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The Constitution of Canada

How does the Constitution affect individual Canadians?

WHAT IS A CONSTITUTION?

A constitution is the foundational document which a state or other organization is acknowledged to be governed of a country.

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms identifies the individual rights and freedoms of all citizens. Some citizens had to fight to be included in the first place.

Women and the Charter

Employment Equity and the Charter

People with Disabilities and the Charter

A disability is a physical or mental condition that limits a person's movements, senses, or activities. Disabilities can be either temporary or permanent (Reading Package A, 104). The Charter's recognition of the equality rights of people with disabilities was a turning point. Governments could no longer argue that it was too costly to provide housing to meet the needs of people with disabilities. Since the 1985, the Supreme Court has made a number of rulings upholding the rights of people with disabilities (Reading Package A, 104).

The proposed Constitution did not guarantee equality of men and women. However, the government held a Special Joint Committee in 1980 to allow the public to make suggestions. The National Action Committee (NAC) on the Status of Women created a presentation to argue about the gender equality and hot it should be protected by Constitution (Reading Package A, 99).

Although the Charter outlaws discrimination, it does allow one form of positive discrimination called the employment equity. The Employment Equity Act requires federally regulated industries to actively seek out and favour candidates from groups such as women and visible minorities who have been historically underrepresented in a workplace (Reading Package A, 101).

Why bring home the Constitution?

Civil Marriage Act

The Charter Levels in the Playing Field

After the Constitution was passed, Canadians used the courts to achieve greater equality for women. The women argued that this was discriminatory and violated their Charter rights and the Supreme Court agreed to this.

During the year 2005, a significant change had occurred. For many years, Canadians had been torn about the definition of marriage. Some Canadians believed that marriage was only allowed between a man and a woman while others believed that all people should have the right to marry any person that they choose. After debating this decision, Prime Minister Paul Martin and his Liberal government proposed the Bill C-38, which is known as the Civil Marriage Act, that legalized same-sex marriages.

The Constitution Act of 1982 portrays a major role in Canada. The Constitution Act became official in Canada on April 17, 1982 and comprises of 7 parts - one of them being the Charter of Rights and Freedoms (The Canadian Encyclopedia). During the 1970s in Canada, the current Prime Minister during that time thought that changing the Constitution would give Canadians the tools that they needed in order to deal with the most pressing political and social issues facing the country (Reading Package A, 84). Canada was facing Quebecois sovereigntists wanting to break up the country and was also facing Aboriginal peoples demanding that Canada fulfil the obligations of the treaties (Reading Package A, 84)

How does the Constitution affect Aboriginal peoples?

Will Quebec ever sign the Constitution?

It is quite hard to say whether or not the province Quebec will or will not sign the Constitution. However, the Constitution failed to dampen the sovereignty movement in Quebec since many Canadians believed that the process would increase the strength of the separatists (Reading Package A, 87).

How does the Constitution protect rights?

WORKS CITED

One reason why Quebec would not sign the Constitution Act was because it was a clause in the Charter of Rights and Freedom which guaranteed minority language rights. This would have meant the end of Quebec's Bill 101 by protecting English language rights in Quebec (Canada History Project).

Furthermore, another reason why Quebec would not sign the Constitution act was because the amending formula caused Quebec to lose it's veto over future constitutional change (Canada History Project). A veto is the right or the power that has been forbid or rejected.

Up to the year 1982, the Constitution was limited of the involvement only to the federal and the provincial provinces. However, the Aboriginal peoples were not invited to sit at the negotiating table. Aboriginal peoples wanted a say, especially on issues such as the Aboriginal rights, treaty rights, and the self-government. There were organizations such as the Assembly of the First Nations that began to lobby governments to include Aboriginal rights in the Constitution. After the Aboriginal and treaty rights were guaranteed in the Constitution, many Aboriginal leaders regarded self-government as a key element of Aboriginal rights. Not only did that occur, but after the Aboriginal activism ended, the Aboriginal peoples pushed even harder in order to resolve land claims.

The Constitution Act of 1982 is able to protect the rights of Canada in many ways. The Constitution is known to be the highest law in the land, and laws passed by governments in Canada cannot violate the Constitution. If laws violate the Constitution, it can be struck down. Before the year 1982 in Canada, Canadians did not have their rights guaranteed. There were in fact two laws to protect their rights. These two laws are known as the "Bill of Rights" and the "Canadian Human Rights Act of 1977."

Protecting Collective Rights

Protecting the Individual Rights

Reading Package A: "Why is Canada the nation it is today?"

"Canada A Country by Consent: Patriation of the Constitution: Why Quebec Refused to Sign in 1982." Canada A Country by Consent: Patriation of the Constitution: Why Quebec Refused to Sign in 1982. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Mar. 2015.

<http://www.canadahistoryproject.ca/1982/1982-07-quebec-refusal.html>.

Snyder, Tim. "Constitution Act, 1982." The Canadian Encyclopedia. N.p., 02 June 2012. Web. 26 Mar. 2015.

<http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/constitution-act-1982/>.

The Charter protects a wide variety of individual rights and are held by every individual citizen of Canada. The Constitution is able to change something to allow some flexibility. Governments are able to restrict individual rights and freedoms for the purpose of protecting the interests of society (Reading Package A, 92).

Canada is the only country in the world to guarantee collective rights in its Constitution (Reading Package A, 93). Collective rights and individual rights are two different things. The collective rights is where it belongs to the three founding peoples of Canada - the Anglophones, Francophones, and Aboriginal peoples - whereas the individual rights is when all citizens of Canada are guaranteed to have individual rights (Reading Package A, 93). Unlike the individual rights, collective rights do not apply to the individuals of Canada but they do apply to the population.

Individual rights protected by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms

> Fundamental freedoms: Such as freedom of association and freedom of religion

>Democratic rights: The right to vote

>Mobility rights: The right to travel in and out of the country

>Legal rights: Such as the right to an interpreter in any court

>Equality rights: Such as equal protection from discrimination

>Language rights: The right to use either English or French when communicating with the federal government

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