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The Constitution Act, 1867 authorized Parliament to establish a general court of appeal for Canada, as well as any additional courts to better administer the laws of Canada. It was under this authority that the Federal Courts, the Tax Court, and the Supreme Court of Canada were established. The federal Parliament deals mainly with issues that ...
- Guarantee of rights and freedoms – section 1 1. Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society.
- Fundamental freedoms – section 2 2. Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms: a) freedom of conscience and religion; b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media of communication;
- Democratic rights – sections 3 to 5. Democratic rights of citizens – section 3. Maximum duration of legislative bodies – section 4. Annual sitting of legislative bodies – section 5.
- Mobility rights – section 6. Mobility of citizens 6. (1) Every citizen of Canada has the right to enter, remain in and leave Canada. Rights to move and gain livelihood.
- Written Constitution. The written Constitution is Canada’s supreme law. It overrides any laws that are inconsistent with it. The Constitution of Canada includes the British North America Act, 1867; the Statute of Westminster, 1931 (to the extent that it applies to Canada); the Constitution Act, 1982; any amendments to these acts; and the acts and orders that brought new provinces and territories into the Canadian federation.
- Constitution Act, 1867. The British North America Act (now called the Constitution Act, 1867) merged three British colonies — the Province of Canada (present-day Ontario and Quebec), Nova Scotia and New Brunswick — into a new federation called Canada, with its capital in Ottawa.
- Parliament and the Legislatures. The federal Parliament is composed of the monarch and two houses: the Senate and the House of Commons. There are now 105 members of the Senate: 24 each for Ontario, Quebec, and the Maritimes (10 for Nova Scotia, 10 for New Brunswick, 4 for Prince Edward Island); 24 for the West (six each for British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba); six for Newfoundland and Labrador; and one each for Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.
- Other Constitutional Statutes. Also part of the written Constitution are the acts and orders that admit new provinces and territories. These include: the Manitoba Act, 1870; the Rupert’s Land and North-Western Territory Order (1870); the British Columbia Terms of Union (1871); the Prince Edward Island Terms of Union (1873); the Adjacent Territories Order (1880); the Canada (Ontario Boundary) Act, 1889; the Alberta Act (1905); the Saskatchewan Act (1905); the Newfoundland Act (1949); and the Constitution Act, 1999 (Nunavut).
- Fundamental freedoms. Everyone in Canada is free to practise any religion or no religion at all. We are free to think our own thoughts, speak our minds, to gather peacefully into groups and to associate with whomever we wish, as long as we do not infringe valid laws which protect the rights and interests of others.
- Democratic rights. Every Canadian citizen has the right to vote in elections for Members of Parliament and representatives in provincial and territorial legislatures, and to seek election themselves, subject to certain limited exceptions (for example, minimum voting age), which have been found to be reasonable and justifiable.
- Mobility rights. Canadian citizens have the right to enter, remain in, or leave the country. Canadian citizens and permanent residents have the right to live or seek work anywhere in Canada.
- Legal rights. Everyone, regardless of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, sex, age, or mental or physical disability, is equal before the law.
Section 24 of the Constitution Act, 1982 gives Canada’s courts the power to overturn laws that violate the Charter, and since 1982 it has become common for Canadians to sue governments over laws and policies that they claim violate their Charter rights. Obviously, all laws limit rights and freedoms to some degree, but Section 1 of the Act ...
This section will help you learn more about Canada’s democratic institutions, how they function and why. It will also provide links to documents central to Canada’s democracy such as the Constitution and the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. You may also follow links to longer, more detailed education resources. How Parliament works.
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The Constitution of Canada (French: Constitution du Canada) is the supreme law in Canada. [1] It outlines Canada's system of government and the civil and human rights of those who are citizens of Canada and non-citizens in Canada. [2] Its contents are an amalgamation of various codified acts, treaties between the Crown and Indigenous Peoples ...
