AN INQUIRY INTO THE DIEFENBAKER BILL OF RIGHTS

Abstract

The proposed Bill of Rights would foreclose legislative restriction of certain rights and enlarge the area of such guarantees. This reality necessitates an understanding of the source of constitutional power for such an enactment, which in turn necessitates a clear understanding of what constitutes fundamental freedoms, civil liberties or human rights. To achieve such clarification, the author chooses and defines the term civil liberties. He then classifies those matters falling under that category according to historical and functional considerations pertaining to government restraint and intervention in certain relationships. The article examines the current common law position on each of these classes, examines the constitutional position in respect thereto and explicates certain aspects of the Diefenbaker Bill of Rights. It attempts to determine the status that should be given various rights and the distribution of authority to deal with them.