Constitution Canada 1982 Pdf Free _TOP_

The Charter was preceded by the Canadian Bill of Rights, enacted in 1960, which was a federal statute rather than a constitutional document. As a federal statute, the Bill of Rights could be amended through the ordinary legislative process and had no application to provincial laws. The Supreme Court of Canada also narrowly interpreted the Bill of Rights, showing reluctance to declare laws inoperative.[a] The relative ineffectiveness of the Canadian Bill of Rights motivated many to improve rights protections in Canada. The movement for human rights and freedoms that emerged after World War II also wanted to entrench the principles enunciated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.[1] The British Parliament formally enacted the Charter as a part of the Canada Act 1982 at the request of the Parliament of Canada in 1982, the result of the efforts of the government of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

The centennial of Canadian Confederation in 1967 aroused greater interest within the government in constitutional reform. Such reforms would not only improve the safeguarding of rights, but would also amend the Constitution to free Canada from the authority of British Parliament (also known as patriation), ensuring the full sovereignty of Canada. Subsequently, Attorney General Pierre Trudeau appointed law professor Barry Strayer to research a potential bill of rights. While writing his report, Strayer consulted with a number of notable legal scholars, including Walter Tarnopolsky. Strayer's report advocated a number of ideas that would later be evident in the Charter, including the protection of language rights; exclusion of economic rights; and the allowance of limitations on rights, which would be included in the Charter's limitation and notwithstanding clauses.[15] In 1968, Strayer was made the director of the Constitutional Law Division of the Privy Council Office, followed in 1974 by his appointment as assistant deputy Minister of Justice. During these years, Strayer played a role in writing the bill that was ultimately adopted.

Meanwhile, Trudeau, who had become Liberal leader and prime minister in 1968, still very much wanted a constitutional bill of rights. The federal and provincial governments discussed creating one during negotiations for patriation, resulting in the Victoria Charter in 1971, which was never implemented. Trudeau continued his efforts, however, promising constitutional change during the 1980 Quebec referendum. He succeeded in 1982 with the passage of the Canada Act 1982 in the British Parliament, which enacted the Constitution Act, 1982 as part of the Constitution of Canada.

Quebec did not support the Charter (or the Canada Act 1982), with conflicting interpretations as to why. The opposition could have owed to the Parti Québécois (PQ) leadership being allegedly uncooperative because it was more committed to gaining sovereignty for Quebec. This could have owed to the exclusion of Quebec leaders from the negotiation of the Kitchen Accord, which they saw as being too centralist. It could have also owed to objections by provincial leaders to the accord's provisions relating to the process of future constitutional amendment.[19] The PQ leaders also opposed the inclusion of mobility rights and minority language education rights.[20] The Charter is applicable in Quebec because all provinces are bound by the constitution. However, Quebec's opposition to the 1982 patriation package led to two failed attempts to amend the constitution (the Meech Lake Accord and Charlottetown Accord) which were designed primarily to obtain Quebec's political approval of the Canadian constitutional order.

While the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was adopted in 1982, it was not until 1985 that the main provisions regarding equality rights (section 15) came into effect. The delay was meant to give the federal and provincial governments an opportunity to review pre-existing statutes and strike potentially unconstitutional inequalities.

With the Charter's supremacy confirmed by section 52 of the Constitution Act, 1982, the courts continued their practice of striking down unconstitutional statutes or parts of statutes as they had with earlier case law regarding federalism. However, under section 24 of the Charter, courts also gained new powers to enforce creative remedies and exclude more evidence in trials. Courts have since made many important decisions, including R v Morgentaler (1988), which struck down Canada's abortion law, and Vriend v Alberta (1998), in which the Supreme Court found the province's exclusion of sexual orientation as a prohibited grounds of discrimination violated the equality rights under section 15. In the latter case, the Court then read the protection into the law.

With the inclusion of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms in the Constitution Act, 1982, certain human rights and fundamental freedoms have an enhanced legal status. All laws in Canada must comply with the Charter and are interpreted by Canadian courts in a manner that is consistent with the supremacy of the Constitution.17

The key Supreme Court of Canada decision concerning the constitutionality of former section 13 of the CHRA, rendered in 1990, is Canada (Human Rights Commission) v. Taylor. This case involved John Ross Taylor and the Western Guard Party, which at the time were operating a hate promotion telephone message service. Although section 13 was found to be inconsistent with section 2(b) of the Charter, the same judges who formed the majority in the Keegstra case held that it was saved under section 1 as a reasonable limit in a free and democratic society.

The first part of the Constitution Act, 1982 is the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It prevents the federal,provincial and territorial governments from infringing on Canadian rights andfreedoms. Under the notwithstanding clause, the federal or provincial governments can exempt any lawfrom certain Charter provisions. (See also Constitution Act, 1982 Document.)

The second key piece is the Constitution Act of 1982, which is dominated by a long section called the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which outlines the civil rights of each Canadian citizen. The 1982 Act also describes the process for changing (amending) constitutional laws.

Though the patriation of 1982 was a proud moment for Canada, and the Charter an important development for Canadian human rights, the overall structure of the Canadian government has long been controversial, which has made the topic of constitutional reform a popular topic of political debate in Canada. Common criticisms include:

The struggle to obtain legal recognition of aboriginal rights is a difficult one, and even if a right is written into the law there is no guarantee that the future will not bring changes to the law that undermines the right. For this reason, the federal government of Canada in 1982 extended constitutional protection to those aboriginal rights already recognized under the law. This protection was extended to the Indian, Inuit, and Métis peoples, the three groups generally thought to comprise the aboriginal population in Canada. But this decision has placed on provincial courts the enormous burden of interpreting and translating the necessarily general constitutional language into specific rulings. The result has been inconsistent recognition and establishment of aboriginal rights, despite the continued efforts of aboriginal peoples to raise issues concerning their rights. 2b1af7f3a8