Document Information

Date: 1981-11-02
By: New Brunswick
Citation: First Ministers’ Conference on the Constitution, New Brunswick Proposals concerning The Charter of Rights, Doc 800-15/004 (Ottawa: 2-5 November 1981).
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DOCUMENT: 800-15/004

FEDERAL-PROVINCIAL CONFERENCE
OF
FIRST MINISTERS ON THE CONSTITUTION

New Brunswick Proposal concerning
The Charter of Rights

New Brunswick

Ottawa
November 1981

NEW BRUNSWICK PROPOSAL CONCERNING THE CHARTER OF RIGHTS

New Brunswick suggests that the proposed resolution be
altered so that only certain provisions of the Charter would
come into force immediately. These include:

Guarantee of Rights and Freedoms (section 1)
Fundamental Freedoms (section 2)
Democratic Rights (section 3 – 5)
Mobility Rights (section 6)
Official Languages of Canada (sections 16 – 22)
Minority Language Educational
Rights (section 23)
General (sections 25, 26, 29, 30, 31)

The remaining provisions of the Charter of Rights would be
enacted, but would not come into force for three years. These
include:

Legal Rights (section 7 – 14)
Equality Rights (section 15)
Enforcement (section 24)
General (sections 27, 28)

This concept of deferred application for three years presently
exists in the Charter, but applies only to section 15.

During this three-year period these deferred provisions would be
placed on the agenda of the Constitutional Conference to be
convened annually to deal with these and other matters. At the
and of this period six provinces acting together could prevent the
coming into force of any provision by depositing resolutions of
their legislative assemblies with the Clerk of the Privy Council
opposing the coming into force of the provision. Such resolutions
could be adopted at any time after two years had elapsed from
the coming into force of the other provisions of the Act. The
two-year restriction is designed to ensure at least two years
of open discussion prior to a commitment being made by a
legislative assembly, during which a consensus on the scope of
the Charter might be reached and amendments secured, if necessary.