Madam Speaker, like the other speakers today, I am proud to rise to speak with regard to the 20th anniversary of the coming into force of article 15 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
I cannot help but think back and note that I was going through law school at the time it came through. Then, debate was on as to whether we were going to have a charter. One of the memories I have is of someone I think we can call one of the patrons of the concept of having a Charter of Rights and Freedoms, particularly the provision with regard to equality rights, a law professor by the name of Frank J. Scott, at McGill.
He was a proponent of rights for all people within this country, a concept which was very much shaped by the results of the Holocaust during the second world war, which influenced the need for a constitutional framework to protect and guarantee rights. For instance, he led the fight against the Province of Quebec in regard to its impact on the Jehovah's Witnesses during the 1950s. He was the main leader in that regard. More important, I think, he was a major influence on a subsequent prime minister, Pierre Trudeau, who ultimately was the author of the charter, the person who pressed forward to develop the charter and implement it.
Over the last 20 years, the effect of the charter has been to change our society. I believe that our judges and our judiciary generally have acted responsibly in using the charter, specifically section 15, to advance equality rights in the country.
It is clear that we are not done. This is an evolving process. Certainly there are any number of provisions in our statutes and our practices that need correction. Ultimately, the equality rights that are guaranteed in section 15 will move us forward, I believe, and will advance the cause of equality rights in the country and eradicate discrimination as far as it is humanly possible.
I salute the authors of this charter and, in particular, the role that Professor Scott played. I look forward over the coming generation of lawyers and the judiciary to seeing the charter used responsibly but effectively to guarantee rights for all Canadians.