Canadian Politics 101: The Charter of Rights and Freedoms

Welcome to Longform North -- a longform interview podcast featuring Canadian voices and stories about Canada.

There's a set of freedoms we have in this country. There's the freedom of expression, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, and lots of other freedoms. The Charter of Rights and Freedoms gives us protection for all these freedoms -- except when it doesn't.

How far does the Charter go in protecting these rights and freedoms? What are the exceptions? Why are there exceptions? And how does that all get figured out?

Joining me again to talk about all this is Dr. Tom MJ Bateman. He is a professor of political science at St Thomas University, and he is one of the co-authors of a book called The Canadian Regime: An Introduction to Canada's Parliamentary Democracy, which is the main source and inspiration for this series of podcasts on Canadian democracy.

Some of the topics we discuss include:

• How we got our Charter of Rights and Freedoms
• Pierre Trudeau's vision for the country via the Charter
• Who wrote the Charter? How was it written?
• What rights are included in the Charter?
• What has the impact been on our legal system?
• Section 1 - ie, the wiggle clause - how our rights are subject to reasonable limits
• The notwithstanding clause
• The new powers and influence the Charter gives to judges and the courts
• How a Charter case forced the government to create legislation for Medical Assistance in Dying (MAID)
• How Charter cases are decided
• Balancing individual rights with the interests of the majority

Links:

• The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Webpage
• The Canadian Regime: An Introduction to Canada's Parliamentary Democracy
• Dr. Tom MJ Bateman

For more about the podcast, check out the website: longformnorth.com

Music by Aaron Barth

Hosted and produced by Ian Van Harten