"DEBUNKING" PARENTS' RIGHTS IN THE CANADIAN CONSTITUTIONAL CONTEXT

Abstract

Parents have gained significant direct and indirect protection under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms for their claims to be free from state interference in the exercise of authority over their children. In this article I critically examine the most significant Supreme Court of Canada decisions constitutionalizing parental authority over children. I argue that parental rights cannot be reconciled with the theory of individual rights that is embodied by the Charter. More significantly, the case law demonstrates that the recognition of parental rights as Charter values operates at the expense of the recognition of children as full rights-bearing members of our society.