Canadian Bill of Rights

[4][5] These legal and constitutional limitations were a significant reason that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms was established as an unambiguously-constitutional-level Bill of Rights for all Canadians, governing the application of both federal and provincial law in Canada, with the patriation of the Constitution of Canada in 1982.

It was influenced by proposals for a federal bill of rights made by John Diefenbaker, then an opposition member in the House of Commons from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.

As a young boy, he saw injustice first-hand in the form of discrimination against French-Canadians, natives, Métis and European immigrants.

A Bill of Rights was needed to take a "forthright stand against discrimination based on colour, creed or racial origin".

The ineffectiveness of the Bill of Rights in achieving its stated aim was the main reason that two decades later, it was thought necessary[15] to adopt a constitutionally-entrenched charter.

[17] In practice, that meant that the courts relied on Parliament to repeal or amend any laws contrary to the Bill of Rights.