The
Charter
and
Other
Constitutional
Provisions
(Supplement
to
Dyck
Ch
19)
The
Constitution
Act,
1982
containing
the
Charter
of
Rights
and
Freedoms
as
well
as
other
provisions
clearly
added
a
whole
new
dimension
to
the
interrelationships
between
the
government
and
the
citizenry
as
well
as
between
legislatures,
governments
and
the
courts.
Prior
to
the
Charter,
the
Canadian
constitution
much
like
that
of
the
U.K.
generally
observed
the
principle
of
legislative
supremacy
which
is
also
referred
to
as
Parliamentary
sovereignty.
With
a
few
exceptions
related
to
certain
language
and
school
rights
and
subject
to
the
constitutional
division
of
powers
in
sections
91
and
92
of
the
Constitution
Act,
1867,
a
provincial
legislature
or
Parliament
was
supreme.
This
meant
that
the
courts
could
not
refuse
to
enforce
or
apply
a
duly
enacted
statute
no
matter
how
much
they
might
question
its
wisdom
or
merit.
Since
1982
this
is
no
longer
the
case
because
at
that
time
the
courts
acquired
broad
new
grounds
for
reviewing
statutes
enacted
by
our
legislatures
for
their
constitutionality.
The
Charter
is
a
constitutional
document
that
entrenches
a
wide
range
of
broadly
framed
and
indeterminate
individual
rights
and...