The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Our Fundamental Freedoms

Outline The Fundamental Freedoms Democratic and Mobility Rights Legal and Equality Rights Language and General Rights

Charter Sections The Charter’s fundamental rights and freedoms are divided into a number of categories: Fundamental Freedoms Democratic Rights Legal Rights Equality Rights Official Languages Minority Language Educational Rights

Fundamental Freedoms (Section2) Guarantees certain rights and freedoms, while making it clear that these rights and freedoms are not absolute.  They are subject to reasonable limits.  These include freedom of: conscience and religion thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communications peaceful assembly and association

Democratic Rights (Sections 3, 4. 5) Every citizen has the right to vote to vote although there are reasonable restrictions in place (age, mental capacity, residence, registration, and judges) Maximum duration of an elected legislative bodies is five years and it must be in session at least once a year

Mobility Rights (Section 6) Guarantees the right to move in and out of Canada and between provinces Most Charter cases regarding Mobility Rights deal with extradition of those accused of committing crimes in other countries The right to pursue a livelihood in any province is controversial because of provincial unemployment rates and social programs

Legal Rights (Sections 7-14) Sections 7 to 11 of the Charter cover all areas of criminal law-from investigating a crime, ensuring procedural fairness at trial, and deciding about use of evidence through to sentencing convicted offenders.

Legal Rights (Sections 7-14) Life, liberty, and security of the person and cannot be deprived of these rights unless in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice (Examples: Right to die and Abortion) Security against unreasonable search and seizure No arbitrary detention or imprisonment Be informed promptly for the reasons for any arrest or detention Right to be informed with out delay that the accused can obtain the assistance of a lawyer after arrest and then granted a reasonable amount of time to do so

Legal Rights (Sections 7-14) Trial within a reasonable time by an impartial tribunal and cannot be forced to testify at his or her trial The presumption of innocence until proven guilty and the accused cannot be denied reasonable bail without just cause Cannot be trailed for the same crime twice (“Double Jeopardy”)

Legal Rights (Sections 7-14) No cruel and unusual punishment as the courts must consider the gravity of the offence, the personal characteristics of the offender, and the particular circumstances of the case when sentencing Evidence given in court by witnesses cannot have their testimony used against them The right to a court-appointed interpreter

Equality Rights (Section 15) Every individual is considered equal and that government cannot discriminate in its laws or programs and is broken into three parts: Equal treatment before and under the law Equal benefit and protection of the law These rights are applied equally without discrimination based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical disability

Equality Rights (Section 15) Programs provided by governments are to be designed to improve the conditions of certain disadvantaged groups even if viewed as discriminatory by the majority Example: Handicapped Parking Spaces The phrase in particular means that the areas mentioned as areas of potential discrimination are examples Example: Sexual Orientation is also considered This section applies to ‘every individual’ or ‘everyone,’ not ‘every citizen’ purposefully to include non-Canadian citizens who are in Canada and to exclude corporations

Language & General Rights (Sections 16-22) Language rights in the Charter affirm that: English and French are the official languages of Canada All services and publications offered by governments must be available in both languages Minority language education rights in certain circumstances