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Charter of Rights and Freedoms
The Canadian Charter of Rights and
Freedoms continues a strong Canadian tradition of protecting civil
liberties. Prior to the Charter, federal legislation was reviewable by the
1960 Canadian Bill of Rights. And, prior to that, many civil liberties were
protected by other means, most notably by the "implied bill of
rights" jurisprudence.
The number of internet sites on civil
liberties is staggering. However, they are mostly American, and the
Canadian constitutional scholar should be cautious of importing American
concepts to Canadian practice. Some debates, such as the debate by Westen
et al. concerning "The Empty Idea of Equality" [pp. 678-686 of
the text] make considerable sense when reviewed in its American context.
However, the drafters of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms used
different words in our equality provisions, notably referring to equality "without
distcrimination and, in particular, without discrimination based on race,
national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age or mental or physical
disability." Therefore, Westen's concerns about the circularity and
lack of content to words such as "people who are alike should be
treated alike" are not that applicable, except to feed one's
intellectual appetite.
Nonetheless,
this website attempts to provide a general overview for the constitutional
scholar on the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms with a Canadian
outlook. In particular, the following pages may be of interest to the
constitutional scholar:
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