A: The Charter gives citizens of Canada the right to:
- vote;
- run for government;
- entre, stay in, or leave Canada; and
- live and work in any province (this also applies to Permanent Residents).
All people in Canada have freedom of:
- conscience and religion;
- thought, belief, opinion, and expression;
- peaceful assembly; and
- association.
The law cannot discriminate against any individual or group based on:
- race;
- nationality;
- ethnic origin;
- colour;
- religion;
- sex;
- age;
- mental disability; or
- physical disability.
Everyone has the right to life, liberty, and security of the person. This includes the right to:
- be free from unreasonable search and seizure;
- not be detained without good reason;
- be informed of the reasons for his arrest or detention;
- hire and instruct a lawyer;
- have his detention confirmed as lawful;
- have a trial in a reasonable time;
- not be forced to take the stand in his own trial;
- be presumed innocent until proven guilty;
- not be denied bail without a good reason;
- have a jury trial where the punishment he is facing is five years in jail or more;
- only be found guilty of an offence that was actually illegal at the time he committed it;
- not be tried for an offence after he has already had a trial and been found either guilty or not guilty;
- receive the lesser punishment where the punishment has changed between the time he committed the offence and was sentenced;
- not to experience cruel and unusual treatment or punishment;
- not to have any information he testified to in another person’s trial be used against him; and
- an interpreter during legal proceedings.
Everyone has the right to speak either French or English in Parliament, courts, and at federal institutions. In English-speaking provinces, including Alberta, French-speakers have the right to be educated in French (and English-speakers have the right to be educated in English in Quebec).
Aboriginal peoples have rights connected to the treaties they and their ancestors have entered into and they have rights to preserve their culture, identity, customs, traditions, and languages.
>>Back to Q & A - Human Rights