Rights and Freedoms do have limitations which are necessary to protect public safety and the fundamental rights and freedoms of others.

An example of a "Right"
An accused person has the right to a fair trial.

An example of a "freedom"
freedom is a right. Therefore, the right or the freedom to enter and exit Canada whenever the individual wishes.

The concept of human rights has been a struggle for thousands of years, with some hard question to address.

What rights should people have?

Should some rights be absolute? (unrestricted)

Is everyone entitled to the same rights?

What is the power of the state in enforcing rights?

How can people ensure the government does not restrict rights and freedoms?

There are a number of historical documents which have had an impact on the development of Canadian Rights and freedoms.

The Bill of Rights provided:
Certain civil and political rights, such as free elections, reasonable bail/fines, freedom from cruel and unusual punishment.

Two documents signed in the 18th century highlighted that there were certain rights which were guaranteed entitlements that could not be transferred, sold or exchanged as they were an intrinsic part of our nature.

As such these rights are known as inalienable.

A result of the abuses that had occurred in Europe during the 2nd World War.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is a milestone document in the history of human rights. Drafted by representatives with different legal and cultural backgrounds from all regions of the world, the Declaration was proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly in Paris on the 10 of December 1948 as a common standard of achievements for all peoples and all nations. It sets out, for the first time, fundamental human rights to be universally protected and it has been translated into over 500 languages.

Some of the declared rights:
Equal rights of men and women
equality before the law
presumed innocent until proven guilty
education rights
freedom from torture or inhumane punishment
freedom of thought
freedom of opinion and conscience
freedom of religion
freedom of peaceful assembly
freedom of association

A Canadian at the heart of its creation:
Canadian John Peters Humphrey appointed as the first Director of the Human Rights Division of the United Nations Secretariat, was the principal drafter of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. After consulting with the executive group of the Commission, chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt, Professor Humphrey prepared the first preliminary draft of what was to become the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and was dubbed by Mrs. Roosevelt as "the international Magna Carta of all mankind".

source:
Universal Declaration of Human Rights | United Nations. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/

Check out significant human rights events in Canada on Pages 94 and 95 of your text.

The Komagata Maru Incident (1914)

Canada was warned by London to be cautious in its approach to block immigration from India.

An ingenious method was devised. To be admitted to Canada, immigrants had to come by "continuous journey" from their country of birth and enter with at least $200 cash on their persons. This rule was put into place in 1908.

This Continuous Journey regulation did not mention race or nationality and on the surface seemed fair and applicable to all immigrants. It was no secret that the regulation was to apply only to people from British India.

Canadian Pacific ran a very lucrative shipping line between Vancouver and Calcutta. However, the Canadian government forced the company to stop this service in order to make It impossible to come via a continuous journey to Canada.

This was one of many hidden measures that Canada undertook to enforce a hidden "white Canada" policy.

To put these measures in context, restrictions on Asian immigration were being enacted at a time when Canada was accepting massive numbers of European immigrants (over 400,000 in 1913 alone - a figure that remains unsurpassed to this day.)

In 1914, a fairly well off Sikh, Gurdit Singh, living in Hong Kong, decided to challenge the law by sending a shipload of Indians to Canada as immigrants.

He charted the Komagata Maru, a Japanese steam liner. 

He began selling tickets for the voyage right up until 2 days before the planned departure. They made stops in Shanghai, Moji, and  Yokohama where they picked up more would-be immigrants.

When the Komagata Maru made it to Shanghai, a German news company sent a message to the German press announcing the departure of the steamer Komagata Maru from Shanghai for Vancouver on April 14 with "400 Indians on board".

The Vancouver newspaper, The Province, published a news report under the heading of "Boat Loads of Hindus on Way to Vancouver" and "Hindu Invasion of Canada”.

On May 23, 1914, the Komagata Maru reached Vancouver and anchored in Coal harbour. Both the Indians and the Canadian authorities had been waiting for it.

The Canadians wanted to send the ship back to where it had originated. The Indians on the other side had lawyers, money and other provisions ready to help the passengers. 

The Canadian authorities did not let the passengers leave the boat claiming they had violated the laws because the ship had not arrived via direct passage and most passengers did not have the $200 that would have qualified them to enter British Columbia. 

For two months the passengers of the Komagata Maru, Indian supporters in British Columbia, and the authorities of British Columbia were involved in a heated legal battle. In the end, only 24 passengers of the 376 were given permission to legally stay in Canada. On July 23, 1914 the Komagata Maru was forced to return to Hong Kong. By the threat of the gunship the HMCS Rainbow.

After the declaration of human rights by the United Nations in 1948 and the horrendous human rights violations of the second world War the world was focused on rights and freedoms.

Over the next 15 years comprehensive human rights codes were enacted through a patchwork of provincial legislation regarding racial discrimination, fair accommodation, employment practices and equal pay for women. Each province was doing its own thing.

Although the rights of Canadians were protected by the courts and case law, the first attempt to codify rights and freedoms across Canada was with the Canadian Bill of Rights in 1960

This bill was under the leadership of prime minister John G. Diefenbaker

1.) It was a federal statute so Although Diefenbaker had intended the bill to apply to the provinces, in reality, it did not. In provincial human rights matters, the provinces could legislate as they wished.

2.) If another statute conflicted with the Bill of Rights it was up to the judge to decide which law to enforce.

3.) At any time the protections offered could be changed or eliminated. This is not a very stable model for human rights!

Many people did not believe that the Canadian Bill of Rights offered Canadians sufficient protection for their rights and freedoms.

One of Pierre Trudeau’s mandates as prime minister was to patriate the constitution and entrench a new document called the Canadian Charter of rights and freedoms in the constitution.

This shifting of power concerned some politicians. Agreement on the terms of patriation between the federal government and nine of the provinces was finally reached on November 5, 1981. The provinces only agreed, due to the condition that a clause would be added to the Charter of Rights and Freedoms that would permit the provinces to legislate around the charter of rights and freedoms if necessary.

This clause is known as the notwithstanding clause and we will be learning about it in a future class.