Conclusion

• Author: Hon. Robert J. Sharpe/Kent Roach
• Profession: Court of Appeal for Ontario- Faculty of Law University of Toronto
• Pages: 359-362

CONCLUSION

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms is a fundamental and defin ing ele-

ment of the modern Canadian state. While it draws upon certain as-

pects of our democratic and parlia mentary traditions, by entrenching

certain right s and freedoms as fundamental and by assig ning an impor-

tant law-making role to the courts, it also marks a break with t he past.

No longer are Parliament and the legislatures supreme.

We have suggested that this shift of institutional re sponsibility,

subjecting the powers of elected bodies to rev iew by the courts under

the Charter, is suppor tive of Can ada’s trad itional de mocratic values.

Experience has show n that majorities, unchecked, may fail to respect

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

views, and ignore or even make worse the plight of vulnerable minori-

ties. The Charter protects the values of individual dignity, autonomy,

and respect. These attr ibutes of citizenship are es sential to a healthy

democracy and to free and open democratic debate. The Charter also

protects the rights of vulnerable minorities and reflect s the view that a

healthy democracy cannot be defined in terms of cr ude majoritarian-

ism. The Charter may be seen as Can ada’s commitment to the princ iple

that the exercise of power by t he many is conditional on respect for the

rights of the few. The role of the Charter, we suggest, is to facil itate, not

frustr ate, democracy.

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

and freedoms are respected inevitably embroils t he judiciary in d if-

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

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