Latest news with #CharterofRightsandFreedoms
Ottawa Citizen
5 days ago
- Politics
- Ottawa Citizen
MacDougall: New nation-building acts must happen in the national capital
Watching the King of Canada hold court at the temporary home of the Senate this week felt like history being made. And like history coming back to life. Article content Article content Yes, the scenes of King Charles and Queen Camilla harkened back to previous visits by other royals, most notably the late Queen Elizabeth when she opened Parliament in 1977. But the history it evoked in me wasn't regal; it was of events a few years later in the same setting — namely, Pierre Trudeau's negotiations over the patriation of the Canadian Constitution, which took place in the same building when it served as the Government Conference Centre. Article content Article content The world, the King read in the throne speech, is now a 'more dangerous and uncertain place,' a coded message meant for Donald Trump and his dismantling of world order. But the same could have been said when the elder Trudeau convened the premiers in the wake of the FLQ crisis and the then-robust campaign for Quebec sovereignty. The West was upset, too, with the National Energy Program. Like now, bold action was needed to strengthen national unity and identity. Article content Trudeau's answer was the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and 'full' Canadian sovereignty. And while the resulting 'Night of the Long Knives' led to René Lévesque's refusal to agree to reform, then to another round of separatism moves (following the failed constitutional wrangling at Meech Lake), the constitutional gambit was a big, bold move when big bold moves were required. Article content Article content If Canada is truly experiencing a 'hinge' moment, then big, bold action is required. And that action will need the agreement of the provinces, especially on domestic trade barriers. All the more reason, then, for the new prime minister to pull a 1981 and get the premiers around the table — in Ottawa — to hammer out a deal. Article content The location matters. A nation has a national capital for a reason. Big events need to happen on big — and symbolic — stages. Minor players can also come to life, or be exposed, on said stages. If Danielle Smith thinks Alberta separation is a goer, she should meet with all of her colleagues to make the case as part of a broader conversation, as Lévesque did generations ago. Article content Our politics and political figures have gotten so small recently, it's hard to remember how enormous some provincial voices of old were. There was Lévesque. But there was also Bill Davis, Peter Lougheed, Bill Bennett and Brian Peckford. Even the ministerial ranks were stuffed with bright minds and big personalities: Jean Chrétien, Roy Romanow and Roy McMurtry. It took the collective action of their minds and the prime minister's to achieve the restructuring of Canada's constitutional order.
Montreal Gazette
6 days ago
- Politics
- Montreal Gazette
Quebec anti-suicide group loses legal challenge against municipality over ticketing
A Quebec religious group has lost a constitutional challenge after getting fined for going door-to-door in the town of Waterloo, 15 kilometres southeast of Granby, to share its message about suicide prevention. The municipality fined Groupe Jaspe several hundred dollars for violating a bylaw requiring non-profit groups to obtain a permit for 'selling, collecting or soliciting.' The group argued in a municipal court that the bylaw infringes on its freedom of religion and expression as enshrined in Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Claude Tremblay, founder of the Magog-based group, lost his son to suicide. He says it is his religious duty to go door-to-door to prevent others from taking their own lives. Tremblay has not said whether he plans to appeal the ruling.
Winnipeg Free Press
6 days ago
- Politics
- Winnipeg Free Press
Quebec anti-suicide group loses legal challenge against municipality over ticketing
MONTREAL – A Quebec religious group has lost a constitutional challenge after getting fined for going door-to-door in Waterloo, Que., to share its message about suicide prevention. The municipality fined Groupe Jaspe several hundred dollars for violating a bylaw requiring non-profit groups to obtain a permit for 'selling, collecting or soliciting.' The group argued in a municipal court that the bylaw infringes on its freedom of religion and expression as enshrined in Canada's Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Claude Tremblay, founder of the Magog, Que.-based group, lost his son to suicide. He says it is his religious duty to go door-to-door to prevent others from taking their own lives. Sundays Kevin Rollason's Sunday newsletter honouring and remembering lives well-lived in Manitoba. Tremblay has not said whether he plans to appeal the ruling. This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 28, 2025.
