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One of the most significant developments in the protection
of human rights in Canada is the
Charter of Rights and Freedoms. As part of a
larger reform that patriated our Constitution, the
Charter was entrenched in the
Canadian Constitution under the leadership of then Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau.
Coming into force on April 17, 1982, the
Charter is recognized around the world as
a model document protecting the rights and freedoms of its citizens.
The
Charter of Rights and Freedoms clearly was
influenced and inspired by international human rights documents, including the
Universal
Declaration of Human Rights. For example, like the Declaration, the
Charter protects the right to life, liberty and security of the person, the right not to be
subject to arbitrary detention, to equality before the law, and to freedom of religion.
The Declaration may continue to influence the
Charter through its interpretation by
the Canadian courts. Chief Justice Dickson, as he then was, in
Reference Re Public
Service Employees Relations Act, 1987, commented that international instruments should
be persuasive sources for interpretation and observed that the "
Charter conforms
to the spirit
of the contemporary international
human rights movement."
The
Charter affirms and guarantees certain rights
and freedoms that are considered essential in a free and democratic society. For the first
time in Canadian history, these rights have been constitutionally entrenched.
Significantly, entrenchment means that the
Charter can only be revised through an
amending formula that requires substantial agreement from both the federal and provincial
governments. Moreover, as part of the Constitution, the
Charter is part of the
"
supreme law of Canada" and any law that infringes upon the rights and
freedoms guaranteed by it is of no force or effect.
The liberties we hold as individuals, however, cannot be
absolute. Because we live in a society, there may be times when individual rights have to
be limited. Section 1 of the
Charter recognizes this and states that our guaranteed
rights and freedoms are subject only to such "
reasonable limits prescribed by law
as can be demonstrably justified in
a free and democratic society".
As in other areas, the
Charter has had a profound
impact in the protection of human rights in the field of corrections. Since its enactment,
there have been an unprecedented number of court challenges to decisions of correctional
authorities, and as a result a number of advancements have been achieved. For example, the
common law principles of natural justice and the duty to act fairly have been magnified;
cruel and unusual treatment or punishment has been interpreted more broadly; offenders
have the right to be represented by counsel in serious disciplinary matters; the Private
Family Visiting Program no longer discriminates on grounds of sexual orientation; and
offenders have meaningful legal remedies when their rights have been denied or infringed
upon. In a trilogy of cases in 1985, (
R. v. Miller;
Cardinal v. Kent Institution
(Director); and
Morin v. National Special
Handling Unit Review Committee), the
Supreme Court of Canada confirmed that offenders, while denied their absolute liberty,
retain a wide range of rights and freedoms.
The
Charter has also been cited by employees in
relation to matters such as mandatory retirement, job security, pay equity, occupational
safety, the right to strike and collective bargaining. For example, in
Osborne v.
Government of Canada (1988), federal civil servants challenged restrictions on their
political activity under the
Public Service Employment Act on the grounds that it
violated their freedom of expression and association under Section 2 of the
Charter.
The Federal Court of Appeal found that the challenged provisions were too vague and were
declared of no force or effect