The charter that defends rights, but also tells government how to quash them
Time after time during the COVID-19 pandemic, Canadian governments imposed extraordinary public health measures that seemed to be naked infringements on Canadians' charter rights. Mandated church closures that violated protections on "freedom of religion." Bans on gatherings that curbed "freedom of association." Border and travel strictures that undermined charter guarantees on mobility rights.
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms has often been praised as one of Canada's leading modern accomplishments and its "gift to the world." But it's also one of the world's only constitutions that explicitly gives the state a roadmap on how to quash the very "fundamental freedoms" it cites. It's why, four decades in, not everyone is inclined to cheer it as a bulwark of liberty.
The only
sure guarantor of a free society is when the overwhelming majority of citizens
cherish these fundamental freedoms and are willing to sacrifice and suffer to
defend them.