Ottawa Citizen
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Ottawa Citizen
Lalonde and Papineau: Take off the kid gloves for public oversight of Ottawa Police Service
The Ottawa Police Service (OPS), like other police forces across the province, are treated with kid gloves when it comes to public accountability. The OPS receives even less public oversight than other areas of the city. Article content Article content The OPS is governed under the provincial Community Safety and Policing Act (CSPA). One key element of the CSPA is a civilian oversight board, which is handled by the Ottawa Police Services Board (OPSB). There are three city councillors, three provincial appointees and one citizen appointed by the city. Police Service Board members are governed by a code of conduct. Article content Article content To ensure that politicians aren't directing police on what and who they can investigate, boards can't direct the operations of the police. That's a good thing. However, how far is that taken? What is the adequate level of oversight for the OPS? How much public oversight is actually done? Article content OPSB meetings are split between public and 'in camera' (behind closed doors) meetings. Article content Before the COVID pandemic, the OPSB held in-person public meetings. Anyone could go in person and participate. At the start of the pandemic, the OPSB went virtual. Meetings were held online, and they have never turned back. Anyone can watch the meetings, but only those selected in advance to participate are allowed to make statements, and then they are ushered back out of the online meeting room, which limits public dialogue. To boot, what you plan to say must be approved ahead of time. It's a close-knit, gated-community police board. Article content Article content Public agendas for the OPSB encompass pages of feel-good reports, including the monthly compliments report. Compliments are redacted letters from the community giving thanks for a police encounter. Article content Article content The OPSB also has a much more substantive agenda for its in-camera sessions. At every meeting, the chair dutifully cites the legal cover for going in camera. There are good reasons to have some items discussed behind closed doors. Legal and specific employee disciplinary actions are two. That should be it. Article content Since October 2023, the OPSB has had a standing in camera agenda item called 'Updates on Demonstrations and Events Management'. The OPSB discusses in camera the police actions related to a fundamental right protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms: 'freedom of peaceful assembly.' Why are discussions pertaining to this bedrock of our democracy done behind closed doors month after month? What operational issues related to peaceful assembly require secrecy? Given the concerning attempts to curtail civil liberties among our neighbours to the south, these questions necessitate serious consideration.
Ottawa Citizen
26-05-2025
- Politics
- Ottawa Citizen
Lalonde and Papineau: Take off the kids gloves for public oversight of Ottawa Police Service
The Ottawa Police Service (OPS), like other police forces across the province, are treated with kid gloves when it comes to public accountability. The OPS receives even less public oversight than other areas of the city. Article content Article content The OPS is governed under the provincial Community Safety and Policing Act (CSPA). One key element of the CSPA is a civilian oversight board, which is handled by the Ottawa Police Services Board (OPSB). There are three city councillors, three provincial appointees and one citizen appointed by the city. Police Service Board members are governed by a code of conduct. Article content Article content To ensure that politicians aren't directing police on what and who they can investigate, boards can't direct the operations of the police. That's a good thing. However, how far is that taken? What is the adequate level of oversight for the OPS? How much public oversight is actually done? Article content OPSB meetings are split between public and 'in camera' (behind closed doors) meetings. Article content Before the COVID pandemic, the OPSB held in-person public meetings. Anyone could go in person and participate. At the start of the pandemic, the OPSB went virtual. Meetings were held online, and they have never turned back. Anyone can watch the meetings, but only those selected in advance to participate are allowed to make statements, and then they are ushered back out of the online meeting room, which limits public dialogue. To boot, what you plan to say must be approved ahead of time. It's a close-knit, gated-community police board. Article content Article content Public agendas for the OPSB encompass pages of feel-good reports, including the monthly compliments report. Compliments are redacted letters from the community giving thanks for a police encounter. Article content The OPSB also has a much more substantive agenda for its in-camera sessions. At every meeting, the chair dutifully cites the legal cover for going in camera. There are good reasons to have some items discussed behind closed doors. Legal and specific employee disciplinary actions are two. That should be it. Article content Since October 2023, the OPSB has had a standing in camera agenda item called 'Updates on Demonstrations and Events Management'. The OPSB discusses in camera the police actions related to a fundamental right protected under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms: 'freedom of peaceful assembly.' Why are discussions pertaining to this bedrock of our democracy done behind closed doors month after month? What operational issues related to peaceful assembly require secrecy? Given the concerning attempts to curtail civil liberties among our neighbours to the south, these questions necessitate serious consideration.
