On April 17, 1982, Canada got a new Constitution and Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which, among other things, gave me the same rights as any white man in the country. Surprisingly, there are many Canadians who seem to think this was a bad idea, that human rights should not be made inalienable but should be contingent on the will of the current majority in parliament. In other words, they want majority rule, not rule of law. To them I say: ...oh never mind, this is a polite blog.
A prime example of why majority (or plurality) rule cannot be trusted is that our current government has made no plans to celebrate Canada's Constitution. None. Nada. Bupkus. It is astounding that officials elected according to our Constitution have no interest in marking the 25th anniversary of the document by which they govern. Of course the reason is that since its inception said document has been happily protecting the rights of all sorts of people that said officials would rather remained second-class citizens: women, Francophones, the disabled, gays and lesbians, immigrants, and so on. The current government can't repeal the Charter of Rights since it is part of the Constitution, but it has done the next best thing and made it prohibitively expensive for individuals to take their Charter cases to the Supreme Court by eliminating the fund that used to help them do that. To those officials I say: ...well, same thing I meant to say above.
To everyone else I say, Happy Constitution and Charter of Rights Day!!
Fundamental Freedoms Project: The Charter of Rights and Freedoms
CBC Archives: Charting the Future
Library and Archives Canada: Building a Just Society
