John Robson: Why Canada’s Charter Has Failed to Protect Our Rights and Freedoms

Commentary It’s a funny thing about the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Supposedly we all feel so good about it that it defines us as a nation. But when you try to access the rights it purportedly guarantees, they slip away. Which isn’t what “rights” actually means. Consider this apparently trivial Canadian Press story, reprinted from the CBC to the Montreal Gazette and beyond without critical comment: “A provincial court justice of the peace has upheld the Quebec government’s imposition of curfews during the COVID-19 pandemic, finding several people guilty of breaking the health order during a protest.”...