It is almost impossible to imagine how a democracy could work without the protection of these most basic rights and freedoms, and yet–in Canada–they continue to be under attack in many ways.
Fundamental Freedoms allow individuals and groups to express themselves, to believe and practice what they choose, and to exercise their right to vote.
Learn More About Our Work To Protect Fundamental Freedoms:
Our Recent Cases and Reports
Learn more about our major ongoing litigation, research, and advocacy in the area of Fundamental Freedoms.
Emergencies Act
While action in Ottawa was necessary, the federal government’s national invocation of the Emergencies Act was not. Emergency powers are, by definition, extraordinary. Resort to emergency statutes should not be normalized.
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Bill 21
Bill 21 is a law which disproportionately impacts people who are already marginalized. New Quebec laws ban Canadians working as teachers, lawyers, police officers, and more from wearing religious symbols such as crosses, hijabs, turbans and yarmulkes. This not only affects people currently working in the public sector, but also the youth who aspire to those careers.
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Fill Up On Free Speech
The Ontario legislature passed a law that forces gas station owners to put up stickers with the government party line on pollution pricing or the carbon tax. The government should not force anyone to share their message. If the station owners choose to not put up the stickers, they can be handed a new fine every day. That’s called “compelled political speech.” That’s unconstitutional.
Defending Mobility in NL
Bill 38 gives “inspectors” – as defined by the Minister – the ability to conduct warrantless searches and gives the police the right to remove individuals to a point of entry, such as an airport or ferry terminal. The province has also used a Special Measure to ban non-residents from entering the province, with limited exceptions. This amounts to a Newfoundland “travel ban”, as well as essentially legalizing banishment. We think this is unconstitutional.
Families & COVID
Children’s Aid Societies are responsible for the delivery of child protection services, in accordance with legislation, regulations, and ministry policy and standards. At CCLA, we believe while the existence of a public health emergency requires caution, denying parents and children the opportunity to be together or risking a loss of the valuable child-parent bond is a violation of human rights and freedoms.
Fighting Strip Searches
In 2001, the Supreme Court of Canada called strip searches “one of the most extreme exercises of police power” and “inherently humiliating and degrading”. So why has Canada’s federal prison system carried out hundreds of thousands of unnecessary strip searches since then? These are not trivial intrusions. Canadians serving sentences are forced to undergo highly invasive searches in low-risk situations, such as leaving a secure area, or even upon release from prison. These searches can inflict severe psychological trauma, particularly for those with a history of being abused. We’re asking the federal government to end these harmful practices.
Protecting Civil Liberties in Thunder Bay
CCLA and our partners fought to have Thunder Bay’s Medical Officer of Health rescind her February 8th Class Order targeting individuals released from Thunder Bay District Jail. Detention outside of the rule of law is a clear and deeply concerning violation of constitutional rights. An emergency is a perilous time for civil liberties. Emergency powers are extensive – but they are limited – limited by law and by the Canadian constitution.
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Protest Rights & the G20
Canadians deserve to know why the security failed to fulfill its role to protect the right to protest, which brings together a number of basic civil liberties including freedom of expression, freedom of association and freedom of peaceful assembly.
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