Document Information

Date: 1980-09-24
By: Canada (Parliament), House of Commons, Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau
Citation: Canada, Parliament, DRAFT, “Resolution for joint address to Her Majesty the Queen respecting the constitution of Canada” (24 September 1980).
Other formats: Click here to view the original document (PDF).
Note: This document is discussed in an article that has been recently submitted to a peer-review journal.

^[Draft]

SECRET

First Session, Thirty-second Parliament
29 Elizabeth II, 1980

HOUSE OF COMMONS OF CANADA

Resolution for a joint address to Her Majesty the Queen respecting the constitution of Canada

THE PRIME MINISTER

25005-24-9-80

Resolution for a joint address to Her Majesty the Queen respecting the constitution of Canada

WHEREAS in the past certain amendments to the Constitution of Canada have been made by the Parliament of the United Kingdom at the request and with the consent of Canada;

AND WHEREAS it is in accord with the status of Canada as an independent state that Canadians be able to amend their Constitution in Canada in all respects;

AND WHEREAS it is also desirable to provide in the Constitution of Canada for the recognition of certain fundamental rights and freedoms and to make other amendments to that Constitution.

NOW THEREFORE the Senate and the House of Commons, in Parliament assembled, resolved that a respectful address be presented to Her Majesty the Queen in the following words:

To the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty; Most Gracious Sovereign:

We, Your Majesty’s loyal subjects, the Senate and the House of Commons of Canada in Parliament assembled, respectfully approach Your Majesty, requesting that you may graciously be pleased to cause to be laid before the parliament of the United Kingdom a measure containing the recitals and clauses hereinafter set forth:

An act to amend the Constitution of Canada and to transfer to Canada all authority of the Parliament of the United Kingdom in respect of Canada

Where is Canada has requested and consented to the enactment of an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom to give a fact to the provisions hereinafter set forth in the Senate and the House of Commons of Canada in Parliament assembled have submitted an address to Her Majesty requesting that Her Majesty may graciously be pleased to cause a bill to be laid before the parliament of the United Kingdom for that purpose.

And Whereas it is desirable to transfer to Canadians and the appropriate institutions of government in Canada all remaining authority of the Parliament of the United Kingdom in respect of Canada.

Be it therefore enacted by the Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present parliament assembled and by the authority of the same, as follows:

1. The Constitution Act, 1980 set out in Schedule A to this act is hereby enacted for and shall have the force of law in Canada.

2. Upon the coming into force of this Act, the enactments referred to in Schedule B to this Act shall, to the extent specified in Column II of that Schedule, cease to have effect and are hereby repealed as enactments of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, but without prejudice to any operation that any of those enactments and any law, order, rule or regulation made thereunder may continue to have in Canada.

3. No Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom passed after this Act comes into force shall extend, or be deemed extend, to Canada as part of its law.

4. The English and French versions of this Act are equally authoritative.

5. Subject to section 6, this Act shall come into force in Canada on such day as may be fixed by proclamation issued by the Governor General of Canada under the Great Seal of Canada and thereupon shall be recognized in the United Kingdom as having the force of law.

6. (1) Part V of the Constitution Act, 1980 shall come into force as provided in Part IV of that Act.

(2) Nothing in subsection (1) shall be construed as precluding the amendment, pursuant to Part IV of the Constitution Act, 1980, of any provision of Part V of that Act, as enacted by this Act, before that provision comes into force.

7. This act may be cited as the Canada Act.

SCHEDULE A

CONSTITUTION ACT, 1980

PART 1

CANADIAN CHARTER OF RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS

Guarantee of Rights and Freedoms

1. The Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms guarantees the rights and freedoms set out in it subject only to such reasonable limits as are generally accepted in a free and democratic society with a parliamentary system of government.

Fundamental Freedoms

2. Everyone has the following fundamental freedoms:
(a) freedom of conscience and religion;
(b) freedom of thought, belief, opinion and expression, including freedom of the press and other media; and
(c) freedom of peaceful assembly and of association.

Democratic Rights

3. Every citizen of Canada has, without unreasonable distinction or limitation, the right to vote in an election of members of the House of Commons or of a legislative assembly and to be qualified for membership therein.

4. (1) No House of Commons and no legislative assembly shall continue for longer than five years from the date fixed for the return of the writs at a general election of its members.

(2) In time of real or apprehended war, invasion or insurrection, a House of Commons may be continued by Parliament and a legislative assembly may be continued by the legislature beyond five years if such continuation is not opposed by the votes of more than one-third of the members of the House of Commons or the legislative assembly, as the case may be.

5. There shall be a session of Parliament and of each legislature at least once in every year and not more than twelve months shall intervene between sittings.

Mobility Rights

6. (1) Every citizen of Canada has the right to enter, remain in and leave Canada.

(2) Every citizen of Canada and every person who has the status of a permanent resident of Canada has the right
(a) to move to and take up residence in any province; and
(b) to pursue the gaining of a livelihood in any province.

(3) The rights specified in subsection (2) are subject to
(a) any laws or practices of general application in force in a province other than those that discriminate among persons primarily on the basis of province of present or previous residence; and
(b) any laws providing for reasonable residency requirements as a qualification for the receipt of publicly provided social services.

Legal Rights

7. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of the person and the right not to be deprived thereof except in accordance with the principles of fundamental justice.

8. Everyone has the right to be secure against unreasonable search and seizure.

9. Everyone has the right not to be arbitrarily detained or imprisoned.

10. Everyone has the right on arrest or detention
(a) to be informed promptly of the reasons therefor;
(b) to retain and instruct counsel without delay; and
(c) to the remedy by way of habeas corpus for the determination of the validity of the detention and for release if the detention is not lawful.

