Ryan Alford: The charter pits Canadians' civil liberties against social justice overreach

Long before the charter, jurists such as Ivan Rand had recognized that certain freedoms were also the essential precondition of constitutional government. When deciding the case of Switzman v. Elbling at the Supreme Court of Canada in 1957, Rand opined on the subject of freedom of speech: “Liberty in this is little less vital to man’s mind and spirit than breathing is to physical existence. As such an inherence in the individual it is embodied in his status of his citizenship.

Initially, the fear of a transition to judicial supremacy animated most critics of the charter. This was allayed by the demonstration of the truth of constitutional supremacy: Canada’s judges have shown time and time again that they remain true to their oath to impartially administer justice as the constitution requires, and not as they would have it.

Some believe that the purpose of a democratic society is to achieve social justice, which requires a more equitable distribution of social goods that includes not only material resources, but appointments to positions of influence or even gainful employment, along with more intangible provisions, such as public recognition and respect for one’s dignity, identity and life choices.

The US people is so advanced than we Canadian people, that they can immediately correct their wrongs .

I enjoyed the column but I believe ryan_p_alford is lamenting a lost cause. 'Equity' is baked into the Charter in s. 15(2). The EDI crowd will use that to bludgeon any challenge to discriminatory policy made to persue equitable goals and will probably be successful.

Worst Law ever, all it ever did was create confusion and division, east vs west, region vs region, urban vs rural, culture vs culture. Just a terrible document......I am not a US fan but they revere their constitution.... in Canada we cannot even see our historical docs publicly

friends, don't be fooled with false choices - they seek to polarize canadians between good and bad, them and us, what Trump did in the USA - we are not dumb, we can have freedom and social justice, in fact, we do!

Why don’t you offer a link to download a high resolution pdf file that everyone can download? You complain about accessibility to the charter so often but do nothing about it. You are just like the government.

Social Justice overreach isn’t a thing

🤣I love that term 'social justice'. It's a euphemism for the far-left socialist agenda.

My rights are natural rights imparted on me by logic, the nature of the universe, god, whatever you want to call it. They aren’t up for review or limitation by government or the judiciary, thanks.

Living wages pegged to productivity, dignity at work and social mobility, or gtfo corporate parasites. Mass mobilization, general strikes and direct action ftw. Kick them in the capitalism until they beg for mercy.

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Colby Cosh: The charter has won its final victory by being embraced by the populist rightApril 17 will mark the 40th anniversary of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. How fares our modern Magna Carta in middle age? I’d say it’s quite… It’s a shame they can’t read it as others do Boy, talk about a warped point of view. Not a lot of legal or philosophical brains there. The balance between individual, collective and government rights has NOT been maintained by the charter. Ask Brian Peckford. He was there when they wrote it. When they find it convenient they do.
Source: nationalpost - 🏆 10. / 80 Read more »