protecting the rights of Canadian citizens.

Can you imagine living a country without privileges? Not allowed to have an opinion or voice just because of our religion, race, sexulaity, age, and gender? The Canadian Charter provides citizens with rights and freedoms that allow them to freely express their opinions and perspectives on various ideas. Through the Charter, citizens are given fundamental freedoms and rights such as freedom of expression (described as the “right to express one's ideas and opinions freely through speech, writing, and other forms of communication but without deliberately causing harm to others”), and freedom of religion (which is the the right to practice whatever religion one chooses, or doesn’t choose). A specific case regarding the infringement of the freedom of religion was the case of Syndicat Northcrest v. Amselem. In this case, there had been a violation on the Orthodox Jewish residents’ (in a small community in Montreal) of their freedom of religion. The manager of Syndicat Northwest (apartment where the Jewish people lived) restricted the right to express one’s religion

when they denied the permission to build sukkahs on balconies. They claimed that sukkahs violated bylaws forbidding structures to be built on balconies, however the Orthodox Jews had not seen this requirement as applying to religious requirements because Christmas decorations were allowed. Syndicat Northwest proposed the idea of building a communal sukkah but that did not meet the religious requirements of Jewish Halakhic and so a conflict arose. The matter went to Court where the ruling came to be in favor of the Orthodox Jews. Specifically, the Court ruled “that an apartment building owner had to accommodate religious structures on their balconies, even though there were bylaws that prohibited people from building structures on their balconies.” Therefore, this case law demonstrated that the Charter protects individual’s and their rights even if it means disregarding specific acts and legislations in place.
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms not only provides citizens with fundamental freedoms, it also protects individuals from the government and their power. Section 1 of the Canadian Charter states that “the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.” In order words, it means that “the rights in the Charter can be broken if the reason for breaking the right is reasonable and benefits society”. Although, this clause seems unjust, it has still helped protect society from the government. In order the clause to be justified, the reasons have to be very impactful. The Charter has made a big impact on judicial activism, a term that refers to court rulings that are partially or fully based on the judge’s political or personal considerations, rather than existing laws. The case of Roncarelli v. Duplessis made a significant impact on this issue. In this case, Roncarelli was a private citizen who owned a restaurant in Montreal, and was also a Jehovah's Witness. The issue was that his liquor licence had been revoked by Maurice Duplessis (the Premier and Attorney General of Quebec), on the basis of bailing out his fellow Jehovah’s Witness from jail (who was arrested for distributing pamphlets). Duplessis used her personal feelings towards the people who identify as Jehovah’s Witnesses to make this decision rather than a legal one, and by revoking the liquor license she abused her position of power. In Court most of the judges said “there is no such thing as unlimited discretion or power in public authorities, including the Premier.” The ruling was in favor of Roncarelli. This famous case symbolizes that the Charter is quite effective at protecting citizens from the government and reducing the amount of power they have.
Furthermore, the Charter establishes equality within the community.

The Rule of Law is an essential principle of our legal system. In simple terms, it means everyone should receive the same treatment under law, and that no one is above the law. The Charter establishes equality because s.15 states that “every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination and, in particular it prohibits discrimination based on based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability.” A prominent case was Vriend v. Alberta, where Delwin Vriend was a laboratory coordinator at a private Christian college in Edmonton, Alberta. In January 1991, the college fired Mr. Vriend after it came to knowledge that he was a gay man. When he attempted to file a human rights case, he was advised against it as sexual orientation was not included in the Charter at that time. Although he was suggested not to, Mr.Vriend took matters to Court. The Supreme Court of Canada decided that the “exclusion of sexual orientation as a ground of discrimination in the Act created a distinction that resulted in the denial of equal benefit and protection of the law on the basis of sexual orientation.” The court declared that this was a violation of s. 15 of the Charter that could not be justified under s. 1, and ordered that sexual orientation be read into the provincial legislation. This case

demonstrated how the Charter protected individuals against discrimination and assured that everyone is treated equally.
In conclusion, the Charter has been in place for about 32 years now and over the span of 32 years, it’s been effective at protecting the rights and freedoms of citizens. Over the years, the Charter has provided individuals with fundamental freedoms and rights, the Charter ensures that citizens are protected from the government and people in power, and lastly the Charter establishes both equality and equity within society.