Madam Speaker, I would like to begin by thanking the hon. member for Moncton—Riverview—Dieppe for moving the motion on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the responsibilities of the Minister of Justice in relation to the charter.
I did find it somewhat unfortunate that the member went on to impose a vitriolic attack on our federal government. It really was inappropriate because we are talking about the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a document that is so vital to the future of our country, defending the rights and freedoms of Canadians. It was unfortunate that he chose to make a general attack on government policy.
That said, it is important to highlight that the charter is one part of the framework at the federal level for the protection of human rights in Canada. In addition to the charter, Canada also has the Canadian Bill of Rights and the Canadian Human Rights Act as important human rights instruments. I would like to spend some time articulating how important those documents and instruments were.
In 1960 the Conservative government of John Diefenbaker passed the Canadian Bill of Rights, the first federal legislative enactment to specifically set out basic human rights for Canadians. The Bill of Rights set out a wide compendium of guaranteed rights and freedoms.
The Bill of Rights provided in section 1 that there existed, and continue to exist, without discrimination on the grounds of race, national origin, colour, religion or sex, the following rights and freedoms, and members should keep in mind that this goes back to 1960: the right to life, liberty, security of the person and the enjoyment of property and the right not to be deprived of them except by the due process of law; the right to equality before the law and equal protection of the law; freedom of religion; freedom of speech; freedom of assembly and association; and freedom of the press.
In section 2 of the Bill of Rights, there were further rights articulated: the right to be protected against arbitrary detention and cruel and unusual treatment or punishment; the right to be presumed innocent, which all of us take for granted today; the right to be informed promptly of the reasons for arrest, to retain counsel without delay and the right to habeas corpus; and the right to a fair hearing in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice for the determination of rights and obligations.
Section 2 also provided that only if an act of Parliament specifically stated that the act would operate notwithstanding the Bill of Rights could these rights be abrogated, abridged or infringed.
Again, this goes back to 1960 under a Conservative government that first took seriously the enshrinement of a code of rights for Canadians.
The Bill of Rights is not a constitutional document. It is an act of the federal Parliament.
However, even with the adoption of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982, the Bill of Rights continues to have importance and significance. For example, the guarantee of a right to a hearing found in the Bill of Rights is actually broader than the equivalent right in the charter.
As well, there are some rights protected by the Bill of Rights which are not protected by the charter, for example, the protection of property rights. I know there are many Canadians who have asked for property rights to be enshrined in the Constitution. Section 1(a) of the Bill of Rights provides for the right of the individual to the enjoyment of property, and the right not to be deprived thereof except by due process of law.
The Bill of Rights was the earliest federal statute for the protection of human rights in Canada. It has long been regarded as the pioneer effort in safeguarding the civil liberties of Canadians. The Bill of Rights has continued relevance and importance in Canada's human rights framework.
The Canadian Human Rights Act is another part of the federal framework for the protection of human rights in Canada.
The Canadian Human Rights Act was enacted in 1977. The purpose of the act is to ensure equality of opportunity and freedom from discrimination in federal jurisdictions. The idea behind the Canadian Human Rights Act is that people should not be placed at a disadvantage simply because of their age, sex, race or any other ground covered under that act. The statute applies to the federal government, federal crown corporations and also federally regulated industries such as banks, airlines and railways.
The Canadian Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination in the areas of employment and the provision of goods and services on a large number of grounds, including race, national or ethnic origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation and disability.
While there is a certain extent of overlap between the Canadian Human Rights Act and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, there are also important differences, and the Canadian Human Rights Act plays an important and distinct role in the human rights framework at the federal level.
Let me turn to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. That charter is an important part of Canada's constitutional fabric.
In 1982 the parliament of the United Kingdom enacted the Constitution Act, 1982. Part I of that enactment was the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. I note that in 1982, one month after the Charter of Rights and Freedoms became the law of Canada, I graduated from law school. Members can understand that in the previous three years we as law students spent a lot of time discussing the advisability of a charter, what a charter would entail and what protections it should provide to Canadians. I remember those days very well.
The charter has continued to be the salient human rights document in Canada.
Canada, along with many other countries in the world, had become a party to a number of international human rights treaties in the 1970s, for example, the United Nations International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. With the coming into force of the charter of rights in Canada in 1982, Canada was able to give domestic legal effect to the international human rights treaty obligations that Canada had undertaken. In addition, the charter was inspired by various international human rights treaties.
The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was proclaimed in force on April 17, 1982, 115 years after Canada first became a nation. The charter added to and expanded on the scope of protection offered by the Canadian Bill of Rights. The charter sets out the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals and groups in Canada, and it is an integral part of Canada's Constitution.
The values and principles enshrined in the charter are essential to the promotion of a free and democratic society. These values include respect for the inherent dignity of the person, commitment to social justice and equality, accommodation of a wide variety of beliefs, respect for cultural and group identity, and faith in the social and political institutions that enhance the participation of individuals and groups in society. Essentially, the charter is an expression of the basic Canadian values that all of us hold dear.
The framers of the charter made it very clear, when the charter was enacted and brought into force, that the intention was not to create new rights; rather, it was simply to codify rights and fundamental concepts that have existed in Canadian law since 1867 and before that as part of the British common law tradition.
Concepts such as presumption of innocence, the requirement of proof beyond a reasonable doubt and the independence of the judiciary are all things that we have taken for granted for many years. The charter codifies these. These concepts have parallels in legal systems of other free and democratic societies, such as in the bill of rights of the United States of America.
The charter is an important component of the government's many legal obligations and a significant consideration in the conduct of its public affairs.
I would like to provide more elaboration on how the charter functions and the protections it affords to Canadians.
