- Parliament, the Courts and the Charter
The Conservative Party believes that Parliament, rather than the courts, is the law-making body of Canada. We support the establishment of a parliamentary judicial review committee to prepare an appropriate response to those court decisions that Parliament believes should be addressed through legislation. We re-affirm the legitimacy of the entire Charter of Rights and Freedoms including section 33 (notwithstanding clause). We support legislation to remove authority from the Canadian Human Rights Commission and the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal to regulate, receive, investigate or adjudicate complaints related to section 13 of the Canadian Human Rights Act.
So basically, they’re saying that the courts shouldn’t pass laws and only parliament should.
Isn’t that how it’s supposed to be? I don’t understand why y’all take issue with it
The courts already don’t pass legislation. They pass rulings which inform legal precedent, and that is used as a base in cases where legislation is being challenged as unconstitutional.
He’s basically trying to find a way to make sure that illegal laws “stick” and that the courts can’t repeal them after the fact for being illegal. That should worry you, because the court being able to review a law for constitutionality is a sign of a free and just society, and PP wants to take that away.
There would be nothing stopping any government from just stripping the right to protest from the Human Rights Act, for example. The courts wouldn’t have the authority to act.
Because not all laws or regulations passed by Parliament meet the standards of our Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
In Canada the Charter is more important than the politicians, and that is as it should be.
And, critically, it supersedes the hot issue of the day, meaning in theory it prevents “ends justify the means” approach even with explicit approval from the population.