Conclusion

• Author: Robert J. Sharpe; Kent Roach
• Pages: 461-464

461

CONCLUSION

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a fundamental and def‌ining element

of the modern Canadian state. While it draws upon certain aspects of

our democratic and parliamentary traditions by entrenching certain

rights and freedoms as fundamental and by assigning an important

law-making role to the courts, it also marks a break with the past. No

longer are Parliament and the legislatures supreme.

We have suggested that this shift of institutional responsibility —

subjecting the powers of elected bodies to review by the courts under

the Charter — is supportive of Canada’s traditional democratic values.

Experience has shown that majorities, unchecked, may fail to respect

the dignity of all individuals, tend to shut out annoying and unpopular

views, and ignore or even worsen the plight of vulnerable minorities.

The Charter protects the values of individual dignity, autonomy, and re-

spect. These attributes of citizenship are essential to a healthy democ-

racy and to free and open democratic debate. The Charter also protects

the rights of those accused of crime, an otherwise unpopular group. It

ref‌lects the view that a healthy democracy cannot be def‌ined in terms

of crude majoritarianism. The Charter may be seen as Canada’s com-

mitment to the principle that the exercise of power by the many is

conditional on respect for the rights of the few. The role of the Charter,

we suggest, is to facilitate, not frustrate, democracy.

It is apparent that the diff‌icult task of ensuring that Charter rights

and freedoms are respected inevitably embroils the judiciary in dif-

f‌icult and contentious issues of public concern. The courts have been