The Charter
What document outlines the fundamental rights and freedoms of Canadians?
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
What is Canada’s highest court, where Charter cases can ultimately be decided?
The Supreme Court of Canada.
Decode the acronym FNMI
First Nations, Metis and Inuit
What provincial law protects against discrimination in Ontario?
Answer: The Ontario Human Rights Code.
What does freedom of peaceful assembly mean?
the right to participate in peaceful demonstrations, protests, parades, meetings, picketing and other assemblies
What was the topic of deliberation of the Rodriguez v. British Columbia (1993) case?
It dealt with the right to physician-assisted death, which was denied at the time.
True or False: Indigenous rights were fully protected before the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
False. Indigenous rights were limited by government policies before the Charter.
In what year was the Ontario Human Rights Code established?
Answer: 1962.
200 Points: True or False: The Charter’s fundamental freedoms are never subject to political or social change.
Answer: False. The Charter evolves as societal values and legal interpretations change.
Name one fundamental freedom guaranteed by the Charter.
Freedom of conscience and religion, or freedom of thought, belief, opinion, and expression, including freedom of the press, or freedom of peaceful assembly, or freedom of association.
In what year did Canada pass a federal bill legalizing physician-assisted dying?
2016
Decode the meaning of the following statement:
The reserve system and designation of FN identities were aspects of the Indian act that oppressed FNMI community power and agency.
The structures imposed by policies within the Indian Act, specifically schemes of identification, and access to and organization of reserves, limited agency and collaboration amongst FNMI peoples.
What organization reports on human rights violations in Canada, including issues facing Indigenous peoples and immigration detainees?
Answer: Human Rights Watch.
Define reconciliation in a Canadian context
Making amends for the Canadian governments past transgressions against Indigenous peoples and other minority groups.
*Which branch of government interprets and applies the laws, including Charter rights?
The judicial system (courts and judges).
What conventionally widely held opinion did the court rely on to deny Rodriguez physician-assisted death?
“human life is sacred or inviolable.”
What do FNMI peoples continue to fight?
In section 15, equality rights are left open ended, why is that helpful? Think of groups like LGBTQ2S+ people?
Allows society to evolve and change, providing protections within reason issues are raised.
What recent social issue led to legal debates over balancing privacy rights with national security?
Answer: The right to individual privacy in the context of national security concerns.
Define the term Constitution
a body of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is acknowledged to be governed.
How does the Charter evolve over time through legal cases?
The determination of each significant case can contribute to precedents used to inform the evolving Charter and determinations of future cases.
Legal decisions and interpretations (bound by the thinking of the moment) of the Charter allow it to adapt to changing societal values and circumstances.
What was the goal of John A. Macdonald's 1887 statement on Indigenous legislation?
To assimilate Indigenous people into the general population and abolish the tribal system.
What is the "notwithstanding clause," when might it be used? What scenarios?
Answer: Section 33 allows governments to override certain judicial decisions on Charter rights, though it risks political trust and public opinion.
Times of crisis, COVID, War
What is one challenge Canada faces regarding its human rights record in terms of international standards?
Answer: Lagging behind in areas such as Indigenous rights, disability rights, or the rights of immigration detainees.