Section 32 of the charter provides that it applies to federal, provincial and territorial legislatures and governments. Thus the charter protects individuals from violations of their human rights and fundamental freedoms by government.
Essentially what is happening is that the charter regulates the conduct of governments across Canada vis-à-vis its citizens. This is something that is held up as a role model around the world, and many other countries have now emulated our Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Indeed under section 32, the charter has been interpreted to apply to the full range of governmental activities, including administrative practices of officials and the acts of the executive branch of government as well as to enactments of Parliament or the legislatures in the provinces and territories.
Section 52 of the Constitution Act, 1982 came into force at the same time as the charter. This provision sets out a particular remedy that is available to Canadian courts. It provides that the Constitution is the supreme law of Canada and that every law that is inconsistent with it is, to the extent of that inconsistency, of no force and effect. In other words, if a court finds that a law violates charter-protected rights, it can rule that the law has no force. As well, section 24 of the charter enables courts, if they find that an individual's charter rights have been violated, to either exclude evidence from a trial or to grant the individual other remedies that are “appropriate and just in the circumstances”.
With regard to the specific rights and freedoms protected by the charter, the charter includes protection of the following: fundamental freedoms, democratic rights, the right to live and seek employment anywhere in Canada, legal rights, equality rights, the official languages of Canada, on which there is a whole section, minority language education rights, Canada's multicultural heritage and, finally, aboriginal peoples' rights.
It is important to note that the rights and freedoms in the charter are not absolute. They can be limited in order to protect other rights or important national values. Section 1 of the charter says that the charter rights can be limited by other laws, as long as those limits can be shown to be reasonable in a free and democratic society. Our Supreme Court of Canada has actually stated that a limit on charter rights is acceptable if the limit deals with a pressing and substantial social problem and the government's response to the problem is reasonable and demonstrably justified. Therefore a law that limits a charter right is nevertheless valid if it conforms with section 1.
The charter guarantees certain fundamental freedoms for everyone in Canada. These fundamental freedoms, which are set out in section 2 of the charter, consist of basic rights that Canadians have taken for granted for most of our country's existence. Since 1982, the charter has given these freedoms constitutional protection. They cannot be abrogated by the federal legislative branch. These fundamental freedoms include freedom of conscience and religion, freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association.
Given that the media are an important means of communicating thoughts and ideas, the charter also protects the right of the press and other media to speak out. When we look around the world at other countries where there is no freedom of the press and we see the oppression that often takes place and the violation of human rights because the media cannot speak out, we know how valuable that protected right in our charter is.
All of these fundamental freedoms allow Canadians to create and express their ideas, gather to discuss them and communicate them widely to other people. These activities are basic forms of individual liberty and are important to the success of a democratic society such as Canada's.
While very important, as noted, these freedoms can be subject to certain limitations. For example, laws against child pornography and propaganda have been determined to be reasonable limits on freedom of expression.
Another category of rights set out in the charter is the democratic rights provided for in sections 3 to 5 of the charter. These rights include the right of every Canadian citizen to vote and to be qualified to run for office in our national Parliament and in the provincial legislatures.
It also requires that the legislatures have a term of no longer than five years, unless two-thirds of the members extend the term during a time of real or apprehended war, invasion or insurrection, and the requirement that Parliament and the legislatures sit once each year. In other words, our constitution and the charter limit the term of this Parliament to five years. That is the maximum length this Parliament can sit before we have an election.
In other words, the democratic rights sections of the charter contain rules that guarantee Canadians a democratic government and embody the basic democratic principle that a government must explain its actions to the people.
The mobility rights of Canadians are also dealt with in section 6 of the charter. Subsection 6(1) states that every citizen has the right to enter and leave Canada. Extradition laws place some limits on these rights. Subsection 6(2) provides that citizens and permanent residents have the right to move and take up residence in any province for the purpose of gaining or making a living. Subsection 6(3) makes it clear that provinces may decide to give social benefits, such as welfare, only to persons who have lived in the province for a certain period of time. I think most Canadians would find that to be a reasonable limit. They may also pass employment laws that require workers to have the necessary qualifications to practise their profession or trade.
In addition, subsection 6(4) allows a province that has an employment rate below the national average to create programs that favour its own residents.
Moving on to sections 7 to 14 of the charter, those sections set out the legal rights that apply to people in Canada. The legal rights protect us in our dealings with the justice system. They ensure that individuals who are involved in legal proceedings are treated fairly, especially those charged with criminal offences.
Section 7, for example, guarantees the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof, except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice. The right to protection against unreasonable search or seizure is protected by section 8 of the charter. The purpose of this section is to protect a reasonable expectation of privacy, something Canadians hold very dear.
Section 9 of the charter provides for the right not to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned. Certain rights are applicable when an individual is arrested or detained: the right to be informed promptly of the reason, the right to retain and instruct counsel without delay and the right to habeas corpus.
When a person is charged with an offence, section 11 of the charter guarantees the following rights: to be informed of the offence, to be tried within a reasonable time, not to be compelled to be a witness, to be presumed innocent until proven guilty in a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, and to the benefit of trial by jury where the offence is punishable by more than five years. The right not to be subjected to cruel and unusual treatment or punishment is protected under section 12. The right not to have incriminating evidence from a previous proceeding used in evidence against the person, except in prosecutions for perjury, is guaranteed under section 13.
Section 14 affords the right to an interpreter when the person does not understand or speak the language of the proceeding or if that person is deaf.
Moving on to section 15, that section protects equality rights. It is a section that makes it very clear that every individual in Canada, regardless of race, religion, national or ethnic origin, colour, age, sex or physical or mental disability, is considered equal. This means that governments may not discriminate on any of these grounds in its laws or programs. The courts have held that section 15 also protects equality on the basis of other characteristics. As we can see, the charter is an amazing document and we need to guard it.