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Article: What has the Charter done for you lately? A brief look at how the first 25 years of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms has transformed the lives of ordinary Canadians.(CANADIAN CHARTER OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS)(Law overview)
- Article from:
- LawNow
- Article date:
- September 1, 2007
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Legal Resource Centre of Alberta Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
On April 17, 1982, the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms officially became part of Canada's Constitution--part of the supreme law of our country. Until that date, the main role of the Canadian Constitution was to give power to the government. The Constitution set up our Parliamentary system of government and divided law-making power between the federal and provincial governments. With the introduction of the Charter, the Constitution took on an additional, but opposite, function: to limit the power of government. The debate continued over whether the Charter also imposes positive obligations on government. The Charter guarantees ...