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The Constitution and Charter re-evaluated

Broadcast Date: April 17, 2002

Twenty years after the birth of the Constitution Act in 1982, Canadians are re-evaluating its worth and power. Some critics say that the Canadian constitution and Charter of Rights and Freedoms have shifted legislative power to the courts. This change has rendered Parliament decisively less effective. Proponents, however, say that the Constitution and Charter marked a turning point in our identity and pursuit of equality. In this CBC Television report, constitutional expert David Lutz discusses Canada's metamorphosis.

The Constitution and Charter re-evaluated

• From 1982 to 2002, the Supreme Court struck down more than 70 laws thanks to the Charter.
Some of the landmark cases include:
• Morgentaler, Jan. 28, 1988; Canada's abortion law was deemed unconstitutional on the basis that it violated a woman's right to "life, liberty and security of person."
• Vriend, April 2, 1998; a unanimous ruling that Alberta failed to "extend protection to homosexuals" in its Human Rights Act. The provincial law had to be rewritten to provide for equality for gays and lesbians.

• "It has transformed the psyche of Canadians. This document [the Charter] is not just an external arrangement of rules by which we live, this is an attempt to transform who we are and who we actually feel and think we are. On the whole I think it has had that effect." — Political scientist Alan Cairns.

• A 2002 poll conducted by the Centre for Research and Information on Canada revealed that 88 per cent of Canadians felt the charter was good for Canada.
• After the constitution was patriated in 1982, Canadian politicians would continue to struggle with proposed new constitutional accords. Through the rest of the 1980s and the 90s debates over the Meech Lake Accord, the Charlottetown Accord and Quebec's separation would dominate the political dialogue.

The Constitution and Charter re-evaluated

Medium: Television

Program: Canada Now

Broadcast Date: April 17, 2002

Guest(s): David Lutz

Host: Geoff Britt

Duration: 1:55

Last updated:
Dec. 10, 2003