Canada was born as a nation on July 1, 1867

But Britain still controlled all of Canada’s foreign affairs

When England declared war, Canada was automatically at war!

Even the British courts could overturn decisions by Canadian judges!

Finally, in 1949, years after World War II, Canada’s Supreme Court was created to be our highest authority – and independent of politicians in Parliament

In 1960, Prime Minister Diefenbaker introduced the Canadian Bill of Rights to help guarantee some basic freedoms for Canadians

It was a good start! But it only set down in legislation the basic rights and freedoms that Canadians had enjoyed under English Common Law (practice)

It introduced the concept of individual rights in this country however, compared with the power of governments and the police and soldiers

However, the Federal Government could change it at any time, which bad governments often like to do with rules and it did very little to protect equality rights – like rights for women, religious minorities, homosexuals etc.

In the mid 1960′s a new leader, Pierre Trudeau began speaking of The Just Society, promising greater social justice and stronger guarantees of individual rights

By 1982, as Prime Minister, he had created a new Constitution for Canada establishing Canada’s true sovereignty from Britain and which included the new famous Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms

It lists the the civil rights of and freedoms of all Canadians – and guarantees them at every level of government.  Police are totally subject to it as our local governments – and the Federal Government (or Parliament) cannot change it without the permission of two-thirds of the provinces (with 50% of the population)

This is called the Amending Formula and makes changes difficult by only the Federal government for example. In theory, this means freedom from arbitrary and abuse of power – or simply political maneouvering

Anyone whose guaranteed Rights are violated, may seek correction by the Courts.  If a lower Judge makes a bad decision this can be challenged all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada!

This means for example that if the police act inappropriately or obtain evidence unjustifiably you are protected from prosecution based on their actions.  In theory, this means freedom from police abuse of powers.

The Supreme Court of Canada is supreme over all levels of government, because they are the final interpreters of the Charter. The Charter is on top of ALL laws and actions by law enforcers and drafters, and they are subject to it. It is the most important part of our legal system in Canada

Neither the current Premier of Quebec, the current Prime Minister of Canada nor the particular police officer stopping you on any particular night can get around this fact