'The Reasonable Limits Clause' Discussion Board

1. Do you think that everyone is entitled to the same rights? Explain.

Under section 15 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,

Equality rights are at the core of the Charter. They are intended to ensure that everyone
is treated with the same respect, dignity and consideration (i.e. without discrimination),
regardless of personal characteristics such as race, national or ethnic origin, colour,
religion, sex, age, or mental or physical disability, sexual orientation, marital status or
citizenship. This usually means that everyone should be treated the same by law and
that everyone is entitled to the same benefits provided by laws or government policies.
However, the Charter does not require that the government always treat people in
exactly the same way. For example, sometimes protecting equality means that rules or
standards must be reasonably adapted to take account of people's differences, including

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by allowing people to observe different religious holidays without losing their job, or
putting specific supports in place to enable people with visual disabilities or hearing

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impairments to access government services.

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To add, in such a scenario, where individuals are not given access to equal rights, it
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would be extremely convenient for individuals to be discriminated against, based on their
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identity.
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To add, individuals are

some vulnerable groups are still not being protected from abuse and discrimination
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2. How can people ensure that governments do not restrict their rights and freedoms?

By ensuring that
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➔ They pay attention to what is going on in government, and rigorously “test” every
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source of information for validity and compare several sources for consistency
◆ Becoming familiar with the basic rights and freedoms protected under the
Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms
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➔ They vote wisely and at every opportunity, for people who claim and have a track
record showing that they support the people’s rights and freedoms. And that they
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instantly vote out anyone who fails to provide that support

3. Section 1 of the Charter states that our rights and freedoms are guaranteed, while at the
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same time makes it clear that these rights and freedoms are not absolute but are subject
to "reasonable limits". Do you think this is right? Should our rights have reasonable limits
placed upon them?

I believe that our rights should have reasonable limits placed upon them because,
according to the wording of s.1, the limitation of any Charter right must be prescribed by

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 law. This means that the limitation must be legal, and be part of a law, statute or
regulation that is within the jurisdiction of the level of government that passed it. The law
must be clear (i.e. not vague) and accessible to citizens so that they may know what
kinds of activities are allowed and not allowed. This protects against arbitrary actions by
the government. For example, while you have the Charter right to express yourself freely
in public, that does not mean you are free to draw graffiti over a public building. It is
reasonable (and therefore constitutional) for the government to restrict your right to do
so. Many of our Charter rights have limits like this; your rights are guaranteed up to a
reasonable point, but beyond that may be taken away. Typically, they may be taken
away if they are a threat to public safety or infringe upon the rights of others.

Several cases in Canada's judicial history since 1982 have required a careful analysis of
section 1. One such case is R v. Keegstra. Mr. Keegstra, a History teacher in Alberta,
taught that the Holocaust did not actually occur and was merely fabricated by Jewish
people in order to gain the world's sympathy. He included these theories as required

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answers in tests and assignments. He was subsequently charged with promoting hate

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speech. Mr. Keegstra challenged the hate speech section of the Criminal Code as an

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unjustified limitation on his section 2(b) Charter rights, the freedom of expression.

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Without section 1 of the Charter, Mr. Keegstra's argument would have been successful.
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He was indeed exercising his right to free speech, which includes the right to say things
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that others may not agree with. It was task of the Crown to prove that limiting Mr.
Keegstra's anti-Semitic teaching was acceptable in a free and democratic society. The
Supreme Court decided that the Crown was justified in limiting Mr. Keegstra's freedom of
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expression because the impact of limiting Mr. Keegtra's section 2(b) of the Charter was
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not as severe as the damage caused by Mr. Keegstra's hate-spreading teachings. This
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case highlights that rights and freedoms guaranteed in the Charter are not absolute. It
was necessary to limit Mr. Keegstra's freedom of speech in order to uphold his students'
rights to be protected from discrimination. At times, it is necessary to limit rights and
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freedoms in consideration of the relative interests of other rights holders in society.

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Section 1 of the Charter allows governments and courts to balance competing interests.
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I do believe that this is right.

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➔ This section is referred to as the “reasonable limits clause” because it gives

power to the law to set the extent of allowed freedom and rights to a degree of
which it views as reasonable. Additionally, the law can then infringe on these
rights and freedoms if it is able to prove that someone failed to abide by the
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“reasonable limits” it has set.

➔ Section 1 of the Charter states that the ability for the law to restrict the rights of
Canadians is limited by its ability to demonstrate their breaking of the law without
failing to abide by the parameters of a free and democratic society.
➔ The Charter’s authors likely chose the “reasonable limits clause” to preside in

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 section one so as to make clear that the law has control over the extent of your
freedom. Seeing as to how this is the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, it would
make sense to begin it by stating in the most general way the controlling force of
your rights and freedoms.

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