William Gairdner: The Charter at 40: How Canada Got Re-Colonized

Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau gets a round of applause from Liberal MPs in the House of Commons after signing an accord with the provincial premiers during constitutional talks, in Ottawa on Nov. 5, 1981. CP Photo/Fred Chartrand

Commentary

We are regularly treated to surveys of public opinion about Canada’s 1982 Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Canadians love it, though the vast majority have never read it. Not a word. The real story of the Charter, the reasons for it, and its political and moral consequences are widely ignored.