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Essay On Canadian Charter Of Rights And Freedom

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Introduction
The Canadian charter of rights and freedom is one part of the Canadian Constitution. The Constitution is a set of laws containing the basic rules about how our country operates. For example, it contains the powers of the federal government and those of the provincial governments in Canada

Importance
The Constitution is the supreme law of Canada. Generally speaking, all other laws must be consistent with the rules set out in the Constitution. If they are not, they may not be valid. Since the Charter is part of the Constitution, laws that limit Charter rights may be invalid. This makes the Charter the most important law we have in Canada.
It is important to point out, however, that the Charter itself allows governments to put some limits on Charter rights. Section 1 of the Charter says that other laws may limit the rights and freedoms in the Charter so long as those laws are reasonable and justified in a free and democratic society. So, a law that limits a Charter right is nevertheless valid if it conforms with section 1.
The fact that the Charter is part of the Constitution also means that governments must try to make sure that new laws are consistent with it. For example, the federal Department of Justice must make sure that new laws proposed by the federal government comply with the Charter. …show more content…
Elected representatives are restricted in what they can do -- and the system of checks and balances that exists is composed of unelected, unaccountable Supreme Court Justices -- therefore, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms is anti-democratic. This is a serious, and untrue, statement. It is because of this Charter that we, as Canadians, are entitled to that opinion. Perhaps one should examine the process by which legislation can be overturned, rather than the fact that it is

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