The Charter at 25: Time for a Sequel
November 1, 2006 | Campus Press: Polemical Screeds
Ultra Vires (U. of Toronto Faculty of Law)
The 25th anniversary of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms will fall on April 17, 2007—right in the middle of exam season. We’ll all be too busy to think about it then, so now is as good a time as any to take stock. The Charter boldly declares a set of fundamental Canadian values, and having such a declaration is a wonderful thing. The problem is that the values enshrined are incomplete. After twenty-five years, what Canada desperately needs is a new Charter of Duties and Obligations, binding citizens, not the state.