Just to be clear - the government of Canada can not clear Canadians to travel. We are allowed to come and go. Whether other countries allow us in is another matter. We can choose to travel to places that don’t have restrictions.
On another note, Australia, which many wish we’d copy in our Covid response, has made it a criminal offense for Australian citizens in India to return home to Australia. Unreal - it is illegal for some Australians to return to Australia. At least Canada isn’t that bad.
So in an emergency situation, the government can make something a criminal offence overnight. At the height of the pandemic last year, the government beefed up its Biosecurity Act to give the health minister near unconditional powers bypassing parliament.
In Canada Canadians’ rights to leave and enter Canada are in our Charter. Australia has no charter or bill of rights. Australians abroad have been restricted from entering Australia for over a year now. And they must have approval to leave. I’m not a big fan of the Canadian charter but it’s better than nothing.
Australia has a constitution and according to what I researched the bill of rights is included in the constitution rather than being a second document.
“There are five explicit individual rights in the Constitution. These are the right to vote (Section 41), protection against acquisition of property on unjust terms (Section 51 (xxxi)), the right to a trial by jury (Section 80), freedom of religion (Section 116) and prohibition of discrimination on the basis of State of residency (Section 117).”
No freedom of expression, freedom of movement, equality rights, freedom of association, mobility rights etc.
Australians must argue, as Canadians did before the charter, that their rights are based on common law and originate with the Magna Carta centuries ago and the common law concept of the implied bill of rights. Otherwise they rely on statutory rights which can be overridden easily.
Just to be clear - the government of Canada can not clear Canadians to travel. We are allowed to come and go. Whether other countries allow us in is another matter. We can choose to travel to places that don’t have restrictions.
On another note, Australia, which many wish we’d copy in our Covid response, has made it a criminal offense for Australian citizens in India to return home to Australia. Unreal - it is illegal for some Australians to return to Australia. At least Canada isn’t that bad.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-56953052
This is the wish of so many canadians ?♂️
In Canada Canadians’ rights to leave and enter Canada are in our Charter. Australia has no charter or bill of rights. Australians abroad have been restricted from entering Australia for over a year now. And they must have approval to leave. I’m not a big fan of the Canadian charter but it’s better than nothing.
Australia has a constitution and according to what I researched the bill of rights is included in the constitution rather than being a second document.
From an Aussie govt website
“There are five explicit individual rights in the Constitution. These are the right to vote (Section 41), protection against acquisition of property on unjust terms (Section 51 (xxxi)), the right to a trial by jury (Section 80), freedom of religion (Section 116) and prohibition of discrimination on the basis of State of residency (Section 117).”
No freedom of expression, freedom of movement, equality rights, freedom of association, mobility rights etc.
Australians must argue, as Canadians did before the charter, that their rights are based on common law and originate with the Magna Carta centuries ago and the common law concept of the implied bill of rights. Otherwise they rely on statutory rights which can be overridden easily.
Generally yes. Section 33 allows governments to override most charter rights, but not mobility rights. This is the so-called ‘notwithstanding clause.’
Also, all rights are subject to section 1 which permits reasonable limits on rights where justified in a democratic society blah blah blah.