Well, without getting into the semantics of what should and should not be a human right, I'll just quote the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court said, in a famous ruling--I think it was in the Daigle case--that it's a quasi-constitutional principle. It doesn't quite have the standing of a right under the charter, or a human right, maybe, but it is part of the constitutional fabric of the country, and it belongs to the people. And the rights of the people diminished is a nation diminished.
On October 29th, 2009. See this statement in context.