The Charter of Rights and Freedoms CLU3M Unit 2

Fundamental Freedoms Section 2 of the Charter Freedom of conscience and religion Freedom of thought, belief and opinion, and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication Freedom of peaceful assembly Freedom of association

Conscience and Religion The right to entertain the beliefs you choose, to declare them openly without fear and to practice and disseminate them According to the Charter- you may not be forced to act in a way contrary to your beliefs R. v. Big M Drug Mart (you will look at this on Wed Apr 2nd) In areas of conflicting religious rights the SCC has to interpret the intent as well as the extent of the Charter Example- Family wishes their child not receive blood transfusions due to their religious belief system

Thought and Expression “I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it”- Voltaire Free to think and believe what you want and to publicly express your opinions Key democratic freedoms- freedom of the press is a key means of communicating information to the public- many revolutions start when this is taken away R. v. Keegstra case point- promotion of hatred…,but if you have freedom of expression how can you be charged with expressing an opinion even if it’s fairly repulsive The SCC decided that there are limits to freedom of expression And here we have Section 1…but we wont look at the document yet

Peaceful Assembly and Association Peaceful assembly- right to demonstrate against government policies or ideas The assembly must be “peaceful- difference between lawful assembly and a riot A riot (unlawful assembly) must consist of three or more persons prepared to use force to execute a common purpose Association refers to the ability to connect with other people or groups (unions, cultural groups, political parties, sports teams) Limitations- some people are prohibited from joining unions and in the criminal justice system people can be forced to stay away from certain people

The Rights Democratic Rights- Sections 3- 5 Mobility Rights- section 6 Legal Rights- sections 7- 14 Equality Rights- section 15 Official Languages of Canada- sections 16- 22 Minority language Education rights- section 23 Enforcement- Section 24 General and Application 25- 34 *section 33- Notwithstanding Clause

Limitations to Rights and Freedoms Section 1: Reasonable Limits Clause The framers of the Charter believed that rights in Canada were not absolute. Section 1 of the Charter: “reasonable limits” “free and democratic society” 1982 R. v. Oakes- we will discuss his case later- quick summary, he was charged with trafficking a narcotic- Narcotics Control act stated that at trial it is up to YOU, the one charged, to prove that you weren’t trafficking- this is a violation of your rights The SCC came up with a test to determine when rights violations were reasonable- hence the test is called the Oakes Test

The oakes Test “It may become necessary to limit rights and freedoms in certain circumstances”- R. v. Oakes 1986 1 SCR The court established a 4 step process to determine whether rights violations were reasonable Next slides: The Oakes Test

The oakes Test 1. The reason for limiting the Charter right must be shown to be important enough to justify overriding a constitutionally protected right 2. There must be a rational connection between the limitation of rights and the objective of the law 3. The right must be limited as little as possible 4. The more severe the rights limitation, the more important the objective must be

Section 33 As mentioned earlier, for Trudeau to get approval from the Premiers to pass the Charter, he had to agree to an override clause The government had to ensure that they could override the SCC Section 33 The Notwithstanding Clause- government can pass legislation that may violate or be inconsistent with rights and freedoms The notwithstanding clause only lasts for 5 years before it has to be reviewed

Section 33 It ha sonly been used 4 times Quebec used it to pass their French Language laws Alberta has tried to use it twice and both times it failed Why would any level of government be wary of invoking the notwithstanding clause?

Rights Violations activity See handout