4 ms·
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms is meaningless given the notwithstanding clause. The government can violate the “rights” in the Charter as long as they’re wi
by barry-cotter 4y ago
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms is meaningless given the notwithstanding clause. The government can violate the “rights” in the Charter as long as they’re willing to pass legislation to do so every five years.
https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/notwithstanding-clause https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/notwithsta...
- tonyarkles 4y agoSection 1 doesn't even require the every-five-years bit, the violation just needs to be "demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society". Drinking and driving laws and traffic checkstops, for example, fall under this; there's no evidence that a crime as been committed or any probable cause at all at the moment you're being temporarily detained, and it's a crime to refuse to provide a road-side breath sample. Both of these have been assessed by the SCC and determined to, yes, be charter violations, and yes, perfectly ok because they're justified in a free and democratic society.