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Bill of Rights - Bill of Rights v. Charter. Canada (Attorney General) v. Canadian Civil Liberties Association
In Canada (Attorney General) v. Canadian Civil Liberties Association (Fed CA, 2026) the Federal Court of Appeal dismissed a federal AG JR, this brought against "the Federal Court’s finding that the declaration of a public order emergency was unreasonable and that some provisions of the Regulations and of the Economic Order violated the Charter", here where the emergency order was made under the federal Emergencies Act.
Here the court, citing the lower court's decision, illustrates the weakness of the Canadian Bill of Rights (which has statutory status), as opposed to the Charter (which has constitutional status):[95] Lastly, while the Federal Court found that the Canadian Bill of Rights, S.C. 1960, c. 44 (Bill of Rights), applies to the Emergencies Act, the Regulations and the Economic Order, it rejected the respondents’ position that the Bill of Rights’ due process provisions required the special measures to be put on hold while counsel and courts were engaged and the hearing conducted. In its view, this would be contrary to the very purpose of the Emergencies Act and an unnecessary burden on the justice system given the temporary nature of the special measures. . Goodman v. Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness)
In Goodman v. Canada (Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness) (Fed CA, 2022) the Federal Court of Appeal considered a rare Canadian Bill of Rights case. The Canadian Bill of Rights is a pre-Charter statutory (not constitutional) attempt at the same sort of 'rights and freedoms' that the Charter later picked up on. It is rarely used these days, but is still 'on the (statute) books'. The case is short so I link it all here.
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