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Charter of Rights and Freedoms was created
In 1982, Canada was given control of its own constitution and the rules for how the government works. Part of the constitution was the creation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Charter identifies all the things that the government must do for and not take away from Canadian citizens. If these rights are taken away, the government can be taken to court. -
Crown vs Big M Drug Mart
In 1982, most stores were not allowed to open on Sunday because it was a day of rest in Christianity. A Big M Drug Store in Calgary did not follow this rule and opened anyway. Police entered the store and the owners were charged under the Lord's Day Act. The store appealed the charges. The courts decided that the law violated the store owners right to freedom of religion and they were allowed to open. Soon other provinces allowed Sunday shopping as well. -
Singh v. Minister of Employment and Immigration
Between 1977 and 1981, 6 refugees with the last name Singh applied to be refugees because they felt their lives were in danger in India. The Refugee Board met privately and denied their claim. They were not allowed to appeal. The Supreme Court decided that this process was not fair to potential refugees and that they deserved a FAIR court hearing and to be protected if necessary. As a result, the refugee claimants were allowed to appeal and were given refugee status. -
Crown vs Morgentaler
In Ontario, it used to be that you could only get an abortion at a clinic that had a special certification. Dr. Henry Morgentaler opened his own clinic to do abortions anyway. he believed that the special clinics reduced a woman's right to access an abortion. Dr. Morgentaler's case went to the Supreme Court who supported his case that the specialized clinics limited the security of person and safety of women. As a result, Canada's abortion laws were removed. -
Irwin Toy Case
Irwin Toy Ltd. made ads for toys aimed at children. Québec’s consumer protection office had laws against ads aimed at children under 13. Irwin Toy Ltd. said this limited their freedom of expression. The Supreme Court decided that the limit was reasonably justifiable because the it was to protect children under 13 who were more vulnerable to commercial advertising. This law did not go further than it needed to, since Irwin Toy Ltd. could still advertise children’s products to adults. -
Keegstra Case
Jim Keegstra was a Social Studies teacher in Alberta in the 1980s. In his class he taught students that the Holocaust did not happen and that Jewish people were liars, especially because they told people that the Holocaust did occur. He believed that he had the right to do this under the right to free expression. When it went to the Supreme Court, it was found that Keegstra's teaching violated the limits of free expression by encouraging hatred towards other groups. -
Stinchcombe Case
In 1991 a lawyer was charger with theft and fraud. The lawyer's secretary was questioned twice by police with written and tape recorded statements. The lawyer for the person who was charged was told the interviews happened, but not what was said. They were then denied access to the evidence. The Supreme Court decided this violated the right to a fair trial since evidence was withheld from both sides. -
Sue Rodriguez is denied M.A.i.D. by the Supreme Court
In 1991, Sue Rodriguez was told she had A.L.S. - a disease that would slowly cause her body to shut down and stop working while her brain kept working fine. Eventually she would not be able to do anything physical and she would be aware of it. She wanted a doctor to help her commit suicide (Medical Assistance in Dying) but was not allowed. The Supreme Court agreed and did not allow this. In 2019, the Canadian government changed the laws to allow doctor assisted suicide in certain cases. -
Assistance for the Deaf
Susan Eldridge, John Warren, and Linda Warren were born deaf and communicated with sign language. Provincial laws gave money for medically required services, but not sign language interpreters. They argued that this infringed their equality rights. The Supreme Court said they were denied the equal benefit of access to medical care. Without sign language interpreters, people who are deaf could not effectively communicate with their doctors which may harm them. -
Vriend Case
Alberta teacher Delwin Vriend (he/him/his) was fired from his job at a Christian school. The reason was because he was found to be gay which went against the school's beliefs. Delwin took his case all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1998. The Court decided that even though it is not directly written into the Charter, the idea at a person's sexual orientation should not be a reason they can be discriminated against, is implied in the Charter. -
Sauve Case
Richard Sauvé was convicted of 25 years in prison for murder. Before 1993, no prisoners could vote. In 1993 the law was changed so that only prisoners in jail for under 2 years could vote. His lawyers argued that denying this right made him less a part of society and thus it was harder to rejoin society later because of this. When it went to the Supreme Court, decided the laws preventing prisoners from voting went against the Charter of Rights. -
Muktani Kirpan Case
Gurbaj Singh Multani was a Sikh student and his religion required him to wear a kirpan (looks like a dagger) at all times, including at school. The kirpan was sealed under his clothes and not accessible. The school board still did not allow it because they called it a dangerous object.
The Supreme Court said this denied his freedom of religion since his faith required him to wear it and not allowing this would stop him from going to school. -
Omar Khader Case
Omar Khadr, age 15, was a Canadian captured by US army in Afghanistan in 2002 and jailed by the US. He was accused of killing a US soldier. After a military trial by the US he was made to confess war crimes and sentenced to eight years. There were many problems with the trial including that he was a child, that the Canadian government helped in his prosecution which included torture. The courts said Canada's government should have returned him to Canada for a fair trial.