HuffPost Canada closed in 2021 and this site is maintained as an online
archive. If you have questions or concerns, please check our
FAQ or contact
support@huffpost.com.
charter
Bruce found himself convicted of roughly two dozen counts of possessing unlicensed firearms. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail and a lifetime prohibition order from possessing firearms; therefore, he can no longer be a gunsmith. Moreover, his entire inventory of firearms and ammunition (worth roughly $116,000) was forfeited to the Crown.
On October 14 Canada's Supreme Court justices will have the unenviable job of choosing between two very different ethical languages. Which is the one in which the promises and protections in Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms are best understood?
This month marks the 32nd anniversary of Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a landmark achievement in the promotion and protection of human rights, and which has served as a model for other countries drafting constitutions of their own. While Canadians have occasion and cause to celebrate this transformative constitutional document, silence is to be expected from Canada's Conservative government. The government's consistent refusal to fully acknowledge the Charter's importance is regrettable not only as a matter of symbolism, but as one of substance as well.
There are many differences between the platonic idea of secularism and the secularist statute proposed last week in Quebec. These differences will doubtless count against the Charter of Values, especially in English Canada, where a discrete conception of religious freedom and suspicions of sovereigntist motivations have elicited much scepticism.
The Charter remains a concrete expression of our shared values, the rights we can expect to have respected, and the responsibilities we owe each other. It is a crucial part of what binds us together in our diversity. It is sad that our current government remains unable to rise above petty partisanship in order to celebrate the Charter with all Canadians.
As opposed to viewing the Charter as a hindrance to its legislative agenda, the government should embrace the Charter -- as have lawyers, judges, academics, and even the majority of Canadians according to public opinion polls. We should be promoting and protecting those values the document enshrines.
Section 4.1 of the Department of Justice Act used to be little known outside constitutional law circles, but it has recently received significant attention both in Parliament and in the media. This is a welcome development because it is this provision that requires the Government to vet its legislation for consistency with the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
