Competing Rights or Competing Context under the Charter?

• Author: Errol P Mendes
• Pages: 122-146



CompetingRightsorCompeting

ContextundertheCharter

Errol P Mendes*

A CO N T E X T UA L EQ U I L I BR I U M V E R SU S 

CO MPE TI NGR IG HTS UN DER TH E

CANADI AN CHA RTER OF RIGHTS AND

FREEDOMS

Oneofthe mostoverlookedquotesfromtheSupremeCour tofCanada

isfrom thelandmarkR v Oa kes rulingwhere DicksonJcomments on

theoverarch ingvaluesto bekept inmi ndwheninterpretingthe Can-

adian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,includingsection.Hestated that

the Charterskeyvaluesca nbefoundwit hinthe phrasefreea nddemo

cratic societyand that thos e valuesshould be us ed as the ultimate

standardforinterpretationofsectionChiefJusticeDicksondescribed

thisultimatestandardi nthefollowingterms

Inclusion of these words as the  nal standard of justication for

limits onrights andfreedoms referst heCourt tothe verypurpos e

forwhicht heCharterwasoriginallyentrenchedintheConstitution

Canadian socie ty is to be free a nddemoc ratic The Court must be

gu idedby thev alues andp rinc iples esse ntia ltoaf reea ndde mocra tic

society whichI believe embodytoname buta fewrespect fort he

inherentd ignityoft hehumanperson commitmenttos ocialjustice

 UniversityofOawaFacultyofLaw

 CanLIISCCOakes

Competing Rights or Competing Context under the Charter?

ande qualityaccom modationofaw idevarietyof beliefsrespect for

cultural and g roup identityand fait h in social and p olitical inst itu

tions which enh ance the participation of i ndividuals and groups in

societyTheunderlyingvaluesandprinciplesofafreeanddemocratic

society arethe genesisoft herightsa ndfreedomsg uaranteedby the

Charterandt heultimates tandardagainst whicha limitona rightor

fre edommu stbes hown despi teitse ect tober easo nablea nddem on

strablyjustied

Whilet hesevalueswill inevitablyconict intheorythe Courthas

striveninOakes andinsubsequentdecisionstohunc houtajurispru

dential framework contextual equilibrium in concrete cases where

these valuesmaycon ictbecause theyinvolvecompetingcontexts in

whichrightsorvaluesclaimsaremadeInsomeoftheleadingdecisions

on the Chartertheconicthas beenb etweentwo setsof rights How

everothercases showconictbetween rightsandthe othervaluesnot

exhaustivelylisted byDicksonCJ inhis statementonthe foundational

societalvaluesofa freeanddemocraticsocietyInbothcasesbutespe

cially in cases bet ween rights and values the focus wil l immediately

turnto theproportionality analysisinsec tionofthe CharterThisan

alysis focusesprimarilyon the situationwhere thevalues underlying

twosetsofrightsmayappeartobecompeting

Eventhought hesevalueslis tedbyDicksonCJ inOakesmayconic t

intheorytheyaret hefundamentalvaluesoftheCharterTheyaresup

posedto guidenoton lythedevelopmentof thecommon lawbutalso

theinterpretationofstatutorylawinCanadaincludi ngquasiconstitu

tionalhumanrightslegislationsucha stheOntario Human Rights Code

JusticeFrank Iacobuccioneof themosti nuentialSupremeCourt

justicesin shapingtheevolutionoftheCharterhasproposedt hatthere

shouldbe afocuson reconci lingr ightsrather thanaddressing compet

ingrig htsThisis crucialbecause theSupremeCourtha sinsistedthat

thereis nohierarchyof rightstobe inferredf romthejurispr udenceof

the Charterandthatnoonerightshouldbeprivilegedattheexpens eof

anotherThispr inciplewasrmlystatedbyLa merCJintheDagenais v

Canadian Broadcasting CorporationrulingbytheSupremeCourt

 Ibid atpara

 RSOcHOnt HR Code

 FrankIacobucciReconci lingRightsTheSupremeCourtofCanadasApproach

toCompetingCharter RightsSupreme Court Law Revi ewd

 Dagenais v Canadian Broadcasting CorpSCRDagenais