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Law Civil Rights

Protecting Rights and Freedoms

Essays on the Charter's Place in Canada's Political, Legal, and Intellectual life

edited by Philip Bryden, Stephen Davis & John Russell

Publisher
University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division
Initial publish date
Mar 1994
Category
Civil Rights, Canadian, Constitutional, Constitutions, Political Freedom, Civil Rights, Human Rights
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9780802074102
    Publish Date
    Mar 1994
    List Price
    $28.95
  • eBook

    ISBN
    9781442678859
    Publish Date
    Mar 1994
    List Price
    $51.00

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Description

In his introduction to this collection of essays by constitutional experts, Philip Bryden says that Canadians can be proud of their commitment to the protection of rights and liberties in the Charter. Canada, he believes, is a better place to live then it would be otherwise. Nevertheless, as the essays in this book reveal, the case in favour of the Charter is not simple or one-sided. For instance, Kim Campbell, minister of justice at the time of writing, and Jeffrey Simpson of the Globe and Mail express concern that the Charter promotes a rights discourse that threatens to overwhelm the ordinary politics of recognizing and accommodating different interests. Dean Lynn Smith of the University of British Columbia law faculty observes that the Charter rights are better understood as complementing than as supplanting traditional mechanisms.

 

The authors, diverse in background and outlook, reflect varying points of view but share a significant degree of consensus on issues that need to be addressed.

About the authors

Phillip Bryden is an associate professor in the Department of History at the University of Victoria.

Philip Bryden's profile page

Stephen Davis is an author and journalist living in New England.

Stephen Davis' profile page

John S. Russell is an instructor and Department Chair in the Department of Philosophy at Langara College.

John Russell's profile page