In what ways can a democratic government enhance liberal values?

In what ways can a democratic government enhance liberal values?
Question for Inquiry #2 In what ways can a democratic government enhance liberal values?

Chapter Introduction (Pg 347)
Read Page 347 on Eddy Morten

The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (Pg 348)
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms identifies guaranteed rights we have as Canadians The exceptions to these rights would be if it could be justified to be reasonable to limit those rights in a democratic society.

Without the charter we would not have the freedoms we enjoy today. We could be arrested without cause, held without charge, or discriminated against without reason

You have the right to freedom of speech but you may not use that right to promote hatred You have the right to be protected against illegal search and seizure, however, this does not apply to your luggage at the airport.

Sometime the government will limit your rights in order to promote public safety and protect the greater good of society. Most of the rights in the Charter are individual rights, however, there are some collective rights.

Each province has the ability to override parts of the constitution using the “not withstanding” clause. This clause allows the provincial governments to pass laws for up to five years that are not in line with individual rights protected in the constitution.

Challenges to the Charter (Pg 348)
From time to time court cases come up that test the interpretation of the charter of rights. In BC, the provincial government tried to pass a law that ignored collective bargaining agreements with health care workers This was challenged in the Supreme Court and because of the right to association in the charter, the BC legislation was shot down.

Promoting Political and Economic Rights (Pg 350)
Take a look at the timeline on page 350. This timeline outlines the political and economic evolution of rights in Canada.

Here are some of the individual rights in the charter Fundamental rights Conscious, religion, belief, expression, assembly Democratic Rights Run elections, join political parties, term limits, minimum sessions.

Mobility Rights Enter ad leave Canada, move and live within any part, work in any part Legal Rights Searches and seizures, imprisonment, innocent until proven guilty, fair trials, Equality rights Equal based on religion, race, gender, nationality, age, mental or physical ability

In Canada an election must be held at least every 5 years As well, the sessions of the federal governments must be held at least once per year. These are all democratic rights

When there is a concern over the interpretation of the charter it is up to the courts, ultimately the Supreme Court, to decide what the decision should be.

The UN Declaration of Human Rights goes farther then the Canadian Charter in that it suggests there should be economic freedoms, including freedom from poverty, right to a job with a living wage.

Canada, and many other countries have signed this agreement but have not yet put it into their own national charters. Why do you think this is the case?

Economic Rights in Quebec (Pg 351)
In 1975 Quebec created their own charter and modeled it on The UN Declaration of Human Rights The Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms also has a specific section on promoting economic equality, which the Canadian Charter does not.

Economic Rights in Quebec (Pg 351)
In Quebec, there has been one challenge to the economic equality portion of their charter. On case was suggesting that the welfare payments should be increased to promote economic equality, this case was denied.

Canada’s Multicultural Act (Pg 352)
The Multicultural Act (1988) aims to promote and enhance multiculturalism in Canada. This replaces an earlier version of a similar act with some additions

Officially recognizes our multicultural heritage Recognizes rights of Aboriginal People Reaffirms English and French but other languages can be spoken Recognizes ethnic minorities Equal rights based on religion, race, colour etc.

Trudeau announce, in 1971, that Canada was a multicultural nation, the first in the world to do so. Canada acknowledged that it was multicultural with many different beliefs, values, traditions, and people

Do you think it was necessary to pass the Multicultural Act in 1988? Why or why not?

Collective Rights in the Charter and in the Constitution (Pg 352)
Canada is a pluralism society. This means that Canada reflects and values collective and individual values and reflect different cultures, views, and values.

Canada has a charter that protects individual and collective rights Everyone has individual rights however, collective rights are ones that a group has and not all groups have collective rights in Canada.

When we talk about collective rights we are generally referring to the following groups English French Aboriginal

Some of the collective rights in the Charter include Official Language Rights Right to use either language in parliament or with federal gov’t Minority language rights English and French have education rights when the are in minority and numbers justify Aboriginal Rights Includes rights from treaties and proclamations

Promoting Aboriginal Rights (Pg 353)
Collective rights in Canada are determined by legislation such as The Indian Act, Treaties and amendments to these. There have been many challenges to the collective rights in the Charter and historically it has been left up to the courts to decide.

Many people believe that it should be elected representatives and not the courts who make decisions regarding the charter. The Sparrow Case is one example in Canada.

The Sparrow Case deals with limits with catching Salmon (Net sizes and catch limits) Ronald Sparrow challenged these limits were infringing on his Aboriginal collective rights.

In 1990, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled in favour of the Aboriginal collective rights Since then there have been many rulings in favour of traditional Aboriginal practices.

In Alberta, there was a piece of legislation called The Alberta Interim Métis Harvesting Agreement. This agreement was made without consultation with the Métis people.

This agreement determined who was allowed to hunt and fish under the rules of Métis people The Métis people challenged the law and is in the court system.

Who do you think should be responsible for the interpretation of the constitution, the elected representatives of the House of Commons, or the Supreme Court of Canada.

Supporting Inuit Rights (Pg 354)
Inuit people are also protected by collective rights in Canada They are considered a founding nation and as such are given the same rights as aboriginal people

Supporting Inuit Rights (Pg 354)
However, the Inuit see themselves as different than Aboriginal people with different concerns (ITK) is a group that fights for Inuit rights in Canada.

Collective Rights of Canada’s Official Language Groups
The English and French have language rights in Canada However, there have been times when these have not been respected (Manitoba School Act (1890)

Collective Rights of Canada’s Official Language Groups
Canada is a bilingual country and as such you have the right to speak either English or French in the House of Commons, the provincial legislatures and any federal department.

Official Languages Rights in Minority Situations (Pg 356)
In Alberta there have been many challenges to minority language rights Two of note are creation of a French school board and printing of provincial documents in English only.

It took a Supreme Court decision to force Alberta to Create a separate French School Board to look after the French Language schools in the province in 1982

In 2003, a truck driver got off his ticket because the ticket was only printed in English. He stated that this was a violation of his minority language rights and as such not valid The Supreme Court agreed and the ticket was not valid.

Official Language Rights in Quebec (Pg 356)
Minority English Canadians have the same rights in Quebec as French people have in the rest of Canada. However, this has been a difficult issue in Quebec as the Quebec Government has all sorts of rules about French only signs, commercials, etc.

Signs and Advertising can be in another language other than French but French has to be included and had to be predominant over the other language.

How do you think Quebec is able to get away with such legislation that others provinces would not be able to do?

Our rights are not absolute If it can be justified that infringing on our rights is better for the common good and justifiable in a free and democratic nation than this infringement is allowable. With Quebec it is thought that protecting the French language is in the greater good of the Francophone community.

Summary of Enhancing Individual Rights and Collective Rights (Pg 358)
The Constitution Act (1982) and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms provide safeguards of social and political freedoms for Canadians The Quebec Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms goes farther and offers protection for economic rights

Summary of Enhancing Individual Rights and Collective Rights (Pg 358)
There are individual and collective rights in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms Individual rights are for everyone, collective rights are for specific groups within Canada.

In what ways can a democratic government enhance liberal values?

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