11. Any person charged with an offence has the right
(a) to be informed promptly of the specific offence;
(b) to be tried within a reasonable time;
(c) to be presumed innocent until proven guilty according to law in a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal;
(d) not to be denied reasonable bail without just cause;
(e) not to be found guilty on account of any act or omission that at the time of the act or omission did not constitute an offence;
(f) not to be tried or punished more than once for an offence of which he or she has been finally convicted or acquitted; and
(g) to the benefit of the lesser punishment where the punishment for an offence of which he or she had been convicted has been varied between the time of commission and the time of sentencing.

12. Everyone has the right not to be subjected to any cruel and unusual treatment or punishment.

13. A witness has the right when compelled to testify not to have any evidence so given used to incriminate him or her in any subsequent proceedings, except a prosecution for perjury or for the giving of contradictory evidence.

14. A party or witness in any proceedings has the right to the assistance of an interpreter if that person does not understand or speak the language in which the proceedings are conducted.

Non-discrimination Rights

15. (1) Everyone has the right to equality before the law and to the equal protection of the law without discrimination because of race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age or sex.

(2) This section does not preclude any law, program or activity that has as its object the amelioration of conditions of disadvantaged persons or groups.

Official Languages of Canada

16. (1) English and French are the official languages of Canada and have equality of status and equal rights and privileges as to their use in all institutions of the Parliament and government of Canada.

(2) Nothing in this Charter limits the authority of Parliament or a legislature to extend the status or use of English and French or either of those languages.

17. Everyone has the right to use English or French in any debates and other proceedings of Parliament.

18. The statutes, records and journals of Parliament shall be printed and published in English and French and both language versions are equally authoritative.

19. Either English or French may be used by any person in, or in any pleading in or process issuing from, any court established by Parliament.

20. Any member of the public in Canada has the right to communicate with, and to receive available services from, any head or central office of an institution of the Parliament or government of Canada in English or French, as he or she may choose, and has the same right with respect to any other office of any such institution where that office is located within an area of Canada in which it is determined, in such manner as may be prescribed or authorized by Parliament, that a substantial number of persons within the population use that language.

21. Nothing in sections 16 to 20 abrogates or derogates from any legal or customary right or privilege acquired or enjoyed either before or after the coming into force of this Charter with respect to any language that is not English or French.

Minority Language Educational Rights

22.(1) Citizens of Canada whose mother tongue is that of the English or French linguistic minority population of the province in which they reside have the right to have their children receive their primary and secondary school instruction in the minority language where they reside in an area in the province in which the number of those children is sufficient to warrant the provision out of public funds of minority language educational facilities in that area.

(2) Where a citizen of Canada changes residence from one province to another and, prior to the change, any child of that citizen has been receiving his or her primary or secondary school instruction in either English or French, that citizen has the right to have any or all of his or her children receive their primary and secondary school instruction in that same language if the number of children of citizens resident in the area of the province to which the citizen has moved, who have a right recognized by this section, is sufficient to warrant the provision out of public funds of minority language educational facilities in that area.

(3) For the purposes of this section, “mother tongue” means the first language learned and still understood.

Undeclared Rights and Freedoms

23. The enumeration in this Charter of certain rights and freedoms shall not be construed to deny the existence of any other rights or freedoms that may exist in Canada, including any rights or freedoms that may pertain to the native peoples of Canada.

General

24. Any law that is inconsistent with the provisions of this Charter is, to the extent of such inconsistency, inoperative and of no force or effect.

25. No provision of this Charter, other than section 13, affects the laws respecting the admissibility of evidence in any proceedings or the authority of Parliament or a legislature to make laws in relation thereto.

26. A reference in this Charter to a province or to the legislative assembly or legislature of a province shall be deemed to include a reference to the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories, or to the appropriate legislative authority thereof, as the case may be.

27. Nothing in this Charter confers any legislative powers on any body or authority except as expressly provided by this Charter.

28. Nothing in sections 16 to 19 abrogates or derogates from any right, privilege or obligation with respect to the English and French languages, or either of them, that exists or is continued by virtue of any other provision of the Constitution of Canada.

Application of Charter

29.(1) This Charter applies to the Parliament and government of Canada and to all matters within the authority of Parliament including all matters relating to the Yukon Territory and Northwest Territories.

(2) This Charter, except sections 7 to 15, applies to the legislature and government, and to all matters within the authority of the legislature, of each province.

(3) Notwithstanding subsection (2), in each province the legislative assembly may, by resolution, authorize the issue by the Governor General of a proclamation under the Great Seal of Canada declaring that all legal rights set out in sections 7 to 14 or the non-discrimination right set out in section 15, or all rights set out in sections 7 to 15, shall apply to the legislature and government and to all matters within the authority of the legislature of the province.

(4) Where a proclamation has been issued under subsection (3) in respect of a province, sections 7 to 14 or section 15, or all of those sections, as provided in the proclamation, apply to the legislature and government and to all matters within the authority of the legislature of the province.

(5) Sections 7 to 14 or section 15 may be amended or repealed
(a) if proclamations have been issued relating to those sections or that section under subsection (3) in respect of one or more but less than six provinces, by the procedure for amending a provision for amending a provision of the Constitution of Canada that applies to one or more but not all, provinces; or
(b) if proclamations have been issued relating to those sections or that section under subsection (3) in respect of six or more provinces, by the procedure for amending other provisions of this Charter.

Short Title

30. This Part may be cited as the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.