Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Charter of Rights and Freedoms: Today, April 17, the Charter of Rights and Freedoms celebrates its 32nd birthday. This great addition to Canadas Constitution is worth celebrating given its transformative impact not only on our laws, but on our lives not only on how we litigate, but on how we live, according to Globe and Mail. On the 10th anniversary of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, then chief justice Antonio Lamer spoke of it being a revolution in law comparable to the discovery of Pasteur in science. Madame justice Claire L Heureux-Dube, after just five years of the Charter being in effect, said in 1987 that Canada had stretched the cords of liberty more in five years in some instances than the United States had done in 200 years. And even if one wants to say that some of that was enthusiastic rhetoric, it is clear that the Charter was indeed revolutionary and Irwin Cotler is a former minister of justice and attorney general of Canada. He is a professor of law emeritus at McGill University. Indeed, Canadians now enjoy a panoply of rights and remedies that were almost inconceivable prior to the advent of the Charter. Beyond merely marking the day, one should pause to reflect upon the significance of this text, its history, and the proud legacy it has provided Canada. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.